Accurately Handling (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB)
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.
How do we do this? It is not in our flesh. I can tell you
that most certainly. We can only do this in the power of God’s Spirit living
within us. So, first of all, Christ needs to be living within us by his Spirit,
and this only takes place when we believe in Jesus Christ with genuine
God-given faith, which is evident by our walks of obedience to our Lord,
whereby we are living as slaves to God and to his righteousness, and no longer
as slaves to sin.
Then, in the power of God’s Spirit, as we are listening to
the Lord, and as we are obeying him, and as we are being taught by the Holy
Spirit via the written word of God, we can begin to discern truth from lies and
truth from error. And it is good if we can keep a written journal of what we
are learning and if we can record passages of Scripture and what we get out of
them so that we can go back to these records for future reference.
Now, we can use bible helps, especially those which help us
to understand the context of passages of Scripture, and those which help us
understand the meanings of the words according to what they meant when the
words were written in the original manuscripts. But I would highly recommend
against using Bible helps in place of the Holy Spirit, and especially any which
lean toward one particular theology. Let Jesus be your teacher!
The other main thing here which I have discovered in my own
studies is to make certain of the context of the passage of Scripture and that
we are not building any doctrines out of Scriptures taught outside their
context. Now some Scriptures have dual contexts, such as a more specific
context to a smaller group of people and then a broader context which follows
the same line of thinking but as applied to more than just that specific group
of people. Yet, it still must agree with the Scriptures overall.
Test the Spirits (1 John 4:1 NASB)
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
We live in an age of massive deception. Deceiving spirits
are everywhere we look, pretty much. We cannot trust the words of our
government leaders, our news media, the medical profession, the educational
system, videos we see, memes on social media, news stories, our military, books
we read, or sermons we listen to, just at face value. For there are so many
liars and deceivers among us, and so many of them disguise themselves as “the good
guys,” or as servants of righteousness. But we need to test them all.
So, what is the measure we are supposed to use? We are to
use the Word of God as our measurement, plus prayer and spiritual discernment.
For we can compare some words, which are spoken, against the Scriptures, but
only if they are being spoken in the name of God and in the name of the Scriptures.
So as far as who or what else can be trusted, we need to pray for spiritual
discernment and for the Lord to direct us in what information and/or person is
actually telling us the truth. And just because they say they are doesn’t mean
they are. The only fully trusted source is God himself.
So, just know that we literally must be people who are not
buying into everything we hear or read or think we see, regardless of the
source, unless it is the Scriptures, but even there we must make certain we are
reading a reputable actual translation and that we are reading it in its
context. And it is good if you can use an interlinear, too, to get a more
accurate idea of the meaning of words and of verb usage, too. For that really
helps us in gaining better understanding of what the Scriptures are teaching.
But even that must be led by the Spirit of God and not by human flesh.
Hold Fast (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22 ESV)
Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.
Now this is very important that we get this. For many
people, rather than testing the spirits, just choose to reject whatever they
don’t want to have to believe or deal with, like some people are rejecting the
gifts of the Spirit because they can’t control them. It is just easier for them
to dismiss the gifts than it is for them to have to deal with them and to
handle them accurately according to the Scriptures. But honestly, with so many
pastors of church congregations now following the ways of the world, we don’t
have many people spiritually equipped to properly respond to the gifts.
But, as individuals, we are not to quench the Spirit, but we
are also not to just receive anything anyone says is coming from the Spirit
without testing it against the Scriptures, but in their context. So, just
because someone says they have a word from the Lord doesn’t mean at all that
they are literally hearing from the Lord, but they could be making it all up. Some
people do. But we also shouldn’t just write it off unless it is clearly not
from God because it is contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures, in context.
What I see much of in today’s Christian culture here in
America is that so many professing Christians are following after the teachings
of humans, and not after the teachings of the Scriptures, and without
exercising spiritual discernment to see if what they are hearing or reading is
actually true to the Scriptures. If it sounds good, they accept it, and they
often spread it to others. But if they don’t like how it sounds, then they
reject it, regardless of whether or not that is what the Scriptures teach. And so
we have a whole lot of people professing faith in Christ who are following man
and not God.
But we are to be people who hold fast to what is good and
who abstain from every form of evil. And so this calls for us to test the
spirits so that we don’t end up accepting evil as good and rejecting good as
evil, which is what many people are doing today because they are deceived. For
they are accepting the broad road as truth while they are rejecting the narrow
road as a lie. But the narrow road is what leads to eternal life, and the broad
road is what leads to destruction and death. So, please know the difference.
For we are not saved from our sins and bound for heaven
based on a one-time in our lives profession of faith in Jesus Christ, if that
profession of faith is not followed up with walks of obedience to our Lord in
holiness and in righteousness, and in the power of God, and from here to eternity,
in practice. For if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience
to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life
with God, regardless of what our lips have professed or we were convinced that
we believed in our hearts. So, please take this seriously.
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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