On Muslims Coming to Christ in Dreams and the Heresy of Monophysitism - By Publisher

Excerpted from here. Our comments in bold.

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The unnamed author at Disntr spends the greater part of his article explaining a vague doctrinal distinction about Christ's nature that is unedifying and largely irrelevant. We redacted it. When he finally gets to the actual subject he immediately concedes that the Holy Spirit can indeed come to someone in their dreams. 

He makes his case from a misunderstood Romans 10:17.

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In the face of such fascinating accounts of these dreams, it is essential that we not lose sight of the clear and unambiguous message of Scripture. It is not for us to dismiss out of hand the possibility that the Holy Spirit may use extraordinary means such as dreams to prompt someone toward Him—it’s possible. However, it becomes deeply problematic when people assert, in contradiction to the revealed Word of God, that they have come to faith through dreams alone, with no prior exposure to the Gospel. (We hope the author will explain this deep problem.)

Romans 10 outlines the process of genuine faith. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). This clarifies that faith is not a mystical experience, but a trust in the revealed Word of God. (Well, no. The author assumes his premise without examining or explaining anything. Prudent Bible students would not interpret a Scripture through the lens of their doctrine. 

Let's look at a couple of the words Paul used. First, "word," which is rhéma, a spoken word, made "by the living voice." So the first thing we discover is that Paul was not talking about the "revealed Word of God." Also notice that Paul referred to the rhéma of Christ, not the rhéma of preaching.

Second, the word "hearing" is akoé ,used of inner (spiritual) hearing that goes with receiving faith from God (Ro 10:17), i.e. spiritual hearing (discerning God's voice; see also Gal 3:2,5, Gk text). Thus this kind of hearing is not a function of the auditory process, it is a supernatural hearing.

Let's put it together: Faith comes from spiritually discerning God's voice, and spiritually discerning God's voice comes through the word spoken by the living voice of Christ.

So on one hand it is true that the Gospel must be preached, but it is not true that the human-preached Gospel is the only way to come to faith.)

It is through the preaching of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that the Spirit brings men and women to repentance and faith. 

These dreams, stripped of the clear gospel message, (How does Publisher know these dreams are stripped of the Gospel?)

are inadequate to produce a true saving faith. (This is false, as we just learned.)

The lack of scriptural grounding (How does Publisher know these dreams lack scriptural grounding?)

casts a shadow of doubt on the legitimacy of these experiences. (The author previously conceded that the Holy Spirit could indeed come to a person in a dream. The fact that certain other elements may or may not be present does not "cast a shadow of doubt" on the dream's legitimacy, but rather on its completeness.)

Further, when people come to saving faith, they embrace the real Jesus, as He is presented in the Bible. They do not flock to a false religion or accept a distorted version of Him. (This is an odd statement. How would a new believer know anything about what the Bible says about Jesus? Who is flocking to false religion or a distorted version of Jesus?)

Jesus Himself stated, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). He would not call people to a misrepresentation of Himself. (Why does the author keep referencing this idea? Where is Jesus being misrepresented?)

Thus, while we may find these accounts of dream conversions fascinating, it is critical to ground our understanding of faith and conversion in the truth of Scripture. The Word of God is our sole authority, revealing and pointing us to the one true Jesus, in all His fullness and glory. Only in this Jesus can we find true redemption and salvation. (Few Christians would disagree. 

We view this as an opportunity to correct a misunderstanding, not to criticize the author. We too value the truth of Scripture, but it must be accurately taught and not serve a doctrinal preconception.)