How do you begin to discern the actual, one Truth – when we live in a world of lies?
“Discernment is not knowing the difference between right and wrong. It is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” –Charles Spurgeon
How do you even know if the information on THIS website is correct? Well, we all have two primary tools, here:
By their fruits
The first way is by the “fruits” of a person. A bad person tends to do bad things even while they are trying to deceive you. Even their best thing is tainted by something bad. A good person conversely tends to keep accidentally doing good things, when they are “in the Spirit”. Have you ever met someone and the interaction was wholly good? Where there was no sense at all of anything bad about what they are saying or doing. Those are the fruits that we can look at with our critical eye. The Bible says:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” –Matthew 7:15 (NKJV)
The concept here is that grapes don’t grow on thornbushes (they grow on a vine) and figs don’t grow on thistles (a prickly, flowering plant; figs grow on trees). So the “fruit” that you find, is a good indication of what tree it came from. Luckily, we naturally have some “gut feeling” ability to tell these apart in people.
In essence, what does your gut say? Is this person/book/etc coming from a place of good? Or are they coming from a place of spite, greed, ego, etc. If you have a sense that it’s not right – that’s a great indicator that it’s probably not right.
The Holy Spirit
Related to the above, when you make a choice in life to stop living out YOUR plan – you turn from sin (repent). This is a process of acknowledging we are all sinners, you ask for forgiveness and invite Jesus into your life. You accept Jesus for who He is and what He’s done for you, and start walking towards Him. When you do that, the Holy Spirit/Helper comes to “dwell” in you. He moves in.
“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.” –John 14:16 (NKJV)
What does that mean? Well, the Holy Spirit is the 3rd essence of God – who is purely holy and good. That means He will actively and aggressively start to work on your sin problems; cleaning them up! So, on moving day going forward the Holy Spirit is going to “convict” you – it’s your conscious, plus a bunch more.
In addition to being reminded loudly when you do something that is not right, you can and should pray for “discernment”. Ask “please help me see the Truth and help determine if this is real and correct” – and you pretty much always get your answer right away. Sometimes it’s in the form of a feeling, and sometimes it’s in the form of a word or phrase that pops in your head unprompted “This doesn’t feel right.” or “No.”
False teachings, false prophets, and tainted Bible translations
There is exactly one Truth in our existence. Everything outside of that truth are lies told by the enemy. There is a narrow path with a narrow gate that leads to salvation. Sadly, most people don’t find it.
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” –Matthew 7:13 (NKJV)
When He mentions it being “difficult is the way” – it’s not difficult in terms of tasks you need to complete. It’s difficult, in my opinion, because A) we live in a fallen world where the enemy’s plan is the dominant one and B) because of this, we need discernment to cut through the lies and discover the Truth. The good part is, it’s always available to everyone, any time.
Also see: False Teachings