A jigsaw with missing pieces

Don’t the prophecies received by the Family fill in the gaps in the Bible? Couldn’t we say that the Family writings merely help to explain the Bible, and amplify the confusing bits? The Lord seems to be quite mysterious sometimes, so couldn’t the Family be used to supply extra information to clarify the passages we don’t understand? Mightn’t the Lord be revealing more and more truth as time goes on?

Are there gaps in the Bible?

John 21:25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Before we are too hasty to claim that this verse, or others like it prove that there are ‘gaps’ in the Bible we should examine the implications of such a statement. Naturally there was not space to cover every minute of Jesus’ life, or every word He uttered during His years of ministry. However, His disciples listened and they recorded in the Gospels the heart of what He said.

Mark 4:33-34

33 And with many such parables He spoke the word to them as they were able to hear it.

34 But without a parable He did not speak to them. And when they were alone, He explained all things to His disciples.

Jesus explained all things to His disciples, who recorded the truth for us to read. Jesus told them everything, He gave them a clear picture of the Truth.

John 20:30-31

30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

There were other signs and miracles that Jesus performed which are not written down in the Gospels, but these verses say that the things that did in fact get written in the Gospels can bring us to salvation. There is life in these verses. There is Life and there is Truth because God is in these verses.

This means that no matter what we think is ‘missing’ from the Bible, the passages that are there contain the power for eternal life. All that we need for life is in the Bible. Anything else must be less critical. Jesus’ words, of course are all important, so that would also go to those words that were not recorded in the Gospels. However the words that did get recorded contain enough truth for us to live our lives by, die at peace with God and then awake to eternal life in heaven. The words which were not recorded cannot add anything to our eternal life.

Moreover, the fact that the Bible contains God’s Spirit within its pages means that any other ‘revelations’ we receive must be judged by what is in the Bible. It is extremely dangerous spiritually to judge prophecies we receive by other prophecies we received before. There is only one standard, and that is the Bible, which will stand forever. Prophecies do not build on each other. Each prophecy must have the Bible as its own foundation, not another extra-biblical message.

The greatest danger, of course, in asserting that not all truth was written in the Bible, lies in the fact that there will always be people who would abuse these verses for their own purposes. There will always be those who would propose some new doctrine and justify it by claiming that Jesus actually did talk about this doctrine, but His disciples forgot or neglected to write it down. The same people will always appear extremely sincere and dedicated. They will have hordes of followers who swear loyalty to their leaders with the utmost sincerity. Yet these followers have forgotten that sincerity is not the same as truth. Neither is dedication, or conviction. The Truth of God is not relative, it does not change according to circumstances, times, customs or opportunities. Truth is always truth, regardless of whether we are talking about the time of the end or the days of Jesus or the garden of Eden. Truth does not change according to whether Christians are obedient or disobedient, or in which way the Devil attacks. God is Truth, the Word is Truth (John 17:17) and so this Truth cannot change. Truth is not subjective. It is not determined by how much we know or don’t know. Truth is still Truth regardless of whether we like it or not, agree with it or not, or have heard of it or not. And the Truth of God has been recorded in the Bible. The instant anyone claims that he or she has discovered some new spiritual Truth that is not in the Bible, that person is attempting to transfer the authority for Truth from God to himself. He is saying that Truth is subjective (originating from himself) instead of objective (originating from God). He may claim otherwise, protesting loud and long that this particular item of truth was sent to him from God, but the fact will remain to his condemnation that he has attempted to usurp the authority of the Bible.

How can we know truth?

Firstly, as stated above, any prophecy or revelation or teaching should be confirmed by the Bible.

Secondly, remember that we have all been given the Holy Spirit, so if someone gets a new message or a new doctrine that really is of God, each one of us will have that same message or doctrine confirmed individually and independently in our own hearts by the Holy Spirit.

John 16:12-13

12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

13 “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

This is why the Bible says that no prophecy can be of private interpretation. (2 Peter 1:20) A message that actually originates from the heart of God will be confirmed in the hearts of believers everywhere by the Holy Spirit. Now having a prophecy ‘confirmed in the hearts of believers’ does not mean ‘people will agree with it’. There will always be followers for new doctrines, regardless of the content. The Bible does not put much value on the number of adherents to a particular doctrine. Neither does the Bible put value on a doctrine having few adherents. The Bible speaks and remains the truth, no matter how many people or how few people follow it.

How does the Holy Spirit confirm truth? First, this can only happen to those who are genuinely saved, and are filled with the Holy Spirit. They are led by the Holy Spirit directly and personally. Notice, Family members, that Jesus was clear that it is the Holy Spirit who leads us, not ‘holy spirits’. The difference is unimaginably vast. The Holy Spirit is given to believers to lead them into all truth, personally, individually, directly. This will happen to all true believers regardless of whether they have the gift of prophecy or even feel as though they have any spiritual gifts at all. The Holy Spirit moves true believers, speaks directly to them (although this may or may not be in the form of a ‘personal prophecy’) and takes charge of their spiritual growth. If we as Christians do not have the Holy Spirit leading us into truth then something is gravely wrong. Note that this is far more than mundane decisions about which direction to walk or what to put on today’s ‘to-do’ list. The Holy Spirit is given to all believers to enable them to have a personal connection with God Himself, through Jesus Christ His Son. If our connection with the Lord is based on someone else’s link with God, if we depend on any other person for our connection with God, we have missed the whole point of Jesus’ coming. He is the mediator between God and man, He is the high priest who ever lives to make intercession for us. He came that each of us may know God personally. And the Holy Spirit was given so that each of us may learn truth from the Bible without depending on anyone else to interpret it for us, or to give us new revelations of things that ‘the disciples neglected to record’. We can read all the Bible commentary we want, we can pledge allegiance to this leader or that, we can devour new truth by truckloads, but at the end of our lives, none of that will matter. We are each personally responsible to listen to the Holy Spirit leading us into Truth. And if we do not do that, we will have to face eternal consequences. It will not be pretty.

God is continually building us.

If we are true believers, the Holy Spirit will lead us more and more into the knowledge of God.

1 Cor 3:9-16

9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.

11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

The Holy Spirit dwells in us. This is our means of ensuring that the things we take in for our spiritual growth are actually true. We have the Holy Spirit so we have no excuse for accepting the things that will eventually get burned off.

The verse in the Bible comparing spiritual food with ‘milk’ and ‘meat’ should not be misinterpreted to mean that ‘milk’ is in the Bible, but ‘meat’ is new, stronger truth that is not in the Bible.

1 Cor 3:1-2

1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.

2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;

If we want to read a book that has the strongest meat possible, we have but to pick up the Bible and start applying it to our lives. We could, for example, read through the sermon on the mount in Matthew chapters five, six and seven. We won’t skip over verses just because we know them well. Let’s see how far we get before we run across something that is ‘strong meat’, enigmatic, or that requires a complete submission of ourselves to God. How about ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit’ − do we know in our hearts what that means? Do we know how to apply that? What about ‘Blessed are those who mourn’ − do we skip over that verse, saying it does not apply until we are struck by some tragedy? And so on. If we read the sermon on the mount with an honest heart, we will be overwhelmed by the magnitude of perfection that God requires of us, and humbled beyond all measure at the lengths to which God went to make it possible.

God wants us to grow and mature in the spirit.

Look at this next verse. The recipients of this letter should have matured a lot more than they did. In fact one of the signs of their immaturity was their dependence on others to teach them the truth.

Heb 5:12-6:1

12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.

13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.

14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

6:1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,

Spiritual maturity brings with it personal discernment of good and evil, right and wrong, truth and error, because the Holy Spirit reveals these things to us individually, and draws us ‘on to perfection’. There is plenty in the Bible about our need for spiritual growth, but not a word about this involving the revelation of new, extra-biblical truth.

Phil 1:6, 9-10

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment,

10 that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,

We must grow in love, in knowledge, in discernment, in faith and in grace.

Col 1:10 that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

II Th 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,

2 Pet 3:18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Conclusion

There are great dangers involved in claiming that we have discovered some new truth, in addition to that which is in the Bible. Truth is of God and is not dependant on our opinions. The Holy Spirit is involved in our personal maturity by leading us into all truth, and by giving us the discernment to know right from wrong. In this we who are led by the Holy Spirit have as much authority to judge prophecy as the most spiritual prophet around. If any Christian does not have the Holy Spirit leading them, they must first be assured of their salvation, for the Holy Spirit is given to all who believe. If indeed the Bible can be likened to a jigsaw puzzle, we should not be too hasty to look for new pieces in order to complete it. Perhaps we should pray for understanding, and pick up those pieces we discarded and let the Holy Spirit lead us into all Truth.

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