God Told Me: A Westminster View

I was just standing up after the last song in the front few rows of the church we had just attended. I stretched as I looked around for people I needed to talk to. Out of the corner of my eye, a lady, whom we knew, who had supported us, approached me with a smile. She was a kind and friendly lady and prayed for us regularly, which, of course, we appreciated greatly. However, we knew her to be a Christian who firmly believed God gave her visions and dreams for other people. She shook my hand and said, “As I was sitting in church, I saw you and God gave me a word for you, God told me……” 

In many churches today, across various denominations—not exclusive to the charismatic church—you will hear well-meaning Christians say, “God told me…,” or “God spoke to me about…,” or “God showed me…” While most often associated with Pentecostal and Charismatic churches, this language is also common throughout Evangelicalism, including some Reformed churches. 

One of the most influential books popularising the idea that “God told/spoke to/showed me….” is Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God and its accompanying workbook. Henry Blackaby, who was not a Pentecostal but a Southern Baptist, teaches that God continues to speak directly to believers outside of scripture to reveal his will. While he admits that God does speak through scripture, he also includes other ways God speaks to us, including prayer, circumstances and the church. In his book on page 225, he says, “God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways.” 

Recently, I observed someone reading this workbook. This person attends our Reformed Presbyterian church.

As a member of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland, I have to ask myself the question: What does the Westminster Confession of Faith say about this? While the WCF is subordinate to the Word of God, it is, after all, our statement of faith. 

The WCF opens with this clear and carefully written statement, “Those former ways of God’s revealing His will unto His people being now ceased.” (WCF 1.1) In other words, at one time, in the Old Testament and in the early church before the New Testament was complete, God chose to speak to his people through dreams, visions, audible voices and prophets. Those ways that God chose to reveal himself and his revelation to us have now ended. (Heb 1:1-2) In these days, the confession goes on to explain, we have the “word more fully confirmed” as the Apostle Peter would say (2 Peter 1:19). The WCF says, “The whole counsel of God… is either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from Scripture.” (WCF 1.6) The Bible and the confession are clear, everything we Christians need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4), decision making and worship are found in the Word of God. 

The WCF also makes clear that the Holy Spirit leads us today through the use of His word, not subjective personal impressions such as feelings, a ‘still small voice,’ or inner promptings. The confession is also clear on this point when it says, “Our full persuasion and assurance… is from the inward work of the Holy Spirit bearing witness by and with the Word in our hearts.” (WCF 1.5) This doesn’t mean the Holy Spirit is not active in our lives today. He most certainly is. He still guides believers through scripture, wise Godly counsel, prayer and providence. But that’s not a new revelation. When you hear people saying, “God told me…,” what they usually mean is that they had a strong conviction. That’s fine. At times, we just need to watch our wording. Our confidence in decision-making must be rooted in scripture, not our inner voice. 

This all matters. It matters a lot, and here are a few reasons why. When Christians believe that God is speaking directly to them outside of scripture today through inner voices, promptings, feelings, circumstances, or dreams and visions, it can lead to potentially damaging consequences. Here are three;

• There is a high likelihood that we will allow our own desires to get in the way of and influence (unknowingly) that “inner voice." It's inevitable. 
• It can lead to emotionally driven decisions instead of Biblically grounded ones. 
• It can make Christians who don’t 'hear from God' feel that they are distant from Him or that something is wrong with their Christian walk. Henry Blackaby says on page 137 of his book, “If you have trouble hearing God speak, you are in trouble at the very heart of your Christian experience.” In my view, this risks deep spiritual damage to believers. 

If you are a Christian desperate to hear God's voice, can I encourage you? Do not turn to books such as Experiencing God. Instead, turn to the “word more fully confirmed” about which the Apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote to us. The Apostle Peter stood on the Mount of Transfiguration and heard the audible voice of God, but even he pointed Christians to something more certain. The Word of God. 

That’s the Reformed and Presbyterian view. That’s the view of the Westminster Confession, and it has been the historically orthodox view of the Church for two thousand years. But much more importantly, that’s the Biblical view.

Dear Christian, God has already spoken. He has revealed Himself fully and finally in the Scriptures. He loves you and cares for you enough to make His word plain. He is not a God of confusion nor leaves us guessing through feelings and inner promptings that others, such as Henry Blackaby, teach. He is speaking to you through His word; it is the most wonderful, never-ending, and perfectly sufficient word from God that we have, or will ever have. 

Soli Deo Gloria