9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. ~ 1 Cor. 2:9-10
I live in an area of the world where charismatic theology dominates, and there are few confessionally reformed churches near the community I live. So, as a pastor, others often ask me what I think about speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy. This topic falls under the topics of “closed canon” and “cessation of continuing revelation.” It may be helpful for you to know the reformed position concerning the Bible’s teaching on these matters and, therefore, my position.
My position on the nature of continuing revelation is that it ceased at the end of the apostolic age. The Westminster Confession of Faith teaches that God revealed Himself in various ways to certain men to declare His will and “afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased” (WCF 1.1, cf. Heb. 1:1-2).
With the empowering illumination of His Spirit, God’s Word is the only revelation one needs for salvation from sin and death and living in a right relationship with God. John Calvin writes, “Hence the office of the Spirit promised to us, is not to form new and unheard-of revelations, or to coin a new form of doctrine, by which we may be led away from the received doctrine of the gospel, but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the gospel recommends” (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion, 44). Therefore, as previously stated, Scripture is sufficient, and there is no need to look any further for help in understanding humanity’s plight on this earth, for the Bible’s purpose is to reveal the truth for our salvation and obedience (Psa. 19:7-11; John 20:31).
No one needs to look for other signs, visions, or hearing from God for further instruction. Through sola Scriptura, Scripture alone, God gives one His whole counsel about how one may glorify Him and live the way He designed (Isa. 55:11; 1 Cor. 2:9-10; Heb. 4:12). Again, The Westminster Confession of Faith teaches, “nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men (WCF 1.6, c.f. 2 Tim. 3:16-17; Gal. 1:8-9; 2 Thess. 2:2). This view means that it is not biblically faithful to speak of modern prophets or prophecies. No one should say, “God spoke to me,” or, “God is speaking through me,” without referring to the explanation, implication, and application of God’s Word (Col. 2:6-10). For one to do so makes our actions and experiences equal with Scripture.
Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley teach that there are several arguments for the cessation of revelatory gifts such as prophecy and speaking in tongues: 1) the finality of Christ in His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and exaltation reveals God’s final word has come to humanity (Heb. 1:1-3; 10:10-12; Jude 3), 2) the foundation of the Apostles and prophets in the life of the new covenant church (Eph. 2:20; 2 Pet 3:2; 1 Cor 3:10-11; Rev. 21:14), and 3) the fallibility of modern prophets makes their “prophesy” insufficient (Deut. 18:21-22; 1 Cor. 14:29,36; 1 Thess. 5:19-21) (Beeke and Smalley, Reformed Systematic Theology, 433-457). As a cessationist, it is essential to understand God’s Word tells one everything one needs to know about God and any topic such as marriage, vocation, science, ethics, etc. The reality of realities is that God’s Word is sufficient for every single thing in life, and no human being today is going to receive any additional revelation than what He has given in His Word. The Bible speaks to general issues and specific issues (Psa. 119; Acts 1:16; 2 Pet. 1:3-21).
Finally, there needs to be a distinction made between revelation and information. Many think that because a cessationist believes all special revelation ceased with the closing of the canon of the sixty-six books of God’s Word, one does not find other insights outside the Bible beneficial. This reasoning is what I call the revelation-information distinction. My personal experience afforded me an undergraduate degree in Chemistry. I like science and math a lot. They are great. Without scientific investigation, we would not have problems, hypotheses, experiments, theories, and laws. The information learned through these academics has afforded humanity comforts such as central heat and air and progress in medicine. However, what one knows through any intellectual endeavor is not a revelation in the sense of divine authority. Humanity discovers the information already existing by God’s sovereign hand when He created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1-2), but yet found. However, God’s Word is distinct from information because it is divinely authoritative in what He specially reveals in the Bible. All other information outside the Bible must submissively bow to the Bible. Therefore, one should not outright dismiss information learned through outside sources but examine the data considering the sufficient Word of God as true or false, and one does not make that information equal to or authoritative over God’s Word (2 Tim. 3:14-17; Eph. 2:20; 1 John 2:20, 27; Rom. 11:36; Psalm 19:7-11).
Andrews PCA 