Thursday, February 13
Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. Stay away from every kind of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-22)
The need for proper discernment in the Christian life cannot be overemphasized. We briefly talked about this yesterday. Paul commands the church to put everything to the test. The word translated “test” means “examine closely for the purpose of determining authenticity.” Some of its many uses in the New Testament include testing to see what pleases the Lord (Ephesians 5:10), testing to evaluate the genuineness of faith (2 Corinthians 13:5; 1 Peter 1:7), and testing to determine the nature of God’s will (Romans 12:2).
Paul may very well be referring to testing the various “prophecies” that were circulating among the Thessalonians (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2; see also 1 Corinthians 12:10). If this is the case, then he is commanding them not to dismiss such messages summarily but to evaluate their truthfulness carefully. Calvin agrees with this view when he writes, “Paul . . . prohibits them from condemning anything without first examining it . . . [and] he admonishes them to exercise judgment, before receiving what may be brought forward as undoubted truth.”
While there is much credence to this view, seeing Paul’s statement as a command to put everything to the test seems best. For the believer, all of life must be viewed through the lens of Scripture. Before making any decision, accepting any teaching, choosing any course of action, or setting off in any direction, the first question that every Christian must ask is, What does the Bible say? Those things that prove to be “good” must be embraced. Those things that prove to be “evil” must be rejected. The word translated “stay away” has the sense of “abstain or hold oneself away from.” Paul used the word when he instructed the Thessalonians to “abstain” from sexual immorality. We’ll talk about it tomorrow.
Doing the Word
Test everything.
Prayer
Dear Father, grant me the spirit of discernment so I can hold on to what is good and stay away from what is evil. In Jesus’ name, Amen.