by Joe Whiting

Welcome back to the fifth week of big questions and small answers in theology and biblical counseling. So far, we’ve considered the inspiration of Scripture, the infallibility and authority of Scripture, how to think about theological controversies, and biblical authority and general revelation interplay. Now, we will be considering the question of continuing revelation. Is God still revealing Himself similar to what we read in Scripture, or not?

Many Christians today speak of continuing revelation. How does this concept relate to the inspiration and sufficiency of Scripture?  Furthermore, how does it relate to the issue of miracles, prophecy, and tongues. How are we to think about this topic?

We need to remember from past weeks that the Bible is the objective source of truth and is the authority over our beliefs, feelings, words, and actions. Our feelings, traditions, and theological understandings are subjective and therefore must bow the knee to God’s objective Word. Thus, we will come out of the gate strong and fast. We will state our theological stance on the topic at hand and use Scripture to support our argument. 

There is no continuing revelation. Men do not receive prophetic messages from God as if they were a prophet or an apostle. Furthermore, the gibberish that is spoken in God’s name, called “tongues,” is a deception at best, and an insult to the Holy Spirit at worst. We are not saying all who engage in what they think is speaking in “tongues” or getting “a word from God” are trying to maliciously deceive. We are saying that many people are trying to deceive, and many are being deceived, into thinking that their experiences are from God. 

Strong statements like the ones above can be made in confidence because their theology comes from the surest foundation of all; Scripture. Since Scripture is God’s inspired Word, and it is sufficient to supply us with answers to all of life’s problems, then it is from Scripture that we are to gain a correct understanding of continuing revelation (2 Tim.3:16; 2 Pt.1:3). 

Scripture tells us that speaking in tongues and the working of other sign gifts, specifically in the New Testament, were for the purpose of pointing to and authenticating the apostles as revealers of divine truth.  The sign gifts were never intended to be characteristic of the lives of believers throughout the entire church age (1 Cor.12:4-11, 13:8-10; 2 Cor.12:12; Eph.4:7-12; Heb.2:1-4). The sign gifts were intended to help establish Christ’s church.

Furthermore, the “speaking in tongues” which we can see in many churches today is what Paul already identified as pagan gibberish! In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul makes a key distinction when he deals with the gift of tongues. In that church, at that time, there were two kinds of gifts being employed; a true one and a false one.

The false gift, Paul said in verse two, was known as a “tongue;” singular. He said, “…one who speaks in a tonguedoes not speak to men but to a god^[1]; for no one understands, but in his spirit, he speaks mysteries.”  This was a dramatic display of pagan gibberish. No one understood what was being said precisely because it was gibberish. There are many different languages, but only one kind of gibberish, only one kind of nonsensical tongue. The people speaking gibberish were basically speaking to a pagan god and no one else could understand what was being said. Sound familiar? 

In the same chapter Paul identifies the true gift of “tongues” in the plural. In verse five he says, “Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy…” Paul wished that they all had the gift of speaking in tongues; a previously unlearned language (cf. Acts 2:5-11)^[2]. At the same time, he wished more for them to “prophecy,” (i.e., to preach the truth). He wished for their ability to preach even more than the true gift of tongues because, he goes on to say in verse five, “greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets…” Preaching of the truth was always understandable because it was proclaimed in an understandable language. However, the gift of tongues was not as valuable as preaching because it required an interpreter, even in the case of an apostle (cf. vv. 6-9). Preaching was clear on its own, but even the true gift of tongues needed an interpreter. 

Yet, the question about visions could still remain. If the gift of tongues doesn’t happen today what about visions? We may even have close family members who claim to have had a vision. How are we to think about the claim, even a sincere claim, of a vision? We start by considering what Scripture has already said.

In Colossians 2:16-23, speaking about the claim of visions (and other forms of mysticism) made by false teachers, Paul says in versus 18-19: 

Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, ¹⁹ and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God. 

The error of visions is clearly proclaimed by Paul in these versus. It was false teachers who were attempting to inflate themselves with the claim of extra biblical visions. Worse than that some of the Colossians were engaging in false humility (i.e., self-abasement) and going along with them. 

False teachers abide in sinful error and wicked mysticism driven by a prideful heart. This is a heart so prideful that it worships beings other than God. In open sin and violation of God’s Word it worships “angels,” Paul says. This should come as no surprise, though. Once the barn door is cracked open (to bad theology), the horse easily gets out (i.e., all kinds of theological error follows). What’s worse is that there were people in the Colossian congregation that were falling for this teaching. 

Furthermore, it’s not that they were all ignorant and innocent victims. They were willfully ignorant, prideful perpetrators. They were “delighting” in the false humility of believing the false teachers who based their teaching upon extra biblical “visions.” However, Paul tells us that these visions were a product of their “fleshly minds.” These mystical teachings went beyond Scripture and revealed hearts devoid of the Holy Spirit.

Basically, like today’s false teachers, these false teachers had a theological system and religion of their own making and some were believing it! And, whether it was the teacher or the follower, the foundation for believing this error was a prideful heart. Today, many will accuse us of being prideful for doubting mystical claims like visions or tongues, but Paul says the opposite: it’s prideful to believe or teach that stuff. Speaking to this same truth John MacArthur says:

 There is no need for extrabiblical revelation through visions, because “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son” (Heb. 1:1–2, italics added).^[3]

Scripture says not to stand on claimed or believed visions. Someone can even sincerely think they had a God-given vision, but their sincerity doesn’t overrule Scripture’s authority. Their sincerity only makes them sincerely wrong and in need of loving, biblical correction.  

Believers must understand that the only relation modern day “revelations from God” have to Scripture is a bad one. The purpose of the signs was to authenticate the apostles teaching in order to establish Christ’s church. The church has been established for a couple thousand years now. The Bible is sufficient as it is written. Any attempt to add to or subtract from its text is sinful and dangerous (Rev.22:18-22). 

Do miraculous gifts still happen today? Absolutely! God still saves wretched sinners. Every time that happens it’s a miracle. A spiritually dead and helpless person has been made alive in Christ, through the working of the Holy Spirit, according to the predetermined will of the Father in eternity past. Praise the Lord for the continuing miracle of salvation, but steer clear of modern-day mysticism.

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^[1] Some translations will state, “to God.” However, the meaning is no different.

^[2] Note that in Acts 2:5-11 the true gift is also in the plural, “tongues.”

^[3] MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1992). Colossians (p. 121). Chicago: Moody Press.