New revelation? Or sufficiency of Scripture

A fundamental principle of historical Protestantism is the conviction that the Canon of scripture has now been closed, therefore, no new revelation is required.

The Scriptures we have today are complete, sufficient, reliable and true.

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (NKJV)

and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The above statement from Paul establishes Scripture as the standard of truth above all human opinions, speculations and emotions.

The Bible stands alone as a doctrine of absolute truth, and it speaks with a degree of authority that is unmatched by any other source of information.

• Does this mean that God has stopped speaking? Certainly not, but He speaks to us today through His all-sufficient word.
• Does the spirit of God move our hearts and impress us with specific duties / callings? Certainly He does, but He works through the word of God to do that.

Such experiences do not involve new “revelation” but “illumination.” Where the Holy Spirit applies the word of God to our hearts and opens our spiritual eyes to the truth.

It is important not to let our subjective experiences, thoughts, and imaginations eclipse the authority and certainty of the word of God.

According to the Bible, new revelation through prophets was only meant for the foundation age of the church.

Ephesians 2:19-20 (NKJV)

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,

If we don’t hold to the uniqueness and inherency of the Bible, we will have no way of distinguishing God’s voice from man’s. We will also have no way of distinguishing between those claiming to be speaking in the name of God and faithful teachers. With no basis of authority, believers are often left with no means to decipher whether the supposed prophets are right or wrong.

The renowned preacher Charles Spurgeon had this to say to those who came to him with supposed words of revelation from the Holy Spirit:

Take care never to impute the vain imaginings of your fancy to him [the Holy Spirit]. I have seen the Spirit of God shamefully dishonoured by persons—I hope they were insane—who have said that they have had this and that revealed to them. There has not for some years passed over my head a single week in which I have not been pestered with the revelations of hypocrites or maniacs. Semi-lunatics are very fond of coming with messages from the Lord to me, and it may spare them some trouble if I tell them once for all that I will have none of their stupid messages. . . . Never dream that events are revealed to you by heaven, or you may come to be like those idiots who dare impute their blatant follies to the Holy Ghost. If you feel your tongue itch to talk nonsense, trace it to the devil, not to the Spirit of God. Whatever is to be revealed by the Spirit to any of us is in the word of God already—he adds nothing to the Bible, and never will. Let persons who have revelations of this, that, and the other, go to bed and wake up in their senses. I only wish they would follow the advice and no longer insult the Holy Ghost by laying their nonsense at his door.

If Spurgeon’s words may sound harsh, read what Jeremiah 23 says about similar warnings concerning false prophecy.

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. . . . I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings. . . . I have heard what the prophets have said who prophesy lies in My name, saying, ‘I have dreamed, I have dreamed!’ How long will this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies? Indeed they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart. . . . Behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who use their tongues and say, ‘He [the Lord] says.’ Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord.

There is no warrant in Scripture for believers to seek or listen for fresh revelation from God beyond what He has already revealed to us. As a matter of fact, Scripture warns/condemns all those who claim to speak falsely or presumptuously in the Lord’s name (Deuteronomy 18).

Inevitably, whenever a movement arises that emphasizes the need for “new” revelations, the Scriptures are often neglected in response. The thinking is often amongst the lines of “why bother trying to interpret an ancient book accurately when the living God communicates with us every day?”

It is a sad reality that the carnal mind prefers subjective “fresh revelation” over the more sure word of God. It is considered more important for the church to teach based on a vision or voice in the head than on the complete and sufficient word of God.

It is also for this reason that believers who are taught that God is giving them “fresh revelation” are among those whose Bibles are often left on shelves collecting dust.

It is clear that all of these additions to scripture do not have any legitimate authority over the lives and consciences of any believer.

There is no doubt that the Holy Spirit is working mightily in the church today, but not in the way that most charismatics believe He is. His role is to empower believers through preaching, teaching, writing, talking, witnessing, thinking, serving, and living.

He surely does lead us into God’s truth, and directs us into God’s will for our lives but He does it through God’s Word and never apart from it.

Many churches today make the mistake of referring to the Holy Spirit’s leading and empowering ministry as inspiration or revelation and they wrongly use phrases such as “God spoke to me,” or “This wasn’t my idea; the Lord gave it to me,” or “These aren’t my words, but a message I received from the Lord,” ~ all of these statements confuse the issue of the Spirit’s direction in believers’ lives today.

By inviting such confusions, we play into the hands of errors and delusions that undermine the unique authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

Pastor John MacArthur in his book “Charismatic Chaos” summarized it well;

“The Reformers fought such errors with the principle of Sola Scriptura. Charismatics have abandoned that crucial precept. Now the true church in the twentieth century must fight for the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word. We dare not surrender to a theology that gives tradition or experience equal weight to Scripture. The uniqueness of God’s revelation in the Bible is at stake. The Bible’s own claim for itself is being challenged. It is an error to which those who love the Word of God cannot acquiesce.

  There is no substitute for the Word of God. There is no “something more.” Don’t seek energy for the spiritual walk in the empty “prophecies” of someone’s imagination. Don’t look for guidance in the uncertain counsel of feelings and intuition. Don’t set your course by the erroneous signpost of some self-deluded prophet’s exhortation. God has given us his Word, which is “profitable for teaching,” “ for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16). That is all the truth we need—for every spiritual need in life.”