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Helps
And More Discernment Practice
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How
to Test Something by Scripture
1.
You hear or read something.
2.
Prepare to test it by gathering the following:
a) paper
b) a pen /
pencil
c) your Bible
d) an exhaustive Bible concordance with a Hebrew and Greek
dictionary (like Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
3.
Write down the statement you heard or read.
This becomes the 'Premise' you want to test. At the top of
a piece of paper write the quote or give an accurate 'pith' of the statement.
4.
Use reference verses given in your study Bible and the
concordance.
Look up key words or phrases and any related words or
phrases that might be about the subject, in the concordance and scan through each snip of
verse to find those that talk about it. Remember: You are looking for God's truth, and
are not trying to prove a point – either for or against the subject, so commit to
being very thorough in your search and let God's Word speak for itself! Write down the
references and verses.
5.
Look up the verses.
Find which ones most clearly speak to the subject. When
you've gathered all of them (or perhaps only one verse – if it's clear and
definitive), study to understand the CONTEXT they're written in (what's before / after the
verse).
6.
Look up the word meanings.
If you want to be certain of what the verses mean, look up
the key word(s) in a Hebrew or Greek dictionary (Strong's) for their exact
meaning. (If your Bible translation uses a different word in its verse, look up the same
verse in the KJV to find that exact word and use that one.) You'll see a number next to
the word in the concordance.
Look this number up in the Hebrew / Greek dictionary. (Remember:
The Old Testament words are Hebrew and will be in the first part of
the dictionary and the New Testament words are Greek and will be in the last
part of
it.) The dictionary will give you the actual definition of the word, its root,
and
synonyms for it.
7.
Write down the BIBLE FACTS gleaned from your study.
Write down the CONCLUSION about the Premise you tested.
Remember: a DEFINITIVE BIBLICAL CONCLUSION is why you took the time to
study. Do NOT neglect this part! IT'S CRUCIAL FOR YOU TO COME TO TRUST
GOD'S WORD and BASE YOUR BELIEFS UPON WHAT IT ACTUALLY SAYS.
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Super-Simplified
Grammar
Lesson
(To
Help Practice Discernment)
A
SIMPLE sentence has one
thought that has a subject and a verb.
*
TEST AS ONE THOUGHT. (True or False)
A
COMPLEX sentence has one
independent clause (one
thought) and one or more dependent clauses (other thoughts)
that cannot stand alone (making no sense without the independent clause).
*
TEST AS ONE THOUGHT. (True or False)
A
COMPOUND sentence has two or
more independent clauses (more
than one
thought) that can each stand alone (each thought making sense as a
sentence on their own).
*
TEST EACH ONE AS A SEPARATE THOUGHT. (Can have parts that
are True and False.)
SAMPLES:
Simple
Sentence: God formed man from the dust of the ground. (One
thought: TRUE)
Complex
Sentence: When God formed man from the dust of the ground, He breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life. (One thought: TRUE)
Compound
Sentence: God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the
breath of life, and He placed the man in the garden in Eden. (All thoughts:
TRUE)
Simple
Sentence: God formed man and woman from the dust of the ground.
(One
thought: FALSE)
(Note: though it does contain Bible truth [God
formed man from the dust of the
ground] there is only one
thought here… and so must be discerned as false because
some of the info is incorrect [the woman was formed from
the side of the man, not the dust of the ground].)
Complex
Sentence: When God formed man from the dust of the ground, He breathed into
his mouth the breath of life. (One thought: FALSE)
(Note: though it does contain Bible
truth [God formed man from the dust of the
ground] there is only one
thought here [because 'When God formed man from the dust of the ground'
is a dependent clause]… and so must be discerned as false because some of the info
is incorrect [God breathed into the man's nostrils, not mouth].)
Compound
Sentence: God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and placed the man on Mt.
Ararat.
(Two
thoughts: One TRUE, One FALSE)
(Note: this contains more
than one thought and so each one is tested, the first
part(s) being true [God formed man… and
breathed into…] and the last one being false [because man was placed in the garden in
Eden,
not on
Mt.
Ararat].)
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More
Discernment Practice
As
time allows, or during the next class session, do these extra
discernment practices.
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Testing
More Premises
Remember:
these can be either true, false, or partially true and partially
false.
Premise
1)
Even though God forgives us our sins and completely cleanses us
from all unrighteousness
when we confess our sins, we still need to forgive ourselves.
Premise
2)
Two by two the animals went into Noah's ark, except for some
special kinds that went in by groups of seven.
Premise
3)
We need to learn to love and accept ourselves before we can really
begin to obey God.
Premise
4) In the New Testament we find Timothy's mother's name is Eunice,
and his father was Egyptian.
Premise
5)
The husband is the head of the wife whether she accepts this or
not.
Premise
6) God may will it that some of us, His children, suffer.
Premise
7) Job's second wife was much better than his first one who told him
to "Curse God and die!"
Testing
More Premises Answers
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Testing
More Verbatim or Plainly
Remember:
these can be either verbatim, plainly, or not in Scripture.
Premise
1) We are to put no confidence in the flesh.
Premise
2) Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit happens when we
reject Jesus.
Premise 3): God is revealed as a tri-unity or trinity.
Premise 4) Since we're not to forsake assembling together
with other believers, we must find a good church home first before moving to any
new
city
.
Premise
5) God says we don't choose Him, but He chooses
us.
Premise
6) The rapture will happen one day.
Testing
More Verbatim or Plainly Answers
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One More Quick Quiz
Take this quick quiz and see how well you
do with discerning what the Bible actually teaches. No fair
peaking in God's Word. Do it off the top of your head.
1) Job received back twice as much from God after his
trials as he had in the beginning; sheep, camels, oxen, female
donkeys, and children.
2) When believers get to heaven they will all cast
their crowns at Jesus' feet.
3) Satan got permission from God to smite Job with
boils.
4) The 12 gates of the New Jerusalem are each a
different beautiful stone (i.e. jasper, sapphire, emerald, topaz,
etc.).
5) The Bible never says Adam named the dinosaurs.
One
More Quick Quiz Answers
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Continue to: Learn
to Discern - Part IV - Answers
Go
Back to: Learn
to Discern - Part II
© 2005 John and Kim Namestnik
www.givengrace.com
Permission is granted to copy and distribute this
curriculum - if it's kept intact and not changed in any
way, if it's given
without charge, and if this copyright notice is included.
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