Discernment – Part 3
Winter 2022
In this final part of our series on discernment, I want to begin by giving you a brief review of what we have already considered. Remember that the definition of discernment that we are using is that discernment is “the skill of understanding and applying God’s Word with the purpose of separating truth from error and right from wrong.” 1
In part one, we looked at several passages of Scripture where Paul prays for the believer to have good spiritual discernment. For example, in Philippians 1:10 Paul prays that the believer may “approve things that are excellent.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Paul says that the believer is supposed to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” In Ephesians 5:8b–10, Paul says to “walk as children of light . . . proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.” The word translated as prove in those verses is the word for discernment.
In part two, we looked at Hebrews 5:11–14 in much more detail. The outline that we considered had three points. First, “a lack of discernment is proof of spiritual immaturity.” Second, “a lack of discernment is proof of backsliding,” and third, “a continued lack of discernment is proof of spiritual death.” So far, we have investigated what discernment is and why it is so important.
In this third part, I want us to consider the question of why you are not as discerning as you ought to be. In Romans 7, Paul laments that he often does things he knows he is not supposed to, and he fails to do things he knows he should. Paul wrestled with his sinful heart that still remained with him. The same is true for you. You still make wrong choices. You still confuse what is right and wrong. You might not want to, but you still do. So, the question is why are you not as discerning as you ought to be?
The first reason you are not as discerning as you ought to be is your sinful heart. Even if you are already a Christian, your heart is still sinful. That is why the mantra of our culture to “follow your heart” is such dangerous advice. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Your sinful nature makes you drawn to sin. The allurements of this world are still enticing. Because your heart is deceitful, you get confused between what is right and wrong. Sometimes your brain says something is wrong, but your deceitful heart draws you to it anyway. That is why it is so hard for you to resist temptation. If you are a Christian, then you have the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you to enable you to fight against sin.
Spiritual warfare is the second reason you are not as discerning as you ought to be. It is true that you do not wrestle against flesh and blood. The warfare you face is against spiritual wickedness. Satan and all his forces constantly try to lead you astray. 2 Corinthians 2:11 says, “We are not ignorant of [Satan’s] devices.” One of his tactics is to present you with a counterfeit version of the truth. His devices are often far more subtle than you would think. Satan does not need for you to be an axe murderer or have some other vile manifestation of wickedness. That kind of overt sin is not good advertizing for him. Satan would much rather you be a good and moral person who thinks everything is okay. He would rather you be peaceful and comfortable in your sin and never have any conviction in your heart. Satan is happy for you to believe subtle lies that are truth mixed with error, or as one preacher said, “Satan continues his efforts to make sin less offensive, Heaven less appealing, Hell less horrific, and the gospel less urgent.”
The third reason that you are not as discerning as you ought to be is the massive amount of cultural opposition that you face. You live in a world that is not a friend to grace. You are constantly presented with an unchristian worldview. You have friends that follow a relativistic view of truth. Sexual perversions are all around you from immodestly dressed girls to homosexuality on parade. The culture you live in praises rebellion against authority, and there is a push to “follow your dreams” rather than to seek the will of God.
Sadly, this cultural opposition has led many to adopt a wrong view of Scripture. Recently, the governor of California purchased billboards to advertize his state as a sanctuary state for abortions. He misapplied Scripture on those billboards in an effort to defend his position. You will often see unsaved people misuse the Word of God as a way to defend their sinful actions. They do not “rightly divide the word of truth.” You can fall into the same error if you are not careful. It is true that you can snatch a verse out of context and misapply it to justify almost anything. You must be careful and discerning in your use of Scripture.
Even worse than a wrong view of Scripture in our backward culture is that most have a wrong view of God Himself. To most, God is irrelevant or ignored. One of the most important studies you can do is on the holiness of God. Learn to understand something about God’s hatred against sin. God Himself is discerning. I already quoted Jeremiah 17:9 that says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it,” but don’t leave out verse 10. It says, “I the LORD search the heart.” God knows your heart. He searches it and is able to discern exactly what is in it. This ungodly culture does not view God that way. They say that God is only loving and does not punish the person who is just trying to do his best. This wrong view of God can influence you if you are not careful and discerning.
Sin has ruined everything. Ultimately it is because of sin that you are not as discerning as you ought to be. It is your own sin and sin all around you that impedes your discernment. The only way for you to grow in discernment is to grow in the Lord. As you “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” you will grow in discernment. I hope that you, like Paul, lament that you are not what you ought to be, but at the same time, I hope that you, like Paul, can rejoice in the fact that you are not what you once were. As a young person, it is necessary for you to be more discerning. The Holy Spirit enables the believer to discern between right and wrong, and, in the words of the Shorter Catechism, enables you to “die unto sin and live unto righteousness.” I leave you with Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”
Rev. Derrick Bowman