And how do we test all things?

 

1 Thessalonians 5:21(NKJV)

Test all things; hold fast what is good. 

Two questions.  Why do we need to test things?  And how do we test them.

Scripture tells us that we will be held accountable if we allow ourselves to be led astray.  That is why we need to test things.  We will hear things in everyday life as well as in sermons.  We should never just take them at face value.  We need to test them.  Test them for what?

We need to test them to make sure they are Scriptural.  We need to test them to make sure they line up with the Word of God.  Where some people get in trouble is that they test them against their own knowledge.  They think to themselves "that makes sense" or maybe "that sounds good".  Wrong standard.  The only test we should apply is "does this line up with God's word?".

As long as we test everything by that standard we can never be led astray.  Make sense?