Revelation, Guidance, and Miraculous Gifts

ACBC considers the sixty-six canonical books of the Old Testament and New Testament to be God’s final and complete revelation to mankind and the sufficient and sole source needed for counseling a believer concerning all matters pertaining to life and godliness. We affirm that the Holy Spirit guides Christians—including through a conscience informed by Scripture—but realize that receiving guidance and discerning God’s will comes from the careful study, accurate knowledge, and application of the Holy Scripture.

Several terms and phrases found in Scripture including “revelations,” “prophetic utterances,” “words of knowledge,” “words of wisdom,” “signs and wonders,” etc., represent both written and spoken forms of special revelation that should be considered unique, as they were progressively communicated to mankind before the canon of Scripture was closed, and are unrepeatable. This disallows any ongoing or additional revelation from the time of the closure of the canon.

Thus, all other assumptions regarding ongoing or additional revelation from God to mankind outside of Scripture are erroneous. Given that such revelation from God is unique and unrepeatable, no such claims of further revelation today in any form are valid. All other perceived forms of revelation after the close of the canon are not considered divine revelation. Additionally, any claims of experiencing revelatory “impressions,” “speaking in tongues,” “the interpretation of tongues,” “dreams,” “spiritual experiences” from God outside the revelation of Scripture, are not to be affirmed or practiced.

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Updated 8/5/2025

For particular Standards of Doctrine relating to this topic, see Doctrine of Scripture, Doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and Doctrine of Sanctification.