The conquering of the city of
Troy is one of the famous stories of ancient history. Greek
soldiers had laid siege to the city for over ten years, but were
unable to conquer it. In exasperation Ulysses, a brilliant
strategist, decided to have a large wooden horse built and left
outside the city walls as a supposed gift to the unconquerable
Trojans. The Greeks then sailed away in apparent defeat. The
curious and proud Trojans brought the wooden horse inside their
fortified walls. That night Greek soldiers hidden inside the
horse crept out and opened the city gates to let their fellow
soldiers into the city. The soldiers massacred the inhabitants,
looted the city, and then burned it to the ground. Ever since,
the Trojan horse has been a symbol of infiltration and
deception....
Spiritual discernment is the skill of separating divine truth
from error. First Thessalonians 5:21 says we are to "examine
everything carefully." That speaks of testing something to
reveal its genuineness. We as believers are to evaluate
everything we come in contact with to distinguish what is
true and false, good and bad, or right and wrong.
That can be a
difficult task. Why? First, we are constantly fighting the
sinful desires of our fallen flesh. Second, we face satanic
deception. The devil is doing everything he can to confound and
confuse us. Third, we are inundated with worldly influences that
seek to overpower us.
Opposing the world, the
flesh, and the
devil requires us to
"hold fast to that which is good" (1 Thess 5:21)... [and]
"abstain from every form of evil" (v. 22). That means we are to
separate ourselves from every form of perversion as though we
were avoiding a deadly plague or poison.... Many in today's
church are indifferent about separating divine truth from error
because they lack spiritual discernment.
One of the main causes is the church's weakening of doctrinal
clarity and conviction. Many have only a shallow knowledge of
God's Word because the church has yielded the trade and skill of
understanding it to people who are ill-equipped to do so...
Not only are biblical terms used imprecisely, thereby spreading
confusion throughout the church, but erroneous teachings of
every kind are readily tolerated. This is because so few people
have the discernment necessary to identify and refute such
errors...
Because experience and emotion have been elevated above divine
revelation, many who call themselves Christians have no biblical
basis for doing so. For example, during an interview on a
supposedly Christian radio station, the program host asked me,
"How does a person become a Christian?" I replied,
"He must realize that he is a sinner and that he cannot save
himself, repent from his sin, and cast himself on the mercy of
God. He must believe that Jesus Christ is God's Son, whose death
paid the price for his sins and whose resurrection proves his
justification."
The host asked, "You don't believe that everyone who is a
Christian must believe that, do you?" I replied, "Yes!" The host
responded, "I certainly didn't deal with any of my sins when I
became a Christian."...
Some say that doctrine divides. That's true! If you set aside
biblical truth and remain silent for fear of offending people,
opposition will disappear, but so will some other things like
truth, holiness, and God Himself. Jude 1:3-4 says we are to
"contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all
delivered to the saints. For certain persons have crept in
unnoticed ... who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness
and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Diluting
doctrine only ends up making things easier for those who
stealthily seek to victimize the church.
See
Part
2.
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