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Peterson's Reformed World
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In order to be saved one must know and believe in God. This is the central issue of Christianity. Aside from a proper relationship with God one can not experience eternal life. Likewise, aside from a proper knowledge of God one can not have a saving relationship with Him. It is therefore necessary to ask how one comes to know God. According to Scripture, God has made knowledge of himself available in two ways. These avenues of knowledge are called general and special revelation. They are distinct in their loci and in their effect.
General revelation is that knowledge of God found in the ordinary experiences of all people at all times.
It is that knowledge of God found in the created order as attested to by Paul in Acts 17:16ff and Romans 1:18ff. In the passage in Acts Paul is in Rome and finds himself talking with some Epicureans and Stoic philosophers. In his presentation of the gospel he presents to them a description of their unknown god as that divine being "who made the world and everything in it." God is the divine being who creates and providentially acts in human history to accomplish His will. All the course of history and the entire created order reveal God to humanity. Paul declares in Romans 1:19-20, "what can be known about God is plain to them (humanity), because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made." God's existence is evident to all people in the created order.
General revelation is that knowledge of God found in the human conscience. It is not just the created and animated body of humans, which attests to God's existence, it is also their instinctive sense of right and wrong. All of humanity has an instinctive sense of morality. Paul makes this claim in Romans 2:14. He writes: "When Gentiles who do not posses the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves." The law is God's covenant requirements given to the Israelites on Mt. Sinai through the ministry of Moses. Paul attests that the gentiles who knew nothing of God's commands as a covenant acknowledged them as a natural instinct general to all life.
The power and effect of general revelation is found in its weakness. While general revelation makes knowledge of God's existence evident to all of humanity in that it is given universally, it does not afford a saving knowledge of God. Its weakness is found in that it is not possible to know God appropriately through general revelation so as to have a beneficial relationship with Him. As a result its power is evident in that it leaves man without excuse and shuts his mouth of personal defense. And so according to Paul, "they (humans) are without excuse; for though they knew God (through general revelation), they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him," (Rom 1:19-21) Hence, the justification for evangelism. General revelation is universal and leaves all people wanting.
Because all are without excuse before God and yet without any hope of knowing God in a saving manner it is necessary, if any are to be saved, that God reveal Himself in a special way. This special revelation is found in the particular acts and words of God, which are given to a specific people and are redemptive. God has revealed himself in special ways to particular peoples throughout history.
In Exodus is found the account of God redeeming the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. He declares "I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with might acts of judgment I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians" (6:6-7). The Israelites, because of God's particular act toward them, came to know God as their God. Their redemption was the result of God's action in their life.
In much the same way the entire New Testament is an account of God's revelatory act of making saving knowledge of himself available through Jesus Christ. As a result of God's revelation of Himself through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ those who believe in Christ are saved. Salvation being a clear sign of a proper relationship with God and thus a proper knowledge of Him demonstrates that God acts in a special way toward particular people in order to reveal Himself to them in a redemptive manner.
As a result of general revelation, which leaves us without excuse, all humans are said to be enemies of God and under the ministry of death and condemnation. However, as a result of special revelation those who believe are said to be reconciled to God and under the ministry of justification. This revelation is rendered effective by God and God alone. Thus, Paul declares "if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life" (Rom 5:10).
As is evident from the scriptures cited to demonstrate the nature of God's revelatory acts we are justified in saying that scripture, as God's revelatory word, interprets God's revelatory acts. Furthermore it is by the revelatory word that God's revelatory acts are made known to us therefore this same revelatory word is also redemptive and therefore a part of God's special revelation of Himself.
In summary, general revelation is universal to all humans but insufficient to lead to salvation and therefore not redemptive. Yet it is necessary in that it leaves humanity without an excuse. As a result special revelation is necessary, in that it reveals God to a particular people in a manner that is redemptive thus affording salvation to them through God's action in their lives.