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The Great Doctrines of the Bible
Lesson Two: Special Revelation How may people know God’s redemptive love and saving grace? I. Background In the last lesson we covered general revelation. Now we turn our attention to special revelation. There are two ways of categorizing God’s revelation: 1. General revelation (natural theology) – general in content and revealed to a general audience (all people, everywhere, throughout all of time). Rehearse Rom. 1:20. 2. Special revelation (revealed theology) – specific in content and revealed to a specific audience (only some people, in some places, and during some of the time). Read 2 Tim 3:15. Although general revelation makes available to everyone a knowledge of God’s power, righteousness, and providential rule, general revelation contains nothing of God’s redemptive purposes through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Apart from special revelation the wisest and most cultured people have failed to discover gospel truth. But sinful people under condemnation need more than anything else to know of God’s just and loving provision for their forgiveness. God meets the sinner’s need with “special” revelation. It is special in both content and outreach. Its content is not general truth about God but specifically God’s gracious plan of redemption (including the centuries of Jewish history creating and preserving the Messiah’s line). The outreach of special revelation, furthermore, is not universal but in fact limited to “many.” Summary First, special revelation begins with God acting in history (in a specific way, during a specific time, in a specific place, and to a specific people). Second, God’s acts are interpreted by inspired prophets and apostles (1 Cor. 15, “Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures”). Third, a community is formed that knows those acts and believes those interpretations of them. We recount these acts and interpretations in our meetings together. We are to remember them. Central to the Christian church is remembering the sacrifice of our Lord by observing the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-25). Fourth, the community uses language to speak about God’s acts and what they mean. In the past God’s acts were passed down orally, then over the course of time came to be written in what is now the Holy Bible. Fifth and finally, others enter the community by hearing and believing what the community is saying about God’s acts and their meaning. This is done in both personal and corporate witnessing. The purpose for special revelation is to know God personally. Among those theologians who hold that special revelation is necessary (liberals do not), there are nevertheless serious differences. They do not agree on the way God makes known his reconciling love. Here are the leading positions: A. God can be known as Savior through revealed words. The Bible is the written Word
of God telling sinners about God and His grace. It is a love letter from heaven. (Some
fundamentalists?
B. God can be known as Savior through miraculous deeds. God does not write a letter about His love for sinners, he demonstrates it! God’s mighty acts more vividly reveal His purpose to save, than does any possible report of them. (“Biblical” theologians) C. God is known as Savior through personal experience of God Himself. Far more significant than a love letter or a past demonstration of love, is the personal presence of the lover. God reveals His redemptive love by loving us. Sinners know God saves when they have a divine-human encounter. The Bible is human testimony to this person-to-person experience. (Neo-orthodox theologians) D. God cannot be known with face to face directness but is known as Savior only through the one true church established to interpret the Scriptures authoritatively. (Thomas Aquinas and the Roman Catholics) E. God is known as Savior, not through any one of the above emphases, but through a combination which includes: (1) revealed words interpreting miraculous deeds and asserting truth concerning the God who speaks and acts, (2) personal experience of God the Holy Spirit who “witnesses with our spirits,” (Rom 8:16) indwells, teaches, and leads every believer. Although the church is not a third form of revelation, it does enable a believer to check his understanding of God’s redemption with other Spirit-illuminated students of the Holy Scriptures. (Evangelicals and fundamentalists). II. Problem Which of the above views is most adequate? Why? (To be answered in IV only after examining the biblical evidence in III) III. Procedure After careful examination of relevant passages, answer questions arising out of the above views. A. May people know God’s redeeming love and power through miraculous events (mighty acts) in the context of Jewish history, the life of Christ, and the founding of the church?
Ex. 14:13, 31 Dan. 6:26-27 Acts 14:3 Deut. 7:18-19 Lk. 1:49 Rom. 15:18-19 Deut. 34:11-12 Lk. 19:37 2 Cor. 12:12 Josh. 24:17 Jn. 5:36 Heb. 2:3-4 Ps. 105 Acts 2:19-21 Summarize B. Is all divine revelation non-verbal, like a television program without the sound, or does God reveal Himself redemptively through prophetic and apostolic interpretations of his mighty acts? Have we also words and assertions concerning the eternal God who acts?
1 Sam. 2:27 Jn. 20:31 Jn. 14:6 1 Sam 3:21 Rom. 16:25 Ex. 3:14 Dan. 2:28 1 Cor. 14:6 1 Pet. 1:16 Is. 22:14 Gal. 1:12 1 Jn. 1:5 Mt. 11:25 1 Tim. 3:15 1 Jn. 4:8 Mt. 16:17 Jn. 4:24 Summarize C. Can one know God as Savior through Scripture apart from the enlightenment or “witness” of the Holy Spirit?
Rom. 8:9, 14-16 2 Cor. 3 1 Jn. 3:24 1 Cor. 2:10-16 Gal. 4:6 1 Jn. 5:6-12 1 Cor. 12:3 1 Jn. 2:20-28 Summarize D. Should a Christian ignore the Spirit-led interpretation of other believers—particularly the central truths affirmed by the church through the centuries?
Acts 2:42, 44, 47 1 Cor. 12:18-28 2 Tim. 2:2 Acts 15:4-22, 25 Eph. 3:17-19 2 Tim 3:14 1 Cor. 1:2 Eph. 4:11-16 1 Cor. 3:21-4:6 2 Tim. 1:13-14 Summarize E. Write out and memorize 2 Tim. 3:15 IV. Your Conclusion Summarize in your own words your view of special revelation showing how it agrees with and differs from other positions. V. Significance Consider the implications of your conclusion in terms of these questions: A. Should an institutional church claim special revelation from God for a tenet which contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture? B. Should a devout individual claim special revelation from God for a view which contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture? C. What attitudes and courses of action would you suggest for determining God’s revealed will when conflict appears between what you understand to be the teaching of the Bible, the teaching of your church, and the meaning of your experience of God? D. How does your life reflect your faith in special revelation.
Next lesson, Inspiration and authority of Scripture: In what way is the Bible inspired and authoritative? |
