My friends at Bible Mission Baptist Church (BMBC) in Myanmar posted something that received a strange and puzzling response. They wrote, “There is no new revelation. The Bible is complete revelation for us. If someone professes to have receive a new revelation from God, actually it is not from God, but the devil.” I’m going to share the Facebook conversation with you and share some additional comments. But first, let me state that what my friends at BMBC wrote was completely accurate and correct. The Bible is complete, and there are no new revelations. A New Revelation – No, That’s Not Possible.
First Response to A New Revelation
The first response was from a man in Kenya. He said, “So you don’t believe yourself as called servant of Hebrews 8;1 -16.” There are only 13 verses in Chapter 8 of Hebrews. But those verses are talking about the call of the Hebrew people and explaining the new covenant through Jesus. The response back from BMBC was, “Read again the sentence. You are missing the point.” And I agree, either the person didn’t understand, or they were trying to make an obscure point that there are new revelations because of the new covenant, but that is an incorrect interpretation. But the point was lost by the Kenyan, possibly because he didn’t understand.
My Response to the Original Post Concerning A New Revelation
“I agree; there are no new revelations. All those professing to be prophets have no idea what they’re talking about. A Prophet is a person that preaches the Word of God, referred today as a pastor or evangelist. It has nothing to do with a new revelation. The Bible is complete, and the last living Prophet of God was John, the writer of revelation, also known as APOKALYPSIS in Greek. If a person has the audacity to say they have a new revelation from God, they are either a liar, or they received the “revelation” from the pits of hell. The Bible is the only complete truth left on earth.”
An Evangelist from Pennsylvania responded to me and wrote, “I see so then we don’t need pastors and teachers to teach us any spiritual insight of knowledge from the Word since it is complete and John wrote the last word which is Amen. Isn’t that what you are saying?
If so, what is the purpose of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit given to the church? I guess since all the Apostles are dead and Jesus is now the High Priest and the only mediator between man and God, what do we even need the church for. The Bible has it all. Just buy one and read it right?”
My Response (He May Have Misunderstood My Point)
“To answer your first question, no, that’s not what I’m saying. Okay, we do need the church to share teaching from God’s Word, but you must understand that the Bible is the one and only source of authority for true Christianity. If you accept anything that doesn’t reconcile with the Bible, you are accepting a lie.” Then the evangelist, (of unknown denomination) wrote, “Okay I agree that the Bible is the ultimate source but Jesus is the word and He sent His spirit to teach you all things Christ taught, but to be a Pastor in America you got to go to seminary and learn from other books which contradict the Bible. So if you agree that any born again spirit filled believer is capable of sharing the word of God why are just Pastor’s the soul purveyors of God’s word? I thought it was the work of the Holy Spirit not a professional speaker’s job? And if it is the Holy Spirits job and the Bible has the last word, then since the Holy Spirit is the one distributing the gifts who are we to argue what the Bible says so clearly?”
My Final Response Concerning A New Revelation
“Pastors are not the only. There are teachers, evangelists, writers, and others. All I’m saying is that if a person professes to have a new word from God, they are either a liar or receiving this new revelation from a demon or Satan himself because if it’s not in the Bible, it’s a lie.”
Let’s Revisit the Original Comment
“There is no new revelation. The Bible is complete revelation for us. If someone professes to have receive a new revelation from God, actually it is not from God, but the devil.” This comment is specifically addressing certain sects of “Christianity” that are compromised or cults. They believe that a random person, a pastor, or a “prophet” can receive a new revelation from God. The short answer is, NO, they cannot receive a new revelation from God. Primarily because each “new revelation” would be subject to the same canonization scrutiny of the current 66 books of the Bible. This fact alone negates their claim to a new revelation because none would pass all the tests necessary for canonization.
Furthermore, the fact that nothing that is said could be verified unless it reconciled with scripture. But if it reconciles with scripture, it cannot be a new revelation because it’s already part of scripture!
Final Thoughts on the Evangelist’s Comments
I think the fact that I shared that “profits = preachers and evangelists of God’s Word” got him a little confused. I did not mean that they alone could share God’s Word. Many denominations refer to people as prophets in the same manner as the Old Testament refers to people as Prophets. But there are no true prophets of God like the Old Testament Prophets. They ended with the prophet Malachi. The last New Testament Prophet was John, as I mentioned above. So, there has not been a new “Prophet” since near the end of the first century, about 90 AD.
The new testament refers to prophets either by mentioning Old Testament Prophets by name or in general. Or, by defining “prophets” as preachers and evangelists of the Holy Bible, who only teach absolute truth from the Word of God. Pastors, Preachers, and Evangelists are the prophets of God’s Word after the Cannon of scripture were finalized. But that’s confusing for many people.
Books other than the Bible can be used as illustrations, references, commentaries, etc. but fallible humans write them. The only absolute truth is found in the Bible. Only the Bible or direct quotes from the Bible have the information you need to persuade you to trust in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Just as a sidebar, it is challenging to have a meaningful conversation on Facebook. Things get misinterpreted; there may be language barriers, denomination barriers, and more. So, I will always try to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and I’ll try to write my responses as clearly as possible.