Category Archives: prophecy

What is “the Perfect”?

Posted on March 17, 2010 by | 3 comments

By Marv

1 Corinthians 13:9-10 reads: “For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.” (ESV)

a. Does “the perfect” refer to the Bible here? No.

b. Does “the perfect” refer to the Second Coming of Christ? No, but (b) is closer than (a).

Think about it. Why would Paul refer to either of these in this enigmatic way? Yes, you can find reasons, excuses, to understand either one of those, and surely other things, by the title “the perfect.” But we don’t have to scour distant contexts to discover what is motivating this choice of words here.

“The perfect” isn’t any one thing; it is a class of things. Or rather it is a state in which many different things can be: whole, as opposed to partial. We know that is what “the perfect” is, because that is what “the partial” is. Paul states in verse 9 two things that we do “in part”: know and prophecy. The phrase for “in part,” ek merous, is the most prominent part of each clause in verse 9. It’s what he is talking about. Reading it in the Greek order: “In part we know, and in part we prophesy.”

Then he takes this prepositional phrase and nominalizes it by adding the article: “the in part,” to ek merous. This is what the ESV translates as “the partial.” Another way of saying this would be “that which is only in part,” not referring to a specific thing, but anything which is partial.

The contrast Paul is making between “the partial” and “the perfect” tells us what specific meaning he has in mind for “perfect,” teleion. It means the state in which something has reached its fullness or completeness. The phrase he uses parallels “the perfect” to teleion with “the partial,” to ek merous.

The point he makes about these two states of being is not so much a prediction as a principle, a proverb, something that is true across the board: when the full and complete version of something arrives, the preliminary, partial version of it loses its value.

He provides an analogy and two examples to illustrate. First, he states that at one time his thoughts and words were those of a child, but as a grown man, of full age, his education complete, the ideas he had while still under age were not worth holding on to.

So then “partial” and “complete” also correlate with “now” and “then,” in comparison with minority and majority. This is equivalent to “not yet” and “already,” and at this point we see that “the perfect” is not itself a reference to the Second Coming but the state of things that will only occur at the second coming.

Now we see some things but much remains unseen (v.12a) . For these we have “faith” and “hope” (v. 13). Then, at the consummation of all things, our partial sight yields to completeness of sight, as faith becomes sight.

The same is true for our knowledge (v. 12b), which is partial now, but will in that day be complete. The two phrases are unmistakably descriptions of conditions only available beyond this age; we will “see face to face,” and we will “know as we are known.”

Faith is the conviction of things not seen (Heb. 11:1). Who hopes for what he sees (Rom. 8:24)? So even faith and hope, which remain “now,” will give way “then” to sight and fullness of knowledge. Love, however, is greater because as it reaches completeness it has all the more reason to continue.

This is the reason Paul commends it above all that it “in part.” The examples he gives are prophecy, knowledge, and tongues. These are things that are in a state of “in part.”

Prophecy entails revelation in bits and pieces, riddles and puzzles (Num. 12:8). It reaches its fulness, obviously, when it is fulfilled. So even the prophecies of Revelation, of the completed Canon, are partial until all is fulfilled.

Knowledge too can only ever be partial in this age, but one day the knowledge of God will cover the earth as water covers the sea (Hab. 2:14).

If tongues is a “sign to unbelievers” (1 Cor. 14:22a), then it has value while there are still unbelievers. The contrast of faith and lack of faith exists only in this age when sight is partial. So tongues reaches its fullness when every knees bows and every tongue confesses (Phil. 2:10).

Love alone surpasses this age. The rest, even faith, even hope are for the present age, where knowledge and sight are partial. If Paul is telling us anything about the gifts he mentions, it is that they correspond to the age of the partial, they are coterminous with faith and hope. They come to an end, yes, they cease, yes, but only when they reach the state of their fulness.

It is odd that this passage is so often used to teach the previous cessation of these gifts, when it is such a very strong argument for their enduring until the end of this age.

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Posted in continuationism, Gifts, Gifts of the Spirit, prophecy

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Cessationism and the Authority of Personal Assumption

Posted on March 16, 2010 by | 2 comments

By Marv

I’m not sure whether Daniel Wallace’s recent post on Parchment and Pen, Charismata and the Authority of Personal Experience, was intended to coincide with the annual celebration of the world’s most famous irrational number, π, but it did in fact appear on “Pi Day” (3/14/2010) and does seem to hit the theme of what he considers to be irrational. If it otherwise appeared to you, as it did to me, oddly out of date, this is because it is in fact a repost of an older article. On reading it, I estimated that the references sounded on the nature of fifteen years old. In fact, the Word version available on bible.org is dated 1997, though I suspect the original composition is a tad earlier.

The article calls for a response, I’m afraid, but before I begin, I want to make clear what profound regard and respect I hold for Dr. Wallace. He is not only—literally—the man who “wrote the book” on New Testament Greek, but he was my own teacher and, yes, a personal hero. The fact is that I found my way to both Parchment and Pen and Theologica through hunting down his online writings.

Yet I am going to be so bold as to disagree with some of what he writes, while agreeing with much of it. I have a few slightly-more-than-quibbles to get out of the way first. I find the opening references to “psychic hotlines” and UFOs unnecessarily disobliging. The phenomena under discussion, such as healing and prophecy, are after all such as he agrees genuinely occurred among the Church of the first century, not occulta from beyond the fringe.

Also it is misleading to refer to the continuationist perspective he has in view as “charismatic.” He explicitly aligns the people he refers to with the Vineyard movement, which is part of what is commonly called “Third Wave.” Since the second of the “waves” in question is the Charismatic Movement, there is a significant distinction there that he ignores.

More importantly, however, he allows himself to go beyond commentary on the facts and proposes to offer a psychological explanation for a change in belief, and even more importantly casts this change as an abandonment of basic evangelical principle. He states: “their final authority is no longer reasoning about the Scriptures; now it is personal experience.” I do not believe that he is justified in doing either, and that his conclusion is wrong in both instances.

One may wish to ask how Dr. Wallace, coming from an outsider’s perspective, can be as confident as he appears to be in regard to the psyche of others. May I suggest, from an insider’s perspective, that he has significantly misread the situation. My claim to an inside perspective is based on the fact that: (a) some the individuals he almost certainly has chiefly in mind were also my own teachers and I have some familiarity with them both before and after their “paradigm shift”; (b) I myself fall generally into the lines of the events he describes. As the song says: “apart from the names and a few other changes, the story’s the same one”; and (c) I have spent two decades in the Vineyard milieu, and so know something whereof I speak.

So I can attest that, so far from being swayed by mere experience, these people have made the decision: (1) to believe something that the Bible clearly teaches, specific works of the Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ, and (2) to disbelieve something they find nowhere in the Bible, that particular aspects of the Spirit’s work ceased after the first (or second) generation of the Church. I am not quite sure how this constitutes substituting “personal experience” for the Scriptures as final authority. It is rather quite the opposite.

On the other hand, a typical cessationist charge is “Can you honestly tell me you’ve seen genuine New Testament quality miracles.” Now, which side is clinging to experience as authority?

What about experience, though? Yes, odd as it may seem, what we are told in the Bible does turn out to be true. Paul describes the effects of prophecy, for example, in terms of “upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.” (1 Cor. 14:3) and also having “the secrets of [one’s] heart…disclosed” (1 Cor. 14:25). I can attest to this effect, as I think anyone who has taken the Biblical teaching on prophecy as valid for today could. Yes, these are subjective matters for the most part, difficult to demonstrate to others. Dr. Wallace puts scare quotes around “prophet,” and dismisses such instances as cold reading.

What am I supposed to believe when apostolic, Scriptural authority teaches me to not to despise prophetic utterances (1 Thes. 5:20)? I know what cold reading is, and I know charlatans have used it to simulate genuine prophecy. However, I’ve also received prophecies the details of which rule out cold reading, and given prophecies which to the best of my ability to discern were in no way instances of cold reading. Still it isn’t the experience that tells me prophecy is a work of the Holy Spirit; it is the Bible.

It is also true that such “paradigm shifts” are often occasioned by personal crises. Dr. Wallace is quite correct that imbalance in Christian life, such as excessive focus on the intellectual aspects, is deleterious to joy in Christ. It is Dr. Wallace’s final paragraph that is at once the most laudable part of his essay, and the most lamentable. It is laudable for the truth of his statement: “the trilogy of authority can be seen this way: both personal experience and reason are vital means to accessing revelation. We are to embrace Christ, as revealed in the Word, with mind and heart.” What is lamentable, is that by making the statement he is implying that continuationists do not understand this.

In fact, Dr. Wallace is describing what may be the single greatest lesson I have learned in embracing continuationism. We have to do not primarily with knowledge or feeling, but with a blessed Person, who has given us His Word and has given us His Spirit, and sent us as He was sent, as is with us until the end of the age. It is in Him that we are to place our faith. I’ve been taught the very same truth by the very people Dr. Wallace suggest have missed it. So while Dr. Wallace’s prescription is on target, I believe his diagnosis is considerably wide of the mark.

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Posted in 1 Corinthians 14, cessationism, continuationism, prophecy

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An Everyday Example of Prophecy

Posted on March 13, 2010 by | 7 comments

by Scott

I posted an article a few weeks back about the nature of revelation. Though the word usually gets distorted in terms of eschatological understanding or with the gifts of the Spirit, the word simply means an unveiling or an uncovering. It’s like pulling back the curtains to introduce the characters and scene of a play. All of a sudden you get ‘the picture’.

I believe Paul brings it down ‘out of the clouds’ when he shares these words with the Corinthian church:

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. (1 Corinthians 14:26 NIV)

Paul expected that each person of the body of Christ could be utilised in all these things mentioned above, and more of course. Not all at the same time in every gathering. Such would be overwhelming. And that is what Paul strongly challenged the Corinthians to stop doing. But these gifts of God’s Spirit were available to the whole body.

Why? These things must be done for strengthening the church, building it up (e.g. 1 Cor 14:26).

So, currently I’m leading our house group through a book entitled Becoming A True Spiritual Community. It’s by one of my favourite authors, Larry Crabb.

Now, here is the thing to note: I’m pretty sure Larry Crabb would not identify himself as a charismatic, Pentecostal, nor Third-Wave. I don’t say this in a derogatory way. It’s just that, after reading about six of his books over the past years, I don’t think he would classify himself in that way. And that’s fine.

But, he is definitely a man who wants to hear from the Spirit, tune his ear to the voice of God. It comes through in many of his books. He mainly writes about how the church can better walk out our call to emulate the relational nature of the Trinity. He has a passion to see the whole body of Christ moving towards maturity in spiritual friendships. And, in doing so, he is always bringing in the element of listening to the Spirit when it comes to faithfully relating to and caring for our brothers and sisters in Christ.

All this to say: Larry Crabb is not identifiable as charismatic. But he is identifiable as one who wants to hear from God.

And as I was re-reading through chapter 7 of the afore mentioned book, I found a beautiful story of the gift of prophecy, or we might call it a word of knowledge. In all, it’s a present-day example of God’s Spirit bringing revelation, or uncovering truth, for the building up of the body. Now begins the short account:

The seminar was fifteen minutes from beginning. We had been worshiping God in music for three quarters of an hour. It was now 7:45 on a Friday evening, and I would start speaking at 8.00.

I stopped singing to listen to something rising within me. It was a prayer.

“Lord,” I heard myself say, “if this message about connecting and a new level of community is from You, I must know. If I’ve made it up to give myself something to think about as I grow older, I want to scrap it.

“But if it is really from You, I want to know it with a certainty I cannot deny. And…” – I hesitated; the next thought forming in my mind seemed pushy – “I’d like to know this weekend.”

I prayed the prayer inaudibly. No one heard me but God.

Nearly everyone else in that large auditorium was standing to worship. I knew that I would be on my feet for the next two hours, so I was sitting. The chair to my immediate right on the front row was empty.

A few moments after I finished my prayer, a man I didn’t know slid onto it.

“May I have a word with you?” he asked.

I nodded quizzically, with a slight edge to my nod. After all, I was praying and about to address a large group for two hours. I thought he was a bit rude.

He told me his name, then said, “I am on the pastoral staff of this church. We’ve never met, but since the day we invited you to our church, the Lord has laid you on my heart. I feel strongly impressed to say something to you. I intended to wait till after the seminar but I feel I must tell you now. I’ll only be a minute.”

I nodded again, this time with no edge.

“I sensed that you want confirmation from God that your new direction in ministry is from Him, and that you want it this weekend. I believe God has called you to what you’re doing and He wants me to tell you that this weekend you’ll know.”

A few more words and he slipped away.

End of account.

Absolutely beautiful!

In other church contexts, this could have been prefaced with, ‘Thus saith the Lord.’ It could have been done with a louder voice, running to the microphone so all could hear, etc. But it was simple, real and revelatory.

Actually, if you really read the account, you notice it was very directive. But yet it wasn’t too pushy.

But, in the end, this revelation, this prophecy, maybe this word of knowledge, accomplished it’s purpose as laid forth in Scripture: it was for the common good (1 Cor 12:7) and it strengthened a member of the body (1 Cor 14:26).

Larry Crabb was praying a prayer and God looked upon him with grace and confirmed His direction through another member of Christ’s body.

This is real, this is edifying, this is strengthening.

God revealing His heart. A member of Christ’s body being willing to listen, receive from Him and then share that edifying revelation with Larry.

That’s an everyday example of prophecy.

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Posted in prophecy, revelation

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More Than Openness to the Gifts of the Spirit

Posted on February 27, 2010 by | 2 comments

by Scott

Let’s admit it. Some thirty, forty, fifty or more years ago, most of the western church was not open to the gifts of the Spirit that are specifically mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. Paul lists them here:

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Even in some groups, these were anthametised or seen as demonic, especially the gift of other tongues. We’ve moved far away from such a view, not because we are headed down some slippery slope into false belief and practise, but because we have begun to be more open to such. You even have churches today from more traditional, cessationist backgrounds actually open to the gifts of the Spirit. Even major theologians are purporting that they are continuationists, at least in some sense – Wayne Grudem, John Piper, Jack Deere, Gordon Fee, Sam Storms, etc.

What are some reasons for more of an openness amongst the church today? Well, there are quite of few, but here are are three major reasons that I believe we are now more open to such:

1) The more modern worship movement possibly starting with the Jesus-movement but continued on with such people like Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Kevin Prosch, Larry Norman, Delirious, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, etc. [Just as a note, I am not promoting the idea that worship is a ‘movement’. I adamantly believe there is much more involved in being ‘living sacrifices’ (Romans 12:1-2).]

2) The afore mentioned solid theologians who are continuationists, believing all gifts from 1 Corinthians 12 are still available today. These people have faithfully, humbly and biblically looked to understand the importance of such gifts for the body of Christ.

3) There are now some 500 million plus Pentecostal, charismatic and neo-charismatics. Such leads us to at least consider that this many true followers of Jesusare not that crazy.

Again, there are other reasons, such as a more a practical reality that attended a gathering where the gifts were being actively utilised. I’ve heard tons of these stories, of which I have one to share myself and hope to soon.

Yes, I am also aware that many of us have been to gatherings where these gifts have been abused and misused. I’ve been to some myself. And it’s hard to be open when we see such. But for every abuse, I suppose there are some 100 healthy and faithful uses of these gifts. It’s just that the television happens to blur this reality. It doesn’t report on the church down the road with about 50 adult members who are being used in prophecy or words of knowledge and even healings.

But, here is my point with this post: I think we need to be careful that we are not simply open to the gifts and we never look to see God use us in these gifts. This, I believe can leave us wanting in regards to what God would do through His Spirit.

‘Now wait a second here, Scott. Don’t forget 1 Corinthians 12:11, which states, “All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”‘

Oh yes! He is the one who apportions at His own will. So I am not up for some manipulation scheme. I am up for true, God-honouring use of the gifts. But let me point out two other important verses in the midst of Paul’s words on the gifts of the Spirit.

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. (1 Corinthians 12:1)

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Paul starts out this whole section by telling the Corinthians that he does not want them to be uninformed. I could try and go into the ancient language and show how we get our word agnostic from the Greek word used in the text. Therefore, Paul is telling us to not be agnostic, or possibly apathetic, about these gifts. And I think such is valid to consider.

But with regards to the Corinthians, they were already wanting these gifts to operate in their gatherings. They were just misusing them most of the time. So Paul is challenging them to be correctly informed about the gifts and how to utilise them. Hence his practical exposition in chapter 14 in regards to the three speech gifts of prophecy, tongues and interpretation.

Still, here is a challenge for us today, to those who say they are ‘open’. I really believe it would be sad if our motto for the rest of our lives is that we were ‘open’ but we never saw the gifts utilised in our gatherings, in our lives, in our world. I don’t believe openness is the end goal with regards to these gifts of the Spirit.

I don’t want to simply be open to Jesus. I want to truly follow the divine God-Man.

I don’t want to simply be open to the gifts of the Spirit. I want to see us truly used with these gifts, for they are given for the ‘common good’ (1 Corinthians 12:7).

But to be honest, many of us don’t know where to start. Now, there is the possibility that God could simply impart the knowledge and understanding so that we are no longer uniformed. He is sovereign, so by no means do I want to deny Him such a right and privilege. But it seems the normal way, at least that I have noticed, is that God likes to use others in the body of Christ to help us understand certain spiritual aspects. Hence why I believe God gives leaders within the church – to equip the saints (see Ephesians 4:11-16). I learned how to walk with Jesus from a man that had been doing it for a couple of decades. And, oddly enough, he also taught me about the reality of the Spirit of God and His gifts.

Still, we can be left timid to take that step. Who do we trust? What do we study?

Well, we start by trusting God the Holy Spirit to be faithful and we start in Scripture. And, as we do so, we seriously ask God to start opening doors to specific people in our lives that are faithful with these gifts. I know we can turn on the television and watch a ‘Christian’ station and then we simply want to give up on this whole mess. Not all of those on the tv are bad and unhealthy. But, by far, most are. I am ashamed of this truth.

But this leaves us with the necessity of pressing into God. Remember, as we like to say in regards to the gifts, He is sovereign. So, let’s trust Him enough to connect us to people who are honest, real, authentic, biblical, wise, faithful, and walk out a whole host of other Christlike characters, as well as look to see these gifts operate today. Those guys I listed earlier on seem to fall in that vein. And you might think of a handful of others.

But I don’t want to be ‘open’ and also ‘uninformed’. I want to move towards seeing God’s people empowered in these gifts. This leads me on to the second verse, again quoted below:

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1)

Openness without earnest desire will lead down an unhealthy path. I am not sure it prepares our hearts for what God would truly desire.

Interestingly, we get our English word zeal from the Greek for ‘earnestly desire’. So the verse could also read: ‘Pursue love, and be zealous for the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.’

Are we zealous for these things of God, for they are of God?

Now I know the objection that is usually raised: I don’t think we should desire the gifts. We are to desire the Giver Himself.

The thing is this: we are challenged in Scripture to earnestly desire spiritual gifts. So, let’s take Paul’s words at face value. I think he really wanted God’s people to desire and be zealous for these things. And this was written to a people who were going overboard. So he simply wanted them to earnestly desire them in a healthy sense.

And this is why I believe Paul would say to earnestly desire the gifts. When the gifts of the Giver are utilised in our midst, we taste the Giver. I have no doubt about such.

So, though many can say they are open to these gifts, and I do respect such a stance, I think we cannot stop there. I don’t believe it’s the heart of God to only be open. Many are open to lots and lots of things. But, in our new life in Christ, we are not to remain open to the things of God. We are to walk them out in grace and truth.

Therefore, I believe it is God’s desire that we 1) not remain uninformed and 2) that we also earnestly desire these gifts of the Giver. For when we see these gifts operating in a faithful manner according to the heart of God, we will see the people of God built up, encouraged, strengthened, challenged and a whole lot more. As Paul said, this is all for the common good.

Let us be challenged to move past our openness and move into calling on God to stir both an understanding and a passion for His Spirit’s work.

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Posted in 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Corinthians 14, Gifts of the Spirit, prophecy

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Revelation – Not A Scary Word

Posted on February 22, 2010 by | 1 comment

by Scott

The word revelation has become a scary word for Christians, and even non-Christians.

Firstly, the word brings all sorts of negative and scary images to mind with regards to one’s eschatology, meaning how one thinks things are to be played out at the end of the age. Just go to Google images and type in the word revelation.

Many think of some sort of Armageddon, a final battle between evil and good. And, of course, that evil army will be headed up by the Satan-indwelt man himself known as anti-christ.

Even Hollywood has picked up on such things. Hey, if we can make a few bucks (or a few billion) off of people’s fear, let’s do it, right?

It grieves me to think that this might be the prevailing mindset of the average Christian.

Not only that, but the word revelation can become scary in regards to another issue – prophecy.

When one shares, ‘God has revealed something to me,’ we get a little uncomfortable, don’t we?

I believe this is also the prevailing mindset within the church. We cannot imagine God still revealing things, prophecy still being needed or even brought forth today. It’s dangerous, right?

With regards to revelation today, we can think of many cults and sects that have formed very odd beliefs. Or, maybe even worse, we have images of the kind of wacky people on ‘Christian’ television. Though they seem to spout of such spiritual visions and revelations, we all feel they are a bit odd. Again, we are uncomfortable with not only their clothes or hairdos, but their words as well.

Hence, the word revelation has been destroyed, as many other words have within Christianity.

But a prevailing nugget of wisdom I have held to for quite some time now is this: Misuse and abuse should never lead us to no use, rather it should lead us to healthy and biblical use.

With regards to revelation, in the sense of God speaking and unveiling His heart, we have a lot of baggage to deal with. But we cannot let the baggage hinder us. I know lots of things that are abused – marriage, parenthood, heretical beliefs about Christ, ungodly leadership in the church, and a whole host of other things. But I am not going to give up on any of these items, as I believe we are called to know what the Bible teaches on these matters and be faithful in staying connected to wise and strong believers. These two important aspects help guard against misuse and abuse.

The word revelation simply means an unveiling or an uncovering. And that is what it means in regards to God speaking today.

Yes, I believe God still speaks today, nor did He ever stop. Maybe we stopped listening or maybe we formulated a neat box that told God He does not do that stuff anymore. But God keeps communicating, God keeps unveiling His heart, God keeps uncovering His truth.

No, none of this is in opposition to the Scriptures, His God-breathed word. It was never meant to. The Scriptures stand as our measuring stick for the beliefs and practise of our faith. That is healthy. And, as I stated above, we are called (though many forget) to stay connected to the body of Christ, both wise leaders and other faithful people with whom we are relationally connected, to guard our hearts from wrong belief and practise. Ninety-nine out of 100 times, this will help us steer clear of that horrible misuse and abuse.

Now, I am aware that a prevailing belief amongst many is that, once the foundation of the apostolic gospel was laid out, which is now summarised in the New Testament Scriptures, there would no longer be a need for God to reveal anything. The Bible is the closed canon on the revelation of God, thus, we no longer need revelation.

But I believe such is a misnomer.

I’m not going to deal with all the passages that arise from cessationists – 1 Corinthians 13:8-12; 2 Corinthians 12:12; Hebrews 1:1-2; and Hebrews 2:3-4. Suffice it to say that I believe these passages are well misunderstood by cessationists, but maybe I’ll write some posts on each passage in the future.

Rather than make a defence against what I believe are wrong understandings in regards to those passages, I want to share a few other things.

First off, let me say that I really do respect Christians who see the Scriptures – Old and New Testaments – as the standard for our faith. Though I don’t agree with the cessationist viewpoint – hard or soft – I do applaud the noble desire to be faithful to God through this main revelatory document in the Scriptures. If only we all stood on such similar ground. I’m not buttering anyone up here. I really do mean this.

And with regards to God’s redemptive purposes, there is no other word that can be added to it. Jesus Christ is the final word in regards to the covenant revelation of God’s plan of redemption for mankind. That’s what I believe the writer to the Hebrews was getting at in Hebrews 1:1-2.

Hence why I think that groups like Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses are dangerous. They’ve really begun to add to God’s redemptive revelation in Christ. That is by far one of the most dangerous things we can do.

But, though I believe there is no more to add to God’s redemptive revelation, there is, and has always been, the reality that God has continued to unveil His heart and purposes for His people.

Remember, revelation is an unveiling and an uncovering. And for God to reveal something today, or any time over the past 1,900 years or so (following what became the New Testament canon), it has been from His desire to make known His counsel and will to His people and to the world.

But what we can easily fall into is believing that all revelation was somehow recorded in Scripture. Thus, with all revelation being recorded in the Bible, with Christ being the final word, we no longer need such.

Yet all of God’s revelation was never recorded in Scripture. A good major chunk of it was. And we know and are convinced it is God-breathed revelation. Still, there was quite a lot that was spoken, maybe even written, that never made it in to the Scriptures.

Paul makes it clear in places like 1 Corinthians 14:26:

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson [teaching], a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.

Whoa! Paul expected the Corinthians believers, who had some serious problems to say the least, could bring forth revelation when they gathered together. I think this is simply amazing!

It wasn’t down to twelve men, or twelve men plus a few. It was down to the body of Christ in their calling as a prophetic community.

Still, one of the more powerful passages in regards to prophecy, or revelation, that did not make it into Scripture is Paul’s words to Timothy:

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, 19 holding faith and a good conscience…(1 Timothy 1:18-19)

These words, these prophecies, were never penned in any part of Scripture, that we know of. Yet Paul makes it clear that these prophecies could be utilised in waging good warfare, as well as holding to the faith and a good conscience. Must have been pretty powerful revelatory words!

And I don’t even think all of the words came from Paul. In 1 Timothy 4:14, we read that a gift was imparted to Timothy through prophecy and that this was done by the ‘council of elders’. Paul was probably there as well (see 2 Timothy 1:6), but it was highly probable that a few different people spoke forth the prophecies (notice the plural in prophecies).

Again, these prophecies were never recorded in Scripture, but they were worth holding onto. Timothy could actually live out the faith with greater strength by remembering these words of revelation.

And, if we are honest, we will truly recognise that every revelatory word spoken by a prophet, apostle, or any man or woman of God, did not find its way into Scripture. I don’t believe God ever planned it that way. Well, actually, I’m certain He didn’t plan it that way, even if I only had the two examples above.

But are these words to be on equal grounds with Scripture?

That’s a tough one. I know what the easy answer is, that being, ‘No, they are not equal.’

But I don’t want to take the easy answer, even though it could save us lots of pain and work. I really want to think this through.

I will say this: whatever is truly of God is truly of God. Sounds too simple, right? But whatever revelation He has unveiled, He has unveiled. Still sounds too simple. And we know that, practically, it’s not that easy.

Still, it would be easy, even for a continuationist like myself, to create a two-tier system for revelation. It’s like those who try and create a two-tier system of apostles: Apostle (with a capital A) and apostles (with a lower-case a). Or Miracles and miracles.

The problem is this: I’m not sure the Bible really creates two tiers for any of these, even with regards to revelation.

Now, what I do recognise is that there is revelation that is central to God’s redemptive purposes. This is centrally found in the summation of the gospel in Jesus Christ. That is the goal of God’s revelation in the end – to move towards Jesus and the new covenant gospel.

So, in a sense, we could say that all other revelation must submit to that ultimate goal. And I happy to stand on such solid ground. But the thing is, we find that the Scriptures themselves contain things that are not actually central to the gospel and the final word of God’s redemptive revelation in Jesus Christ.

I’m not even talking about Paul’s words to Timothy about taking a little wine to help his stomach ailment (see 1 Timothy 5:23) or to remember his cloak that he left in Troas (see 2 Timothy 4:13).

I’m thinking about Agabus’ prophecies (i.e. Acts 11:28-30) or the prophecies brought forth by the Ephesian disciples (see Acts 19:1-7) or the prophecies spoken by the Corinthian believers (see 1 Corinthians 14:5).

These were revelations, worthy of being weighed and discerned, but they were probably not central to the apostolic gospel.

So that makes them less than, right?

Well, I believe they were still worth listening to, still worth abiding by, still worth being challenged with. That’s what happened with Agabus’s words – the people listened and acted. And Paul tells the Corinthians that an unbeliever can hear a prophecy and have the secrets of his heart disclosed (see 1 Corinthians 14:24-25). Not to mention, again, that Paul said Timothy would do well to hold on to the prophecies made to him (see the passage above).

So, then, all are equal?

Again, this is hard. I know the easy answer, but this is what I will say.

The final word of Jesus Christ in the gospel and new covenant are the ultimate goal of all God’s revelation. Even this phrase in Revelation 19:10 gives great insight: For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. And it is the Scriptures that are the greatest summation and attestation to that revelation of redemption as administered by the Triune God. So the Scriptures are to stand as a canon, as a measuring stick.

But, by no means, do I believe this means that we should throw out revelation and prophecy today. Again, it will not add to God’s revelation of redemption in Christ. But true prophetic revelation will bring clarity, will stir faith, will unveil God’s heart and will be faithful to God’s revelation in Christ in Scripture. It, too, can stand as a two-edged sword, as it truly is an unveiling from God.

We don’t need 3 Thessalonians and we don’t need 4 John. But we need the voice of the living God to speak, to bring revelation, to bring forth visions of His heart for His people and His world today. And I am so thankful we have the Scriptures, as well as the body of Christ for 2000 years, to help us guard against false revelation, false prophecy. I want to keep our present-day revelations submitted to what I am certain is His faithful revelation in the Bible.

Oh God, speak by Your Spirit. It’s your desire. Make it our desire.

Do not despise prophecies (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:1).

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Posted in Gifts of the Spirit, prophecy, revelation