Discern: The Mind That Tests
discovered privately. The church is a school, and the curriculum is the apostles' teaching.
Devotion also requires a culture of learning. A church that loves the didaché will be a church that reads, studies, memorizes, and discusses Scripture. It will not outsource theology to the professionals. Every believer is called to be mature, and maturity is measured by the ability to handle the word of truth. The Bereans were called noble because they examined the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul said was true (Acts 17:11). They were not skeptical of Paul; they were serious about Scripture. That is devotion.
When a church devotes itself to the didaché , it will inevitably face opposition. Truth is a line in the sand. It divides. Jesus said, "Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division" (Luke 12:51).
The gospel is not a unifying message unless people bow to its claims. In Athens, Paul's teaching caused some to mock, some to delay, and some to believe.
They took him and brought him to a meeting of the Areopagus, where they said to him, "May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting?"
Acts 17:19
The world will always call biblical doctrine "new teaching" because it is foreign to the spirit of the age. The church's job is not to make the teaching sound old, but to explain why it is true. Paul did not change his message for the Areopagus. He explained it. He began where they were, but he brought them to where Christ is. Devotion means we do not edit the didaché to fit the audience. We trust the didaché to change the audience.
Discern: The Mind That Tests Devotion without discernment is naïve. The New Testament is full of warnings about false teachers, deceitful spirits, and doctrines of demons.
Therefore, the believer must not only love the truth; he must learn to test everything that claims to be truth. Discernment is not suspicion; it is stewardship. It is the mind of Christ applied to the claims of men.
If anyone wants to do His will, he will know whether the teaching is from God or I am speaking on My own.
John 7:17, HCSB Jesus ties discernment to desire. The one who wants to do God's will is given the capacity to recognize God's teaching. This is not mysticism. It is moral agreement. Light reveals light. When the heart is aligned with God's character, it recognizes God's voice. The opposite is also true. When the heart loves sin, it will find reasons to reject sound doctrine. Paul warned
Timothy that the time would come when people would not endure sound teaching but would accumulate teachers to suit their own passions (2
Timothy 4:3). The problem is not the mind's ability; it is the heart's appetite.
Discernment begins with a commitment to the authority of Scripture. The Bible is the measuring rod for every claim. Isaiah said, "To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn" (Isaiah 8:20). Any teaching that contradicts, adds to, or subtracts from Scripture is not from God, no matter how persuasive the teacher or how powerful the experience. God does not deny Himself. He does not reveal in the heart what He has forbidden in the Book.
Discernment also requires knowledge of the whole counsel of God. Heresy rarely comes as a total denial of Scripture. It comes as a selective emphasis that distorts the whole. Satan quoted Scripture to Jesus in the wilderness.
The words were accurate; the use was false. The answer to misused Scripture is rightly handled Scripture. Paul told Timothy to do his best to present himself to God as one approved, a workman who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15). Discernment is a skill. It is learned through use. The mature "have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil" (Hebrews 5:14).
The church must test not only the content of teaching but the character of teachers. Jesus said, "You will recognize them by their fruits" (Matthew
7:16). A false teacher may sound orthodox, but his life will betray him. He will be greedy, sensual, arrogant, or domineering. He will use the truth as a means of gain. Peter said they "will exploit you with fabricated stories" (2
Peter 2:3). Paul said they "teach things they ought not to teach for shameful gain" (Titus 1:11). Doctrine and life are inseparable. The didaché produces godliness. When the life contradicts the message, believe the life.
Discernment also listens for what is missing. False teaching often lies by omission. It will talk about love but never mention holiness. It will speak of