Last week our post on discernment was “Discernment is the guardian of the soul.” This post takes a look at discernment as described in the New Testament. Depending on the bible translation, several different Greek words are translated as “discernment” in the New Testament. The various words all have the sense of the word “judge” and most instances are based on the Greek word krino which means to judge.
But aren’t we supposed to avoid judging? In Matthew 7:1 Jesus told his disciples not to judge lest they be judged. However, this does not appear to mean that we should never judge others, for in verse 5 he says that once we get rid of our own fault we can then see clearly (in other words, judge) to take the “speck” from someone else’s “eye”. Also, in verse 6 he explains that we shouldn’t throw our “pearls” (wisdom, etcetera) before “pigs”, implying that we need to judge when someone qualifies as a “pig” for such purposes. Also, 1 Corinthians 5:12 instructs us to judge (Greek: krino) those inside the church with respect to substantial immorality, but this is supposed to be for their benefit. Jesus never indicates that we should condemn others, but rather help them. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount makes this clear.
Romans 12:2 instructs us to “be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (ESV). Here the Greek word for discernment is dokimazo which emphasizes testing something to determine its validity. Like other passages, the purpose of discernment is to determine what is good or what God’s will is. This ability grows over time as our mind is renewed and we are transformed. Ephesians 5:10 also recommends dokimazo: “try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord” (ESV).
Discernment is a learned skill that directly impacts our maturity. We need to train ourselves in order to grow in discernment: “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14, ESV). Therefore, there is no one-step process for discernment. Just asking if an impression seems like an outside voice and doesn’t contradict Scripture is not the solution to doing discernment.
Thus, combining the ideas of the above Scripture we can say regarding discernment that believers are supposed to discern the world around them. They have powers to perceive through experience, and these powers are improved by the constant practice of examining things and judging whether they are good or bad. In other words, our ability to discern what is good grows by practicing the examination of things.
Finally, we do not discern things in order to condemn ourselves or others but rather in order to edify!
Next week we look at some guidelines for discernment.
