I’m back, and I’m here with an especially controversial topic. But I don’t think it should be causing quite as much controversy as it does.
We know that God revealed certain divine things to people back in Biblical times. If He didn’t, we wouldn’t have the Bible. It is also noted that prophecy is one of the spiritual gifts. But past this point, it gets a little muddy. The question is this: does God reveal extrabiblical truths to people today?
“Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young is an excellent example. In the book, she claims to have spoken to God while praying and heard His voice speak back to her (not audibly, mind you). She says that they were personal messages, but does not mind sharing them with others in devotional form. From this devotional style, “Jesus Calling” was born. Because of this, she has gained extreme controversy over the book, with many deciding that she is a false prophet of some sort.
But I say there is nothing wrong with the book at all.
Why?
While I would hardly call her a prophet, I do not think that it is at all wrong for Sarah Young to hear messages back from God while in prayer. Maybe I’m going to seem sacrilegious by saying this, but sometimes we need more than a Bible verse at face value. This is the entire point of a devotional or study bible. This is, in fact, the Holy Spirit’s job!
Here are some verses to confirm what I am saying.
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)
The Holy Spirit helps us to understand and apply Scripture! The Spirit encourages us as well! This is why I believe that “Jesus Calling” is not at all heretical. I still wouldn’t add it to the New Testament, but there are no truths in the book not already explained in Scripture. All it does is to encourage and help the reader apply what they’re reading in the Scripture to their life. It is not extrabiblical if it’s just emphasizing the Scripture that already exists. It’s just helping the reader to be applying what’s already there. This is something that should be present in the life of a Christian!
Is it a little unusual for the book to be written in the first person? Yes. Do I think that every person is going to get God speaking directly to them in the first person and telling them to write it in a book? No. God speaks to each person differently. Often all we get is a conviction that we should do or not do a certain something. That is no less divine in nature than what Sarah Young experiences, and we should not condemn someone for how God chooses to reveal Himself to someone. It would be like yelling at a person in a third-world country where Christianity is illegal to not listen to their conscience until they owned a Bible. It’s just ridiculous and completely un-Christian of Christ’s followers.
That being said, there is a fine line between Biblical conviction/confirmation and extrabiblical teaching. If you are experiencing any unusual manner of “divine teaching” that is either opposed to Scripture or not distinctly taught in it, you should be very, very wary. Galatians 1:8 goes so far as to say,
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!”
So how can we know for sure what message is from God and what is not? To answer this, let’s end on the words of St. John:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:1-6)
Gabriel to Earth 