Practical Discernment
I spoke in a previous devotional about text proofing. To demonstrate its importance and how it is a tool for discernment, I want to give an example and build more on this.
There are those today who argue that we must keep the feast of Tabernacles and the sabbath day as commanded by Moses. They contend that if we fail to do so, God will withhold the rain from our land, and Jesus will not return.
Sadly, some are taken in by this error. They fail to ask, “If this is true and important, then why is it not taught to the churches in the New Testament Scriptures?” In other words, why can it not be text-proofed in both the Old and New Testaments? Even more practical would be to respond with the question, “Why does it rain on my land even though I have never observed it the way you say I should, and all I have done is trust in Christ?”
When we check the practices of the early church, we do not find instruction being given to the Gentile churches regarding feast days and sabbaths being kept. Instead, we find the opposite.
Colossians 2:16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19 and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.
As we immerse ourselves in Scripture with a New Covenant understanding, we gain immunity against erroneous fads and movements. This understanding empowers us, ensuring that we are not misled into bondage.
There are still pharisaical and doubt-driven merely religious ideologies at work on this earth. If we fail to learn how to use practical discernment rooted in a knowledge of the word of God according to true New Covenant truth, we can come under condemnation.
Jesus did not sacrifice himself for us to be condemned. Romans 8 unequivocally states who is liberated from condemnation. It is those who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Those who are born again and have been liberated from the idea of earning righteousness from God because they truly believe in Jesus and are righteous with His own righteousness. They cannot be deceived into observing the things that had been required under the law because they know all that was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, which is now attributed to them by faith in Him.
New Covenant believers know that sabbath rest is now a way of life in Christ where we have ceased from our own works to gain righteousness and receive the righteousness of God by faith in Christ. It is no longer about a day that was given for man to rest, and it is not a day made for man to serve it. Jesus himself made that very clear. So when it comes to demands for observances of feast days, new moons, and sabbaths, we can know that such demands are no longer supported in the New Covenant because the substance, which is Jesus Christ, has come, and we are in Him and He in us. When we strengthen ourselves in this area of practical discernment based on text proofing and other practices, we are not taken in by the crafty arguments of those who are deceived and just need more to join their deception to affirm themselves. Everyone can benefit from practical discernment.
