Discerning between good and evil.

The goal of the Christian life is maturity. We are given gifts from God for the sole purpose of bringing us to the point of maturity:

Ephesians 4:11-13

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a MATURE man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.

But how do we know when we have indeed matured:

Hebrews 5:14

But solid food is for the mature, who BECAUSE of practice have their SENSES TRAINED to DISCERN good and evil.

Mature Christians therefore are those who have had their senses trained to discern GOOD AND EVIL. Does this sound familiar? Consider this:

Genesis 2:9

Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL.

What really happened in the Garden of Eden?

A fundamental misunderstanding of what actually took place in the Garden of Eden has spawned a host of errors in the church today.  Since this is the beginning we must grasp fully the ramifications of Adam’s actions; for in doing so our understanding of the bible will increase exponentially. 

The scriptures tell us that Adam and Eve ate a fruit from a tree, but not just any tree but from a tree that they were specifically told not to eat. Most people see what Adam did as a fault, a fall, the damnation of all mankind. But was it really? Adam's disobedience was ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Without this act of disobedience God's plan COULD NOT PROCEED! What really happened was that Adam activated the process necessary for mankind to achieve MATURITY. Now I know that there are those who believe that God could have achieved his purpose for mankind apart from this act, but consider this if Adam had proceeded without touching the tree then HE WOULD HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD OR EVIL!

Realize that God instructing Adam not to eat the fruit MADE eating the fruit sin.  This sin was necessary because it changed the fundamental make up of man.  After the act man developed an affinity to sin.  You may not see this as a good thing, but know that without this affinity to sin the man COULD NOT EVENTUALLY MATURE.  It is the act of OVERCOMING sin that creates maturity, and if there is NOTHING to overcome then maturity is not realized.  Consider Jesus’ parable of the sower:

Luke 8:14

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection (maturity).

This group does not bring forth fruit BECAUSE they did not OVERCOME sin. 

Adam's act introduced the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil to mankind, BUT it did not grant us the ability to DISTINGUISH the difference between good and evil. This is the problem in the world today; humankind generally CANNOT distinguish between what is good and what is evil.

Wisdom is the principal thing.

The book of Hebrews tells us that maturity could only be achieved when we can have our senses trained to discern between good and evil, and the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden was the 'tree of the knowledge of good and evil'.

The ability to discern between good and evil can only be imparted by Wisdom. Some think that wisdom is knowledge applied. This simplified definition does not adequately define the concept of wisdom. Wisdom is:

Knowing what works and what would bring assuredly the desire you hope for. Wisdom is therefore a precipitated knowledge that is free of uncertainty.

Consider this:

1 Corinthians 1:30a

But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,

Jesus was wisdom from God incarnate:

1 Corinthians 2:6-7

Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;

And again we see it in the parable of the sower:

Luke 8:15

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word (JESUS), keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

This wisdom from God came in the form of Christ. While on earth he spoke words that tell us how to live. These words COMPLETELY identify the difference between what is good and what is evil. We become mature when we HEAR THE WORD, KEEP THE WORD, and BRING FORTH FRUIT FROM THE WORD.  At this point we are able to distinguish BETWEEN good and evil. This knowledge is based upon the wisdom of God that came in Christ.

If you cannot distinguish between what is good and what is evil then you are NOT mature. What is good and what is evil is simply what God calls good and evil, and this wisdom was granted us in the word of God via Jesus. He did not leave it up to our understanding or our sentiments because what is acceptable has a way of becoming diluted with each generation, but what is true DOES NOT CHANGE

An experience of trouble.

I have an iPad, which I love, in fact it has become indispensable to me for capturing my thoughts and insights.  I am, like most of my generation, addicted to technology so naturally I quickly bought the iPad as soon as it became available.  About two months after I purchased this wonder of technology I sat down with it intending to do some research, as I clicked it's button to turn it on the screen remained black and I got no response.  I clicked the power button again and again with no response.  At this point I began to have a sinking feeling in my gut as I knew something was wrong with my precious pad.  My mind began racing as I wondered what was wrong.  I had paid a princely sum for the device but I had NOT bought the much touted insurance option that would allow me to get a free replacement in the event that I received damage to my pad.  Added to these thoughts was the realization that I live in the Bahamas and the closest Apple store was in Miami.  The feeling of doom was further compounded when I went to my now neglected laptop in an effort to do a search on the potential causes of the problem.   All I could find was a woman describing the exact same problem that i was having. With the devastating conclusion that her newly acquired iPad was a lemon and she chalked it up as a loss.  Now I did not want to have this same experience so I continued looking, but to no avail, for a possible solution.  Hours turned into days as I soon fell into despair.  Was I ever to get my iPad to work again????

Well into the third day of my ordeal I had a thought to go to a local computer store to see if they could fix it.  Armed with limited expectations I went to the store. Expecting that if he could not help me I would have to wait for a trip to the USA to get it fixed. I told the attendant about the problem with the pad and he calmly took it from my hopeful hands and laid it on the counter.  He touch TWO buttons and to my sheer delight the IPad came to life.  He told me that all it needed was a soft reset that ANYONE could have done the same.  I smiled because in my panic I remembered reading about this in the operating manual but it had escaped my mind.  This act of the computer repairman ENDED my days of anguish; my EXPERIENCE of trouble you can say.  But what happened later is the reason why I write.

Several months after this ordeal my sister, who had gotten an iPad after I got mine, called me one day.  I heard anguish in her voice as she began to say that HER IPAD HAD A BLACK SCREEN AND WOULD NOT TURN ON.  I quickly had a mental recall and I was able to CALMLY tell her the procedure to restore it's functionality.  She followed my instructions and true to form her iPad came back to life and joy filled her soul.  What you must appreciate is that MY EXPERIENCE OF TROULE THAT LASTED FOR DAYS GAVE ME THE ANSWER TO END HER EXPERIENCE IN MINUTES.  Now the similarities of the situation were the same in that she felt the same anguish I felt and the despair that accompanies it, what was different was the length of time of her experience.  The duration of her trouble was considerably shortened BECAUSE of the experience I endured.  This is not unlike Jesus' statement,

John 16:33
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

Jesus says to us that we too MUST have experiences of trouble but not to worry he has already OVERCOME the world.  As we learn of him we too are able to overcome.

I have heard the ludicrous conclusion that the trouble we go through is not for us but it so that we can comfort someone else.  This is ridiculous BECAUSE trouble teaches us and while others can benefit from our experience it is NECESSARY that we ALL experience trouble because IT IS ONLY WHEN WE ARE WEAK THAT HE IS STRONG!

Why can't we understand the bible?

The average Christian today, if they would be honest with themselves, would tell you that they really do not understand the bible.  They could have been saved for decades and they may still not have the confidence of TRULY understanding the bible.  But why is it that if you read a book every day you still cannot grasp the meaning of what it's talking about?  If I asked you what is  2+4 everybody would confidently answer 6.  You would be confident in your answer because of some very simple rules:
The number 2 ALWAYS means 2
The number 4 ALWAYS means 4
The + sign ALWAYS means to add
And 2+4 WILL ALWAYS EQUAL 6

You can comfortably come to the answer because the answer NEVER changes.  The answer is the same if you went to grade school, high school or college.  The answer doesn't change if you are a doctor, lawyer or theologian.    The answer is the same if you live in Zimbabwe, Japan or The Bahamas.

Okay let's look at sentence structures.  If I said to you:

John walked up the hill.

The average person would be able to understand the sentence.  They would be able to tell who walked, where he went, and which direction did he go.  These things are simple to understand.

Now transport to your local church and ask your typical SPIRIT FILLED Christian the question, 'What is the gospel that Jesus preached?'and even though they might have been in church for decades they STILL would NOT give the answer JESUS would give.

So why can't we understand the bible? It is because of a very simple reason.  We cannot understand the bible because we are TAUGHT that we cannot understand the bible.  By whom are we taught that we cannot understand the bible?  We are taught that we cannot understand the word of God by our pastors.  WHAT!!!?? You may think this utter rubbish as you exclaim that our pastors teach us HOW to understand the word of God.  Well do they really?  Have you ever heard your pastor teach and say:

Let me tell you what that verse REALLY means...
Okay, this verse doesn't really mean...
You use to think this verse meant...

These may seem to be invitations to a higher understanding of the word of God, but what is really happening is
1- you conclude that the word of God is ALWAYS changing
2- that indirectly the pastor is causing you to rethink what the text is PLAINLYsaying.  

YOU CAN NEVER HAVE CONFIDENCE IN UNDERSTANDING SOMETHING THAT CHANGES.  
Unlike 2+2 it seems as though there is ALWAYS some deeper understanding that you do not know.  This in fact keeps the pastor in his job, because we keep going back to learn some new thing that will help us on our Christian journey.

RETHINKING THE PLAIN TEXT
Since they teach us that the plain text does not mean the plain text we develop the mindset that in order to understand I must go to this pastor (who for the most part really don't know any more than you) to understand this word.

These two factors cause you to lack confidence in YOUR ability to know the word of God.

The problem with this is that the pastor will claim that he is fulfilling some mandate to teach God's people.  He gets that from the following:

Ephesians 4:11
11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

This is true, but what is the purpose of these offices:

Ephesians 4:12-14
 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

The PLAIN text of this verse tells us that their job is to MATURE the saints.  Well let me ask you this $2 million dollar question: are you matured? HOW CAN YOU BE IF YOU STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND THE WORD OF GOD, HOW CAN YOU BE IF YOU STILL SEE YOUR SELF AS A BAPTIST, METHODIST, PENTECOSTAL, EVANGELICAL, OR ONE OF THE OTHER 42,000 denominations in the world? (By the way that fact that there are 42,000 denominations of the Christianity in the world is proof positive that we are 'carried away by every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men.'

Jesus spoke for 3 years and in that time he taught the disciples ALL they needed to know. ( PLEASE NOTE THAT WHEN HE LEFT HE TOLD OF THE SPIRIT TO COME AND HE SAID THAT HE WOULD TEACH THEM ONLY WHAT HE ALREADY TAUGHT THEM) How is it that we can be decades in church and STLL learning?  THAT IS NOT MATURITY?  If this was in the worlds system we would go to school for a masters degree and we would never graduate; 40 years later we would STILL be working on our masters degree.  A MATURE TREE NO LONGER NEEDS TO BE FERTILIZED!!!  Yet every Sunday we go to hear the word of GOD so that we can grow.  A tree needs to be fertilized (which is the job of the pastors and others) UNTIL the tree reaches maturity?  By the way do you know when a tree reaches maturity?  A TREE IS MATURE WHEN IT CONSISTENTLY BRINGS FORTH FRUIT?  Notice I did not say a crop this year and none for the next two years, but consistently.  What is this fruit:

Matthew 13:23
 23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and UNDERSTANDETH it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Luke 6:46
46And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

When we understand the word of God we begin to DO what Jesus said and this DOING is what becomes our fruits of righteousness.

BUT you CANNOT mature if there is CONSTANTLY something you do not know!!  This is what happens when we go to church; we are EVER learning and NEVER maturing.

Consider the beauty of God's prescription:

He gives us pastors, apostles etc to MATURE us.  Once we would have reached maturity we would bear fruits of obedience to JESUS and this fruit is what the world would see.  These mature people would then meet together TO ENCOURAGE one another since the job of the pastor WOULD BE COMPLETE to them and he would either become ONE within the group or move on to find OTHER IMMATURE christians to which he could begin the process of maturing.

MEAT NOT MILK!

God's factory and the goal of maturity.

John 14:30
 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me,

These words were spoken by Jesus shortly before his arrest.  He had come to the end of his earthly ministry and was now about to fulfill the Father's requirement of death.  He makes this statement to his disciples and it turns out that this statement gives the greatest insight into the function of the devil and his importance in our own maturity.

The first encounter we know that Jesus had with the devil is when he was tempted.  It was this process that shows us how God matures us.  Consider what the scripture says regarding Jesus' temptation:

Matthew 4:1
Then Jesus was led by the spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

The scripture EXPLICITLY says the it was the Spirit of God that led Jesus into the desert for one single purpose- to be tempted by the devil.  This is essential to understand because it is exactly the same with us.  God from time to time will lead us to be tempted by the devil.  This insight let's us know how God operates in the lives of the believer, but also know that BEFORE the test God caused the following:

Luke 2:52
 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

We can learn from these scriptures that God's way of development is to fill us with wisdom and submit us to Satan's temptation to test for weakness.  Temptation is a testing for weakness and this is what Satan was doing to Jesus; he was looking for a weak spot to which he could use to cause Jesus to sin.  James share insight on this truth:

James 1:13-15

13 When tempted, no one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

This verse shows what Jesus was talking about when he said that Satan 'has no hold on me'.  You are tempted when your OWN evil desire is awakened.  Each of us has sins that easily besets us, and this is WHY believers fall from time to time. These sins are within each one of us and they constitute our 'own evil desire'.  They represent the hold that Satan has on us.  If you struggle with lying then that is the hold to which you are held by Satan.  Jesus had no such evil desires so he could declare that the devil had no hold on him.  

So now we can see the process of salvation and why the bible declares the we are 'being saved'.  When we come to God he teaches us of Jesus (learn of me he says). This learning targets those areas in us that easily beset us, and once we receive the word we are handed over to Satan to be tested.  This process continues until the believer is no longer overcome with the fault but overcomes victoriously the sin.  Satan is therefore essential because God uses him to test us for weakness.  The more we are exposed to the temptation and because of our assimilation of the word of God the less we are susceptible to that particular sin until finally we mature to the point where we are no longer taken by the sin.  The end result of Gods process is:

Ephesians 5:26-27
 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So my friends I say as Peter:

2 Peter 3:14

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

The Unadulterated and Unabridged Word of God (No Qualifications)

The word abridged means:
To reduce in scope

The word adulterated means:
To corrupt, debase or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance or element.

Paul and Peter warned us of men who would come to the flock and present us with doctrines that are unsound.  But how do we identify doctrines that are unsound? The problem with these types of teachings is that those who are not willing to search the scriptures for themselves will not be able to identify thes unsound teachings and will adopt them as truth.  This corruption enter the church usually by qualifications to the word of God.

It is common today to hear some preacher offer qualifications to the word of God, these may seem harmless and may even come across as a point of clarification to some passage of scripture but I assure you that they are as corrupt as any devil can declare.  An example of this qualification can be heard when a preacher teaches on giving.  Jesus said give to the poor and give liberally and give to everyone who ask you.  If a preacher is bold enough to preach this word he would immediately qualify it by saying 'but we must have discerment' or 'we have to use 'wisdom''.  Such qualifications, whilst seemingly filled with wisdom, are really adulterations of the word of God because they water down the truth given by Jesus.  A precher may preach on love and boldly say 'God commands us to love our neighbor', but then would immediately qualify it by saying something like 'but ya gotta use wisdom' or 'God save you from your sins not ya sense'.  These seem like useful additions but they are all intended to convey to the bearers that you do what Jesus says BUT...

There is a reason for these blatant additions by the preachers and it is that they add these qualifications into the word of God to PROTECT  you from con artist and potential abusers, but this is demonic.  Everything that Jesus declares in the gospel is DESIGNED to MAKE US VULNERABLE.  Jesus teaching on forgiveness tells us to forgive those who sin against us and he tells us to forgive without qualification.  By nature if we our offended by someone we try to avoid that situation so as to not be offended again, but Jesus says that if someone sins against you don't create situations where you try to prevent it from happening again, instead we are to forgive them EVERYTIME.  This sets us up too be vulnerable because we have NO defense against someone who seeks to abuse our obedience to God.

Luke 6:29
 29 And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloke forbid not to take thy coat also.

Look at how vulnerable we are in the above verse.  Jesus tells us that if we are smitten on one cheek don't run, or call the police, or sue, NO, he tells us to OFFER the other cheek. No qualifications.  Look at what he commands in the following verse:

Luke 6:28
Bless those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you

He tells us to pray for those who mistreat us.  The word mistreat means abuse. And the pray for in this text does not mean Lord kill them but Lord bless them!  The thing to see here is that Jesus himself wants us to be vulnerable to the world because when we are vulnerable he will defend us.

Do not fear direct and complete obedience to the words of Jesus, because they are designed to make you weak, and vulnerable and to cause you to feel abused THIS IS NECESSARY , because it ONLY when you are weak that he is strong.

Bertram Mills