Continued from "How God Speaks to His People"
With regard to the scriptures, the Bible says in II Timothy 3:16-17:
When it says “all scripture,” my understanding is that this is to include both the old and the new testaments. I cannot answer why these particular books were chosen and/or why there were not any others written that were considered “God-breathed,” i.e. God’s exact words, but by faith I accept that God preserved these writings as scripture and that when I read this passage in II Timothy 3 that it is referring to what we know as the Bible. So, when it says that “all scripture” is useful (or profitable) for teaching, etc., I understand this to mean the old and the new testaments. In order for this to take place, then, we need to have an understanding of how to interpret scripture and how to apply it to our lives. I believe that the books we call scripture are inerrant in their original form. There is always the possibility of some error in translation from language to language, but I believe, even there, that there are good English translations that hold fast to the meaning of the original text, though not all do, so we must be discerning and must do research before choosing a translation.
Then, once you have your translation, then comes the difficult part of interpretation. If “all scripture” is to be profitable and useful to us for teaching, etc., then we have to interpret it in its correct setting, yet the application may be different from the original application. For instance, we might read the story of Israel’s flight from Egypt and their travels in the wilderness and of their ultimate reaching of their destination into the Promised Land. Those words were spoken for those people at those times and may not be God’s specific instructions for us at this time, if they are not universal instructions about sin, etc., yet we can learn from the story and God’s word is still God-breathed, i.e. it is alive, so God may speak to us via His Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things, and His Holy Spirit may apply a particular scripture to our lives today. If scripture is merely a good book that teaches us good principles for living and if it is merely a book of history from which we can learn examples to follow or not to follow, then it is not God-breathed (alive). But, it is alive and it still speaks to us and it speaks to us about our real lives today and the Holy Spirit within us speaks to us and he uses all the scriptures to teach, to rebuke, to correct and to train us in righteousness.
So, this is what I believe. I believe we don’t need prophets any more to speak to us in the sense that they are speaking God’s exact words to us because we, as believers in Jesus, have the Holy Spirit within us representing Jesus Christ through whom now God speaks. And, we have the scriptures, which are God-breathed, through which the Spirit continues to speak and to apply its truths to our lives and our world today. Yet, the New Testament has much to say of how the Body of Christ is supposed to work and how God gives each one of us different gifts and it speaks much about a gift called “prophecy.” There are different interpretations of this gift based upon one’s theological bent, but from what I can tell from scripture and from what I can tell of how the Body is supposed to work and how we are to encourage and strengthen and exhort one another, I believe that this gift is about speaking to others what the Holy Spirit is teaching us individually, i.e. in the sense of how we believe the Holy Spirit is applying scripture either to our personal lives, or how we believe he is applying it to the life of the church.
We are Christ’s representatives (his ambassadors; his messengers) because Jesus dwells within us, so he speaks both to us and through us. And, he gives us words that he wants us to share with other believers or non-believers in order to help encourage and strengthen the Body of Christ or to spread the gospel. God did not design his church that one preacher would do all the speaking to the congregation. He designed it that we would each share whatever gifts God has given to us to share within the Body. So, to me, the gift of prophecy is hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit as he takes what truth has already been revealed in God's Word and he makes it applicable to situations in our lives, in the church, and in our world that we would not have otherwise known about had it not been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and that the purpose of this is to warn, to encourage, to counsel, to edify, to uplift, to exhort, to rebuke, etc. so that the church; so that the body of Christ may be built up “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
So, if we have the mind of Christ, if Christ lives within us, and we have his Word living in our hearts, and the Spirit is still teaching us, and He is still applying the truths of scripture to our lives today, then the Holy Spirit is going to tell His children what is going on in their world. He is going to warn them, not generally, but specifically about who to watch out for, i.e. those who are the deceivers of the brethren who are either teaching false doctrine or who are purposefully and willfully trying to deceive God’s people, as God did for his children in the past. This is so that we can be warned and so that we can be wise and discerning and so that we can pay attention (stay awake) and can be ready when Christ returns. And, he is going to warn us of the consequences of our actions, i.e. judgment, because he loves us and because he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God is still speaking to His children, if we will listen. And, he wants us to share with the rest of the Body of Christ what we believe He is teaching us, i.e. the practical application of His Word to today. Obviously what we say we are hearing from the Spirit must be tested against the Word of God and it must be tested against the character and divine nature of God to make sure we are not spewing something forth that is in direct conflict to the teachings of scripture. And, I believe the Bible says we are to test everything, i.e. it does not say that we should accept a person’s words, who says he or she is a prophet and is speaking God’s exact words that the people of God must adhere to. So, when we speak words of encouragement, exhortation, and spiritual understanding to each other that we believe we have received from the Lord, we must take what we hear from each other before the Lord in prayer, seeking God’s face, and we must ask for the Holy Spirit within us to show us if this is from Him or not. This scripture says it well:
I Thessalonians 5:19-22:
In other words, if someone shares with us that the Holy Spirit is revealing to him or to her a practical application of Biblical truth as applied to today, we should not immediately reject it, i.e. we should not write that person off and then potentially put out the Spirit’s fire. We should not treat what that person shares with us with contempt unless it very obviously is in direct contradiction to the teachings of scripture and of Jesus Christ, i.e. we are not to entertain thoughts of a new doctrine, a new hope, a new Messiah, etc. What we are to do is to test everything against God’s written Word and against the Holy Spirit’s witness within us.
Lastly, I Corinthians 13:8-12 says this:
This says that not one of us has perfect understanding. We only know in part, and we can only share what we understand as best as we understand it. Jesus is “perfection.” When he returns and he takes us to be with himself, then the imperfect will disappear, and then we will know fully. I look forward to that day with great anticipation in my heart when Jesus comes to take me home. “Until then, my heart will go on singing; until then, with hope I’ll carry on until the day my eyes behold the City, until the day God calls me home.”
With regard to the scriptures, the Bible says in II Timothy 3:16-17:
When it says “all scripture,” my understanding is that this is to include both the old and the new testaments. I cannot answer why these particular books were chosen and/or why there were not any others written that were considered “God-breathed,” i.e. God’s exact words, but by faith I accept that God preserved these writings as scripture and that when I read this passage in II Timothy 3 that it is referring to what we know as the Bible. So, when it says that “all scripture” is useful (or profitable) for teaching, etc., I understand this to mean the old and the new testaments. In order for this to take place, then, we need to have an understanding of how to interpret scripture and how to apply it to our lives. I believe that the books we call scripture are inerrant in their original form. There is always the possibility of some error in translation from language to language, but I believe, even there, that there are good English translations that hold fast to the meaning of the original text, though not all do, so we must be discerning and must do research before choosing a translation.
Then, once you have your translation, then comes the difficult part of interpretation. If “all scripture” is to be profitable and useful to us for teaching, etc., then we have to interpret it in its correct setting, yet the application may be different from the original application. For instance, we might read the story of Israel’s flight from Egypt and their travels in the wilderness and of their ultimate reaching of their destination into the Promised Land. Those words were spoken for those people at those times and may not be God’s specific instructions for us at this time, if they are not universal instructions about sin, etc., yet we can learn from the story and God’s word is still God-breathed, i.e. it is alive, so God may speak to us via His Holy Spirit, who teaches us all things, and His Holy Spirit may apply a particular scripture to our lives today. If scripture is merely a good book that teaches us good principles for living and if it is merely a book of history from which we can learn examples to follow or not to follow, then it is not God-breathed (alive). But, it is alive and it still speaks to us and it speaks to us about our real lives today and the Holy Spirit within us speaks to us and he uses all the scriptures to teach, to rebuke, to correct and to train us in righteousness.
So, this is what I believe. I believe we don’t need prophets any more to speak to us in the sense that they are speaking God’s exact words to us because we, as believers in Jesus, have the Holy Spirit within us representing Jesus Christ through whom now God speaks. And, we have the scriptures, which are God-breathed, through which the Spirit continues to speak and to apply its truths to our lives and our world today. Yet, the New Testament has much to say of how the Body of Christ is supposed to work and how God gives each one of us different gifts and it speaks much about a gift called “prophecy.” There are different interpretations of this gift based upon one’s theological bent, but from what I can tell from scripture and from what I can tell of how the Body is supposed to work and how we are to encourage and strengthen and exhort one another, I believe that this gift is about speaking to others what the Holy Spirit is teaching us individually, i.e. in the sense of how we believe the Holy Spirit is applying scripture either to our personal lives, or how we believe he is applying it to the life of the church.
We are Christ’s representatives (his ambassadors; his messengers) because Jesus dwells within us, so he speaks both to us and through us. And, he gives us words that he wants us to share with other believers or non-believers in order to help encourage and strengthen the Body of Christ or to spread the gospel. God did not design his church that one preacher would do all the speaking to the congregation. He designed it that we would each share whatever gifts God has given to us to share within the Body. So, to me, the gift of prophecy is hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit as he takes what truth has already been revealed in God's Word and he makes it applicable to situations in our lives, in the church, and in our world that we would not have otherwise known about had it not been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit, and that the purpose of this is to warn, to encourage, to counsel, to edify, to uplift, to exhort, to rebuke, etc. so that the church; so that the body of Christ may be built up “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
So, if we have the mind of Christ, if Christ lives within us, and we have his Word living in our hearts, and the Spirit is still teaching us, and He is still applying the truths of scripture to our lives today, then the Holy Spirit is going to tell His children what is going on in their world. He is going to warn them, not generally, but specifically about who to watch out for, i.e. those who are the deceivers of the brethren who are either teaching false doctrine or who are purposefully and willfully trying to deceive God’s people, as God did for his children in the past. This is so that we can be warned and so that we can be wise and discerning and so that we can pay attention (stay awake) and can be ready when Christ returns. And, he is going to warn us of the consequences of our actions, i.e. judgment, because he loves us and because he is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
God is still speaking to His children, if we will listen. And, he wants us to share with the rest of the Body of Christ what we believe He is teaching us, i.e. the practical application of His Word to today. Obviously what we say we are hearing from the Spirit must be tested against the Word of God and it must be tested against the character and divine nature of God to make sure we are not spewing something forth that is in direct conflict to the teachings of scripture. And, I believe the Bible says we are to test everything, i.e. it does not say that we should accept a person’s words, who says he or she is a prophet and is speaking God’s exact words that the people of God must adhere to. So, when we speak words of encouragement, exhortation, and spiritual understanding to each other that we believe we have received from the Lord, we must take what we hear from each other before the Lord in prayer, seeking God’s face, and we must ask for the Holy Spirit within us to show us if this is from Him or not. This scripture says it well:
I Thessalonians 5:19-22:
In other words, if someone shares with us that the Holy Spirit is revealing to him or to her a practical application of Biblical truth as applied to today, we should not immediately reject it, i.e. we should not write that person off and then potentially put out the Spirit’s fire. We should not treat what that person shares with us with contempt unless it very obviously is in direct contradiction to the teachings of scripture and of Jesus Christ, i.e. we are not to entertain thoughts of a new doctrine, a new hope, a new Messiah, etc. What we are to do is to test everything against God’s written Word and against the Holy Spirit’s witness within us.
Lastly, I Corinthians 13:8-12 says this:
This says that not one of us has perfect understanding. We only know in part, and we can only share what we understand as best as we understand it. Jesus is “perfection.” When he returns and he takes us to be with himself, then the imperfect will disappear, and then we will know fully. I look forward to that day with great anticipation in my heart when Jesus comes to take me home. “Until then, my heart will go on singing; until then, with hope I’ll carry on until the day my eyes behold the City, until the day God calls me home.”
