DISCERNMENT

DISCERNMENT
Cling to what is good.
Hold fast what is good 1st Thessalonians 5:21. This is an echo of Romans 12:9 Abhor what is evil; In other words, hold fast to what is good. Shun what is bad.
Paul was telling us to cult cultivate our love for truth that we should let it rule our thinking. That is why we need to study God’s word so much that it does become the way we think. Because if we are so deprived before we are Christians just think how much of a fight it is already for our "old" way of thinking to be diminished. Paul says he has to die to his old self every day and put his new self on. Sin is a continual thing in Christian’s lives let God’s word become our way of thinking; because sometimes we justify sin and it becomes our own opinions on moral issues higher than God’s truths. That shouldn’t be too hard to figure out though.
So why aren’t more Christians defending God’s word when false teachings arise? It is because they either aren’t really caring to study(they don’t know truly what the real teachings are), or they aren’t truly saved and would rather hear other sinner’s opinions on what to do in different sinful situations; in hopes they will give them the answer that would better suit their sinful desire.
It is also common to lay doctrine aside between believers for the "sake of Unity". By hearing this… this teaching to me is something I don’t want to be in union with. Sometimes God’s word is downplayed to be better palatable for unbelievers. It is said that experience takes precedence over objective truth. God has given us His truth objectively in His word. It is a treasure that we should protect at all costs. Paul drives out the kind of "faith" that is driven by feelings, emotion, and human imagination. Instead we are to identify "what is good" by examining everything carefully, objectively, rationally---using scripture as our standard.
No human teacher, no personal experience, no strong feeling is exempt from this objective text. (For any strong Catholics that believe the Pope can change scripture if he gets divine revelation; match that up with scripture this is false. Rev 22:18-20) God said that he is the same today, tomorrow, and yesterday. This means his Truth will never change; otherwise it wouldn't be truth. Everything in the Bible will always stand. It will never be disproved. Otherwise truth would not be truth. If the words of prophets in apostolic times needed to be examined and evaluated, then surely we ought to subject the words of self-proclaimed "prophets" and preachers today to even more intense scrutiny in the bright light of the completed New Testament. Experience and feelings---no matter how powerful--- do not determine what is true. Rather, those things themselves must be subjected to the test. This by far is what I see most of in today’s society> When I speak to someone about a particular event that they claim to be from God that doesn’t match up with any kind of truth from scripture (on how the matter should really lay out or what God would have told to them) and I should doubt and rise questions; their answers will always start with… "No Brittany I know God is telling me to do this he is just really laying it on my heart I feel like this is what God wants me to do." Or they will explain some kind of emotion that led them to believe what they thought was what God thought for them to do. They also try to use their feelings as evidence in explaining some kind of justification for sin. I have had a friend before that has told me "if God hasn’t laid conviction on your heart to get rid of some sin, in your life, then you shouldn’t get rid of it." And we are talking about such things that scripture directly talks about as being sin. What a great lie Satan and his demons have whispered in the ears of God’s children away from his word. If you were to match it up with scripture, God tells us to get rid of sin, and to live as holy people different from the world. "Abstain from every form of Evil" (1st Thessalonians 5:22). Abstain translated is a very strong verb, apecho, meaning "hold oneself back," keep away from, "shun." Same word used in 1st Thessalonians 4:3 "abstain from sexual immorality," and 1st Peter 2:11 "abstain from the passions of the flesh."

Scripture does not give believer any kind of permission to expose themselves to evil. I don’t care what kind of "feeling" they got to justify sin. As a Christian I am held accountability to defend God’s Word in telling that friend that they are wrong. I don’t always get the best "feeling" afterwards ( knowing that they aren’t that happy with me because they usually think I am being too strict) but it is worth defending God’s perfect scriptures, and from them leading anyone else astray from God. 1st Thessalonians 5:22 says "abstain from all appearance of evil." Appearance translated, eidos literally means "that which is seen." Also to those who believe that everything they see on a Christian television station is truth, they are a prime target for doctrinal deception. If you think everyone who appears to love truth really does, then you don’t understand the wiles of Satan. "Satan disguises himself as an angel of light", Paul wrote. So it is no surprise if his servant, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness: (2nd Corinthians 11:14-15). He most the times puts subtle errors in the church so then he can "secretly bring in destructive heresies" (2nd Peter 2:1) (Acts 20:30) This is a DEFINATE reason why we should test everything carefully and shun whatever is unsound, corrupt, or has error. It is deadly. If you are a Christian that believes every Christian television show is trustworthy, or every Christian radio station, you are a prime target for being deceived. Don’t accept everything that comes with Jesus tagged on the end of it. Please be more cautious. This is the perfect reason why so many Christians are being deceived today. Not because of all of so called Satan’s workers but because of corrupt interpretations in the church itself. Read the Bible and comprehend what it means with the help of God. The Holy Spirit was given to us so that we may speak to God and to help us to understand God. Without the Holy Spirit we couldn’t even understand a little of God’s word. So please develop this gift of discernment. Practice at it. I myself have to practice discerning what is scriptural and what isn’t. May God bless you.

this is the book that most inspired me to write this article
Fools Gold, by author John MacArthur