How does God currently
communicate to His people today? The Bible is explicitly clear that all things
that mankind needs to know concerning the will of God is contained in the
written revelation of Holy Scripture (Heb 1:1-2; 2 Peter 1:3-4; Jude 3). If this is true to committed Christians, why
would some believe that the Bible is not the final source of God’s revelation,
but merely a “witness” to additional revelation that God is giving today[1]?
Throughout the twentieth
and twenty-first century the evangelical church has a great deal of
professing Christians, particularly within the Pentecostal tradition and the
Charismatic movement that are making daily decisions according to “what God has
told them” or what God has spoken to others. Many committed Christians believe
and actually announce that God has communicated directly to them through
personal address (verbal or prophetic revelation). For this is not the will of God, for His
children to confide with fruitless doctrines and discussions (1 Tim 1:3-7) such
as additional “revelation” (verbal or prophetic) that are outside the canon of
Scripture. This belief has fostered an unhealthy presupposition of
special revelation in directly hearing from God. It is not that these
Christians would deny the necessity of the Bible in their life, but it is the
misconception as to how God has revealed His will and the true source of where
His actual words are found. This misunderstanding sets up unnecessary
ambiguity and confusion that leads many astray. Sadly these Christians
place more value and esteem in their personal experience above receiving
instruction from the Spirit of God through the written word of God, the
Scriptures, that are inerrant, sufficient and trustworthy.
The Bible is clear
according to Ephesians 5:15-17 that believers
are to be careful as to how they live the Christian life, not as unwise
and undiscerning individuals, blown and tossed by every wind and wave of
doctrine, but as wise, diligent and prudent believers who study the word of God
to show themselves approved. Therefore it is essential for those who are
in Christ to make the most of their time being alert and aware concerning
Biblical truth because the days are deceptive and evil. This is a
critical problem that must be urgently addressed in the life of the church
because many are being deceived, bamboozled, and led astray. Far too many
Christians are not taking a strong enough position against such aberrations,
thus making room for error and false doctrine.
This subtle appeal for
mainstream Christianity to follow and embrace such loose patterns of how God
communicates with His people should alert the church to ask new questions about
what would God say to such approaches of discerning His will. These errors
misrepresent God and the Lord of the church by attributing to Him something he
did not say. These deviations also mislead His people whom He loves, the
church whom He purchased by his own blood.
Theologically, the
nature of divine revelation to mankind is one of the profound leading subjects
in the church. This involves how God communicated His will to man in the past
and how he communicates to Christians today. This is the topic we will
explore in order to better understand how God has spoken revealing Himself and
communicating the divine will to all
mankind.
The Reality of God’s
Revelation, Pre-Flood Judgment
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On the sixth day of
creation the counsel of the Godhead purposed to create mankind in his image,
distinct from the animal kingdom and unique from the angelic realm; so that the
Creator could commune with humanity and in turn mankind could glorify God
understanding the divine will (Gen. 1:26-30; 2:15-17). God designed mankind
as a personal being, possessing the capacity to know his Creator. God also
designed mankind with intellect and the faculties of reason, speech and
language so that the divine will could be discerned, understood, and obeyed.
Mankind as a volitional creature has the capacity to accept and follow
the divine will or to reject and refuse it.
Biblical revelation was
not an afterthought. Adam was the first to receive divine revelation even
before his choice to take from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Ramm refers to this as prelapsarian or preredemptive revelation[2]. Gordon H. Clark agrees with this, stating,
“that God spoke to Adam before the fall and gave him commands that he
could not have otherwise known[3].”
God created Adam and placed him in the garden to cultivate it and keep
it. Adam’s duty was directly imposed upon him by special revelation,
disclosing the divine will. God commanded the man to be fruitful and
multiply, to subdue nature, to make use of the animals, to eat freely from the
trees of the garden with the exception of one[4].
It was God’s intention from the beginning to communicate to those He
created in his image so that the creature might worship the Creator and enjoy
Him. This is the nature of biblical revelation, God communication of
His will to mankind.
The knowledge of God is necessary for the true
worship of God, the true service of God, and the true life in this world before
God [5].
However, due to sin mankind has been blinded in the
knowledge of God and darkened in his understanding of the divine will since
Adam. Ramm refers to this as soteric or postlapsarian
revelation[6].
Once Adam sinned it was absolutely necessary for God to take the
initiative to communicate His will right away to Him. This necessity occurred
immediately after Adam had taken from the tree of knowledge of good and of
evil, for it was unfathomable that the man stretch out his hand and take also
from the tree of life and eat, and live forever” in his fallen state of sin and
rebellion (Gen. 3:22-24)[7].
God intimated future revelatory aspects of His redemptive program by
providing garments of skin in which to clothe the man and his wife.
Perhaps the two of them witnessed the death of one of the animals that
Adam himself had named and the shedding of its blood to cover their
transgression. This picture and type of future aspects of redemptive
revelatory truth evidently had been passed on to the children of Adam and Eve,
for Cain and Abel were cognizant of presenting offering and sacrifices in worship
of God in accordance with the divine will (Gen. 4:1-7).
Noah found favor in the eyes in the LORD and this grace
was displayed in the fact God spoke to him, disclosing the divine will and
intention to destroy the inhabitants of the earth and gave to him a plan of
escape (Gen. 6:8-22; 7:1-5). Even after the deluge God continued to
provide special revelation to Noah through the covenant He made with him (Gen.
8:15-22; 9:1-19).
The Manner of God’s
Revelation to all Persons, at all Times, in all Places
In spite the fall, God
did not withdraw Himself from communicating with men. The terrible consequences
of sin are the forfeiture of the knowledge of the living God. However,
God in His abundant grace, goodness, and loving kindness continues to make
Himself known in two avenues of revelation. Theologians classify these as
general and special revelation. General revelation is God’s
non-verbal witness of Himself through nature, creation and history[8].
This is a part of God’s plan to appeal to the conscience of human beings.
This general knowledge of Himself is universally available to all through,
His power and control over nature, His benevolent provision of good things, and
His providential preservation of mankind. According to the psalmist, the
whole of creation shouts forth the testimony of God’s eternal existence, magnificent
power, and splendid majesty (Ps. 19:1-4). The manifold witness of all
nature testifies continuously day after day throughout the realm of humanity,
speaking of God’s benevolence, goodness, faithfulness and love (Acts 14:15-17;
17:24-28; Rom. 2:4). Millard Erickson states that general revelation
refers to the fundamental disclosure of God’s self-manifestation to all
persons, at all times, and in all places through nature, creation, and the
inner being[9].
Because of the debilitating noetic effects of sin, being futile and
foolish in their religious musings and endeavors, wicked human beings do not
honor the Creator as God nor do they render unto Him proper thanksgiving.
God remains unknowable and the knowledge of Him unattainable in mankind’s
fallen condition. The widespread diversity of ethical systems, human
religions and speculations about the Creator and obtaining salvation shows the
powerful effects of sin upon the mind and the conscience and also reveals the
inadequacy of general revelation. Since fallen humanity has
continually rejected and suppressed God’s gracious witness and strong appeal to
the conscience through the avenues of general revelation, these become sufficient
ground for judgment and condemnation[10].
God’s light to spiritually darkened souls in nature, in creation
and throughout history fails to suffice in which to reconcile the creature in
right relationship with his Creator.
The
Necessity of Special Revelation
General revelation is
not sufficient to extract sinful man from the depths of depravity apart from
God disclosing further aspects of His will and truth. The entirety of
sinful humanity is depicted by God as being born into and perpetually abiding
in a spiritual state of darkness, completely dead in trespasses and sins,
totally separate from the life of God, fully blinded in the knowledge of God,
utterly devoid in the understanding of God, wholly incapable of reversing or
rectifying this undone condition before God. Given this plight, special
revelation becomes the absolute necessary activity of God by which He must
make himself and His will known to the realm of mankind, that could not
otherwise ever hope to obtain the knowledge of God, so as to know the Creator
and His plan of salvation.
Furthermore, sin
substantionally reduced humanity’s capacity to rightly interpret the blessings
of general revelation and greatly diminished the benefits of the knowledge of
God to irreparable proportions. This condition of depravity, of
misinterpreting the knowledge of God in nature, creation, and history and of
seeking to fill the void of worship, lead to universal idolatry. While
general revelation manifests God as Creator, it does not reveal him as
Redeemer. The necessity of special revelation permits sinful human
beings the ability to correctly interpret the knowledge of God in general
revelation, thus enabling sinners to look to their Creator as Redeemer and
embrace His plan of salvation.
The Manner of God’s
Special Revelation at different times and in different ways
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many
portions and in many ways.” (Heb. 1:1) [11]
The writer of the
book of Hebrews makes a significant contribution to the modes of the divine
will expressed through special revelation post-flood. After God made a
covenant with Noah, He then appeared to Abraham in the Ur of the Chaldeans and
made a covenant with him. The development of God’s revelation was first
declared to Abraham in a promise which began a new period in redemptive
history. God promised to bless Abraham by making him the leader of a
great nation and through that nation, all of the nations of the earth would be
blessed (Gen. 12:1-3). This began at a series of divine interventions in
human history in which to form and segregate a people for Himself, through whom
God would be known, worshipped as Creator and Redeemer, and revealed to the
nations. God would communicate His statutes and judgments through the
nation of Israel, using them as a channel in which to express His
ultimate purpose to bless the entire world.
After appearing to
Abraham and establishing His covenant with him (Gen. 12:1-3; 15:1-21; 17:1-21;
18:1; 22:15-18), God also reiterated that covenant and His promises to
Abraham’s son, Issac (Gen. 26:1-5) and to Issac’s son Jacob (Gen. 28:12-17).
These personal appearances of God to the patriarchs are known as theophanies.
A theophany is a temporal, physical pre-incarnate appearance of the
Second Person of the Triune God, manifesting Himself to His people in which to
assure them of His power and presence in fulfillment of His promises and accomplishment
of His will[12]. The
nation of Israel was derived from the twelve sons of Jacob (who was renamed
Israel by the LORD, Cf. Gen. 32:24-28) and God in faithfulness to His promise
to Abraham blessed his physical descendents, even when they found themselves in
bondage in Egypt (Ex. 1:7; 2:24, 25).
Another period in progressive, revelatory history, the
Exodus began and God would manifested Himself as YHWH[13],
the LORD, the covenant keeping God of Israel who would redeem His people.
In bringing about the deliverance of His people who were in bondage in
Egypt, God raised up Moses, the great prophet. According to John F.
MacArthur miracles accompanied periods of divine revelation and the ministry of
Moses introduced one of the great dispensations of God’s redemptive program[14].
The progressive work of divine revelation presented
itself throughout Scripture in three successive stages[15];
the Patriarchial age ( the outward manifestation, symbols, and
theophanies of expressed miracles in which God spoken to men through their
physical senses) ; the Prophetic age (the prevailing mode of revelation
was by means of inward prophetic inspiration that was shared in visions and
dreams in which God spoke to men inwardly by the Holy Spirit in their hearts),
and the New Testament Period (the Apostolic ministry of God’s revelation
through chosen men as His agents to inscribe the final redemptive message to
mankind through the written word[16].
There’s never been a
prophet like Moses who became an extraordinary messenger of God’s decrees unto
Israel. Through Moses God delivered Israel from bondage of slavery to Pharaoh
in Egypt by mighty and powerful deeds and miraculous signs and wonders; through
Moses He preserved Israel in the wilderness by providing water to drink and
manna to eat, sheltering them and guiding them with a pillar of cloud by day
and a pillar of fire by night; through Moses God gave the Law at Mount Sinai in
the form of Ten commandments (Ex. 20:1-22), Moses also received the Law in its
ceremonial, moral, and civil aspects concerning the worship of YHWH, the LORD,
the construction of the Tabernacle, along with its instructions and regulations
for the sacrificial system. Moses was faithful in God’s house, serving as
the first channel speaking to the people only what YHWH, the LORD commanded
(Deut 34:10). In the progressive work of revelation Moses was the prophetic
organ of revelation[17]
in which God desired that Israel would know His will and His ways that they might
worship accordingly. This cultic worship of God would serve as light to
the nations that the True and Living God was in Israel.
As God continued to fulfill
His promise to bless the nation of Israel, the physical descendents of Abraham,
He disclosed other aspects of His nature and will through a long line of judges
and prophets, who were God’s representative spokesmen for communicating the
divine will. This is what the writer of Hebrews conveyed in stating that God
spoke in the past to our forefathers in the prophets. The
prophet of God, referred to as men of God, spoke the word of God to the people
of God to such a degree of accuracy that to disbelieve and disobey the prophet
was to disbelieve and disobey God. God worked through the prophets, many
of which recorded the words of God in three portions of Old Covenant Scripture,
the Torah (the Law), the Naveem (the Prophets) and the
Cutiveem (the Writings). However the sinful inclinations of the
people rejected the word of the LORD (YHWH) through His prophets (2Chron.
36:11-21).
God
through His covenant with Abraham promised to bless the entire earth through
the nation of Israel, in that it was through the Jewish nation, the nations of
the world would receive the written word of God as well as the Living Word of
God. This
salvific promise of God was progressively unfolded in successive stages,
declaring that salvation would come “from the Jews” (John 4:22); they were
entrusted with the oracles of God (Romans 3:1-2)[18].
The Full and Final, Complete and Comprehensive Revelation of God
in His Son
The Bible is God's complete special revelation
for this age. It consist of his past salvific work, His plan of salvation
today, and His future acts of judgment. According to the writer of the New
Testament Jude states the content of truth “the faith” was once delivered to
the saints (Jude 3). This is the whole
body of revealed salvation truth contained in the Scriptures. God revelation
was delivered once as a unit, at the completion of the Scripture, and is not to
be edited by either deletion or addition. Scripture is complete, sufficient and
finished; therefore it is fixed for all time. Nothing is to be added to the body
of the inspired Word because nothing else is needed. Whatever
needs to be known about God concerning Himself and His redemptive program has been
recorded for all to know (1 Peter 1:10-12). A solemn warning is given concerning
anyone who would add or subtract from the final and completed revelation word
of God to man (Rev 22:18-19).
We must be careful not to loosely align or attribute the
impressions of our personal knowledge and experience as if it were a direct
verbal or prophetic address from God Himself.
He, the Holy Spirit does lead us into God’s truth, provide discernment,
and direct us into the divine will for our lives. He has revealed all things
pertaining to life and godliness (Ps 84:11; 2 Tim 3:15-17; 2 Peter 1:3). The
Father has sealed His revelation through the incarnate ministry of His Son and
the Apostles documented this truth in sacred Scripture. The Holy Spirit
functions as our teacher to illumine our hearts and minds through that which He
has inspired, never apart from it (1 Cor 2:12-13). An accurate understanding of this theology
and terminology is essential for distinguishing between the voice of God, our
own deceptive hearts and the enemy of our souls (Prov 3:5-6; Jer.17:9-10; 1 Jn
4:4-6).
The significance of God’s word being inscripturated is
its reliability, permanence, and accessibility to know and obey it. We also
find that there is a tremendous benefit that comes from a more accurate
preservation of God’s word for later generations. We have an opportunity to
carefully study and discuss which leads to better understanding and complete
obedience. Lastly, God’s revelation, the Bible is more accessible to many
others who did not receive it directly (verbally or prophetically) in the past
(1 Peter 1:10-12).
Appendix
The Lexical Terminology: The Final Stance of God’s revelation to
man
When we come to fully grasp the
terminology of such biblical term “revelation” noun, we will discover the proper intended meaning in which it is
to be understood; therefore believers can better apply themselves with terms
throughout scripture. In the Old Testament revelation root meaning “reveal” is
defined in Hebrew as hl'G" (galah) –"uncover,
remove" – “nakedness” (used of making someone or something naked) this occurs about twenty-nine times[19].
This Hebrew word in this sense of a noun “revelation” does not occur in the Old
Testament. However it does occur in the New Testament about twelve times. As to
the root meaning in New Testament the term “reveal” means avpokalu,ptw,
avpoka,luyij (apokalupto, apokalupsis) – "uncover, make
bare[20].”
In the Greek
we find the meaning as unveiling or the “disclosure” of something which was
previously hidden or unknown. This referred to as a mystery because its reality
could not otherwise been known unless the revealer had chosen to disclose that
which was unknown. So that his redemptive program for salvation could be
clearly known to humanity.
Generally both terms “revelation” and “reveal” is not displayed
more than the idea is found in the Bible. The most common vehicles of the idea
of “revelation” in the Old Testament are in two expressions which these are the
phrase, “word of YHWH” and the term commonly but inadequately rendered in
English “law”[21]. This
means that the revelation that man receives from God renders complete
obedience. Ultimately, these terms brings to bear that there are absolute true
in God’s revelation to man: to disobey them or disbelieve them is a
serious sin and brings
judgment from God (1 Cor 14:37; Jer 36:36:29-31)[22].
[1]
MacArthur,
John. Charismatic Chaos. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1992. Print
[2]
Ramm, Bernard
L. Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans p.26, 1961.
Print.
[3]
Pinnock,
Clark H. Biblical Revelation: The Foundation of Christian Theology. Chicago:
Moody, 1971. Print.
[4]
Ramm, Bernard
L. Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans p.18, 1961.
Print.
[5]
Ramm, Bernard
L. Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans p.14, 1961.
Print.
[6]
Ramm, Bernard
L. Special Revelation and the Word of God. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans p.18, 1961.
Print.
[7] We are showing the nature of
revelation that has occurred in the beginning. for example Had not God
communicated his divine will, Adam would
have lived in a perpetual state of sin after eating from the tree of
life; however God intervene to prevent this tragedy.
[8]
Mook, James R. "Bibliology." Theology 1. TMS, Sun Valley/CA. 2014.
Lecture.
[9] We are taking the position of
Dr. James Mook
who says that God’s appeal to the conscience is through the avenues of nature,
creation, history. We are showing the part where Erickson says gen. revelation
is a direct appeal “to” the conscience. He is saying that the conscience is one
of the avenues of God’s appeal. Erickson,
Millard J. Christian Theology. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House,
2013. Print.
[10] Geisler, Norman L.
Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999.
Print.
[11] In v.2 The aorist participle
in relationship to the main verb—usually signifies an action prior to the main
verb; “having spoken” in the past to the fore fathers in the prophets, “God has
spoken.”
[12] Mook, James R.
"Bibliology." Theology 1. TMS, Sun Valley/CA. 2014. Lecture.
[13] YHWH represents the tetragrammaton the
un-pronounceable name of God, believed to have been pronounced Yahweh.
[14] MacArthur, John. Charismatic
Chaos. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 1992. Print.
[15]
By saying that the Bible is
a progressive revelation, we mean that the revelation was given in historical
stages. The revelation given
in
each successive stage did not contradict the revelation of previous stages, but
rather built upon it by adding further information as either an explanation of
previous revelation, or a distinct topic altogether. This does not mean that
earlier revelation was erroneous -- it was just not fully developed. The
revelation had organic integrity at each stage of the progression. But it was
more developed (became more detailed, more specific) as more revelation was
added. Mook, James
R. "Bibliology." Theology 1. TMS, Sun Valley/CA. 2014. Lecture.
[16]
Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge, Samuel G. Craig, and Cornelius Van Til. The
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Pub., 1948. Print.
[17]
Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge, Samuel G. Craig, and Cornelius Van Til. The
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Pub., 1948. Print.
[18]
God’s redemptive program was through the nation of Israel in which to safeguard
his revelation as opposed to confusing it by randomly and frivolously
disclosing it to other people and other nations throughout the entire world.
[19]
Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge, Samuel G. Craig, and Cornelius Van Til. The
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Pub., 1948. Print.
[20]
Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge, Samuel G. Craig, and Cornelius Van Til. The
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Pub., 1948. Print.
[21]
Warfield, Benjamin Breckinridge, Samuel G. Craig, and Cornelius Van Til. The
Inspiration and Authority of the Bible. Philadelphia: Presbyterian and Reformed
Pub., 1948. Print.
[22]
Grudem, Wayne A. Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.
Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity, 1994. Print.
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