Balance

 “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.”

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:19-22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

In the Christian Church today, some tend to believe that, once we’re saved, there’s no need to worry. We don’t need to worry, they tell us, because we cannot fall away from the Lord. We cannot lose our salvation. And this often becomes a false sense of comfort.

There are also those who are quick to accept anything and everything as though it were from God. They listen to any and every preacher and teacher, accepting everything they say. They never question anyone or anything.

As with everything, there is a balance to the Christian life. There is the possibility of going to one of two extremes. And we must take care to do neither.

We see this reflected in the above passage. As he’s concluding his first letter to the believers at Thessalonica, Paul tells them that they must not quench the Spirit. They must not put out the Spirit. And clearly, if he’s warning them against this, it’s a real possibility.

It’s by the Spirit of God that we are brought to faith in Jesus. It’s he who works in us, through the Word of God, establishing us in faith. And he also is responsible for the fruit of faith seen in our lives.

If we, then, quench the Spirit, we refuse his work. And this puts us in a dangerous place. It puts us in a place where our faith cannot be sustained.

Paul also told the believers that they were not to despise prophecies. Prophets, of course, are those who convey the Word of God to the people. So, to put a positive spin on it, he’s encouraging the people to receive the words that the Lord is speaking to them.

Again, it is possible for us to despise prophecies. It’s possible for us to refuse the Word of God. But, once again, this leaves us in a dangerous place.

It’s dangerous because it's by the Word of God that we become aware of our sin. It’s by the Word of God that we learn of Jesus. And it’s by the Word of God that we receive the hope of the gospel. Without this, we cannot and will not be saved.

However, on the other hand, Paul warned the people to test everything. In other words, they weren’t to blindly receive everything that was fed to them. They were to put it to the test. They were to prove it, ensuring it was genuine.

We’re warned over and over in Scripture against false prophets. We’re warned of false teachers who will come into our midst. And this is what makes this testing necessary.

Paul then called on his readers to hold fast to what is good and to abstain from what is evil. So, they’re to receive that which is clearly from the Lord, and they were to reject that which wasn’t. They were to cling to that which was from God and dispose of that which wasn’t.

Because God is holy, righteous, and good, because God is all-knowing, he cannot and will not contradict himself. We must, then, test any message or teaching that is given to us with the Word of God we’ve already received. We must ensure that it’s consistent with the Word of God.

In this way, we find that balance. We don’t take God’s blessings for granted, relying on a false assurance. But, at the same time, we’re not blindly accepting anything and everything as though it were from God.