Wisdom Wednesday: Wise Discernment
Submitted by: Debbie’s Dad
“Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
Whoever is discerning, let him know them.
For the ways of the LORD are right,
And the righteous will walk in them,
But transgressors will stumble in them.”
(Hosea 14:9 NASB 95)
The last verse in Hosea’s prophecy above, emphasizes the need for discernment – sound judgment to distinguish good from evil, and to judge the right way to live.
Hosea specifically defines the elements of discernment and understanding:
- The ability to know the way of the Lord,
- The ability to walk (live) in righteousness, and
- The protection from stumbling (falling, diverting) from the right way.
Paul prayed for the same sound judgment for the believers at the church in Philippi:
And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 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 1:9-10)
Paul wanted the new believers to have knowledge of God in Christ, and discernment to make the right decisions about what is truthful and righteous guidance. In chapter 3, Paul warns of people distorting the way of faith, for which they needed discernment to determine what was true and false about how to live for Christ.
The New Testament church dealt with two major kinds of errors that were promoted, and they required discernment:
- Legalism–This view maintains that we must live in strict outward conformity to moral and religious practices. It holds that this behavior is required for salvation and our degree of “spirituality” is proportional to our obedience to the law. Jesus explained that it was the inward obedience, intention and motivation of the heart that God observed–not the outward performance (Matt. 5: 21-28). Paul taught that the error of legalism was to misunderstand that the purpose of the Law was to provide a means to obey God, understand his holiness, and expose our own sinfulness (Rom. 7:7; 2:27-29; 5:20-21), not to earn salvation (Eph. 2:8-9).
- Anti-Legalism (or antinomianism from Greek anti (against) and nomos (law))—this view held that in Christ, we have complete freedom and that we are free from God’s law entirely. This error was also addressed by Paul in Romans chapter 6, where he asked, hypothetically, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom 6:1–2). Of course not. We are to live a life characterized by good works (Matt. 7:16–20; Eph. 2:10; Jas. 2:14–26).
True discernment is required to distinguish errors in teaching how to live, and both Hosea (700 years before the time of Christ) and Paul equated a wise person with having the kind of discernment to soundly judge the way of the Lord—the right way to live a genuine life by faith.
May the Lord grant us discernment to avoid errors that will cause us to stumble!