1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV): Test everything. Hold on to the good.
Just as Jesus foretold that there would come many false messiahs (and there have been), so there is much false information available today about Jesus and about God, and about what He is working toward in the world today. With the massive increase in and spread of information has come a proportionate lowering of discernment, even among God’s people. The multiplication of self-published books and blogs have removed many of the previous obstacles to falsehood being published as truth (even though these obstacles have never been a perfect filter, and always required discernment and testing for truth). These days people can publish whatever they want with no accountability at all, and even some publishers are willing to publish half-truths, misinterpretations, and outright lies, as long as there is a profit to be made. If writers throw in a few scriptures, works of falsehood and “religious fiction” can even deceive Christians, unless they make the time and effort to seek out where the truth really lies, and to allow God to distill discernment into their hearts and minds. Some of the lies being published these days fall into a category that could be called “hopeful falsehoods” that are very attractive, even to Christians, but are totally false. For example, books and blogs that state that everyone will ultimately be saved, and that God won’t send anyone to hell, a statement that is totally contradicted by God’s clear word in the Bible, are being avidly consumed, even by Christians, who are altering their world-views and mindsets toward the gospel in response.
But in every area, God has urged His people to exercise solid, biblical discernment; to test EVERYTHING against the only standard of truth that He has provided: His word as contained in the Bible. Feelings are a totally inadequate meter of truth. Opinions, no matter how strongly held, are worthless in discerning what is true. Even what some call an “inner sense,” or an “inner validation,” or a “leading of the Spirit,” are useless since they tend to depend on a “sense” or “feeling,” and can be easily influenced by events, emotions, prejudices, and even the enemy. No, the only sure guide is the Bible, read plainly and accurately, and in its full context. No other resource is an adequate test of the truth. To the Scriptures!
Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your word, graciously given, freely available (at least in North America), and absolutely true in every specific. Help us to always keep Your word (in its full context) before us every day, and in our hearts constantly, so that we can test everything, and only hold on to what passes the Scriptural test of being right and good. Amen.