Is there Knowledge beyond the Bible?

[elijah23]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

 

[Menno]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

Do you have an example?

 

[prough91]

I think we can better understand the teachings in the Bible.

 

[JudaicChristian]

It is extremely rare for God to share things that are not written in scripture. As a matter of fact there is scripture somewhere that says we should not go beyond what is written. I presume that was said to prevent confusion or the Elect from being mislead.

 

[prough91]

It is extremely rare for God to share things that are not written in scripture. As a matter of fact there is scripture somewhere that says we should not go beyond what is written. I presume that was said to prevent confusion or the Elect from being mislead.

Agreed. That's how a lot of cults start.

 

[DarcyLu]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

are you talking about spiritual matters, if so, He can not contradict Himself, what He teaches has to be agree with the Word, He can not go against Himself. but if you are talking about worldy things, such as how to build a home, He will give you the skills and talents to do so. which one are you asking about?

 

[Adullam]

The bible is still a thing. Should you put your trust in a thing?

The bible was never meant to be a replacement for God Himself. His Spirit guides us into all truth....not a magic book. The bible is very beneficial for instruction and knowledge when properly used.

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[Geo]

" Should you put your trust in a thing?"

Well if that "thing" is His word, yes you should. It is not about the packaging, it's the essence of the content.

Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

"The bible is very beneficial for instruction and knowledge when properly used."

It's actually more than that, these words are spirit and are life:

John 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

and they are a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart:

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

To the original question of knowledge beyond the Bible, everything MUST be tested and discerned in the light of Scripture. This is because there is an ocean full of "knowledge" and a good percentage of it has the purpose to deceive the saints. The extreme case is if someone declares that "God has told me that...." and the essence of the message speaks not only against what Jesus said but absolutely the opposite of it. Then we are faced with a choice, and that is whom to believe, the God of the Bible or the "god of the voice we heard". This is no simple matter, because there are many people that claim to have received higher revelation that is not compatible with the real gospel. And the sad thing is they do not know that they're deceived. Because they trust the "live experience" more than the everlasting word. Counterfeits can be so good that you would not know that they are counterfeits without an absolute authority. And God is God, and does not change. Neither does His word. So, yes we can trust in that and sould evalute everthing beyond based on that.

 

[Benoni]

The Word of God and not the Bible must always be the foundation point, but there are many hidden spiritual and deep messages in scripture seen by very few.

 

[Adullam]

" Should you put your trust in a thing?"

Well if that "thing" is His word, yes you should. It is not about the packaging, it's the essence of the content.

Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

"The bible is very beneficial for instruction and knowledge when properly used."

It's actually more than that, these words are spirit and are life:

John 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

and they are a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart:

Hebrews 4:12  For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

To the original question of knowledge beyond the Bible, everything MUST be tested and discerned in the light of Scripture. This is because there is an ocean full of "knowledge" and a good percentage of it has the purpose to deceive the saints. The extreme case is if someone declares that "God has told me that...." and the essence of the message speaks not only against what Jesus said but absolutely the opposite of it. Then we are faced with a choice, and that is whom to believe, the God of the Bible or the "god of the voice we heard". This is no simple matter, because there are many people that claim to have received higher revelation that is not compatible with the real gospel. And the sad thing is they do not know that they're deceived. Because they trust the "live experience" more than the everlasting word. Counterfeits can be so good that you would not know that they are counterfeits without an absolute authority. And God is God, and does not change. Neither does His word. So, yes we can trust in that and sould evalute everthing beyond based on that.

The word testifies of the Spirit. It is only the Spirit that guides into all truth. There is too much confusion over the word. The bible is the most misused book in the world. The reprobate church has replaced the Spirit of God with a written book, or angels or any other created thing. The lie is the trust we put in created things. We would rather worship a created thing than walk in heavenly power as a true disciple of Christ. Can you say...golden calf!?

 

[DarcyLu]

The word testifies of the Spirit. It is only the Spirit that guides into all truth. There is too much confusion over the word. The bible is the most misused book in the world. The reprobate church has replaced the Spirit of God with a written book, or angels or any other created thing. The lie is the trust we put in created things. We would rather worship a created thing than walk in heavenly power as a true disciple of Christ. Can you say...golden calf!?

hi Adullam, i kind of see what you are saying, the Bible is misused, etc, in that sense when you are not reading the Word through the Spirit and sincerely seeking His guidance. we have put our trust in man's teaching of the Bible and that teaching could be false.

on the other hand, the Word of God is Jesus come in the flesh, when you are in the Word, you are, in fact, in Jesus. you are calling the Word of God a "thing", it is not a thing, it is a sacred, inspired Word of God, they are His thoughts, He speaks to us through His Word. of course, we can not always be reading the Word, but we can always be in the Word by walking in His Spirit.

 

[Dude named Louis]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

I can say with absolute certainty that the answer to the thread title is "YES". There is knowledge beyond the bible. The Bible for instance doesn't speak at all of microwave ovens, Google, The Philadelphia Eagles (sigh...).

Your question though (quoted above) is I believe one that should be handled with care. There is so much contained within God's Word that I believe is more than sufficient for our spiritual growth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New International Version)

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Experience, extra-biblical knowledge and learning should always be tested against the scriptures.

 

[mondar]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

I can say with absolute certainty that the answer to the thread title is "YES". There is knowledge beyond the bible. The Bible for instance doesn't speak at all of microwave ovens, Google, The Philadelphia Eagles (sigh...).

The Philadelphia Eagles might not be in the scriptures, but there is evidence that God is a Penn State fan. Did you notice even the sky is blue and white!

 

[Dude named Louis]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

I can say with absolute certainty that the answer to the thread title is "YES". There is knowledge beyond the bible. The Bible for instance doesn't speak at all of microwave ovens, Google, The Philadelphia Eagles (sigh...).

The Philadelphia Eagles might not be in the scriptures, but there is evidence that God is a Penn State fan. Did you notice even the sky is blue and white!

LOL! I like PSU too.

 

[mondar]

When we develop a personal relationship with the Lord, does he teach us things that cannot be found in the Bible?

I assume you are speaking of things such as subjective experience, wisdom, or some special illumination about a subject?

I would agree that God can teach us much beyond the revelation found in scriptures. As was quoted above, 2Tim 3:16-17 is "sufficient" for doctrine, etc. The Bible claims that scripture is sufficient to give all that is needed for salvation and for the man of God to grow spiritually. This does not mean that nothing more is provided. God has also gives Wisdom (James 1:5), experience is many subjective things, and even the beauty of nature to know him. The difference between Biblical revelation and any other sort of revelation is the word "theopneustos" is 2 Tim 3:16-17. What else in the scripture is "God breathed?" The answer is nothing.

This means that God can teach us subjective wisdom from many sources. We have wise teachers and pastors, we have Gods hand in our lives in trials (James 1:2). However, the scripture is the only infallible, inerrant source of revelation from God. So then, God can teach much, but that teaching is not necessarily "theopneustos" (God breathed). The scriptures is the only record of infallible inerrant revelation.

 

[handy]

This is where the Berean call comes in. I will listen to anyone who is bringing forth a teaching, from God, about subjects that aren't necessarily mentioned in the Scriptures. But, then I will examine what they are saying in the light of the Scriptures. If they are truly speaking from God, then the Scriptures will bear out the truth of what they are saying. If not, then I won't hold their teaching as from God, even if there is a certain amount of wisdom to it.

Take for instance the issue of abortion. Now abortion isn't spoken of in the Scriptures, not the surgical removal of a very young fetus. Because abortion isn't mentioned in the Scriptures, some have tried to teach that it's OK. They even give examples like Exodus 21:22-23 and Eccl 6:3-5 as examples that God is OK with abortion. However, when I examine the whole counsel of Scriptures, I find that those "proof texts" do not hold water when it comes a mother intentionally killing her unborn baby, and a wealth of Scripture that supports life, including the worth of the life of the unborn. So, I reject the teaching that abortion is OK.

Now, keep in mind, the abortion thing was just an example OK. I know abortion is a heated topic and we don't want to derail the thread. The topic at hand is whether or not God teaches things that are not in the Bible. I think He does, but I cannot think of any substantive issue (microwave ovens not being particularly substantive) that, while not specifically mentioned in the Scriptures, wouldn't have foundational principles laid out.

 

[Benoni]

I am not a supporter of abortion, by no means but it is far too political and there is no mention of abortion in God's Word. It is a religious agenda.

This is where the Berean call comes in. I will listen to anyone who is bringing forth a teaching, from God, about subjects that aren't necessarily mentioned in the Scriptures. But, then I will examine what they are saying in the light of the Scriptures. If they are truly speaking from God, then the Scriptures will bear out the truth of what they are saying. If not, then I won't hold their teaching as from God, even if there is a certain amount of wisdom to it.

Take for instance the issue of abortion. Now abortion isn't spoken of in the Scriptures, not the surgical removal of a very young fetus. Because abortion isn't mentioned in the Scriptures, some have tried to teach that it's OK. They even give examples like Exodus 21:22-23 and Eccl 6:3-5 as examples that God is OK with abortion. However, when I examine the whole counsel of Scriptures, I find that those "proof texts" do not hold water when it comes a mother intentionally killing her unborn baby, and a wealth of Scripture that supports life, including the worth of the life of the unborn. So, I reject the teaching that abortion is OK.

Now, keep in mind, the abortion thing was just an example OK. I know abortion is a heated topic and we don't want to derail the thread. The topic at hand is whether or not God teaches things that are not in the Bible. I think He does, but I cannot think of any substantive issue (microwave ovens not being particularly substantive) that, while not specifically mentioned in the Scriptures, wouldn't have foundational principles laid out.

 

[handy]

I am not a supporter of abortion, by no means but it is far too political and there is no mention of abortion in God's Word. It is a religious agenda.

Which was the point of my post: There is no mention of abortion in God's Word, but there are underlying principles regarding God's sovereignty over life, about His forming us and knowing us in the womb, of the fact that even an unborn child can be filled with the Spirit. By following the call of the Berean, by applying all that we can know about the unborn from the Scriptures, we can gain Godly knowledge about abortion and find it evil.

 

[Geo]

The word testifies of the Spirit. It is only the Spirit that guides into all truth. There is too much confusion over the word. The bible is the most misused book in the world. The reprobate church has replaced the Spirit of God with a written book, or angels or any other created thing. The lie is the trust we put in created things. We would rather worship a created thing than walk in heavenly power as a true disciple of Christ. Can you say...golden calf!?

hi Adullam, i kind of see what you are saying, the Bible is misused, etc, in that sense when you are not reading the Word through the Spirit and sincerely seeking His guidance. we have put our trust in man's teaching of the Bible and that teaching could be false.

on the other hand, the Word of God is Jesus come in the flesh, when you are in the Word, you are, in fact, in Jesus. you are calling the Word of God a "thing", it is not a thing, it is a sacred, inspired Word of God, they are His thoughts, He speaks to us through His Word. of course, we can not always be reading the Word, but we can always be in the Word by walking in His Spirit.

Good points all, "they are His thoughts" and the Holy Spirit interacts to make them alive.

This interaction can be missed by shifing the view on "what the apostates" do with it. That shouldn't be our concern. What matters is how His word can be spirit and life to us and in us. The relationship is much closer than many think between The Word and the word, not a accidental choice of idenitfying words. The thought to limit the word to an "instruction manual" is one way looking at it but it's a selective view only describing one layer of it. There are many layers in the Bible on any given page. One layer speaks to historians, one to the intellectuals, one to the heart, one to babes in Chirst, one to the spirit of man, ... And this understanding opens up only by hearing or reading. And that's how perceived "contoversies" get resolved, when you discover that one verse speaks to one layer and another verse to another. And they both say the same thing, yet viewing it from "different sides".

So there is new knowledge within the Bible, because we never see all layers form the beginning, it can take a while, however they are all consistent with each and in itself. And if anything is not consistent it can only be our problem of being "one-layered" at the time. If it's "knowledge beyond the Bible" it has to be tested, of what spirit it is. We need to ask ourself what is the source of it? Is it of the same spirit or of a different spirit.

 

[mutzrein]

Scripture tells us that in the last days, knowledge will increase. And I don't believe that this 'knowledge' is restricted to the temporal or carnal.

God is the source of ALL knowledge and therefore we know that knowledge is truth. Since we also know that scripture has been written under the unction of the Holy Spirit (the Spirit of Truth) it is not possible for any 'new' knowledge to be at odds with scripture.

God is continuing to reveal knowledge. And since this knowledge is new then it is bound to shed light on things in scripture which for many may yet remain a mystery.