How Can I Discern God’s Truth Today
The obvious fact is that people disagree. That can lead to conflict, wars have been fought over disagreements. Yet, every Christian wants (or should want!) to be able to separate fact from fiction.
A. SEARCH & CHECK THE BIBLE
1. Listen with openness to the message.
Do you see how eager the noble folks of Berea were to listen in Acts 17:11?
2. Daily look up the word
And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and Silas, to see if they were really teaching the truth. Acts 17:11 (NLT)
Do you see how they discern the truth?
3. Be confident that God’s Word has power to correct us.
30As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. 31Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:30-32 (NKJV)
The Gospel has a freeing effect. The minute we are not free in God’s presence, we can know that we are being led away from Christ. Do you obey His teachings constantly? Stick close to Jesus’ teaching through the power of His Spirit, i.e. be in communion with God, meditating spending time in His word, communicating with God!
4. The Bible is the training manual for us.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do. 1 Tim.3:16-17. (NLT)
How have you set up time to be equipped by Scripture?
5. We are commanded to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading by testing out everything.
19 Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies, 21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 1 Thess.5:19-21 (NLT)
Do we scoff at God’s word being taught to us because of our personal hang-ups?
B. NO ONE HAS PERFECT KNOWLEDGE
1. So be humble: No one has complete truth and is a liar if he says he does!
Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything
with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. 1 Cor.13:12 (NLT)
2. There is no excuse for not growing up.
God expects us to grow up, not change our minds about the essential truths of God by listening to the ones God appointed to teach and equip you. 1 Cor.15:1-11 Paul outlines the essentials of the faith (DBRAG).
The onus is on us to get solid food to grow up so we can recognize error when we see it. Heb.5:11-14 (NLT) says:
11 There is so much more we would like to say about this. But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand. 12 You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 And a person who is living on milk isn’t very far along in the Christian life and doesn’t know much about doing what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.
3. Since we don’t know all, don’t forget to pray for wisdom.
If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. James 1:5 (CEV)
You should pray that you know God’s Truth and not what you perceive as truth (preconceived notions) that if you be wrong about anything, God can change your heart and mind either directly through His Spirit or by sending a teacher to you who will teach you.
C. TESTS FOR DISCERNMENT
1. See the fruit of obedience! Jesus says in Matt.7:15-23 (NLT):
5 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. 16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don’t pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. 17 A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced.
21 “Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as ‘Lord,’ but they still won’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. 22 On judgment day many will tell me, ‘Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.’
Paul helps us focus in more on recognizing the fruit of our lives:
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. 25 If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Gal.5:19-25 (NLT)
2. The test of discernment is whether we have grown in love (be like Christ) and serving with our gifts from God.
11 He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or because someone has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will hold to the truth in love, becoming more and more in every way like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 Under his direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Eph.4:11-16 (NLT)
The character of one who discerns truth reflects God’s love. If there is a lack of love, lots of accusation, lots of dissatisfaction, lots of strife, lots of thoughts of vengeance, you can be sure it is not a godly source.
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God—for God is love. 1 John 4:7-8 (NLT)
3. Another test for discerning truth is the centrality of Christ.
Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2 This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. 3 If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist. You have heard that he is going to come into the world, and he is already here.
4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won your fight with these false prophets, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. 5 These people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. 6 But we belong to God; that is why those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. 1 John 4:1-6 (NLT)
8 Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. 9 For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, 10 and you are complete through your union with Christ. He is the Lord over every ruler and authority in the universe. Col.2:8-10 (NLT)
We can be easily distracted from following and receiving our worth and identity in Christ.
Make sure we are centered in Christ alone, confident that by His Spirit in us, we are secure. Colossian church got into trouble because they lost track of the fact they are already complete in Christ alone.
D. WHAT HAPPENS IF I STRONGLY DISAGREE WITH ANOTHER BELIEVER
15 “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the fault. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 16 But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 17 If that person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. If the church decides you are right, but the other person won’t accept it, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 18 I tell you this: Whatever you prohibit on earth is prohibited in heaven, and whatever you allow on earth is allowed in heaven.
19 “I also tell you this: If two of you agree down here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together because they are mine, I am there among them.”
21 Then Peter came to him and asked, “Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?” 22 “No!” Jesus replied, “seventy times seven! Matt.18:15-22 (NLT)
1. Go directly to the person that offended you and work at reconciling differences.
2. Onus is on you to get the facts right, but more often people get emotional about it, and become defensive and cannot observe facts in a clear-headed way.
3. Check out what is really at stake, personal pride, other issues? Could it be issues of liberty/conscience (Rom.14)?
4. Doesn’t work, get witnesses to come with you.
5. Doesn’t work, get the church involved and receive the church’s teaching/counsel.
6. Doesn’t work, treat the offender as a lost person that needs to be won back into the Kingdom.
7. Offer grace as much as Christ offered it to you.
8. Onus is on you to be Christlike.
E. WHEN THE GOSPEL IS ATTACKED
11 But when Peter came to Antioch, I had to oppose him publicly, speaking strongly against what he was doing, for it was very wrong. 12 When he first arrived, he ate with the Gentile Christians, who don’t bother with circumcision. But afterward, when some Jewish friends of James came, Peter wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore because he was afraid of what these legalists would say. 13 Then the other Jewish Christians followed Peter’s hypocrisy, and even Barnabas was influenced to join them in their hypocrisy.
14 When I saw that they were not following the truth of the Good News, I said to Peter in front of all the others, “Since you, a Jew by birth, have discarded the Jewish laws and are living like a Gentile, why are you trying to make these Gentiles obey the Jewish laws you abandoned? 15 You and I are Jews by birth, not ‘sinners’ like the Gentiles. 16 And yet we Jewish Christians know that we become right with God, not by doing what the law commands, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ—and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law.” Galatians 2:11-16 (NLT)
How was truth discerned here in this case where Paul opposed Peter in Galatians 2, where two pillars of the faith fighting out in public? Do you see what’s at issue is more than private convictions, it is about the essential truth that Jesus saves all sinners by grace through faith in Him? When people are prevented from experiencing the awesome freeing grace of Christ, to come to know Jesus, it is time to fight the satanic lie. Do we fear criticism from the “legalists” or do we love Jesus more who loved us and gave himself for us?
