Does God Really Speak Today?
Written by Matt Tague   
Saturday, 03 October 2009 09:39
One of the questions I get asked from time to time is "Does God speak to us today?" There are two camps of people within evangelical circles in this debate. One group says yes and one group says no. There are very mature Christians who find themselves on opposite sides of this question. My own answer is an unhesitating YES.
by MattTague


One of the questions I get asked from time to time is "Does God speak to us today?" There are two camps of people within evangelical circles in this debate. One group says yes and one group says no. There are very mature Christians who find themselves on opposite sides of this question. My own answer is an unhesitating YES.

We could all think of examples of TV preachers or a wierdo who tell everyone that God speaks through them, and we are all very skeptical about that. But, just for argument's sake, let's throw those extreme examples out and reason the matter out more closely. Let's ask the question, "Does God really speak to believers today apart from the scriptures?"

The group that usually answers no to the question give examples of someone who told others that God spoke to them and they ended up being wrong and it hurt someone. This example is powerful because that is a very tough life experience. It seems to give God a bad reputation when someone does that. But is that any reason to really believe that God never speaks anymore?

Think about this: In the history of the church, God has used two instruments to speak to his people: the Bible and the Holy Spirit. We all know people who don't know how to correctly interpret the Bible, but is that any reason to start believing that God doesn't speak through the Bible? No way. In a similar way, some people don't know how to interpret what the Holy Spirit is doing, but that is no reason to believe that he doesn't speak to us today.

The Holy Spirit and the Word of God work together in our lives. We don't have a fool proof method of interpreting either of them to solve every ethical or moral question. We do disagree about what they say at times. But just becuase we disagree doesn't mean that God is silent. People disagree about all kinds of stuff. The fact that there are disagreements or abuses doesn't mean that we should shut our ears and believe that God, through the Holy Spirit, no longer speaks to us.

A Bible passage to support the speaking role of the Holy Spirit is found in John 14:6. "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads you into all truth." If God the Holy Spirit really is inside of us after salvation, then he must speak to us. If he speaks to us, then God still speaks to us today. It doesn't make sense that the Holy spirit is our advocate, helper, and comforter but that he never says anything to us. God does speak to us today. Listen to his voice.

Information:

Matthew Tague is a pastor in Southern California. He loves helping people learn to read and enjoy the Bible. Find out more by going to his web site.