One of our most heartfelt desire, as believers of Christ, is hearing from God. We all yearn to listen to our Father speak with His voice that thunders wondrously. We thirst for his life-giving words like a deer pants for water in a parched land. But God, in His abundant mercy, has not left us in need. From the moment He spoke the world into existence, He has never stopped talking.
Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “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.”
Long ago—before Christ, God spoke through His prophets. He used various methods, like audible voices, signs, visions, dreams, and more. But in the last days—in the year of the Lord, God has upgraded His means of communication. Now he speaks to us through His Son, Christ Jesus; He is the Word of God and the image of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3 say, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” In Christ, we have such a perfect revelation of God’s character, will, love, and promises that Jesus said, whoever has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9).
Christ is still God’s preferred means of communication today; God did not speak through Jesus while He walked the earth. After all, Hebrews was written well after Jesus’ ascension. This, of course, raises the question of how Jesus speaks to us from Heaven. The answer is gloriously simple; Jesus speaks to us through the Spirit and Scripture.
Before Jesus’s earthly departure, He promised to send the Spirit of truth, who would teach us and help us remember Jesus’s words. Jesus said, “He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and declare to you the things that are to come.” (John 16:13).
The Holy Spirit preserved Jesus’s words in Scripture, and He speaks to us through it. This means God speaks through His Son, and the Son speaks to us through His Spirit and Scripture. The Bible is not a relic of the past, only relevant for the time it was written. As the author of Hebrews says, it is living and active; it is the living Word of the living God, and it actively speaks to us today.
Sadly, there are still many believers who are not satisfied with the Bible. They want God to talk to them through audible voices, signs, prophecies, and visions like in the old days. I used to be one of them.
For the better part of my Christian walk, I was obsessed with hearing God’s voice outside the Bible. Reading my Bible was not enough for me, and I craved extra-biblical revelations like an infant craves milk. This was a waste of time as God’s Word is more sure, and extra-biblical revelations are dangerous. Yet, I was not content with how God speaks to us today. Here are a few reasons why.
1. Ignorance of Scripture
We seek extra-biblical revelations because we do not know what the Bible says about hearing God. Many false or questionable teachers take verses out of context to promote unbiblical practices about hearing God. And the only reason they get away with it is that their hearers are none the wiser. When I was a new Christian, I was taught John 10:27 was about hearing the literal voice of God instead of a figurative call to salvation. I held on to that belief for a long time because I never learned the full context. And as J.C Ryle said, “Ignorance of Scripture is the root of every error in religion, and the source of every heresy.”
2. Unappreciation of the power of Scripture
We seek extra-biblical revelations because we do not appreciate Scripture. The Bible is an extraordinary book with many incredible benefits for believers! It is the source of truth; it shows us the glory and loveliness of Christ, conforms us to His glorious image, exposes our sin, protects us from the evil one, and much more. But we are often ignorant of its power in our lives or, worse, think it is on par with private revelations. If all Christians understood the unsearchable riches of Christ laid for us in Scripture and its incomparable power in our lives, we would not waste time seeking impotent, fallible extra-biblical revelations.
3. The Bible does not answer all our questions
The Bible is not sufficient because it does not speak on everything. I used to think the Bible was only helpful for spiritual things, not for practical everyday decisions. When I needed to know where to live after graduation, reading about the doctrine of justification by faith did not help me decide. Since no Bible verse could tell me whether to move to Austin or not, I asked God to speak to me outside His Word. Likewise, many believers seek extra-biblical revelations to get answers they cannot explicitly find in Scripture. Indeed, the Bible does not address every topic under the sun nor explicitly answers questions like which job to take; however, the wisdom it provides is enough to help us decide. If our choices fall within biblical guidelines and honor Him, we have the freedom to make decisions without Him “speaking to us.”
4. The Bible is not about us
The Bible is not sufficient because it is not about us. In God’s story, Christ is the main character, and Bible is all about Him. We are merely extras. But unfortunately, we are naturally selfish, and we want to have the lead role. Some Christians fix it by reading themselves into the Bible, and others abandon Scripture altogether for personal revelations that focus on them. When we ask God to speak to us, we rarely want new truths about Christ; it is always me, me, me. The focus of our lives should always be on Christ, not us. And what Scripture says about us is sufficient.
5. Intellectual laziness
We want extra-biblical revelation because it is easy. The Bible is like a field with innumerable hidden treasures. Though the Holy Spirit helps us unearth those precious truths, we must be ready to roll up our sleeves and dig deep! But many Christians balk at the effort and time required to search the Scriptures and instead ask God to speak to them through other means. It is much easier to still our minds, listen for small voices, receive dreams and vision, and take random “leaping” verses out of context than study, memorize, and meditate Scripture. But Paul said, “do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”(2 Timothy 2:15). And Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all toil there is profit.”
6. It feels more spiritual
Finally, we want extra-biblical revelations to make us feel more spiritual. We want God to speak to us about our daily decisions because it feels more special to have His direct input in every decision rather than choosing ourselves based on what the Bible says. Saying, “God told me” sounds more pious and impressive than “Scripture says.” I used to think hearing God outside the Bible was a sign of spiritual maturity and faithfulness, and when I could not hear God’s voice clearly like all my favorite teachers, I thought it was because I was not mature enough. The Bible, however, does not equate spiritual maturity with extra-biblical revelations but with reading, studying, meditating, and applying Scripture.
The Bible is inexhaustible in its wisdom and in its application. Every time we open its cover, we find something fresh and new, even in familiar texts. God has given us a book small enough to hold in our hands, big enough to study for a lifetime, and rich enough to satisfy our hearts and minds forever.
Robert J. Morgan
In His infinite wisdom, God chose to speak to us through His Son and Him through the Spirit and Scripture. It is the only way He has promised to talk to us. He will not speak to us like in the old days, nor will He use new ways today. The Bible is His final Word, and it is enough. And in the next and last post in this series, I will give reasons why.
