There is so much information we learned from childhood and all through adulthood. Some we determined to be true and kept them in our mind. Some are patently false and we outrightly brand them in our memory as such; that also helps us to learn from our errors and mistakes. Others, we initially thought to be true but later on, we found them to be false and we adjust our understanding. These we learned from people telling us directly, some from reading books, from school, Internet or seminars and other venues. This compilation of information then becomes a composite of who we are, and from which we make decision and take action. But, do we have the same interaction and reaction to secular information when it comes to religious realm? Hopefully, so. Certainly, we can learn from the example and advice from those people in the Bible. Hence, the principles in this article on how to search for spiritual truth:

Test the spirit

When someone tells you about any religious tenet, check it out. Apostle John was clear on this, as in: I John 4:1

“Dear friends, 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.”

Indeed,Jesus cautioned us in Mark 13:6 that:

“Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.”

Remember the Bereans?

Acts 17:10-11 “The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so”.

Notice that, while Paul was well known, they did not just believed him but searched the scriptures to see whether the teaching is factual and his interpretation spot on. Should we not learn directly from the Bible instead of just from people ? Similarly, this attitude should be adopted by all. Always factcheck and understand the context.

Be ready to explain your position.

A number of people may question our belief. Can we give them the basis or proof of our beliefs and be confident and convincing enough? The apostle Peter has this to say to us In I Pet. 3:15

“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:”

Grow up and progress.

When can we be ready to eat meat, not just drink milk? Paul said in I Corinthians 3:3;

“I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” Also in Heb 5:12 “For at the time when ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God, and have become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”

Receive the power to understand

No matter what we do in search of the spiritual truth, we will never “see” it unless God opens our “eyes and ears” to spiritual things by the Holy Spirit. No human, “flesh-and-blood” has the capacity and knowhow can do this. We are spiritually “blind and deaf” until God opens our “eyes and ears”. This principle is demonstrated in:Matt. 16:13-17

“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood (human), but by my Father in heaven.”

Only God has the truth and he is the only one who can give it to us but through the power of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual things can only be discerned with the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice the following verses:

“Eyes will see and ears will hear” (Isaiah 6:10;Jer. 5:21; Ezek. 12:2; Joel 2:28-29;

Matthew 13:15;Acts 28:27;Rom. 11:8) is a prophecy of the coming Holy Spirit of power that will open us to spiritual realm, as they were not sensitive to spirituality.

Joel 2:28-29 “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

Acts 1:5 “For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth”.

Prov. 20:12, “Ears that hear and eyes that see– the LORD has made them both.”

Matt. 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”

This “action” to understand can only happen with “power” vested in us. And this power, Jesus had to receive himself directly post-resurrection from the Father. This power is so crucial for us that man-Jesus had to die for our reconciliation and justification so that after he was resurrected, he received it from the Father to be given subsequently to us-ward. And we receive it only when we believed…

John 7:37-39 (ESV)

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

And “believing” means we “repent” and be “baptized” with the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit is the creative-power that was directly given to Jesus only after ( not before) his resurrection from death. With this power, Jesus (the Potter) can “re-mold the clay”, as in:

Isaiah 64:8 “Yet you, LORD, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”

Jeremiah 18:2-6 “Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear[a] my words.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. 4 And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do”.

Acts 2:38 ESV

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

LET US GROW UP TOGETHER👍😊🎉😇

Original Post: 1/29/2018

Revised: 12/19/18