Expert: Ernie Laurence, Jr. - 11/5/2008

Question
QUESTION: Is it Biblical to still allow prophecies to guide christians today? In other words, are we supposed to patronize seers or prophets to foretell the future?

ANSWER: The short answer is "No."

Here is why.

First of all, in 1 Cor. 13 Paul tells us that miraculous forms of passing information (languages or tongues, prophecy, and miraculous knowledge of all kinds) would cease (1 Cor. 13:8-12).  The timing for this is "when that which is perfect".

Verse 10 says that when that which is perfect (complete) is come, that which is imperfect (incomplete) will pass away.  They must be of the same type, and since the imperfect is a form of information passing, the perfect must be as well.  The only perfect form of God's communication we have is the Bible (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:3; Jude 3).

Jude 3 says that "the faith" was "once and for all delivered to the saints (that is, to Christians)".

If God has "given us all things that pertain to life and godliness" as 2 Pet 1:3 states, what more can we expect to receive?

In truth, if you listen to those who claim to be prophets today they will give one of two messages:  One kind is nothing new, it is a repetition or a paraphrase of the Bible.  The other is a contradiction to scripture.

Lastly, all divine messages of the first century were accompanied by miracles to show that the speaker had divine authority for their message.  Ask someone who claims to be a prophet to demonstrate that authority.

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

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QUESTION: Are dreams in anyway accepatable as channels for God to talk to us and are they biblical? If not why do we dream?

ANSWER: A good question to ask.

Again my answer goes back to what I said before.  If God gave us everything that pertains to life and godliness in the lifetime of the Apostles (2 Pet. 1:3), if THE faith was once and for all delivered to the saints, then logically, what more can we expect to receive from God.  Either He lied to us and we really didn't get everything when He said we did in the Bible, or the information we get from dreams is nothing that is not already in the Bible.  Anything else is not a message from God at all.

Dreaming is mostly a way for the human mind to unwind.  You see, the human mind is a very complex thing, far superior to the biological brain, which is only able to comprehend physical things:

1 Corinthians 2:14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

So when we dream, the mind rests buy "dumping" images and other sensations from the brain and sorts it all out in a haphazard manner that we "see" as dreams.  Sometimes the dreams relate to things that have happened that day (a scary movie perhaps?), or things that have happened a long time ago, or that we read about, or simply are events that can never really happen (I have those kind all the time).  It is nothing significant like a message from God, just you sorting out the communication between your physical brain (neurons, dendrites, axons, etc.) and your spiritual mind (that which is created in the image of God - Gen. 1:26-27).

Hope this helps! :)

In Truth and Love,

Ernie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Some years back In the denominational setting, a pastor asked me to commit all of my first income in that year to God no matter the volume! Is this right and is it also not unbiblical not to pay tithe?

Answer
Ugh, anyone asking you to commit ALL of your income for a year to ANYTHING is a crook.

Tithing is Biblical, but it is only a requirement under the Old Testament.  Under the New Testament, God does not specify amount to give, only that you do it.  He is concerned with your attitude (1 Cor. 13:3; 2 Cor. 9:7) and your reason for giving under the New Testament.

Reading Acts 4-5 we see that some gave all their profit, some gave only a portion.  Annanias and Saphira lied about what percent they gave and Paul says to them that while it was theirs, they could do what they wanted with it: give it, keep it, give a portion...but since they only gave a portion and LIED, they died.

God wants a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7).  He wants us to give when we meet each first day of the week (1 Cor. 16:1-2).  He wants us to give to help the poor (2 Cor. 9:9), the widows, the orphans (James 1:27), and all mankind (Gal. 6:9-10) and to spread the gospel (2 Cor. 9).

You've had some great questions so far.  Thanks!

In Truth and Love,

Ernie