A Call to Spiritual Discernment

We are not talking about the "Discernment of spirits" as a spiritual gift among the 9 gifts of the Spirit listed by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. We are talking about the ability of all believers, pastors included, who have acquired sufficient knowledge of the God of the Bible to separate the truth from error. God holds us responsible for distinguishing between truth and error and between good and evil. Spiritual discernment is the Spirit-given ability to distinguishing God's thoughts and God's ways from all others - Satan's counterfeits.

Let me give two illustrations of Satan's counterfeits:

1. A bank teller is not trained to catch counterfeit money. But handling the "real" and becoming acquainted with the "real," the moment a bad one comes across his hand he recognizes it. It is the same with spiritual truth and spiritual error. If Christians know enough of spiritual truth by studying the Bible diligently, they will not fail to recognize Satan's countefeits.

2. Eugene Peterson's version of the Bible, "The Message." is a New Age paraphrase. Please refer to my earlier postings - "A New Age Translation of the Bible" and "The Message behind "The Message."" If Christians know enough of spiritual truth by studying a good Bible, translated from the original Hebrew and Greek, they will not fail to recognize Satan's counterfeits.

As you read along, you will begin to understand that the key to Spiritual Discernment is to know the Word of God and know it well.

Solomon's Discernment

Solomon was famed for his powers of discernment because he asked God for wisdom and understanding:

"Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours" (1 Kings 3:9, NKJV, emphasis added)?

In response, the Scripture says that God was pleased with his request and gave him a discerning heart:

"Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you" (1 Kings 3:11, 12).

Notice that discernment for Solomon consisted of the ability to discern good and evil. In order to become a knowledgeable and wise judge of His people, discernment was necessary.


New Testament Discernment


Interestingly, the New Testament sets forth the very same understanding of discernment:


Concerning spiritual maturity, the writer of Hebrews said: "... of whom we have much to say, and hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the ord of righteousness, for he is a babe. But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Hebrews 5:12, 13, emphasis added).


The inability to discern both good and evil is primarily caused by dullness of hearing of the Hebrew Christians. They were easily taken in. Today's Churches are facing exactly the same problem. Many so-called Christians simply lack the capacity to understand. They are gullible and spiritually immature. Consequently they could not distinguish good and evil.


Just what is this "dullness" of which the writer of Hebrews speaks? It comes from the Greek word "nothros" which means, "sluggish, lazy, stupid or slothful."


Two things, therefore, may be said of the person who is "nothros":


1. he is dull of apprehension. He lacks push and fails to move ahead on his own; he is not aggressive. There is a lack of eagerness and concern that causes him to dawdle. If this condition persists, he becomes lazy. If he will not sharpen his powers to discernment by aggressively practice them, he will soon develop a lethargy and habitual state of lazy nonchalance about the Christian faith.


2. The writer of Hebrews said: "... that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promise" (Heb. 6:12).


The above Verse implies a state of culpable incapacity. As the writer indicates, the condition comes from the failure to take advantage of available truth by putting it to work in daily living.


The leadership (pastors and elders) of many Local Churches failed to "equip the saints" for the work of ministry. Sad to say, many of them are not equipped themselves! Many of them only like to "equip" the youth because they are unlikely to ask them difficult Biblical questions they could not answer correctly. Consequently, these gullible and naive young Christians are "tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine."


Paul said to the believers in Ephesus: "And He (Jesus) Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ..." (Eph. 4:11 - 14, emphasis added).


A Noble Task


Someone said: "Open minds are like open windows; you have to put in screens to keep the bugs out." The prudent believer screens every idea, every claim, every proposal, and every opinion through the grid of Scripture. The Bible is his protection from the stings and bites of error. He is open to everything in the Bible, of course, but everything else must be examined carefully in the clear light of God's Word.


The Berean Jews


When Paul and Silas preached in Berea, we are told by Luke (writer of Acts) that the Berean Jew were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica:


"And the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with eagerness, examining the scriptures daily, to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:10, 11, NAS, emphasis added).


The Berean Jews received (listened attentively and respectfully) the Gospel preached by Paul and Silas and at the same time they checked up on Paul to determine whether his message was Biblical. By doing that, Luke said the Bereans Jew were more noble minded than those in Thessalonica. Therefore, the process of discernment - distinguishing truth from error by screening everything through the sieve of the Scripture - is a noble activity.


The word "noble" in Greek is "eugenes" which means, "high ranking" or "high-minded" or "wellborn." It is a privilege for believers to be called "noble minded" when they received the doctrine of the apostles "with eaerness."


The difference between the Bereans and the Pharisees


It is intersting to note that the Pharisees also search the Scriptures:


Jesus said to the Pharisees: "But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do no believe. You searched the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me" (John 5:38, 39, emphasis added).


Unlike the Bereans, the Pharisees searched the Scriptures with unbelieving hearts. The difference between them is very clear. The Bereans looked to see if what Paul and Silas said was true. And when they found it so, they believed. They were searching for truth. In contrast, the Pharisees were looking for errors. They wanted to find passages to prove Christ wrong.


Coming to the Scriptures for any purpose other than to discover and to believe the truth, is contrary to and utterly defeats the discerning process. Through discernment, error is detected in order to enable a person to distinguish it from the truth so that he may learn and live by the truth.


Test all things


Paul said: "Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil" (1 Thess. 5:20, 21, 22).


Notice the threefold command here - Test for the good, reject that which isn't, and retains that which is - is an accurate description of the entire discernment process. Christians are called to evaluate anything they read (the content of any teaching) in the light of the Scripture. Prophecies they heard are to be evaluated in order to determine whether they were true or false according to the teaching of the Bible. Such evaluation demands careful, active listening. That is why so many Christians fail; they prefer a more passive role. They either turn off most of what is said or else put the mind in neutral and let it coast with the speaker. Passive listening leads to spiritual dullness. Noble Christians will not settle for this. Their minds will be alive, actively comparing what is taught with the Word of God.


The idea is not to pick at flaws or have "roast preacher for dinner" in every Church service. The object of the test is - to identify that which is good so that you may "retain it." One must always search for more and more of God's truth for his own spiritual benefit and to pass on to others.


Learn to Discern


So far we have been considering the need of discernment in the Church and in individual Christians, because there is a degree of gullibility among Christians, including elders, pastors and leaders. But, until now, very little has been said about how you may become a discerning Christians. It is time to begin addressing this subject.


The fact is that every Christian has some level of discernment, no matter how small, to start with in his Christian walk of faith. God has given everyone a divine choice. Since you believed the Gospel message, you must have discerned that this message is different from any false idea of salvation. And, I hope, by virtue of reading this message, and in agreement up until now, you probably share a desire to become more discerning. Possibly you have begun to "see through" some of the wrong commitments into which you may have been duped. At the very least, you know what discernment is all about. You know that developing spiritual discernment is an obligation before God.


Every Christian needs to understand that no matter how bad his condition today, if he is a genuine believer, the Spirit of God dwells in him and that is all he needs to begin to change. Basically, it is the Spirit who, when you fervently ask Him, will lead you out of error into truth.


Jesus said: 'And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor know Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you" (John 14:16, 17, emphasis added).


He is called the "Spirit of truth" becaus of His peculiar concern for imparting truth to believers. And He abides in every true Christian.


John said: "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that any one teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him" (1 John 2:27, emphasis added).


Notice that the "anointing" is the anointing or unction of the Holy One - the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20). this anointing of the Holy Spirit teaches you concerning all things - including Spiritual Discernment.


Spiritual Maturity and Immaturity


The writer of hebrews talked about "milk Christians" and "meat Christians" which means "immature (babe) Christian" and "mature Christians" respectively. As the Christian advances in his Christian walk, his ability to discern spiritual things also increases:


"For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. But sold food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to dicern both good and evil" (Heb. 5:13, 14, emphasis added).


It is "by reason of use" that one's spiritual "faculties" become sensitive to the difference between truth and error. Spiritual Discerment is a habit formed by using the Scripture under the Spirit's power and direction to distinguish good from evil. That is the reason I said in the beginning of this message that the key to Spiritual Discernment is to know the Word of God and know it well. There is no short-cut.