Thank you for the interpretation question on I Thessalonians 5:21, “1 Thessalonians 5:21 says to examine “everything” and hold fast to that which is good – should we include “the Bible” among “everything” we are to examine, holding fast to ONLY the good?”
·As one reads the context of I Thessalonians 5:21, the examination is in regard to prophecies, not the Bible.
The text says this, “19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil” (NIV).
For your consideration of the testing relates to the prophecies:
A. The Thessalonians believers are not to quench the Spirit. The word, quench, means to put out, to extinguish or to prohibit. The believers are to listen to what the Spirit of God is saying in their midst.
B. The Thessalonians believers are not to despise or look with contempt with a believer forth telling or foretelling what is or may happen to believers.
C. The conjunction, de, in the Greek can include the definition of “and”, “however”, and even “but.” Thus there is a linking of the previous words with the words to follow.
D. The Thessalonian believers are to examine or test all things. They were not to take for granted that what was spoken to be true. There were false teachers and false prophets. They needed discernment to assess what is spoken is true or false.
The examination of what was spoken by a person is to be compared to what was spoken to the revealed Old Testament and the teachings by the Apostles.
Matthew 28 declares this: “9 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (NIV).
In other words, no “prophecy” spoken by a person can contradict what has already been revealed in the Scriptures and by the Lord’s words. The believers were to test by comparison, to discuss what was said to see if it is true or false. If that which is spoken is found to be false, it is to be reject. If that which is spoken is good, they are to do it. Thus they were to test or examine by comparing it with Scripture and the teachings of the Apostles.
E. The Thessalonians believers are not to elevate the “prophecy” or teaching by that person over the Scriptures and the teachings of the Apostles. It must be remembered that at this time there wasn’t a New Testament as yet. There were letters being circulated by messengers, but the New Testament Canon was not yet firmly established. If a person was truly guided by the Spirit of God to say a word to the believers, those words can’t contradict the revealed Scriptures and the teachings of the Apostles. It only can be in conformity to it.
SUMMARY: The Thessalonian believers are to test the prophecy of a spoken according to Scripture and the Apostle’s teaching.
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