I want to tackle a question that has been debated among Christ-followers for eons, and that is, ‘does God speak to us today beyond through His Word?’ I don’t believe that there is any question that God does speak to us through His Word, but that begs the question, ‘What about those who don’t have a written copy of the Bible?’ Consider this AI-generated excerpt taken from the web:
‘An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide—roughly \(20\%\) of the global church—have limited or no access to a personal copy of the Bible. This “modern famine” is driven by legal bans, intense persecution, and severe logistical/financial shortages in dozens of countries.’
So, according to this statistic, coupled with the testimony of certain groups, roughly 20% of the Christ-followers of the world are completely unable to hear from God. That doesn’t fit into the picture of God that I get from scripture and other people’s testimonies, but we’ll discuss this further along in this article.
Let me ask you a question designed specifically to get your thinking caps on. Why did God create man in the beginning? Was it not so that He would have a companion and a friend? Imagine for a minute that you just got engaged to be married. But, you are forced by circumstances (say you are in the military) to be separated from your love for a time. Would you write one letter outlining your love for them, with that being the only communication you have for the duration of your separation, or would you be in constant communication with them, every chance you got and every way that you could? So why do we try to put the same restrictions on God?
I made the statement earlier in this article that the picture that I get from the testimony of others and the Word of God doesn’t match this, frankly, twisted picture of our Lord Jesus. Setting aside the personal testimony aspect of things for a minute, let’s look at some scripture.
John 10:4-5 (KJV)
“[4] And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.
[5] And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
This passage of scripture clearly outlines the fact that the sheep (us, the church) identify and follow the voice of the shepherd (Jesus). The argument against this understanding is that this entire passage is only speaking of salvation, that once a person is made into a new creature in Christ, the Lord only speaks to them through His Word. Frankly, this take on things is both misleading and manipulative, with the end result being confused believers who are never able to fully understand the relationship between themselves and the LORD Jesus.
A couple of practical examples of God speaking to His people outside of the Word are found in the book of Acts with the apostle Paul. Let’s look at those scriptures.
Acts 13:2 (KJV)
“[2] As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate Me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”
Acts 16:6-7 (KJV)
“[6] Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
[7] after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.”
Notice that in BOTH of these examples, the message 1) came directly from the Holy Spirit, and 2) was personal, to the point that neither of these messages are found anywhere in the Old Testament, which was the only written Word that they had back then. And before the argument is made that this type of communication stopped with the death of the apostles, let’s look at another scripture.
Hebrews 13:8 (KJV)
“[8] Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
This verse makes it clear that Jesus never changes, and yet people try to push against the plain statement here that He doesn’t change, so let’s explore their main argument.
The most common and prevalent argument that I have heard made is that because God changed the rules of engagement with Him after the cross (the method of engagement, previously through animal sacrifice but now through Jesus), this means that He could have changed the rules of engagement after the canon of scripture was completed, and in their minds, He did. But when you really consider that the sacrificial system of the Old Testament was simply a shadow of the sacrifice of Jesus, along with the other shadows seen in the Old Testament (one being the temporary nature of the Holy Spirit dwelling ON believers in the Old Testament vs the indwelling nature of the Holy Spirit since the cross), it makes no sense to try to say that God has changed His methodology of speaking to believers.
The overwhelming majority of scripture testifies to the ongoing nature of the Lord’s method of communication with His people being varied, ranging from the written Word to more personal methods of communication, such as signs from nature and personal impressions. Keep in mind that the only time that outward signs and impressions are credible is when they line up with the Word of God. If an outward impression is 98% accurate, but 2% (or less) contradictory to what the Bible says, then throw the whole thing out.
Now to the testimony aspect of things for a minute. One of my sisters has told me in the past that she used to agree with our dad that I was nuts when I would say that God told me such-and-such, until she got close to the Lord and began to hear Him herself. And I have been in numerous churches and around a variety of different believers (Pentecostal and otherwise) who will testify to the fact that there is such a thing as hearing from God. There’s a direct connection between a person’s level of maturity and commitment to God and their ability to hear from God. I’m sure that that statement was offensive to some people who read it, but all that I can say is that they need to grow up and work diligently on their relationship with the Lord Jesus.
I hope that you have found this article to be helpful to you in your walk with the Lord Jesus. Understand that He loves you so much and He truly desires an intimate relationship with you, one in which communication is both open and meaningful. Remember that I love you guys and I’m praying for you.