discernment

APOSTLE PAUL

Posted on May 30, 2025 by West Oaks Fellowship

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Philippians 1:9-11

In this biblical text, the Apostle Paul is praying for those in the church of Philippi that:

1. Their “love may abound” – be / become superfluous, overflowing in quantity and quality! The Apostle Paul puts it this way in 1 Thessalonians 3:12, “May the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people.” The Apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:22-23, “Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.”

2. They may abound in “real knowledge” – this idea is not seeking to know, but having exact or full knowledge. That’s the very same concept that Peter uses in 2 Peter 1:3 when he states that the Lord has “given us everything pertaining to life and godliness” through the “true knowledge” of Jesus Christ who called each one of us “by His glory and excellence.”

3. They may abound in “all discernment” – this word could also be properly translated judgement or the idea of perception. In the sense of practical living reality, it deals with the power that lies in the ability of moral and ethical discrimination / insight. For believers, this comes from within, through the workings of God’s Holy Spirit in conjunction with the Truth / God’s Word. Hebrews 5:14 clearly lays it out, “But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.”

4. They may “approve the things that are excellent” – allowing, testing, and fully embracing those things which are essential for one’s life of faith in Jesus Christ. An excellent reminder comes from the Apostle John, in 1 John 4:1-4, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”

5. They will be “sincere” – genuine, pure, and tested, like good fruit. This is a quality possessed by God, but also comes to fruition in a faithful believer as godly integrity and honesty! (In other words, uncorrupted.)

6. They will be “blameless” – without fault or wrongdoing. The Apostle Paul, while defending his faith before Governor Felix, stated in Acts 24:16, “I also do my best to maintain always a blameless (no fault) conscience both before God and before men.” 1 Corinthians 10:31-32 serves us as a great reminder / initiator, “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God.”

7. All of the above “until the day of Christ!” – as we patiently, but with great anticipation, await the moment of our snatching away (being caught up together with Him – 1 Thessalonians 4:17 aka “the rapture”) as His bride (the glorified church)!

Brothers and sisters, fellow servants of Jesus Christ, I said these things to simply say this: The above is my dream, my hope, my vison, and my prayer, with many tears and much joy as well, for each of you as an essential, functioning part / member (1 Corinthians 12:14-27) of Christ’s Church / Body that gathers as West Oaks Fellowship.

His & Yours, because of G R A C E (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense)

Pastor Frank

PARTIALITY

Posted on March 29, 2022 by West Oaks Fellowship

In Romans 2:11 the scriptures declare that “there is no partiality (respect of persons)(Gk – prosopolempsia) with God,” meaning that our Lord shows no favoritism in respect to one’s earthly position or rank, popularity, circumstances, wealth, knowledge, power, influence, etc. in His judgments. In Ephesians 6:9, we are reminded once again that, “there is no partiality with Him” and in Colossians 2:25 we see that Christ, as the ultimate judge of humanity, will arbitrate “without partiality (favoritism).”

In these biblical references, the nature and character of God/Christ is clearly revealed in a sense much too broad for human understanding. However, from a spiritual perspective … a renewed mind in the Lord, and with the inspiring assistance of God’s Holy Spirit, believers are able to gain a glimpse/foretaste of understanding, in spite of our lingering sin nature (fleshly passions), worldly perspectives (ungodly thinking), and ingrained cultural influences. As a result, Christians, whether admitted and addressed (dealt with) or not, genuinely struggle with the deeper truth and internal applications of unpretentious/unassuming spiritual impartiality as emphasized in James 2:1.

My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.

The apostle James continues in 2:2-10 (please read before going on) by providing an explanation of what would be considered improper behavior within Christ’s church. Perhaps you recall Samuel’s struggle in I Samuel 16 while searching in the household of Jesse for the nation’s second king. But the Lord said to Samuel:

Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

The Lord does not see what man sees! Partiality occurs when one shows favoritism with respect to the outward appearance or circumstances of another human, instead of their intrinsic merit and value as determined from God’s perspective.

YIKES … My exact word to myself! As the human race increased on this earth, human standards of judgment were erected by men to replace the divine ideals, which they continually rejected. Cain murdered Abel, and his descendants, while seemingly successful, became immoral oppressors. As individuals took upon themselves the position of judges over their fellow humans, they deemed others as inferior because of wealth/possessions, supposed intelligence (or lack of it), heritage and skin color.

As humanity grew, it also divided into various strains/groups where almost everyone looked down upon someone else for one reason or another. Individuals have always sought to cover their own inferiority by creating another class beneath them, upon which they can vent the expression of their indignities. The inferior members of one group were despised by their supposed superiors, so they in turn looked down upon other groups because they differed in race, language, abilities, etc., etc.

Thousands of partialities have scarred the human race — thousands of resentments have risen. Mankind is hopelessly trapped (without Christ), unable to resolve this problem. Society itself demonstrates the demented, growing intricacies of human interactions, which will eventually reach such entanglement that only the Sword/Word of God will be able to cut through the stronghold of partiality/favoritism bringing about right thinking and right living.

Nonetheless, one must recognize that God created human life and left us choices. The fruit of wrong choices, such as partiality, which ultimately denies the truth that all are created in the image and likeness of God, is like a spider’s web. If a fly chooses to enter the web, or is attracted to the snare by some enticing temptation, it’s entrapped by the very nature of the web itself. At that point, refusal to accept God’s abundant grace (through faith in Jesus Christ) and apply God’s Truth/Word has enmeshed that individual into a life from which they can never escape, having no power to free themselves! This concept is pretty obvious if you simply consider the behavior of human beings towards one another throughout our world, and even currently in our own nation.

While the perfect context of Romans 2:1 is in reference to God’s perfect, impartial, unbiased judgments, the born-again, faithful believer, who is living by faith in Jesus Christ, is clearly admonished throughout scripture to live life without partiality, preconceived bias, favoritism, prejudice, and/or bigotry. While this does not mean living without discernment or wisdom, it is certainly a call for a redeemed thought process and overriding godly character!

These also are sayings of the wise. To show partiality in judgment is not good.
Proverbs 24:23

The goddess of Justice, in the Greek system, had a bandage over her eyes so that she could not see the person (no face) who came before her for judgment. She also carried a set of scales so that justice could be given with absolute balance and equity. Needless to say, we as believers are never called to function in blindness, but we must certainly desire to have the mind of Christ in all our judgments, in supreme superiority to the partiality and favoritism imbedded in every aspect of human society and reasoning.

May we be free of this menace! -PF

DISCERNMENT

Posted on June 9, 2020July 3, 2020 by West Oaks Fellowship

Are you operating in biblical discernment, or are you allowing various fears from multiple sources to direct your daily life? In the midst of our current situation with COVID-19, Floyd’s unfathomable murder, legal protests, and illegal rioting and vandalism, I’m always shocked to learn how many believers allow themselves to be entrapped by penalizing and paralyzing fear, rather than actively partnering with divinely authorized, supernatural power (God’s Holy Spirit).

2 Corinthians 10:3-6 offers very clear and precise instruction for Christ’s faithful:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.”

1 Corinthians 12:7 declares that

“to each one (individual, faithful followers of Jesus Christ) is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”

One of those manifestations (displays of our Lord’s presence and power through the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit) being “the distinguishing of spirits” from 1 Corinthians 12:10. This is an essential component of a successful spiritual, yet fearless life of faith in Christ Jesus.

The Greek word, diakrisis, used in the biblical text stated above, literally means discerning, making a judicial estimation, distinction and/or determination. Therefore, according to the context, a believer is given this manifestation for their own good or that of Christ’s Body/His Church. According to 1 Corinthians 12:11 (same context), “one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

At this point, it’s really important that one comes to understand the manifestation of “distinguishing” or “discernment of spirits.” The need for this manifestation is obvious in our world and within the life of each and every believer. Who doesn’t need to have spiritual insight into what’s actually going on in the realm of the unseen — the spirit world? We all experience individuals or certain entities (government, religious organization, political, business, etc.) behaving in certain questionable ways (immoral, unethical, etc.). What are the forces and/or powers motivating their actions? Are they those of angelic beings interfering in the affairs of humanity, are they evil, demonic spirits attempting to control a situation, spirits of our world system directly challenging the Truth of God, and/or carnal fleshly motivations empowered by human desires/lusts (strong passions) — or the workings of God’s Holy Spirit?

Fear easily slips into one’s mind and heart when this type of question and confusion prevails. Have we become so accustomed to applying human reasoning to a situation or circumstance (just like the unredeemed in our world, who do not have the mind of Christ) that we are actually, perhaps even unknowingly, embracing lies and concepts completely foreign to the Truth of God’s Word and the ways of our Lord?

How did Peter know (properly discern) what was actually going on with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-10? Their sin certainly wasn’t holding back some of the funds from the sale of property, but in reality, pretending to give a sacrificial offering of the whole amount that had been gained through the real estate transaction. Ananias was under no biblical compulsion or mandate to give all! (The common sharing that occurred within the early Jerusalem church was not absolute communism, but purely voluntary. — See Acts 5:4) Falsehood and total hypocrisy (“lying to God’s Holy Spirit” – See Acts 5:3), rather than greed, were the sins for which each of them was severely punished.

Peter experienced the manifestation of spiritual discernment! Nothing of a natural, human process would have revealed this Truth without some investigation! Peter supernaturally saw the unseen, a spiritual realm that he could have never known unless God’s Holy Spirit provided the miraculous manifestation of discernment (the distinguishing of spirits)!

1 John 4:1 reminds us

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

This means one must ask God for His help, seeking His perspective (DVP – divine viewpoint) on all of life’s issues! What are the things He is planning/desiring? Then ask, how do I fit in? What is it You’re asking of me — Your faithful, loyal servant?

Beloved, we have incredible opportunities to partner with the Lord, God Almighty Himself! How then shall we live?

His & Yours, PF