Westminster Confession of Faith Ch. 1, Sect. 1
Although the light of nature, and the works of creation and providence, do so far manifest the goodness, wisdom, and power of God, as to leave men inexcusable; yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God, and of his will, which is necessary unto salvation; therefore it pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare his will unto his Church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the Church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing; which maketh the holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.
General Revelation
Light of Nature – We are made in the image of God and therefore have a sense of the divine. The fact we are moral,rational creatures with dignity and value shows us, being image bearers of God, that God is true in the simplest way. It’s foolish to reject God when such evidence is within our very being, as image bearers of God
The Works of Creation and Providence – The natural world and everything about it demonstrates a Creator, and not just any creator, but a Sustainer of all things that provides all things. God created sun, moon, stars, animals and nature which all reflect him as Creator, Sustainer and Provider.
Special Revelation
Scripture – Scripture contains the will of God and knowledge of salvation for the church. There’s really no better way to explain this special revelation than pointing to Scripture itself: “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
“…those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.”
I argued that the prophets and apostles were on the same “level” in that the church recognized their role for the being God’s mouthpiece through Scripture for the church. I used Ephesians 2:19-20 to make this point. I also make the argument that the Apostle Paul was the last apostle – no more came after him. Why is this important? To put it simply, God used the prophets and apostle to communicate his word through Scripture. No one outside of that “prophet and apostle” category hears from God the way these authors did. Hebrews 1:1-2 confirms this.
To learn more about this, stay tuned for upcoming episodes! You can search for “closed canon” articles to help understand this perspective a little more. Here’s a short article: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/is-the-canon-closed/