2. What is biblical discernment?
the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong.
Discernment can describe the process of determining God's
desire in a situation or for one's life or identifying the true
nature of a thing, such as discerning whether a thing is good,
evil, or may even transcend the limiting notion of duality.
1Thessalonians 5:21-22: "But examine everything carefully;
hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of
evil."
3. Gift of discernment
One of the seven spiritual gifts.
Apostle Paul mentions the gift of discerning of spirits in 1 Cor.
12:10.
St. John Chrysostom in the interpretation of this passage says that
these words mean the ability to tell who is spiritual and who is
not, who is prophet and who is not since at the time of Apostle
Paul, there were false prophets deluding people.
Its impossible to receive the gift of discernment without "three
renunciations": separation from the world, inner fight with passions,
acquisition of prayer and deep spiritual knowledge.
4. Discernment is essential in making wise decisions.
James 1:5,. "If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask Him, and He will gladly tell you,
for He is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask Him; He will not resent
it."
Discernment is essential for spiritual growth.
Hebrews 5:14, "You will never be able to eat solid spiritual food and understand the deeper things
of God's Word until you become better Christians and learn right from wrong by practicing doing
right."
Discernment comes to those who are humble.
Psalms 25:9, "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way."
Spiritual things are spiritually discerned.
I Corinthians 2:13,14. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in
words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit
does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and
he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."
5. ADAM AND EVE
Adam and Eve ,in the Garden failed to distinguish between what is good and
what is evil.
One day Satan came disguised as a snake and spoke to Eve, convincing her
to eat the fruit from the tree of good and evil.
Eve told the serpent that God said they should not eat it and they would die if
they did, but Satan tempted Eve to eat saying that she would become like God
if she did.
Eve believed the lie and took a bite of the fruit. She then gave some to Adam
for him to eat. Adam and Eve, now knowing that they had sinned, immediately
felt ashamed and tried to hide from God.
6. KING SOLOMON
1 Kings3:9
“So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to
distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great
people of yours?”
Solomon asked for discernment in his judgment in ruling God’s people.
Because this was such a wise request, and because he did not ask for
longevity of life, wealth, for his enemies’ deaths, God granted him not only
what he has asked, but much more.
King Solomon’s wise ruling
7. REHOBOAM
Rehoboam responded to the request for relief by saying that he needed
three days to consider their request, and to evaluate the situation before
he made a decision
Rehoboam sought advice from the older men of the community. These
older advisors urged Rehoboam to give a favorable response to the
people. They agreed that the concern of the people was valid, and that
they should be given a break from their heavy tax and labor burdens.
Rehoboam disregarded the advice of the older men.
1 Kings 12:8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice the elders gave him and
consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
8. MARY AND MARTHA
As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village
where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a
sister called Mary
Mary chose listening to the teachings of Jesus over helping her
sister prepare food.
Jesus responded that she was right because only one thing is
needed, "one thing" meaning listening to the teachings of Jesus.
This goes in line with words by Jesus that Man shall not live by
bread alone, but by every word of God (Matthew 4:4), and
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life, meaning
eternal life (John 6:63).
9. PETER
In John 21, Peter goes fishing with six other disciples.
They do not catch any fish all night, but in the morning Jesus meets them,
and tells them to throw their net on the other side of the boat. When they do,
there is a miraculous catch of 153 fish.
Denial of Jesus by Peter:
During Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples, he predicted that Peter would deny
knowledge of him, stating that Peter would disown him before the rooster
crowed the next morning. Following the arrest of Jesus, Peter denied knowing
him three times, but after the third denial, heard the rooster crow and recalled
the prediction as Jesus turned to look at him. Peter then began to cry
bitterly. This final incident is known as the Repentance of Peter.
10. Peter affirms his love for Jesus three times:
Jesus asked, "do you agapâis me?"
Peter replied, "I phileô you."
Jesus asked, "do you agapâis me?"
Peter replied, "I phileô you."
Jesus asked, "do you phileis me?"
Peter replied, "I phileô you."
In response to Peter's three affirmations of love for him, Jesus gives Peter
three commands: "Feed my lambs" / "Take care of my sheep" / "Feed my
sheep" Jesus is re-commissioning Peter as an apostle and leader in the
church.
11. JUDAS
Matthew 26:15 states that Judas committed the betrayal in
exchange for thirty pieces of silver.
Judas immediately regretted his actions and returned the 30
pieces of silver to church authorities, saying “I have sinned
by betraying innocent blood.”
When the authorities dismissed him, Judas left the coins on
the floor, and committed suicide by hanging himself (Matthew
27:3-8).
The name “Judas” became synonymous with treachery.
12. The Good Samaritan
The parable of the Good Samaritan is a parable told by Jesus in
the Gospel of Luke.
A traveller is stripped of clothing, beaten, and left half dead alongside the
road.
First a priest and then a Levite comes by, but both avoid the man.
Finally, a Samaritan happens upon the traveller.
Samaritans and Jews despised each other, but the Samaritan helps the
injured man.
Jesus is described as telling the parable in response to the question from a
lawyer, "And who is my neighbour?". In response, Jesus tells the parable,
the conclusion of which is that the neighbour figure in the parable is the
man who shows mercy to the injured man—that is, the Samaritan.[2]
