HOW SHOULD WE TEST A NEW REVELATION?

If someone says God has spoken again, how does the Bible tell us to decide whether the claim is true?

The claim itself is not unusual in the Bible.

People repeatedly said:

“God spoke to me.”

“An angel appeared to me.”

“The Lord gave me this message.”

Sometimes they were telling the truth.

Sometimes they were not.

So Scripture never teaches us to reject a message simply because it claims to be supernatural.

But neither does Scripture tell us to believe it simply because something supernatural happened.

Instead, God gives His people tests.

That makes this question much bigger than Mormonism.

It applies to anyone who claims to bring a new revelation from God.

1. THE BIBLE EXPECTS US TO TEST RELIGIOUS CLAIMS

John writes:

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.”
— 1 John 4:1

Notice what John does not say.

He does not say:

“Nothing supernatural can happen, so reject every claim.”

He says:

Test it.

Why?

“Because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

The existence of false prophets means that sincerity isn't enough.

Religious experience isn't enough.

A remarkable story isn't enough.

The question is:

Is it from God?

2. WHAT IF SOMETHING SUPERNATURAL REALLY HAPPENS?

Deuteronomy 13 gives us a remarkable test.

Suppose someone announces a sign or wonder.

And suppose:

the sign actually happens.

We might expect that to settle the question.

It doesn't.

If that person then leads Israel away from the God who had already revealed Himself, Israel was not to follow him.

That establishes an important principle:

A SUPERNATURAL EXPERIENCE DOES NOT OVERRIDE PREVIOUS REVELATION FROM GOD.

That principle will become extremely important.

3. WHAT IF AN ANGEL DELIVERS THE MESSAGE?

Now we come to a passage especially relevant to claims of later revelation.

Paul tells the Galatians:

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”
— Galatians 1:8

Read that carefully.

Paul doesn't say:

“If an angel appears, believe him.”

He says almost exactly the opposite.

Even if the messenger were:

Paul himself

or even:

an angel from heaven,

the message must still be tested against the gospel already delivered.

Then Paul repeats it in verse 9.

That repetition matters.

4. THE MESSENGER DOES NOT VALIDATE THE MESSAGE

We often reason the other way around.

We think:

“If I could prove an angel appeared, then the message must be true.”

Paul's reasoning is different.

The message is not authenticated merely by the impressive nature of the messenger.

Instead:

THE MESSAGE TESTS THE MESSENGER.

That is a major biblical principle.

Paul essentially says:

You already have the gospel.

Therefore, even an angel does not have authority to replace it with another one.

5. WHY WOULD PAUL GIVE SUCH A WARNING?

Because deception can look religious.

Paul warns in 2 Corinthians 11:13–15 about false apostles and deceptive workers.

Then he says:

“Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

Paul's point isn't that every angelic appearance is satanic.

Scripture contains genuine angelic appearances.

His point is that appearance alone proves nothing.

Something can appear holy.

Something can sound spiritual.

Something can be extraordinary.

And still be false.

Therefore:

Test the message.

6. JESUS GAVE THE SAME WARNING

Jesus warned:

“There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders.”
— Matthew 24:24

Again, notice the combination:

False teaching

and

impressive signs.

Jesus does not teach that miraculous evidence automatically authenticates a religious claim.

That means the Christian cannot reason:

“Something extraordinary happened; therefore God must have done it.”

There must be another test.

7. THE BEREANS SHOW US THE ATTITUDE

Acts 17 gives us one of the finest examples.

Paul came preaching Christ.

Paul was an apostle.

Yet the Bereans:

“searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
— Acts 17:11

And Luke calls them noble for doing it.

Think about that.

They did not say:

“Paul sounds sincere.”

They did not say:

“Paul is persuasive.”

They did not say:

“Paul says God sent him, so we must accept him.”

They examined what he taught in light of Scripture.

That is precisely the attitude we need.

8. BUT WHAT ABOUT NEW REVELATION IN THE BIBLE ITSELF?

Someone might reasonably object:

“Didn't God reveal new things throughout biblical history?”

Absolutely.

God spoke through Moses.

Later He spoke through prophets.

Then:

“God... hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.”
— Hebrews 1:1–2

The coming of Christ was genuine further revelation.

And Christ authorized His apostles to teach.

So Christianity cannot simply argue:

“God never reveals anything new.”

He clearly has.

The question is:

What did Jesus and His apostles say about revelation after Christ came?

9. JESUS PROMISED THE APOSTLES SPECIAL GUIDANCE

On the night before His death, Jesus told His apostles that the Holy Spirit would:

teach them all things
— John 14:26

bring Jesus' words to their remembrance
— John 14:26

and:

guide them into all truth
— John 16:13

These promises occur in Jesus' conversation with the men He had chosen as His witnesses.

The apostles therefore occupied a unique position.

They had been with Jesus.

They witnessed His resurrection.

And the Spirit guided their testimony.

10. JUDE SPEAKS OF A FAITH ALREADY DELIVERED

Jude urges Christians:

“earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
— Jude 3

The expression translated “once delivered” carries the idea of something entrusted or handed over decisively.

Jude doesn't picture Christians waiting centuries for the faith to disappear and then be revealed again.

He tells them to defend what had already been delivered.

Again, that doesn't by itself settle every possible question about later revelation.

But it certainly belongs in the discussion.

11. NOW WE CAN FAIRLY ASK ABOUT JOSEPH SMITH

Joseph Smith said heavenly messengers appeared to him.

The Latter-day Saint tradition includes claims involving Moroni, John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John.

Those are extraordinary claims.

But the Bible tells us something important before we investigate them:

An angelic messenger does not settle the matter.

Even if we granted the appearance for the sake of discussion, we would still have to ask:

WHAT DID THE MESSENGER TEACH?

And:

DOES THAT MESSAGE AGREE WITH THE REVELATION ALREADY GIVEN THROUGH CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES?

That is not an anti-Mormon test.

It is a biblical test.

And it should be applied to everybody.

12. WE MUST APPLY THE SAME TEST TO OURSELVES

This is important for TEXT B4 TRADITION.

It would be easy to test Joseph Smith while giving our own traditions a free pass.

We can't do that.

If my preacher teaches something, test it.

If an early church father teaches something, test it.

If Martin Luther teaches something, test it.

If Joseph Smith teaches something, test it.

If a famous modern Bible teacher teaches something, test it.

And if TEXT B4 TRADITION teaches something:

TEST IT.

No teacher gets to stand above the text.

13. SO WHAT ARE THE BIBLICAL TESTS?

From the passages we have examined, we can begin with at least these:

1. Does the message agree with what God has already revealed?
Deuteronomy 13

2. Does it preserve the gospel delivered by the apostles?
Galatians 1:6–9

3. Does it agree with the apostolic testimony about Jesus Christ?
1 John 4:1–6

4. Does it survive careful examination by Scripture?
Acts 17:11

5. Are we being persuaded merely by signs, wonders, visions or impressive messengers?
Matthew 24:24; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15

Those tests give us somewhere solid to stand.

14. NOW WE CAN BEGIN TESTING THE RESTORATION

This changes the question.

We do not need to begin by saying:

“Joseph Smith was lying.”

We don't know a man's heart.

Nor do we need to begin:

“An angel could never have appeared.”

The Bible itself records angels appearing.

Instead, we can do something much simpler.

Take the message Joseph Smith said he received.

Put it beside the teaching of Jesus and His apostles.

Read both carefully.

Then ask:

DO THEY SAY THE SAME THING?

That is where our investigation should go next.

And I think our next page should probably tackle the most fundamental claim of all:

IS THE BOOK OF MORMON ANOTHER TESTAMENT OF JESUS CHRIST?

Not by beginning with archaeology or DNA.

Those questions can come later.

First we should do what we've been doing all along:

Read the text.

TEXT B4 TRADITION
Read First. Conclude Later.

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