What Is the Difference Between Prophetic Words and the Word of God?
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Thinking about these practices brings concern for others who are putting great emphasis on these prophetic words for their lives. There is, sadly, a trend to speak to others and personalize these words for the year while leaving behind the gospel.
I think back to my own time in this movement and how much of what is said in the name of prophecy is not prophecy. God is specific and omniscient, and His Word testifies of His Son.
He is not vague or general in His speech when speaking through individuals in the Bible. He also would not perform a practice He instructed others not to do, such as omen reading (Deuteronomy 18:9-14).
I also recognize the sincere danger in speaking on behalf of God when He did not say the things proclaimed.
Passages in the Old Testament, such as Jeremiah 23 and Ezekiel 13, are sobering passages for the false prophets who were claiming to speak for God when He did not send them or speak to them.
Many of these false prophets were speaking from vain imaginations and the desires of their own hearts, which can deceive more than we realize.
In a recent blog post I wrote regarding this very topic, I stated this as the word to share for 2023,
“All of us have sinned and have rebelled against a holy God. Sin entered through Adam, and now all sin. We have broken His law, and being a just Judge, He punishes sin. Apart from Christ, we are sons of disobedience and children of wrath. There is good news though. God sent His Son, born of a virgin, pure and perfect in every way, to fulfill the Law and the words of the prophets. He did what we could not do. He atoned for our sin on the cross.”
Jesus Christ has done what we could not do, and He has secured salvation for those who come to Him by grace through faith in Him. He rose from the dead to give us the glorious promise of eternal life. We who are in Christ no longer fear the second death because of His resurrection.
He has overcome death and Satan. In Him, we have been saved from the penalty of sin, we are saved from the power of sin, and one day, we will be saved from the presence of sin. This is good news!
The Gospel of Jesus Christ never stops being valid. It is what we are to proclaim in hopes that those who hear will be brought to repentance and saving faith in Jesus Christ.
We are to remind ourselves often of what we have been saved and to remember our desperate need for the Savior.
The gospel is not a message one graduates from in life. This is the primary message we all, as believers in Christ, are to proclaim. We do not need a new word. We need the Word.
For further reading:
Does God Give Prophetic Dreams to Us Today?
Is the Spiritual Gift of Prophecy Still Relevant Today?
What Does it Mean That ‘Your Young Men Will See Visions’?
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