Caroline
Puritan Board Sophomore
I am deeply involved in an article of increasingly epic proportions (it is threatening to turn into a book, because I lack the gift of concise composition), and one of the nagging questions about it is this:
How does God guide us?
One guy (we'll call him Bob) argues that guidance involves the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For example, if a man feels called to ministry, he might say that he feels an internal call--a longing or sense of compulsion to become a minister. However, Bob notes, that is not enough. One must consider providential circumstances, the advice of others, and most of all, any specific instruction of Scripture. The Word of God, Bob says, is the final authority (if we feel okay about stealing, it doesn't make it okay to steal), but we can nevertheless pray with some expectation of God answering our prayer and giving us wisdom for particular situations, and ultimately, it is perfectly acceptable for a man to say, "I am reasonably certain that God is leading me into ministry." (Bob qualifies it 'reasonably' because he does not want to suggest that he or anyone else is infallible--there is always the possibility of being wrong about these things).
Bob's nemesis (we'll call him Harold) says Bob is a heretic, and that he is seeking revelation outside of Scripture. Harold says any guidance other than Scripture itself has to be classified as new revelation, which does not happen today. Therefore, a man cannot say, "I am reasonably certain that God is leading me into ministry," because he has no way of knowing that. We can only know what God specifically tells us in his Word. An man can properly say, "I want to go into ministry, and these are the reasons I think it is a good idea."
Bob says, "Well then why would we pray for God to lead us at all if God never leads us?"
And predictably, in moments, they are locked in a Fight to the Death, and they spend the next decade wrangling over it in lengthy Presbytery debates. (To be fair, this was mostly Harold's doing, as he just could not let go of the 'Bob is a heretic' slogan, once he had started humming that tune.)
This is actually a real historic case, and a very significant one (although I have not included all the details, obviously). My point is merely this: I am very sensitive to claims of extra-biblical revelation, but in this case, I have to think Bob has a point. I certainly have heard ministers say that they felt that God led them into ministry. People pray for guidance in decisions all the time. It seems that there must be a level on which we expect God to answer and provide us with a sense of the proper way to go (although not in the form of an audible voice or any nonsense like that).
But what do you think? Would you vote with Bob or Harold?
How does God guide us?
One guy (we'll call him Bob) argues that guidance involves the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. For example, if a man feels called to ministry, he might say that he feels an internal call--a longing or sense of compulsion to become a minister. However, Bob notes, that is not enough. One must consider providential circumstances, the advice of others, and most of all, any specific instruction of Scripture. The Word of God, Bob says, is the final authority (if we feel okay about stealing, it doesn't make it okay to steal), but we can nevertheless pray with some expectation of God answering our prayer and giving us wisdom for particular situations, and ultimately, it is perfectly acceptable for a man to say, "I am reasonably certain that God is leading me into ministry." (Bob qualifies it 'reasonably' because he does not want to suggest that he or anyone else is infallible--there is always the possibility of being wrong about these things).
Bob's nemesis (we'll call him Harold) says Bob is a heretic, and that he is seeking revelation outside of Scripture. Harold says any guidance other than Scripture itself has to be classified as new revelation, which does not happen today. Therefore, a man cannot say, "I am reasonably certain that God is leading me into ministry," because he has no way of knowing that. We can only know what God specifically tells us in his Word. An man can properly say, "I want to go into ministry, and these are the reasons I think it is a good idea."
Bob says, "Well then why would we pray for God to lead us at all if God never leads us?"
And predictably, in moments, they are locked in a Fight to the Death, and they spend the next decade wrangling over it in lengthy Presbytery debates. (To be fair, this was mostly Harold's doing, as he just could not let go of the 'Bob is a heretic' slogan, once he had started humming that tune.)
This is actually a real historic case, and a very significant one (although I have not included all the details, obviously). My point is merely this: I am very sensitive to claims of extra-biblical revelation, but in this case, I have to think Bob has a point. I certainly have heard ministers say that they felt that God led them into ministry. People pray for guidance in decisions all the time. It seems that there must be a level on which we expect God to answer and provide us with a sense of the proper way to go (although not in the form of an audible voice or any nonsense like that).
But what do you think? Would you vote with Bob or Harold?
