Discern What is True

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:19-23

How can we know what is true? We live in a time of great confusion about what’s actually real, what is relative, and what’s altogether false. It’s sometimes hard to believe that the people we disagree with on important issues even live in the same universe that we do! 

Each of us hears hundreds of messages each day, and we all need a rubric for determining what’s true and what’s false. The Thessalonian church was in a similar situation as us, specifically in the area of prophecy. They needed a way to determine if a prophecy was truly from God or not, if a word should be kept or discarded. 

In 1 Thessalonians 5:19-23, The Apostle Paul writes to the Thessalonians about discernment, a way to judge if a word is truly from God. Whether the issue of prophecy is something you think about often, or whether you’ve never considered the idea before, you have some way that you discern whether a message is true or just plain fake news.

In this passage, Paul gives us and the Thessalonians a command for discerning truth, and it begins with a test.

The Test

“Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21a)

Even before Paul tells the Thessalonians how to respond to a prophetic message, he addresses their attitude toward the message. He warns them not to quench the Spirit or despise prophecies. For you and me today, not quenching the Spirit means that we ought to hold to the truth once delivered for all generations, not despising the prophetic world laid out in Scripture but delighting in them as our very life.

Then Paul shifts from their disposition to their discernment by telling them what to do: test everything. This is consistent with teaching elsewhere in Scripture. In Acts 17, the Bereans heard the teaching of Paul considering Jesus and then examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 

When it comes to truth claims made by the world, let’s be Bereans who eagerly listen without despising, and then carefully put every word to the test, examining the Scriptures daily to discern if the message is true.

Discernment is also not something to be done in isolation. Notice that the Bereans as a people are praised for their tendency to discern, and even this letter is addressed to a church, a collection of Christians. If you’re wrestling with a particular claim about what Scripture says, don’t only examine it alone. Bring in a trusted Christian friend or two, or a leader in your church and examine the Scriptures together. The Word of God is our ultimate test of truth.

The Response

“hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21b-22) 

Knowing what is good and evil is a great start but it is not enough. Right knowledge ought to lead to a right response, both to what is good and what is evil. 

If you’ve been a Berean and examined something and it proves to be in accordance with God’s Word, hold fast to it even in the face of external pressures. Let God’s Word be true even if every man is a liar and standing in opposition. 

Now if you’ve examined Scripture and found a particular claim or practice to be out of line with God’s Word, abstain from it completely. If a particular Bible teacher you follow is peddling a gospel of prosperity instead of the true good news of Christ’s life, death and resurrection for our forgiveness of sins, avoid consuming their content or exposing yourself to their teaching. If you’re anything like me, you might tend to “hate-follow” those you disagree with just to keep tabs on what they're doing (and maybe a little so that you can feel superior about knowing more than them). While there is a time for publicly correcting errors, don’t get caught up in obsessing over what is evil, instead hold fast to what is good.

The Result

Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

The result of the proper testing and proper response is this: being sanctified, or set apart for God’s exclusive use. The things that we set our mind to, whether they are good or evil, will shape our thoughts, actions, and character. 

So let goodness have its full effect - that you would persevere in Christ to the end and be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. For us, sanctification is a lifelong process that is completed at the return of the Lord, that glorious day when we see him face to face.