Does God speak today?

Does God speak today?  Yes.  Loud and clear.

First of all, God speaks through the world that he has made.  Psalm 19 says that: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.  Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.  Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.”  God’s creation pours out speech.  Surveys still reveal that about 80% of people believe there is a God, for it is hard to look at his handiwork and conclude otherwise; it is hard to believe that the universe is an ‘accident’.  And so Paul can say in Romans chapter one that “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”  God can judge all mankind. and we are without excuse, because the creation clearly makes known the eternal power and divine nature of God.  God speaks today through the world he has made.

Second, God speaks specifically in his Word.  Psalm 19 goes on to speak about the Word of God: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes”.  God has spoken in the past through the law and through the prophets of Israel.  But supremely he has spoken to us now in his Son, the Messiah, Jesus.  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”.  God’s final word has come in Jesus.  The canon of Scripture is closed.  A sufficient word has been spoken in his Son Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the final, full, sufficient word of God.

So does God speak today?  Yes.  Loud and clear.  He speaks to us by his Scriptures that have been written down for us.  Through the resurrection of Jesus God has poured out his Holy Spirit which enlightens our minds to read the Bible and hear it as the very words of God himself speaking to us.  Paul can say in 1 Corinthians 2: “these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.  For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God.  For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”  We can read, understand, believe and obey the written word of God because of God’s Holy Spirit within us who believe.  This is not the case for one who is not a Christian (1 Cor 2:14): “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

Thus God speaks in a general way through creation – through our experience of this world.  God speaks in a specific way through his word, both Old and New Testaments.  The canon is now closed.  God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit by his written word.  However many Christians today do not believe this anymore.  True, they believe that the Bible is the authoritative word of God.  But they do not believe it is the sufficient word of God.  When it comes to the area of guidance, Christians sometimes look everywhere except the Bible.[1]

When I say that God speaks today, what do I mean?  How, does God speak?  He speaks in and through his word.  Many Christians mean something quite different however when they say that God speaks today.  They mean that God speaks apart from the Bible.  They mean that God speaks a direct word to them apart from his written word.  The Mormons believe the latter as well.  That is why they have added the Book of Mormon to the Bible.  Christians however believe that the canon of the Bible is closed.

But can’t God speak directly to me today?  I’m sure he could, but I would not expect him too.  First of all, the Bible is a big book!  It contains everything I need to know for how to live a godly life.  If it does not answer my specific questions (should I marry Mary Jane?) then perhaps I am asking the wrong questions (a better question might be: how can I be a godly husband?).

Can I levitate and achieve anti-gravity?  I’m sure I could.  The Bible has both Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and Jesus (Acts 1:9) doing so.  But I don’t expect to.  Just because God could cause me to levitate into the sky doesn’t mean he will.  Similarly God could speak to me directly as he did to the prophets of old, but I don’t expect him to, for the canon of Scripture is now closed and it is sufficient.  I have a huge Bible and God speaks to me today through that written word by his Spirit.

God speaks today.  He speaks to me loud and clear.  He speaks to me in his word, the Bible.  If you want to hear God speak today, read your Bible.  Isaiah 8:20: “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”