Discernment

How do we know is a particular teaching, message, or guidance is from God and not just from our own desires or from a false teacher? Well, there are three main methods.

1) Comparison with scripture (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 22:29, 2 Timothy 3:15-17)
The bible is a record of what God has shown His people throughout the ages. The messages and teachings in it have withstood test after test and trial after trial. The history it tells us of is being backed up by archeological studies and digs. The value and solidity of its teachings have been proven in the lives of countless believers.
If a teaching or message that is supposed to be divinely inspired or from a God called teacher holds up when compared against the entirety of scripture and not just a few random verses, then it is likely from God.

2) Prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 24:32 & Luke 24:45)
It is a simple fact that the more we talk with someone the better we get to know them, and the better we know someone the easier it is to recognize their voice and the way they talk.
Prayer is to be a constant activity for us. When a message is in discord with what we are shown in prayer it is a danger sign. It may well mean that there is something in our life that we need to surrender to Jesus, but it may also be the Spirit warning us that a given message is not from God.

3) Spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10)
One of the gifts of the Spirit is discerning of spirits. This is the ability to tell whether a teaching or doctrine is from God or not. This can also apply to those that teach or establish doctrine. This gift can be difficult to recognize in a person, but it is critical to the body.

If a teaching or insight that supposedly comes from God is from God then it will bear up under all three of these.

It is important to remember that any one of us may be deceived. We may have a hardened or un-surrendered part of heart that precludes our understanding. This is often a sign of unrepentant sin in our lives. Those that know us will often be able to tell when something is not right with us.
This is where fellowship comes into it (Ephesians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14). There will be believers that have a greater understanding of scripture than we have. There will be more mature Christians with a stronger prayer life than our own. There will be believers with the gift of discernment. All of us have a part in maintaining the integrity of the body. We have a responsibility to point out false teachings. We also have a responsibility to point out when a teaching is from God and brings glory to God.

This responsibility is a heavy one at times. There are churches that have embraced false teachers or false teachings. This occurs when the teacher or doctrine is not held accountable and the teaching is not checked against the methods above. If we are part of such churches we have to speak out. We should do this as politely and in as undisruptive a manner as possible, but it must be done. You or I might well recognize a teaching as false, but what about new or immature Christians that have not yet learned to check teachings for truth. “After all he is a preacher, he must know more than I do.” is what they are likely to think. It is easier to run away than to face this conflict. This is where laying down our lives for others is key. We need to put the needs of our brothers and sisters before our own. They (and us) need to know when they are under a false teacher. Conversely we also need to know when we are under a teacher that is being used by God to teach His people.

The final point of this is simple. As we draw closer to Jesus and we are conformed more and more into His image then we will be more and more able to recognize His teachings. God is so great that He gave us ways outside of our own limitations to verify His will. He is shaping us for His glory and He knows our limitations and has given us more than one way to try the spirits (1 John 4:1). His wisdom is boundless.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I appreciate this being approved, but is there a rule or technical issue I missed about posting scripture references that resulted in the ones I posted being removed?
 
hmmm I see nothing that has been removed. You only have 4 posts. I'll look into it a bit deeper sir. Have a Blessed day :)
 
Sorry. I should probably have specified that it wasn't the post that was removed but the verse references (Matt 1:1, Mark 2:2, etc...) that were removed from the starting post of this thread.
 
We are anticipating a forum software upgrade in early May. Some scriptural chapter and verse processing is not operating 100% with this current software version and plugin's and the owner of this forum will be dealing with that in a couple weeks. Thank you for your patience - in the mean time, either try to edit those locations back in to your post yourself OR failing that, let JG27_Chili know what they should be (in order) and he can attempt to reinsert those for you.
 
I think anytime a fellow believer is trying to warn of us of something we should at least take the time to consider what they posting and not condemn them for bringing up the topic. but they need to be discerning not scaremongering cos many many false teachers around continuing saying the end is nigh and trying to predict dates.

I have noticed a few times this happened here and also with elders often it can be they have simply been deceived longer than a newbie christian who hasn't sat under a false teacher.

As always check with scriptures not just one or two picked at random, all scripture needs to be rightly divided and confirming each other, and also prayed about too cos we can always ask God for discernment.
 
I don't see anything missing? But I agree with the OP - we must be like the Bereans and test the teaching.
 
One thing we must keep in mind...

You don't learn to spot "Error" by studying error... You learn to spot error by studying The Genuine Article.... The more you study the bible (Not what people write or teach about the bible, but the bible itself) - the more discernment starts picking up....

In many cases - what I pick up first is the lack of love and the lack of compassion... The "You are a heretic if you don't agree with me" attitude.... The clear sign that these folks have "Lost their first love"....

In other cases - I pick up a sense that "This is not quite right" and I don't like where it's going.... For example - I dig deeper - it becomes obvious that the message is carefully crafted to sound good and to make you feel superior (Let me tell you - I don't need any sermons trying to puff me up or to make me feel more superior.... I have enough trouble with that without any outside help thank you very much...)...

Thanks
 
The Bible is wonderfully complex and compacted. I find the most dangerous errors come from cherry picking scripture, out of context. Scripture confirms scripture and I think that is what the OP is saying. Anything can be distorted and proved, even tho it is against God, if you take the words out of context and string them together. I enjoy listening to others (men/women) and their points of view, but I decide in myself what conforms to scripture as a whole and what does not. In both cases (agree/disagree) I am enlightened, whether it be where to avoid traps or learning something new that I hadn't considered before. It is wonderful to be enriched by a cascade of enlightment when sometimes researching a wrong thought leads you to the Truth. You have to dig these things out with the HS for yourself.
 
How do we know is a particular teaching, message, or guidance is from God and not just from our own desires or from a false teacher? Well, there are three main methods.

1) Comparison with scripture (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 22:29, 2 Timothy 3:15-17)
The bible is a record of what God has shown His people throughout the ages. The messages and teachings in it have withstood test after test and trial after trial. The history it tells us of is being backed up by archeological studies and digs. The value and solidity of its teachings have been proven in the lives of countless believers.
If a teaching or message that is supposed to be divinely inspired or from a God called teacher holds up when compared against the entirety of scripture and not just a few random verses, then it is likely from God.

2) Prayer (1 Thessalonians 5:17, Luke 24:32 & Luke 45)
It is a simple fact that the more we talk with someone the better we get to know them, and the better we know someone the easier it is to recognize their voice and the way they talk.
Prayer is to be a constant activity for us. When a message is in discord with what we are shown in prayer it is a danger sign. It may well mean that there is something in our life that we need to surrender to Jesus, but it may also be the Spirit warning us that a given message is not from God.

3) Spiritual discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10)
One of the gifts of the Spirit is discerning of spirits. This is the ability to tell whether a teaching or doctrine is from God or not. This can also apply to those that teach or establish doctrine. This gift can be difficult to recognize in a person, but it is critical to the body.

If a teaching or insight that supposedly comes from God is from God then it will bear up under all three of these.

It is important to remember that any one of us may be deceived. We may have a hardened or un-surrendered part of heart that precludes our understanding. This is often a sign of unrepentant sin in our lives. Those that know us will often be able to tell when something is not right with us.
This is where fellowship comes into it (Ephesians 5:21, 1 Thessalonians 5:11-14). There will be believers that have a greater understanding of scripture than we have. There will be more mature Christians with a stronger prayer life than our own. There will be believers with the gift of discernment. All of us have a part in maintaining the integrity of the body. We have a responsibility to point out false teachings. We also have a responsibility to point out when a teaching is from God and brings glory to God.

This responsibility is a heavy one at times. There are churches that have embraced false teachers or false teachings. This occurs when the teacher or doctrine is not held accountable and the teaching is not checked against the methods above. If we are part of such churches we have to speak out. We should do this as politely and in as undisruptive a manner as possible, but it must be done. You or I might well recognize a teaching as false, but what about new or immature Christians that have not yet learned to check teachings for truth. “After all he is a preacher, he must know more than I do.” is what they are likely to think. It is easier to run away than to face this conflict. This is where laying down our lives for others is key. We need to put the needs of our brothers and sisters before our own. They (and us) need to know when they are under a false teacher. Conversely we also need to know when we are under a teacher that is being used by God to teach His people.

The final point of this is simple. As we draw closer to Jesus and we are conformed more and more into His image then we will be more and more able to recognize His teachings. God is so great that He gave us ways outside of our own limitations to verify His will. He is shaping us for His glory and He knows our limitations and has given us more than one way to try the spirits (1 John 4:1). His wisdom is boundless.
Great post mate.
 
One thing we must keep in mind...


You don't learn to spot "Error" by studying error... You learn to spot error by studying The Genuine Article.... The more you study the bible (Not what people write or teach about the bible, but the bible itself) - the more discernment starts picking up....


In many cases - what I pick up first is the lack of love and the lack of compassion... The "You are a heretic if you don't agree with me" attitude.... The clear sign that these folks have "Lost their first love"....


In other cases - I pick up a sense that "This is not quite right" and I don't like where it's going.... For example - I dig deeper - it becomes obvious that the message is carefully crafted to sound good and to make you feel superior (Let me tell you - I don't need any sermons trying to puff me up or to make me feel more superior.... I have enough trouble with that without any outside help thank you very much...)...


Thanks


Hello John,

I agree and this is so very important because to many people tend to cry false teaching and such simply because they have yet to grasp a revelation knowledge to it. I have seen where many people began speaking out against a pastors messages and and then the church splits and those who stayed in the original church have grown and God is using them and the those who split because they believed wrong teaching never did amount to much and simply became another church on the corner.

There is a spirit loosed in this day and age and people are falling pray to it. It begins with using these false teacher scriptures and then accusing ministries falsely and those accused are growing and being used by God big time. That alone should wake people up but if you are not being built up in His written word you are going to make mistakes.

This is thee worst and hardest time this world has seen. It is the oldest it has ever been and as we draw down or near the end, things are getting squeezed like the devil for one and it is not going to get better. The world and its ways that is. People are expecting this great deception to take place and are already running around accusing ministries of being just this and in all truth the deception starts long before that.

Things have been progressing towards the end and the enemy knows this and is preparing himself as well. Nothing just happens. Just like taking Jesus out of the schools. This did not just all of a sudden happen. The devil planted seed (thoughts ) here and there and slowing changed things leading up to this. That is his m.o !

Sorry John for going on like this but people need to be very careful or they will end up like the man who was healed of leprosy. Jesus told Him or straightly charged him which means RIGHT NOW to NOT tell any one of what had happened and go to these priest and tell them.

Well the man so full of joy and excitement went off telling every one of what Jesus did. Now the man thought he was helping Jesus but in truth he was working against Him. Jesus could do no more because of the crowds this man stirred up and had to leave and the priest never got ministered to as well.

I said all this because people better wake up or they will find they have been hurting and not helping or hindering their own personal walk with Christ.
Blessings Brother John
Jim
 
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