"God Told Me So . . "

Over against the simple reading of Scripture to hear God's voice (see below), many people say that God speaks directly to them outside of the Bible. Thabiti Anyabwhile proposes this Biblical response:

The next time you hear someone say "God told me to do so and so," ask them to prove it before you follow along with them. If God has spoken then surely it should be evident in His word. If God said it then it shall surely come to pass (Deut. 18). But if God has not said it, then that "prophet" is a false prophet, a deceiver, a twister of God's "word" to his or her own destruction. Mark such a man and avoid them.

Often it is quite a complicated and difficult situation when someone "baptizes their whims in God-talk," as Thabiti says. But the issue is still the same. Those who love Christ cannot stand to hear others lie in His name, and that is basically what is going on in these situations. We must love people and love them well enough to say, "No, God did not say that to you."