Discerning Good and Evil
But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
Hebrews 5:14
In addition to the presence of the Holy Spirit, among the Church’s greatest assets are mature saints. They have put their faith into practice and understand the teaching about righteousness. They have had their senses trained to discern good and evil. The Church’s greatest liability, however, is saints who have gotten old but haven’t matured. They should be able to teach others, but instead they need to be taught the elementary truths of God’s Word. These spiritual infants haven’t successfully put God’s Word into practice. They lack the skills and sensitivity that come from maturity.
Sound doctrine is like a skeleton in the body—it is absolutely essential for stability and structure. However, a skeleton by itself is dead, and so is orthodox teaching without the life of Christ. “The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments” (1 Corinthians 2:14-15).
The “elementary teaching” that the writer of Hebrews describes in 5:12–6:3 is what we would call “theological knowledge.” Sound doctrine is essential, but learning to walk with God is more than an intellectual exercise. Those who put their faith into practice have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Experience is a good teacher if it is combined with a good theology empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Paul makes a similar point in his first letter to the church at Corinth. He wanted to give the Corinthians solid food, but he could only give them milk because they were not able to receive it (see 1 Corinthians 3:1-3). They were not able to receive solid food because of the jealousy and quarrels among them. They were acting like mere humans instead of children of God.
There are many people who cannot receive solid teaching because they have never put into practice what they have learned and have never resolved their personal and spiritual conflicts. Immature saints proceed without caution. They conduct business as usual in the Church, and as a result, the spiritual atmosphere is clouded and members operate in the flesh. The mature saint can sense the oppression and can alert the others while calling for prayer, but spiritually immature saints see no danger.
In the same way, spiritually immature parents see no visible signs that their children are in trouble. Discerning parents know when something is wrong, petition God on behalf of their children, and share their discernment lovingly with their children without judgment. They let their children know that they are aware something is wrong but don’t try to guess what is wrong when they don’t know. They let the Holy Spirit bring the conviction, keep the communication lines open, and remain available.
Those who are spiritually discerning can sense a false prophet before that prophet’s false doctrine is exposed. They can sense a compatible spirit in another believer and discern an incompatible spirit in others. They know during and after an event whether something is their idea or God’s idea. They know when they are living by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit and can sense when they aren’t.
Questions to Ponder:
Why are mature saints such a great asset for the Church? Why are old saints who didn’t mature a potential liability for the Church?
What is the function of sound doctrine in our lives? Why is intellectual knowledge not enough by itself to discern good and evil?
What can those who are spiritually discerning detect before the error is exposed?
Have you ever correctly sensed that something was wrong and then guessed incorrectly as to what was wrong? If so, how did that work out for you?
How do you plan on proceeding in the future when you discern something is wrong? What should you do, and what shouldn’t you do?
Neil T. Anderson is the founder of Freedom in Christ Ministries. He began the ministry in 1989 and continues to spread the message of freedom to this day.