Word from God - How God Speaks to Humanity
There is more than a distinct possibility, rather an irrefutable fact that God has communicated with humanity but it is not the mystical “word from God” that some bizarre mystical cults might claim. Within each of us is an overwhelming passion to know and embrace a deity of some sort due to the naturally in-born conscience in every man, woman and child.
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What about other religions?
Many religions around the world have their own ideas of how their gods speak to them. For the Hindu, it may be 1 of 30 million gods and goddesses, for the Muslim it may be the god, Allah, invented by Mohammad, or for the Buddhist, they may disobey Siddhartha Gauthama (The Buddha) himself and offer worship to him, or for the Christian it is the God of the Bible, the God of all creation Jesus Christ.
So for the animist, some Buddhists, the Muslim, the Jew, and the Hindu, these all have the same communication resulting in a drive, albeit wrongly placed, to know and embrace deity in some way, shape, or form which shows that within each man is a built-in device pulling and drawing them to know the One True God Almighty found in scripture. But has God already communicated His preferred method of speaking to His creation? Let’s take a look…
How God Reveals Himself to Mankind
General Revelation
The first and primary method by which we receive a “word from God” is via general revelation. The Bible tells us that God reveals Himself in His own creation which mankind can experience with the senses that God has given him:
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy."
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of people who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, being understood by what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their reasonings, and their senseless hearts were darkened."
Internal Moral Law
The second method by which humanity receives a “word from God” is by way of the interal moral law. The Bible also tells us that God reveals Himself internally to us through His moral law written in the conscience of all mankind which is communicated in Romans 1:18 above and also in Romans chapter 2:
"For when Gentiles who do not have the Law naturally do the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they demonstrate the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus."
These two forms of revelation are sufficient for someone without the Bible to turn from their sins and cry out to the God of heaven and earth i.e. “call on the name of the Lord” which is why the isolated tribe in Africa or South America, the wealthy atheist businessman, or the aborigine in central Australia is “without excuse”. These constitute a more sure “word from God”
Mankind is so broken, fallen and insistent on rebelling against these two forms of revelation which serve as witnesses, but the Lord provides a third witness: His Holy Scriptures. These might be provided audibly to the isolated individual by the street preacher, the missionary or even you when you share the Gospel. Sometimes the Scriptures are distributed in written form either in a Gospel tract or via a printed Bible:
"How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
How do we get a "word from God"? Through His Word - The Bible
The Lord also reveals Himself to the believer through His word:
"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work."
The Second Timothy passage reveals the fulness of revelation provided in the Scriptures when Paul tells Timothy that the “sacred writings; which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”. The Bible provides truth for the justification of the unbeliever and the sanctification of the believer.
Justification, sanctification, and glorification comprise the threefold salvific process and if believers and unbelievers apply its message, the Bible is effective to accomplish this complete salvation from start to finish. This passage also reveals the sufficiency of the Bible in making the “man of God”, that is all believers male and female, fully complete and equipped for every good work which we will cover more fully in the Essential #6: Authority and Sufficiency of the Bible chapter to follow. This passage states that if the man of God has the Bible, he can hear from God directly on how he is to live his life while still in the world (though not ‘of’ the world) and how to best fulfill God’s will for his life; the will of God also being revealed in Scripture.
God uses His word to reveal His attributes, the sinful state of mankind and justifiable expectation of hell, God’s perfect plan of salvation and the expression of His love in the gift of His Son as propitiation of sins. This is made clear to us in the passage we mentioned earlier in the book of John where Jesus told the Pharisees that they thought they had eternal life in the Scriptures, that is through obedience to the Law but Jesus corrected them in saying “it is these (the Scriptures) that testify of Me!” – John 5:39-40. The Bible also reveals the holiness of God and the righteous life of faith for all those who have put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. God reveals the way of life for the believer and the blessings contained in putting His word into practice:
"Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, And on His Law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season, And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."
God has revealed Himself in His creation, in our conscience and in His word the Bible. His method of revelation in His word comes through speaking to us by His word which we will cover in the next section.
The Bible is fully sufficient & authoritative for a word from God.
With the exception of a few Epistles of Paul, the entirety of the New Testament was written to “the saints…” or “the believers at…” and not to a priest, pastor or ‘anointed man of God’ to disseminate to the believers thereafter. The sufficiency of the Bible also means that the man of God can hear from the Lord through the Bible and he doesn’t have to go to a special ‘anointed’ leader, meditate in an Eastern mystical fashion where he “clears his mind”, or “wait silently” for a phantom “still small voice” to speak in his mind. These are all decidedly unbiblical approaches to hearing from God and as such, they lead to profound deception and derailment of one’s Christian walk.
"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy."
There are many sad tales of professing believers who were in need of a ‘word from the Lord’ about their dire situation then visited someone with a supposed ‘gift of prophecy’ or just sat quietly and listened to their own inner voice believing it to be the very voice of God. Their dire situations only grew worse (like mine) and they grew frustrated and disappointed with the Lord because in their minds ‘God’ said He was going to do a thing and then He never did.
The truth is, they rejected His word, the Bible because they were taught either implicitly or explicitly that the Bible was insufficient to hear from God and those other methods were much more ‘spiritual’. The Bible says that God is not man that he should lie (Num 23:19) God never spoke to them or to me in those ways.
I can state this confidently and definitively because the Bible tells us that God no longer speaks to us as He did to the prophets of old, that is in dark sayings or face-to-face in Moses’ case. Now He speaks through His Son who then specifically said that He speaks through the Apostles:
"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."
"He who hears you (the disciples) hears Me (Jesus), he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."
These Apostles, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote Jesus’ words down and were given other words from Him to write down for both believers and unbelievers:
"The one who does not love Me does not follow My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. These things I have spoken to you while remaining with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you."
God does speak to His children and He speaks to them clearly in His word. God’s word is perfect. In fact, it was so perfect in the days that He spoke to His prophets that if someone came along professing to be “speaking for God”, the Lord gave His people (and us) two tests to determine whether these so-called prophets are from Him or not:
1. Failed Prophecy
"And if thou think in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a Prophet speaketh in the Name of the Lord, if the thing follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the Prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not therefore be afraid of him."
2. Introduction to a different god
"If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul."
God uses His word to reveal His attributes, the sinful state of mankind and justifiable expectation of hell, God’s perfect plan of salvation and the expression of His love in the gift of His Son as propitiation of sins. This is made clear to us in the passage we mentioned earlier in the book of John where Jesus told the Pharisees that they thought they had eternal life in the Scriptures, that is through obedience to the Law but Jesus corrected them in saying “it is these (the Scriptures) that testify of Me!” – John 5:39-40. The Bible also reveals the holiness of God and the righteous life of faith for all those who have put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. God reveals the way of life for the believer and the blessings contained in putting His word into practice:
It was a very serious offense to get God’s word wrong in the time of Moses and it still is today. God’s word is perfect, He doesn’t speak through prophets anymore. From the time of Christ until now, He speaks by His word which is recorded and preserved for us in the Bible, His word is perfect, never wrong and fully sufficient.
As we’ve discussed already, it is not perfect in its spelling, usage and grammar as all manuscripts have a number of these small ‘variants’. It is not perfect in its cultural and linguistic translation as first century Greek culture may not perfectly translate to 21st century Swahili culture. However, it is perfect in its message and purpose as we’ve previously discussed. It is for this reason that we can confidently read our Bible and upon properly interpreting/handling it, we can arrive at what God is saying to us today. We will give considerable attention to the critical process of rightfully interpreting God’s word but before we do, let’s first examine some popular but erroneous methods of attempting to hear God today.
Erroneous methods of hearing a Word from God
1. The Still Small Voice Method:
I must come clean at this point with a full confession: I not only believed and followed this approach to “hearing from God” but as a Bible study leader, I even taught this approach, which is to my shame. As I’ve mentioned already, this method has miserably failed me in the past and caused me to grow frustrated in my Christian walk and I would like to spare any and all readers from this. I never knew when that small voice inside my head, that “impression” as some would call it, was actually God, my own imagination or something flat out demonic. On occasion that impression would be spot on correct but more often than not, that “still small voice” was miserably wrong or even destructive to the things I was attempting to carry out in order to do my part for the body of Christ.
If the still small voice was wrong 60-70% of the time does that mean that God was wrong? If I hear Him incorrectly 60-70% of the time, how then did I hear Him correctly 30-40% of the time? God speaks perfectly without fail every.single.time and with no shadow of turning so the error was all mine. But what about the times that still small voice was correct? Many Bible teachers today provide what I believe to be the best answer to this, “A broken clock is right twice a day”. I was simply listening and attempting to hear God in a combined naturalistic and mystical manner. The correct method of communication from God is determined and revealed by God in His own word, the Bible. Therefore, the Bible becomes our standard of the correct and incorrect methods of trying to hear from the Lord.
I recently visited a church here in the UK where one of my in-laws was being baptized and the message of the Associate Pastor was “How to Hear the Voice of God”. I immediately perked up to hear what he had to say as I had never heard the Free Methodist perspective on this topic. Amazingly, he presented the same take that I had both heard and taught many times before as a Pentecostal. He even used the same presentation style of teaching as we used, often moving from verse to verse throughout the Bible aggregating passages to support this view of hearing from God (a teaching style I would strongly recommend avoiding if you hope to achieve sound exegetical teaching).
We’ll call this approach the “still small voice” method of hearing from God which is perhaps the most popular amongst evangelicals (on both sides of the pond) today. At first glance this formula sounds incredibly spiritual and appealing to the natural man but make no mistake, it will ultimately lead to a train-wrecked Christian walk or at best a sickening roller coaster ride of ups and downs in our walk. It will hinder maturity and spiritual growth resulting in a terminally immature Christian and I don’t want that for any of the readers of this book. I’ve broken this method down into the typical five-point formula as I’ve either taught or heard it taught over the last 30 years. Some of the following 5 points contain doctrine which is “implicit” in the teaching whereas other bits of doctrine are “explicit” and are taught almost word-for-word across the Evangelical world:
Error #1: God speaks by impression in your heart – a still small voice of sorts – so you must clear/still your mind so you don’t miss it! (explicitly taught)
Error #2: God speaks (or confirms the impression) by an inner peace which means ‘yes’ or a lack of peace or uneasy feeling which should be taken as a ‘no’. (explicitly taught)
Error #3: God speaks or confirms this impression by our circumstances surrounding the need. (explicitly taught) If the circumstances are easy and pleasing, we would call those “open doors” which means ‘yes’. If the circumstances are troublesome and difficult, we would say those are “closed doors” which means ‘no’. (usually implicitly taught – but some might bravely teach this explicitly i.e. they will say the quiet part out loud.)
Error #4: God also speaks by the Bible sometimes. (explicitly taught) But this is just an afterthought as you won’t really find any specific information in there. It is probably best to go off the still small voice, feelings and circumstances as they are much more reliable and measurable. (Implicitly communicating the rejection of the sufficiency and authority of the Bible)
Error #5: God uses any combination of the first 4 points to confirm that it is His word to you, or…He may not confirm it at all. (this is taught explicitly). If God does not confirm either way i.e. no good or bad feelings or circumstances and no clear scripture condemning it then this could be God’s way of telling you that you should probably just “step out in faith” as Peter did when he walked on the water toward Jesus in Matthew chapter 14. (this is taught both implicitly and explicitly)
Let's take a look at these errors one by one
Although the Methodist Pastor’s teaching contained five bullet points, the actual practical application of this method might only include two or three of these points such as point 1 – God speaks by a still small voice or impression in your heart and point 4. God speaks by the Bible as well and point 5. God uses a combination of these two and we must “test the voice” by the word of God etc. I’ll break down all five points and point out the scriptures used to incorrectly justify them:
Error #1: A person can receive a word from God by an impression in your heart, a whisper-like still small voice
This method is usually justified by misappropriating and misinterpreting a one-off obscure passage of Scripture found in First Kings:
"And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?"
- The first issue with this method is one of literary device. The author gives this entire book as an historical narrative of recorded events and accounts. In no way was it given as a didactic passage which is intended for deriving doctrine of any kind, much less one as important as hearing the voice of God.
The second issue here is that this is the only place in the Bible where this still small voice idea is even vaguely mentioned. Nowhere else in Scripture do we see this concept communicated which means we must avoid using it for doctrine as it has no further support anywhere in the Bible.
Finally, on a more technical note, Chris Roseborough, a Lutheran Pastor and founder of Fighting for the Faith Ministry, brilliantly exegetes the Hebrew word qowl for us and explains that the word “voice” in the English was translated by the Septuagint, the Latin Vulgate, and all early English Bibles as a “small wind” or “hyssing” as Wycliffe interpreted it. It wasn’t until 1537 in the Matthew Bible, that Rogers and possibly Tyndale, introduced the English word “voice” as the English translation for the Hebrew word “qowl”. The earlier translations of “small wind” fits the context of the passage far better as it would have been odd that Elijah would hear a small voice, then wrap his face, leave the still small voice, and go to the front of a cave…where he would hear a voice…that wasn’t small. If Elijah heard the small wind or hissing he would have known the cataclysm of natural phenomena was over and he could then safely proceed to the front of the cave with wrapped face to hear from the Lord; which is what the text tells us he did.
Error #2: God speaks or confirms the inner small voice by providing an inner peace
This method is usually justified by misappropriating and misinterpreting a one-off obscure passage of Scripture found in the book of Isaiah:
"You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You."
This passage has nothing to do with confirming whether or not God is speaking to you. It is only wisdom with a conditional promise that as believers set their minds on the God who is sovereign, sufficient and loving, their anxious, worried thoughts will vanish and a perfect peace will follow.
Trusting in a ‘feeling’ or ‘sense’ of peace as a barometer for the voice of God is very similar to the “burning in the bosom” approach which Mormons rely on to confirm the truth of the Book of Mormon – a plagiarized book of falsehood.
God does not need to ‘confirm’ His word as He never leaves any doubt that He has spoken. We don’t hear of the Apostles waiting on a ‘confirmation’ nor do we see them encouraging believers to seek out a ‘confirmation’. God has spoken clearly in His word which is fully sufficient for the life of a believer.
“Inner peace” is never spoken of as something God provides in order for one to know that He has spoken. We are told in the book of Colossians to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, for to this you were called as members of one body” (Col 3:15). We are to “let” Christ’s peace rule in us and not pray and await God to re-give us something which He already gave to us when we were first saved.
Feelings of peace can be dead wrong – we can feel a peace in the midst of some of our worst choices in life simply because we have rejected the sufficiency of scripture and have made choices which are contrary to what the Bible instructs. Conversely, we can feel a sense of ‘no peace’ which could be due to any number of reasons: anxiety, worry, disbelief in God’s promises etc. This erratic barometer is not something that God would use to gauge truth.
Error #3: God confirms His word to you with circumstances.
Tragically, this is sometimes carried out in the egregious act of “laying a fleece” which is Pentecostal-eze for “testing the Lord” which comes from a misappropriated and misinterpreted obscure passage in the book of Judges:
So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said. look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
This practice of “laying a fleece” is a sinful testing of the Lord. NEVER was this passage in Judges intended as doctrine. It is an historical narrative explaining an extraordinary interaction with God (think ‘stopping the Sun’ and Abraham’s sliced animals covenant dream). There is nothing in this passage to suggest that believers today or even Israelites from 3300 years ago were supposed to duplicate this process to ‘confirm’ that God has spoken. To the Law to the Testimony! God has already spoken in the Bible and His voice is clear as a bell to a believer with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
- As with error #2, God does not speak to us in dark sayings as He did with the prophets of old but He now speaks clearly to us through His Son – whose words were heard audibly by eyewitnesses, written, recorded and preserved for us so that we can know what God is saying to us each and every time. The trustworthy Bible is the barometer that God instructs us to use to gauge truth.
Jesus refutes the practice of relying on circumstances as a barometer for hearing His voice when He tells us that the words that He has spoken (past tense) were given to us so that in HIM we would have peace but that in the world we will have difficulty and hardship (tribulation):
"These things I have spoken to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
God would not use the constant up and down nature of circumstances as some kind of barometer for truth – we are told to be “thankful in all circumstances”. Why would He say this if sometimes He gives us bad circumstances to confirm His word? All of the martyrs who were imprisoned, tormented and killed for their faith – was God confirming that He wasn’t in their suffering with them, or that they had not ‘heard’ from the Lord?
Finally, circumstances can be wildly manipulated demonically and by our flesh and as such, they are not to be trusted as a method of confirming God’s private word to us in any way.
Whereas we do not view God’s word through the lens of our circumstances, we are exhorted to view our circumstances through the lens of God’s word.
Error #4: God speaks by the Bible…but only sometimes as a support device.
There is no real scripture used to support this erroneous idea of the Scriptures as a “sometimes the voice of God” or as a “supporting tool” to gain confirmation of the ‘whispering’ voices the praying mystic hears in his/her head.
Although it may not be phrased exactly like this, make no mistake – this is exactly what is meant when the Bible is tossed in as an afterthought to discerning the Lord’s voice. Looking and trusting only partially in what the word of God has to say about a situation is a complete rejection of the sufficiency of scripture which Paul taught in 2 Timothy:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
It could be said that hearing from God in His word requires effort whereas waiting around for an arbitrary feeling or circumstance requires little to no effort – so if we are immature in the faith, which approach would be more appealing? The problem is that the one which is most appealing to our flesh is the very approach that will land us in a spiritual ditch.
Error #5: God speaks by way of combining elements of errors 1-4 to confirm the still small voice.
This is ultimately the most common presentation of the “How God Speaks to the Christian” teaching. It makes sense that Methodists embrace it as it is formulaic in its methodology. It also makes sense that Pentecostals embrace it as it allows them to prioritize their inner feelings and intuitions when hearing the “voice of God”, preserves their preferred mystical approaches to relating with God and even adds just the right sprinkling of Bible passages to allow them to feel like they are obedient.
- If this formula for hearing God is true then Paul must have lied when he said that the Scriptures can make the man of God both complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work. We know Paul wasn’t lying and that he spoke as he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, therefore those are the words of God testifying to the sufficiency of His own word – never does He say to look to feelings of peace, still small voices or up and down circumstances in order to be complete as a Christian – He only says this of His word the Bible.
In addition to these hermeneutical failings, we also have an issue with the very mechanism by which these “still small voices” supposedly come to us: our brain. Our brain is a “dual use” tool. It requires an ongoing renewal and the daily maintenance of taking thoughts captive to the authority of Christ. This means it is broken, not yet fully sanctified and can therefore be nefariously manipulated by our flesh, the world and the demonic realm:
The Flesh: The brain can be used by our flesh which the Bible describes as “the old nature” fallen and contrary to God. Remember, it is our spirit that was regenerated in Christ but our minds require ongoing renewal. The mind can be an agent to fulfil our own fleshly desires if left to itself.
The world system: This inner impression is also susceptible to suggestion by the world which the Bible refers to as enmity with God. Secular marketers spend billions upon billions in advertising and entertainment just to influence our inner voices in hopes to persuade our will with an urge like “I need that!” or “I must buy now or I’ll miss out!” etc. They spend all this money for one reason: it works – our inner voice can be externally manipulated.
Demonic Realm: The inner voice can be used by satanic entities who are capable of whispering impressions to anyone, especially those involved in the occult. I often think of the ominous quote given by the Australian neurophysiologist, John Eccles who said, “The brain is simply a machine which requires a ghost to operate it.”34 To Eccles, this ‘ghost’ is the human mind and it is from this concept that the expression “ghost in the machine” originates. If Eccles was correct, the brain can not only be manipulated by our imaginative mind but can also be manipulated by malevolent spirits. Therefore, the brain itself cannot be considered an infallible or reliable source of confirming God’s voice.
I first learned the still small voice approach early in my Christian walk at various Pentecostal churches in Las Vegas so you can imagine my shock 33 years later and thousands of miles away in a different culture to hear the same erroneous teaching delivered in the same erroneous way!
The question to ask is: Why would a holy perfect God want to deliver His holy and perfect word which is never wrong through the broken receiver of our inner thoughts, feelings and voices? He would not do this and as I’ve mentioned previously, nowhere in His word does He say that He will speak to us this way. His word the Bible is perfect and it is through the Bible that He speaks to you and me. The sooner we settle this in our hearts (mind and emotion) the faster we can get back on track in our walk or get off the time-wasting roller coaster which might be stunting our growth in Christ.
Final Summary: A Word from God - How God Speaks
For the unbelievers in the One True God e.g. Islam, Hindus, Jews, Buddhists, Atheists, Charismatic Cults and Roman Catholics) The LORD speaks to these i.e. delivers a word from God through general revelation, the internal conscience of His moral law and then He communicates the saving gospel to them through His word – The Bible:
First, to the unbeliever, that we are all desperately lost in disobedience, defiance, and deception toward the God of the Bible and opt instead for the delusion that He does not exist OR for a god of our own mind because we simply find Him…unacceptable. This rejection of the King of Glory ultimately results in the eternal separation from Him – which is nothing more than our heart’s wish for our entire lives. As “All good and perfect gifts come from the Father of Lights” (James 1:17) this separation from Him at death is the absolute and complete removal of any and all things that have anything whatsoever to do with God Himself: all things good – comfort, satisfaction, peace, rest – are all lost forever as they are/were products of Him to our mortal bodies that we might turn and have our dead spirits brought to life (John 3:3)! This eternal separation is communicated to us in the Bible as Hell.
God the Father sent His Son to die for this disobedience, defiance, and deception of ours so that as John 1:12 says, “For as many as believed Him (Jesus) to them He gave the right to be called sons and daughters of God, to those who trust in His (Jesus) name” WE broke the law, resulting in the eternal death penalty, Jesus paid the fine and if the Judge Himself pays the fine and we believe in Him for it, we are free in Him. So we see that God communicates the solution for the unbeliever.
For the believer , that is, one who has put their faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sinful heart, God communicates that His word – The Scriptures:
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Mankind does not need the mysticism of the charismatic cults to receive a so-called ‘word from God’ whereby visions and internal whispers lead a person around by their nose into greater deception. We do not need a man-made hierarchy of Popes, Cardinals, Arch Bishops, Bishops, Priests and dead saints to receive a word from God. In fact we do not need ANYone acting as an “intercessor” between us and Almighty God – like the Roman Catholics, Charismatics and Cults demand.
We do not need to pray 5 times toward Mecca, go on a mandatory pilgrimmage, or execute “infidels” in a jihad, as the Muslims demand. We don’t have to face this unpredictable and unforgiving world alone as some abandoned creature fumbling through the darkness as the Buddhists and atheists live their lives.
We don’t need to work our way to God Almighty – He has, through His Son Jesus completed the work so that you and I can have eternal life and joy in Him if we are honest about our sin, humble in crying out, and repenting of our former dead fleshly behavior which comes from our former dead fleshly heart. Instead we cry out for a new heart, clinging to His finished work on the cross for our sake we can KNOW that we have eternal life in Him. Why? Because He HAS communicated it in His word and through His word the Bible.
No one receives eternal life and eternal presence with God (from Whom all good things come – James 1:17), by belonging to the right church, denomination, world religion, or by having a particular world view. Rather only those who trust in the Lord Jesus (preached by the Apostles in the Bible) for their own sin. We will not trust in a Savior for sins that we either don’t believe we have or that we think aren’t deserving of hell. But the Bible says that ALL have sin and the wages of that sin is eternal separation from God (death). The good news is that the Bible says that you can know that YOU have eternal life. Click the button below to see if you are genuinely saved from your sins according to the Bible:
Taken from "7 Essentials for Bible Literacy"
Much of this page has been an excerpt from my book “7 Essentials for Bible Literacy”. This book from Truth for Saints founder and author Andrew Hamilton equips Bible-believing Christians with a literacy of God’s word so that when an objection or question is raised about the Bible, you will be ready to provide a ready defense for the hope that lies within you ( 1 Peter 3:15).
This book is like 7 books in 1! And provides the following 7 essentials:
- Structure of the Bible
- Origins of the Bible
- Preservation of the Bible
- Reliability of the Bible
- Purpose of the Bible
- Authority and Sufficiency of the Bible
- Interpretation & Application of the Bible