So far as the New Testament gives specific instructions on what should be done in given situations it should be followed.  That eliminates anything that is extra-biblical.  Or as Paul Sain, a preacher in Pulaski, TN, has written, “you should not hold to what you cannot prove by the Bible.”  This statement refers to I Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.”
    There are times when the Bible does not address a subject in that case the decisions must be made based on Bible principles.  The job of making decisions, for instance, about when a congregation should meet on Sundays would be decided by elders (Hebrews 13:7,17,24).  Notice that decision is not whether a congregation should worship on Sundays, for that is dictated in the New Testament (Acts 20:7; I Corinthians 16:2).  There Bible example is followed, and Bible example is as binding as command.  Now, let us take this one step further and see where authority CANNOT come from, although people often try to rely on such.
    Authority cannot be based upon what one’s parents did.  Most of us respect our parents, some take that to such an extent that if what their parents did exceeds the limits set by God’s standard then the error was on the behalf of God’s Word, and not their parents.  The Jews had a large problem with such as recorded in Galatians 1:14; I Peter 1:18; and Acts 7:51.  Poignant are the words of Christ in Matthew 10:37a, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.”
    Also we cannot base authority on our conscience.  Since this was our subject two weeks ago we will offer only some references (Acts 23:1; Galatians 1:13; Acts 26:9-11). Notice especially Proverbs 16:25, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
    Some try to base authority on what the majority dictates.  That is fine in politics, but not religion.  In religion God is the majority.  Matthew 7:13,14 teaches that the majority of people are going down the wrong path, a path that ends in destruction.  Exodus 23:2 compliments these verses in teaching that one should not “follow a multitude to do evil.”  Good has been outnumbered by evil in the generations of all but a few who have lived on this earth, and it is foolish of any to think that the majority will stay the course on any matter religious.
    Finally some look to the creeds, or doctrines, of men to find authority for their actions.  This is at the very least extra-biblical, and in some instance anti-biblical.  Jeremiah 10:23 shows the need for Divine authority, “O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.”  Matthew 15:9 describes the commandments of men as producing vanity, that is emptiness.  Not only is such vanity, it is powerless to support acceptable faith as Paul wrote in I Corinthians 2:5, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”  Further references abound in such places as Galatians 1:8; II John 9-11, anmd Proverbs 19:27 which sums up the matter nicely for those who find themselves subject to the creeds of men, “Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge.”