The word discern and its derivatives are translations of the Greek word anakrino in the New Testament. It means “to distinguish, to separate out by diligent search, to examine.” Discernment is the ability to properly discriminate or make determinations. It is related to wisdom. The Word of God itself is said to discern the thoughts and intentions of one’s heart (Hebrews 4:12).
A discerning mind demonstrates wisdom and insight that go beyond what is seen and heard. For example, God’s Word is “spiritually discerned.” To the human mind without the Spirit, the things of God are “foolishness” (1 Corinthians 2:14). The Spirit, then, gives us spiritual discernment.
King Solomon was known for his power of discernment, making many wise decisions and moral judgments (1 Kings 3:9, 11). Christians today are to be discerning as well. Paul prayed for believers “to discern what is best . . . until the day of Christ” (Philippians 1:10).
A discerning person will acknowledge the worth of God’s Word: “All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge” (Proverbs 8:8-9). Seeking discernment is a goal for all who desire to walk righteously: “Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the LORD are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them” (Hosea 14:9).
We are commanded to “hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). But, unless we have true discernment, how can we determine what is “evil” and what is “good”? In order to maintain the purity of the gospel, the church must distinguish truth from heresy. Wisdom also demands that we properly discriminate between what is “best” and what is merely “good.”
Discernment has many collateral benefits. “My son, preserve sound judgment and discernment, do not let them out of your sight; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck. Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet” (Proverbs 3:21-24).
Just as Solomon sought discernment and wisdom (Proverbs 1:2; 1 Kings 3:9-12) to explore the handiwork of God (Ecclesiastes 1:13) and seek the meaning of life (Ecclesiastes 12:13), so should believers seek “the wisdom that comes from heaven” (James 3:17). We must study the Scriptures which are “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).
May our prayer be “I am your servant; give me discernment that I may understand your statutes” (Psalm 119:125).
Usually, when people speak
of the
“great deception,”
they refer to
2 Thessalonians 2:11, which predicts that
God will,
in an end-times judgment,
send
“a powerful delusion
so that
they will believe the lie.”
This great deception is associated
with the satanic work of the Antichrist and his
“displays of power
through
signs and wonders
that serve the lie”
(verse 9).
The same passage in 2 Thessalonians
also speaks
of a
great apostasy that will take place
before the
man of lawlessness is revealed.
Similar apostasies are predicted elsewhere:
“The Spirit
clearly says that in later times
some will
abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits
and things taught by demons”
(1 Timothy 4:1).
Of course, people are complicit in the deception, for they
reject the truth and prefer lies:
“For the time will come when people
will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around
them a great number of teachers to say what their
itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears
away from the truth and turn aside to myths”
(2 Timothy 4:3–4).
Jesus spoke about a time to come
when the deception will be especially great
when false messiahs and false prophets will appear.
Even the people of God could be deceived
if it were not for God’s providential protection:
“For false messiahs and false prophets
will appear and
perform great signs and wonders to deceive,
if possible, even the elect”
(Matthew 24:24, see also Mark 13:5–6, Luke 21:8).
All of these deceptions are instigated by the devil.
However, 2 Thessalonians 2:11 also speaks of
the deception as
God’s punishment on people
who refuse to believe the truth.
The context seems to be similar to that of the
gospel passages above and speaks of
one to come who will be especially deceptive:
“The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan
with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all
wicked deception for those who are perishing,
because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.
Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they
may believe what is false, in order that all may
be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness”
(2 Thessalonians 2:9–12, ESV).
In this passage, after
people have refused the truth for so long,
God causes them to
believe what is false—a “strong delusion.”
This is not an instance where God actively deceives people;
rather, God is simply giving those who
reject the truth what they really want.
We see a similar pattern in Romans 1:18–25 where people
reject God’s truth for so long that He simply
abandons them to their own sinfulness.
They have, as it were,
crossed the point of no return:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”
Much the same thing happened to Pharaoh after he refused to let the Israelites leave Egypt, and God hardened his heart. It was not as though Pharaoh would have been an obedient follower of the Lord if God had not hardened his heart. Pharaoh set his heart against the Lord, and God simply confirmed for all time Pharaoh’s decision (see Exodus 8:15, 32; 9:34; 10:1).
The deception spoken of in the Gospels has to do with false prophets and/or messiahs who appear and seem to be authenticated by miracles. Taking the futurist position, we see the great deception spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 as a future event associated with the coming of the Antichrist after the rapture of the church. “Those who are perishing” will willingly embrace the imitation and follow the beast of the end times; they will perish “because they refused to love the truth and so be saved” (verse 10).
We don’t know exactly what the great deception will be, only that it will be a strong delusion capable of swaying the world’s allegiance toward the Antichrist. The Bible says that, in the time of the Antichrist and false prophet, there will be many signs to bolster their lies. The false prophet “performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (Revelation 13:13–14). It is hard to imagine, but the deception during the tribulation will be worse than all of Satan’s other deceptions.
The Antichrist will have a deadly wound healed,
his “image”
will breathe and speak and give orders, etc.
(Revelation 13:12, 15).
In the broader sense, anyone
who rejects the truth of God is
being deceived, and at some point,
God may simply abandon him to the deception
that he has willingly embraced.
There are plenty of false teachers
today who claim to teach God’s Word.
Some claim to be Christians, and some claim to bring a word from God from outside of the Bible. It is vitally important that every Christian compare every teaching with what the Bible says and spend the time necessary to evaluate what is being taught. This is the mission of Got Questions, and in keeping with that mission, we would encourage every reader to compare what we say with Scripture as well.
Jesus Said,
For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance”
(Matthew 9:12–13, NKJV).
Jesus presents Himself
as a doctor and healer of those
who are spiritually sick
(the unrighteous sinners of the world).
God loves sinners (Romans 5:8)
and sent His Son into this world to save them (1 Timothy 1:15).
Repentance is the
treatment plan,
and forgiveness is the
cure Jesus offers.
“Those who are well” or “the healthy” (NIV)
don’t need a doctor.
Jesus’ critics thought they were healthy
and saw no need for a doctor,
but, in reality, they were deceived.
Jesus says,
“I haven’t come to call on those who think they’re righteous,
but to treat those who know they’re sinners.”
Jesus came to call “all who are far off”
(Acts 2:39)
and bring them near by His blood shed on the cross
(Ephesians 2:13).
Tax collectors and sinners know they are spiritually sick.
They long for God’s healing forgiveness. They are “the poor in spirit,” “the meek,” and
“those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”
(Matthew 5:3, 5–6).
On the other hand, the Pharisees are blind to their own neediness.
They think they are healthy but are instead
“blind fools”
(Matthew 23:16–17, 23–24; see also Luke 6:41).
Like the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25–37),
we’ll show mercy with deeds of kindness by walking
“in the way of love, just as Christ loved us”
(Ephesians 5:2).
The Pool of Bethesda was
renowned as a supposed place of healing in Jesus’ time.
At this pool Jesus healed a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years. As Jesus healed him, He said,
“Take up your bed and walk”
(John 5:8, NKJV).
This miracle reveals that Jesus is the ultimate Healer
and that He is greater than
any man-made rules, superstitions, and beliefs.
The Pool of Bethesda (Aramaic for “House of Mercy”) was a spring-fed pool just north of the temple. Near the water “a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3). These people would wait expectantly at the pool because they believed an angel would come down into the pool and “stir up the water.” Then, according to the superstition, “whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had” (John 5:4, NKJV). The man who was told to “take up your bed and walk” was one of these people who trusted that the water would provide healing. What he really needed was Jesus.
On the day Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda, the invalid was there, waiting for the angel to do his magical work. The man did not know Jesus and thought the pool was what he needed to be healed. He complained to Jesus that there was “no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (John 5:7). Jesus swept aside all superstition and false belief with one command: “Rise! Take up your bed and walk!” (John 5:8, NKJV).
The man was instantly cured, and “he picked up his mat and walked” (verse 9). The man never got wet. It was not the water the man needed but Jesus.
Through this third “sign” or miracle in the
Gospel of John, Jesus shows
He is the ultimate Healer, not just of physical maladies but of our hearts.
After the healing, “Jesus found [the man] in the temple,
and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you’” (John 5:14).
Jesus revealed that the man’s physical healing
was secondary to his need to be healed spiritually.
Although the passage does not reveal the man’s conversion, it does teach that Jesus sees not only our physical maladies but our hearts as well. He is the only one who can provide the spiritual healing we need. While being physically ill for thirty-eight years is difficult, an eternity in hell is even worse (see Mark 9:47).
Jesus telling the man, “Take up your bed and walk” became an issue for the Jewish leaders because the healing took place on the Sabbath (John 5:9).
The fact that a paralytic was walking did not matter to them;
they were furious.
“For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,
because He had done these things on the Sabbath”
(John 5:16).
The Pharisees’ traditions forbade the carrying of one’s mat or bed on the Sabbath. Of course, Jesus had not violated the Sabbath law (see Matthew 5:17). It was only the pharisaical interpretation and addition to God’s laws that were being broken. The healing of the lame man exposed the Pharisees’ hard hearts and revealed that Jesus is greater than their man-made laws.
Jesus’ command, “Take up your bed and walk,” and its immediate result reveal that He is greater than any superstition, folklore, or man-made rule. Faith in anything other than Jesus is misplaced and leaves us wanting. Yet Jesus can forgive anyone who will turn to Him for salvation—that is the ultimate healing we all need.
The major theme of the Prodigal Son
is not so much the conversion of the sinner, as in the previous two parables of Luke 15, but rather the restoration of a believer into fellowship with the Father. In the first two parables, the owner went out to look for what was lost (Luke 15:1–10),
whereas in this story the father
waits and watches
eagerly for his son’s return.
We see a progression through the three parables from the relationship of one in a hundred (Luke 15:1–7), to one in ten (Luke 15:8–10), to one in one (Luke 15:11–32), demonstrating God’s love for each individual and His personal attentiveness toward all humanity. We see in this story the graciousness of the father overshadowing the sinfulness of the son, as it is the memory of the father’s goodness that brings the prodigal son to repentance (Romans 2:4).
The father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son
was waiting for his son to return.
In fact,
“while he was still a long way off, his father saw him
and was filled with compassion for him”
(Luke 15:20).
He runs to his wayward son, embraces him, and kisses him.
In Jesus’ day, it was not customary for a grown man to run,
yet the father runs to greet his son,
breaking convention in his love and desire for restoration
(verse 20).
The returning son begins his prepared speech (verse 21),
but his father cuts him off and begins issuing commands
to honor his son—the best robe, the best ring, the best feast!
The father does not question his son or lecture him;
instead, he joyfully forgives him and
receives him back into fellowship.
What a picture of God’s love, condescension, and grace!
God’s heart is full of compassion for His children;
He stands ready to welcome the returning sinner back home
with joyous celebration.