God exercises His supreme authority through the written Word, but He exercises His supreme authority through the Living Word. Notice what scripture says in the book of Acts:
Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Acts 3:22–23 (Deuteronomy 18:15–19) KJV
And he identified this Prophet as being Jesus Christ the Lord. God says to the whole world: "Listen to this Man! And whoever will not listen to this Man will be cut off from among His people."
I heard a series of addresses over the radio by a very learned, tolerant Anglican clergyman insisting that we ought to sit down with all the religions of the world and carry on a dialogue—putting Christian faith alongside Buddhism, Islam, and all the faiths of the world, exchanging points, shaking hands, and going our way. That doesn't sound like the Word of God! "Lo, I send a prophet unto you, and whoever shall not listen to that prophet shall be cut off."
Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.
Colossians 1:15–19 KJV
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Revelation 1:17–18 KJV
There are your keys, my brother! The keys of hell and of death! That is why I would never lose one minute's sleep if some religious authority would condemn me! Who has any authority to condemn me? Who has authority to say, "You're shut out, go to hell"? Nobody can say that to me! He has the keys of hell and death: Jesus Christ the Lord. And if He takes me in, who can drive me out?
I might not be the easiest fellow to live with, nor the most desirable person to have around. But if the Lord God laid His hand on me before the world was, and chose me to be His child, and said to me, "Here, you're no good, but I love you, and I have brought you out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of My love"—nobody can take me out again! The Christian who knows his Bible will smile and agree with the devil on one point: "I'm no good! That's sure enough, I'm not. But God loved me!" It's an idiosyncrasy of the great God Almighty: He loves people that aren't worthy of it.
In Matthew 7:21–27, our Lord warns that on that day many will say, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?" and He will profess, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The man who builds on the rock hears the sayings of Christ and does them. God's authority is exercised through His Son. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the kingdom of God."
People invent so many other ways. A converted Catholic priest wrote in The Alliance Witness that while in seminary, they used to debate twenty-one different ways to replace an "irreplaceable" pastor. People are finding 2,500 ways to get into heaven, but the Lord says there is only one way:
No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.
This is that Authority speaking who holds supreme authority over all things—over the church, and over the kingdom of God, given to Him by the Father: Jesus Christ the Lord. "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."
This makes some people furious. They say you're narrow, bigoted, and obscurantist. They want dialogue and compromise. But God has the absolute right to say who enters His heaven, and He has chosen His Son, Jesus Christ the Lord: "Here's your Man. He became flesh and dwelt among you. Whoever comes by means of Him is in, and whoever will not come by Him is out, and stays out."
We are all out by justice, and it is only by grace that some of us get in. If we all got justice, we'd all perish. But by grace we enter. I wouldn't give you a plugged nickel for a boxcar load of that purring, compromising religion! Jesus Christ our Lord is the ultimate, final authority in the realm of religion.