Voice of Truth - how do you discern it for yourself?

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on May 29, 2013 at 1:48pm

How do you discover and discern the truth? How do you validate or reject truth claims for yourself? 

For me there are several key ingredients:

1) I recognize that though I am saved I am a fallible human being and thus cannot simply trust my own understanding. Therefore, there must be more than what “I believe” in order for it to be viewed as truth and trustworthy.

2) I regularly challenge various areas of my belief system to see how they line up with the Word of God and how they align with each other. There can be no fragmentation between what I believe and the Word of God. Neither can there be a fragmentation between my various areas of belief. There must be harmony or a belief cannot be called absolute.

3) I accept that there are various degrees or labels that can be used when evaluating what I believe. Here are some examples: My belief in the resurrection is absolute. There is no room for being shaken on this all important truth. I recognize that the rapture is an absolute truth, but the timing of the rapture is not absolute. I have a belief, but that belief is slated under a lesser heading than absolute, such as probable. Then there are some things that are plausible which means that I cannot call them truth, but that they are simply likely. The list can be broken down further than that, but this should be sufficient for making the point.

4) There are also things that have been identified as false and are completely rejected. Some will argue that we can find some morsels of truth in the false. I am not talking about one who is striving for truth, but rather one who has rejected truth and sold out to a lie. In these cases I rarely am concerned with what they have to say as there are better ways to find truth than mining for morsels within a false system. Some of these systems are isolated to subjects and not the whole system.

5) The Word of God is the standard and we must use the Word of God comparing the whole of its teaching on a subject and not just a few select verses. Again, recognizing that I am fallible means that I have to have an overwhelming amount of clear Scripture for me to call it an absolute truth and not just an LT preference.

6) Conviction is essential. We should not simply trust in what we perceive as conviction, but evaluate that conviction in light of the Word of God.

7) Use of commentaries and other resources is helpful, but they should be used only after one has spent time in the Word and in prayer. We must remember that these men (and women) are usually very well educated and yet at the same time are also fallible human beings.

8) My church, and extended Christian, family. It is our responsibility to hold one another accountable. Again, we are talking about fallible humans, but there are positives when the group is a group of humble children of God who love Jesus. We need to seek positive criticism in our lives, people who will lovingly challenge us.

9) I repeat an earlier point. We must spend time examining our foundation. It is not good to build a tall building on shifting sand. It is better to lay one sure brick at a time on the solid foundation than to be overly focused on the height of the building.

10) I am not to be swayed by society or large numbers. Large numbers have been known to be wrong way too often (i.e. the Israelites wanting to return to Egypt, wanting a golden calf and the nation of Israel wanting a king).

 

Summary: I recognize I am fallible and thus I seek to trust in the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to work in me as I dig into various subjects helping me to find absolute truth and where that has not yet happened be able to use lesser labels until such a time that absolute is revealed. There has to be balance and counterbalance. Also I spend a lot of time examining my beliefs to be sure they are in harmony with the Word of God and one another.

 

There is probably a lot more that could be put down, but this is my basics and what comes to mind.

 

Lord Bless,

LT

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Permalink Reply by Mary O on May 29, 2013 at 3:45pm

Hi Scribe D, God bless you!

You mentioned these are confusing times and gave examples. I try to look before I leap. A person doesn't have to follow the crowd. I feel it's good to compare the information to the Bible. I think God likes for us to think for ourselves. Sometimes there's situations that are a mess, I think it's okay to say to God...Father exactly what is going on here. If many people are going for a concept, that doesn't make it right. Strength in numbers doesn't make it right.

Love,

Mary

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Permalink Reply by Seek on May 31, 2013 at 12:50pm

How do you discover and discern the truth? How do you validate or reject truth claims for yourself?

Very very very difficultly.  LOL

I've learned through trial and error.   For quite sometime, I couldn't believe the voice I heard since it kept saying there was nothing wrong with me and I was so ingrained to believe something WAS wrong with me.  I've read a lot, asked a lot of questions.  I pray over scripture I read and I spend time listening.  I have realized God is not condemning and conviction isn't the same.  I have learned that if I am unsure of the answer, that I wait and God will provide the answer through other methods.  I often just leave things with Him and tell Him if I'm wrong on this, please show me the truth.  I am trying to learn to let go over worrying whether or not I'm doing right and just leaving it up to Him to show me if I don't know the right answer.

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Permalink Reply by Crystal on June 1, 2013 at 11:17am

I had something in my life for many years that the world condemned me over.  I felt condemned by churches and people.  A few weeks ago, God showed me a verse I've had shoved down my throat for years.  But when God showed me, I didn't feel condemned, I felt love and release!  Feeling condemned (in my opinion) is a tool of the devil.  I have spent so long listening to "false voices", I am just learning how to discern the voice of truth.  Although, through my 17 years as a Christian there have been many times that I knew God spoke to me.  But I lived daily by the teachings and beliefs of others.  I feel like now, I am following God's voice.  When I come upon something I'm not sure of I pray and listen for God's answer.  It does come sometimes through another human, but when I hear it, I know that person is speaking through the Spirit.  I honestly hadn't thought of HOW I know.  I use to go directly to my pastor or someone else when I had a spiritual question and take their answer as the truth.  I now go directly to God and wait for His answer.  I guess part of how I know it's from God or that the Spirit is speaking through a person is....me and that person may not even be on the subject of my question I had asked God and suddenly in our conversation, the answer comes out.

I think we have to look to God for answers and be patient sometimes.  A lot of times we feel rushed to get an answer and end up looking in the wrong place or finding the wrong answer.  Just my experience and opinions. :)

God Bless!

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Permalink Reply by Gary Schultz on June 1, 2013 at 5:23pm

I agree with Lt, but I would add that listening to the Holy Spirit is key for me.

I have come to realize that when that little voice says," that doesn't sound right" or I start to feel uncomfortable or guilty for just listening or reading, I take to Gods word in prayer.

I will at times take it to my pastor or our former pastor but will still go back to the word. Our pastor once said in a sermon, " Do not believe what I have preached until you read it yourself in Gods word and if I am wrong you need to tell me".  I have always felt that that was his way of telling us that we should always go back to the word.

God is sooooo cooool

Gary

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Permalink Reply by Leonard T on June 2, 2013 at 1:15pm

Gary,

 

Excellent and absolutely! I should have highlighted that point more :-)

 

Lord Bless

LT

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Permalink Reply by Carla on January 15, 2019 at 1:58pm

I came across this old discussion, and thought it would be a good one to resurrect.

How do I discern the voice of truth from false voices?

I always go back to God's Word, read and study what God has said about the situation.

I talk to God about it.  I ask Him in prayer and simply know and trust that He will confirm it.  He always does.

I talk to my Christian friends.  These are people I trust and know.

I pay attention to the difference between condemnation and conviction.  Condemnation comes from the enemy, Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit.  Condemnation brings guilt and shame, conviction brings  repentance and freedom.

I try to spend as much time as I can knowing God's character and test whether or not the circumstance or topic or 'thing' aligns with that, so that when a situation comes up, I am already prepared. God is all about forgiveness, mercy, grace, reconciliation, humility, being 'others' centered (not living for myself) and service (to name a few...).  The thing that I'm hearing must align with Him and His character and be free from condemnation.

The voice of truth will always confirm the fruit of the Spirit.  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control.

When we hear (with ears open) the truth it will always bring us closer to Jesus and give us a desire to be obedient to His teachings (ie: The Sermon on the Mount).

"How do you overcome your own false biases when you find a conflict between your beliefs and the teachings of Christ?" 

This reminds me of 2 Tim 4

Berean Study Bible Preach the Word 1I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of His appearing and His kingdom: 2Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires. 4So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8From now on the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but to all who crave His appearing.

More and more often we are being confronted with teachings that tickle ears, people are clearly gathering around teachers to suit their own desires,  and are not tolerating sound doctrine.  So how do I overcome my false biases when I find a conflict between my beliefs and the teachings of Christ?  I try to remain teachable and humble recognizing that I don't have all of the answers.  When I discover that I've gone off track, I repent and make it right.

How do you overcome a false belief that is so popular that you feel foolish to change your mind? 

Let God be true and everyone else a liar.

Blessings, Carla

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