A major problem with many in understanding the Word of God is thinking that the silence of the scriptures give authority for people to act.  Most believe that if the Bible does not specifically say we cannot do something, then it is okay.  This leads directly to unauthorized practices that condemn the soul.

Am I being too harsh?  No, I am being just as harsh as the Bible itself is.  First, consider the fact that we are commanded to only do that for which we have positive authority.

Colossians 3:17 (ESV)
¹⁷  And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is the inspired guideline for anything that we do religiously.  EVERYTHING must be done in the name of the Lord.  To do something in the name of the Lord is to do it by the Lord’s authority.  When the Sanhedrin questioned Peter and John about the crippled man they had healed, they asked, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” (Acts 4:7).  They were obviously inquiring about the authority behind their actions.  When the police pursue a fleeing criminal, they are known to say, “Stop in the name of the law.”  Everyone knows they are demanding that the fleer stop based on their authority as officers of the law.

So, when Paul said to do everything in the name of the Lord, he was saying that we must make sure that whatever we do, we have the Lord’s authority for it.  All this shows that we must have authority from Christ for whatever we practice as local churches.  Now consider the important words written by John.

2 John 1:9 (ESV)
⁹  Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

To do something religiously that has not been authorized by Christ is to fail to abide in His teaching.  The consequence for that is not having God, which is equal to saying that a person is lost.  This is why I said earlier that unauthorized practices condemn the soul.

Knowing that whatever we do in word (whatever we teach) or deed (whatever we practice) must be authorized should tell us that we cannot do something just because God has not specifically said we cannot.  When someone says to me, “Show me where God said we can’t use musical instruments in worship,”  my response is, “Show me where He has said we can.”  Which is necessary in such cases—a passage saying we can’t or a passage saying we can?  If you know what Paul said in Colossians 3:17, and you are willing to rightly divide the Word of Truth, you know what is necessary, don’t you?  We must have authorization for all that we do.

Evidence that the silence of the scriptures does not authorize is found in Hebrews seven.  All Bible students know that only men from the tribe of Levi could be priests under the Law of Moses (Hebrews 7:5).  Would it have been a sin for a man from the tribe of Judah to occupy the office of a priest?  Everyone knows the answer to that question is yes.  But the Hebrews writer tells us specifically that Moses never said anything about the tribe of Judah being priests (Hebrews 7:14).  This tells us that the Law never said “thou shall not” when it came to men from Judah being priests.  Did that authorize or condemn such a practice?  The answer is obvious.  The silence of the scriptures does not authorize and it never will.

If we are going to rightly divide God’s Word, we must respect the silence of the scriptures by realizing that God is not authorizing us to do something just because He does not specifically tell us “thou shall not.”  Think about what such a thing would mean if we applied it to our children.  Could you imagine our children being able to do everything that we did not specifically say they couldn’t do?  It would be a mess,  kind of like the religious world is now because too many operate on that erroneous premise.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.