Test all things; hold fast what is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21
Bad experiences surrounding false prophecies often have negative consequences, and regretfully do occur in the Christian community. But instead of throwing out our legitimate beliefs, we must obey the words of the apostle Paul in this verse. When he wrote to the believers in Thessalonica, Paul was speaking to Christians who felt very disappointed and confused as a result of individuals who had misused the gift of prophecy. Because the Thessalonian congregation was tired of this abuse, they were tempted to throw out the spiritual gift of prophecy altogether, no longer allowing it to operate in their church. So Paul wrote and told them, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” Paul taught that we have a God-given responsibility to “prove” the prophetic words that are spoken over our lives. God doesn’t expect us to blindly accept every prophecy as from the Lord. But once we have determined that a word we received is legitimate and sound, we must “hold fast” to it because there is something we are to do with that word from the Lord. Only because we had one bad experience with one specific food, we do not ignore food altogether if we want to live, likewise, we ought to test every prophecy and hold fast to what is good.
Quote: The greatest mistakes occur when the people of God honor what a leader says without examining the instruction in the light of the Scripture.