Do you think we have a different Holy Spirit to the apostles? If you or I have a dream, how is it any different to if Peter or Paul had a dream? Since the apostles were to write scripture, shouldn't it have been even more important for them to check their visions against scripture? Yet we see that they didn't. As I have the Holy Spirit I can pen scripture, but it won't have the same weight as the apostles, but it doesnt' mean what I write is false. That's why Christian bookstores can do business, because almost every book on the shelf contains inspired relevation. We don't hold them to the same weight as scripture in matters of doctrine, but they are popular, which indicates that the bible alone is not enough for christian living in our modern world. If subjecting ourselves to the apostles teaching is the issue, I can guarantee you that every church and denomination existing today do not take their teaching from the apostles alone.
Wow I cannot believe what I am seeing here. You are walking close to the border of
heresy. All Christians receive the same Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit most certainly does not use all Christians in the same exact way.
The office of apostle was reserved exclusively for a select few who were given the most authority in the church only second to Christ Himself. The difference between you and Peter or Paul is that those 2
personally beheld Jesus Christ, and they were
spoken to directly by Jesus Christ; you have never personally beheld Christ as they did nor have you received authoritative commandments directly out of the Lord's mouth as they did. All Christians have the indwelling Spirit, but Scripture is a specific gift that came to the prophets and apostles to give infallible knowledge of God; anything we or anyone else writes will
always be fallible and we are only in line with the Spirit of God when we properly exegete and align ourselves with the Scriptures.
The apostle Paul declared in 1 Corinthians 14:37-38 that the things
he was commanding the churches was equal to the word of God, because he spoke by the authority of the Holy Spirit reserved for the apostles alone. He then stated concerning anyone who received a vision from God, that
all visions and gifts were subject to his writings and commandments - and that if anybody did not recognize this,
that person was not to be recognized.
Christian bookstores are filled with books that
explain and expound existing Scripture,
not provide additional Scripture. Any books that claim to provide additional Scripture are properly
labeled as heresy by the rest of mainstream and orthodox Christianity. Key examples of these are the doctrines and "holy books" of the Mormons, Jehovah Witnesses, and Roman Catholic catechism. If you are claiming you have the ability by the Holy Spirit to provide additional Scripture, you are not speaking by the Holy Spirit and you have shown yourself to be a heretic.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that
"all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." There is
absolutely nothing you can personally right indepentently from Scripture that has the authority and ability to enable a man of God to be competent and thoroughly equipped for every good work. Anything you write would thus be
subordinate and subject to the inspired Scriptures, just as
any vision or dream is subordinate and subject to the inspired Scriptures.
The apostles did not have to test their visions to Scripture because 1) they spoke by the authority of the Holy Spirit and of Jesus Christ, and 2) everything they spoke by the Holy Spirit was already in perfect alignment with the Scriptures. Look and find any doctrine of the apostles and you will see that none of it contradicts Old Testament doctrine.
(1 Corinthians 14:37-38) If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize that the things which I write to you are the Lord's commandment. But if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.
