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Special Revelation

Continued Special Revelation is a hallmark of the new-age church that is prevalent in our culture today. The new-age church goes by many names: Word of Faith, New Apostolic Reformation, Neo-Charismatic, Hyper-Charismatic, Name it and Claim it, Prosperity Gospel and more. The new age or post-modern church is also present in almost every church in America, and due to the plethora of books and the influence of online and television ministries the ideas and doctrines of this church are sitting in the pews next to us and perhaps even in some presuppositions and beliefs and sayings we ourselves have.

“Don’t speak that over me!”, or “I prayed the blessing of such and such over you.”,  “I bind such and such in the name of Jesus.”, “The favor of God is prosperity and success.”, “The power of your faith can…”, “Poverty is from hell.”, “We (the church or Christians) are Christ in or to the world.”

Maybe you have said some of these things or maybe you believe some of these things. Don’t worry you’re not going to hell just because you don’t say things just right or because you have some misconceptions. We are all still learning and I am sure I say things today I will repent of in the future. My point in listing these things is to point out where they come from and what the people that taught these ideas meant by them. These sayings and ideas stem from a specific set of people and doctrines. It was E. W. Kenyon in the late 1800s who combined the Pentecostal ideas of new revelation with the mesmerism healing and “new thought” teachings of Phineas Quimby and came up with “positive confession”, a teaching that we humans are or can become diety in and of ourselves. That we could do miracles by the power of “faith”. Kenyon’s main new idea was that faith is a force in and of itself. That believing something could actually make it true. But enough history, you can look all that up for yourself. The family tree is pretty clear from there. From Kenyon to Kenneth Hagin,  who had several followers like Kenneth Copeland, Paul Couch, Benny Hinn, and many others on the TBN network. The new generation is Joseph Prince, Bill Johnson, Kris Vallotton, Todd White, Joel Osteen and more. These guys are incredibly popular and most will admit that most of what they say is right out of the Bible.  But it is the ideas behind their teaching that is heretical. Remember that the few times Satan is quoted in the bible, he is usually referencing scripture. The problem is that the captives do not know they are captive to lies. They actually believe the lies they teach.  “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.”  2 Tim 3:13.

These new-age or new-thought teachers all have specific unbiblical teachings about faith in common:

  1. Faith is a force.
    1. God used it to create the earth.
    2. Jesus used it to do miracles.
  2. We can use our faith to do the things Jesus did.
    1. Healings
    2. Prophecy
    3. Speak things into existence.
  3. Jesus gave up His divinity to be human.
    1. He did all his work on earth as a man.
    2. A man in right relationship with God.
    3. We can do the same things.
  4. We are or can become little gods.
    1. without illness
    2. without poverty
    3. without deficiency

“There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies” 2 Peter 2:1  Let me try to be as clear and straight forward as possible. I must conclude that either I am a false teacher or they are. Because we are teaching very different things about faith. Opposite things.

These are orthodox Christian teachings about faith

  1. Faith is trust in God
    1. faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. – Heb 11:1
    2. faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. – Rom 10:17
    3. For by grace you have been saved through faith – Eph 2:8
  2. God is pleased with our faith in Him
    1. without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. – Heb 11:6
  3. God can use our faith to accomplish much – Heb 11:7-30
    1. by faith we obey
    2. by faith we dwell
    3. by faith we receive strength
    4. by faith we die to self
    5. by faith we pass the test
    6. by faith we make our offerings
    7. by faith we bless others
    8. by faith receive instruction
    9. by faith we flee evil
    10. by faith we do not fear
    11. by faith we we are delivered
    12. by faith walls fall down

 

So, assuming you agree with me and desire sound truth,  how do we avoid this stuff? How do we correct errors in our own thinking and doctrines? How do we exercise good discernment?

Become scholars? Get advanced degrees in theology? Live in caves and become monks? No. the answer is quite simple but not always easy: Elevate the word of God above our beliefs, ideas, preferences, and opinions. Paul compliments the Bereans for studying the Word and checking what they were being taught against scripture. It is very straight forward: all special revelation MUST line up with the Word of God. But we do not need special revelation anymore because we have the New Testament. And the scripture was sealed by Jesus himself in His Revelation (Rev 22:19). Some will argue that this claim of sealing only applies to the book of Revelation and not to the whole word of God. The burden of proof for this claim lies with those who claim it. In addition, since all major doctrines are echoed within the teachings of Revelation, I am sure it does not matter.

Doctrines found in Revelation include the Deity of Christ, heaven, hell, resurrection of man, substitutionary atonement of Christ, the Trinity, and the Resurrection, Ascension and Return of Christ, and salvation by faith (Revelation 22:13; 21:1; 20:11-15; 20:5; 12:11; 1:5; 22:16-18; 22:12; 3:20). -Dr. Willis Newman

Thus, there is no need for continuing special revelation from God for anyone. All special revelation is contained in scripture.

Specific Direction 

One of the casualties of the Word of Faith movement is the tendency of some more conservatively minded to be weary or even scared of communication with the Holy Spirit altogether. This is not right. The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit is all about communication. He prays for us when we don’t know what to pray (Rm 8:26). He helps us understand and apply scripture to our lives (1 Cor 2:6-16). He teaches and guides us in what is right and wrong (John 16:8). If you spend any time praying, you will find God speaking to you in that still small voice (1 Kings 19:12, John 10:27). He gives us specific knowledge about something we have no way of otherwise knowing or a deeper understanding of things we already know (1 Cor 12:8).

Specific direction is different from special revelation because it does not contain doctrine or theology. Remember what scripture is for: “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” (1 Tim 3:16-17). So the Bible is sufficient and we should depend upon it. It is our primary and preeminent guidebook for everything else. But that should not deny that there is “else”. In the Bible, we see people of God having dreams and God using them to instruct and enlighten in particular circumstances. “Interpretations of dreams belong to God” (Gen 40:8). 

A lot of Christians have been told to go to a certain place or pull over and help a stranded driver or give money to a person and will swear it was the prompting of the Holy Spirit. There is absolutely nothing wrong or unbiblical with this. In fact, the Bible warns us not to ignore these leadings (1 Thes 5:19).

Significant Conclusion

We should be wary of claims of special revelation on matters of doctrine and teachings that stem out of them. We should also remember that we are temples of God, not gods. We should ask for healings, and present our concerns according to His will (1 John 5:14, James 4:3). God still heals and does even greater miracles all the time. I can testify to it. Faith is not a power or a force we use. Faith is trust placed in God. Simple and true. God can accomplish much through our faith, but it is God that does it, not our secret power.  With faith, we should listen for God to speak in scripture first and foremost and for His leading in our conscience and even pay attention and pray about our dreams.

One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Eph 4:7

And He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. Col 1:17

 

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