Below is an email I sent to a Mormon friend in American Fork about 10 years ago. It is on the same topic we are currently discussing. Interesting how things go around, isn't it.
Perry
----- original message: -----
John,
You offered the following challenge:
1) "You cannot show me where God said revelation was ended, and no
scripture would follow." 2) " - don't try to tell me that revelation, prophets, and scripture
have come to an end unless you can prove it." 3) "nor that God has told us everything about the gospel that he has
to say to us."
In defense of the faith I offer the following argument. (All scripture quotations are from the NASB, and are included since you may not have an NASB handy).
First, we must see who authored AND perfected the faith of the Christians from Hebrews 12:1-2:
"{1}Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding
us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which
so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us, {2} fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and
perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne
of God."Consider that faith has been PERFECTED by Jesus. For this reason alone no further revelation is needed. It is perfect as Jesus delivered it.
And also, from Hebrews 1:1-2, we discover who spoke to us in these last days, which includes all of the time up until Jesus returns:
"God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many
portions and in many ways, {2} in these last days has spoken to us in
<His> Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also
He made the world."God spoke to us long ago in the prophets, and has spoken to us these last days in Jesus. It does not say Jesus and other prophets.
Also, the scripture as we have it is totally sufficient, as pointed out in 2 Timothy 2:16-17:
"{16} All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching,
for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; {17}
that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.Then, Jude 1:3 we see that the canon is complete in Jude 1:3:
"{3} Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you
about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you
appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once
for all delivered to the saints."Lets take a look at a few of the words used by Jude:
'the faith' - The definite article, which occurs in the Greek, indicates that there is no other. It is 'the' faith. Jude is referring to the beliefs of Christians, namely, the word of God.
'once for all' - rendered simply 'once' in the KJV, the greek word 'hapax' refers to something done for all time, never needing repetition [check this out in Vine's Expository Dictionary].
'delivered' - in Greek this is an aorist passive participle, which in this context indicates an act completed in the past with no continuing element.
[Thanks to John MacArthur for the analysis of the above words]
Revelation ended and the canon of scripture was closed as of the end of the Apostolic age, as we saw above. No further revelation is necessary, thus no further revelation has been given or received. Further, no claimed revelation since the close of the canon has been shown to improve upon, clarify, or extend the existing canon. Since Jesus was not only the author but also the perfector of the faith, and the faith was delivered once for all, no more is needed. To say that the message delivered by Jesus was incomplete is to say that He failed at His goal.
Lets turn to Matthew 28:18-20 to determine WHO has authority and HOW LONG He has it:
"{18} And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority
has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. {19} Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, {20} teaching them
to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age."Here are some points to ponder:
Does it make since that God would send Jesus to establish a church and die for our sins on the cross, yet do an incomplete job by not telling us, either through the ministry of Jesus or through the Holy Spirit to the Apostles, everything that we Christians need to know to obey God, bring glory to Him, and receive eterneral life? No, it does not. To imagine such a situation is to see God as less than perfect, and Jesus' mission as a failure! John 1:1ff says that Jesus was the Word, and we know that Jesus was perfect, so that means that the Word is perfect. We need no further revelation to make it any more perfect.
I think you will agree that no revelation has been given between the end of the Apostolic age and at least up until the early 1800s. If there was additional revelation from God during that period I am sure that some church would have that revelation and include it in their religious works. Surely God is strong enough to allow any revelation that He might have given to survive the centuries, as he did our current 66 books. The fact that no one has, or even claims to have, such revelation tells me that there is none.
Now, does it follow that if the work of Christ and the apostles was incomplete, meaning the church did not have a complete canon, that God would wait some 1800 years or so to continue it? What about all of the souls that for those 1800 years were trying to be obedient without the benefit of full revelation. I contend that the Bible, as we have it today in 66 books, is complete, in that it contains the full gospel of Jesus Christ and is entirely sufficient to know Christ, be obedient to God, and assure one's own salvation.
Perry
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