It seems we are talking about a couple of different things.
Jesus did make things new, but everything he did was backed up by the Old Testament. The new covenant did not do away with the old. Jesus showed us exactly what was meant by the old prophesies and covenants. After all, God does not change, nor has His plan for humanity changed.
However, that is not what I am speaking of. I am talking about us today, post-Biblical times, the era that ended with the passing of the 12 and Paul. Just as the teachings in the New Testament can be backed up in the Old Testament, anything we come across as "new" in the the realm of Christianity must be fully supported by the old.
Thus, I believe God has already revealed virtually all He plans to reveal to His body. The knowledge is already there. Our personal task is to learn it and understand it for ourselves. Our task is not to discover "new" revelations, but simply learn to understand what has already been revealed.
We need help to do that, and that is why God uses teachers.
In this discussion, we can have what appears to be a contradiction, but is really just opposing spokes of a wagon-wheel.
1. We need to understand the things of God for ourselves. The danger is heading off into uncorrected error based on fauly understanding.
2. We also need to accept the teaching of those God has appointed to teach us. the danger here is blinldy following without thinking on our own.
I say it is not "either/or". It is not 50/50. I say we engage both approaches fully. We study and seek God to develop our own ideas. We also seek out the views of teachers and scholars to learn their thoughts. All this helps us to gain our own understanding.
If we all heard perfectly from God, then we wouldn't have to consult with others to make sure we don't mistake our own preferences for God's leading.
