God Speaks to Us
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” God says he will speak to his sheep individually, call each by name, and lead us, and he does. Stephen and Saul of Tarsus are an example of this.
Through Jesus
The Implications of Jesus’ Humanity, Revisited
Jesus came as a man–fully human–and lived under the control (“filling”) and power of the Holy Spirit, in exactly the same way we can, if we will permit him to do it. In this respect, the only difference between Jesus, as a human, and us, is that Jesus was never anything but fully under the Spirit’s control. Jesus invites us to live as He did, obeying the Spirit’s direction and living by the Spirit’s power.
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Related Keys to Psalm 37:4-5 and Psalm 51:3-4
God’s intention is that, as we take delight in him, he will put his desires within us. This will make us progressively more able to trust God, do good, and avoid sin. It will also make us increasingly able to discern when our guilt doesn’t come from God.
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Repent, turn again, turn away from your wickedness, in Acts 3:19
When Peter preached that the people should “repent,” he explained that meant that they were to “turn away from their wickedness” and so, in their behavior, “listen” to Jesus. Jesus did not come to entertain us or to offer advice, but to turn us away from our own way to obedience to him.
Repentance in Jesus’ Early Message, Matthew 4:17-22 and Mark 1:14-20
Jesus’ early preaching was that his hearers must repent. because the Kingdom had already arrived and was “at hand”–standing right in front of them, in his person. Therefore, they were to repent–change their behavior–and believe the good news (Gospel) he was preaching to them.
Unrepentance and the Judgment Spoken Against Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum in Matthew 11:20-24
When Jesus unfavorably compared the unrepentance of the Galilean towns where he had preached to the repentance Tyre, Sidon and Sodom would have shown to the same preaching. the repentance of which he spoke clearly included behavioral change.
Repentance of the Ninevites and Unrepentance of Israel in Matthew 12:41
Jesus contrasted the Jewish leaders, who refused to hear his words, with the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonah and put away their bloodshed and violence.
Repentance, in the Weaker Sense, in the Parable of the Two Sons
As the parable of the two sons in Matthew 21:28-32 shows, repentance is merely changing our minds so that we start to do what the Father asks. Repentance does not require remorse, payment of a penalty, or even in all cases a spoken apology, and the forgiveness that it produces cannot be sold.
Matthew 5:8–Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Matthew 5:6 and 5:8 speak of the state of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, which leads to purity of heart because God satisfies the hunger. The result of purity of heart is being able to to “see” God, to perceive his presence and work, even in the present time.
Some Other Issues Affected by the Question of Whether and How God Speaks
The question whether God still speaks impacts a number of other issues, ranging from the nature of a believer’s relationship with God, to the miraculous, to church offices and authority.