Many Christians today are making major decisions based on the words of modern-day prophets. I highly value the New Testament gift of prophecy. But we can be misled when we apply Old Testament principles to church-age prophecy.
Before Pentecost (Acts 2), prophets had pretty much a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, along with some priests and kings. Old Testament prophets spoke directly for God, and the people were required to accept and obey what they said (unless the prophet was trying to draw them away to other gods). The proof was whether or not their prophecies came true. In fact, if they didn’t come true, that prophet was to be put to death! (Deut. 18:15-22)
This side of Pentecost, every Christian has the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:15), and every Christian can prophesy (Acts 2:17-18). In fact, the Bible urges every Christian to eagerly seek this gift (1 Cor. 14:1). However, the Bible says “we prophesy in part” (1 Cor. 13:9). That means we only see part of the picture. It can also mean our prophetic words may be only partly God’s words. They are subject to our own human inclinations (a possible implication of 1 Cor. 14:32). Therefore, prophetic messages, and what they mean and what God wants us to do about them, are to be weighed or evaluated in consultation with others (1 Cor. 14:29). We do this by comparing the message to the whole teaching of the whole Bible, and by comparing the fruits of the prophet’s ministry with the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 7:15-20; Gal. 5:22-23). If the message falls short of Biblical standards, we keep the good part and ignore the rest (1 Thess. 5:20-21).
“Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (Eph. 4:14–16, NLT)
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