I agree with not putting God in constraints that the Bible doesn’t put Him in.
That said, if someone says “God told me...such and such”, I am very interested in whether they heard him the way I hear my family when they are speaking to me.
If they didn’t, then I know they are asking saying that they believe God impressed something upon their spirit. They could be right, but I’d be perfectly justified in waiting for confirmation.
It isn’t often, but when God speaks to me He does so quietly and with economy of words. Clearly, to the point and once only.
That is how I recognize it. I have learned not to dismiss or ignore it.
“Revelation when applied to religion, means something communicated
immediately from God to man. It is revelation to the first person
only, and hearsay to every other, and, consequently, they are not obliged
to believe it. It is a contradiction in terms and ideas to call anything a revelation
that comes to us at second hand,”
Thomas Paine.
“The age of reason”
And he goes on to say questioning someone’s “revelation” is no different than Thomas wanting to see the nail scarred hands. Jesus did not rebuke him for that.
RE: They could be right, but I’d be perfectly justified in waiting for confirmation.
And how do we know that the belief is confirmed?