Prove

1Thessalonians 5:21 says Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

In order to Prove something, we need to use the proper standard the proper way. This paper shows God's standard and God's way to use that standard. We need to prove that we are doing what God wants done and that we are doing it His way so that we can hold fast to what God gave us. The word prove is: 'An action verb whereby someone provides evidence which allows a claim to continue to stand, no matter what test or circumstance the claim is put through.'

Sections within in this Study are:

Synopsys.
Consequences of Disobedience.
Advantages of Obedience.
What does God means by Prove all things.
God's Standard to use when we Prove all things.
Proper procedures to Prove all things.
Verses that use the word prove.
Summary.

This paper was written before the Hermeneutics Lessons were written. Part of the body of this paper presents a lot of the same material that is presented in those lessons but this paper is more condensed. If those sections are not clear enough, please see the Hermeneutics Lessons for a different presentation and, in this paper, read the sections called: Synopsys, Summary and Verses that use the word prove.

Biblical applications of the word prove.

Prove means 'put up or shut up'. There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not: Genesis 42:15-16; Judges 6:39; Psalms 66:10; Daniel 1:12, 14 Malachi 3:10; Luke 14:19; John 6:6; Romans 3:9 and 2Corinthians 8:8.
We are to use God's Law as our standard that we test against when we prove something: Exodus 15:25; Ecclesiastes 2:1; 7:23; Acts 9:22 and Romans 3:9.
Proper proving is not something is not done 'off hand' but takes a lot of diligence, time and effort: Exodus 16:4; Psalms 95:9; Hebrews 3:9.
God is going to hurt anyone who fails to prove that they met His standard: Exodus 20:20; Psalms 95:9; Hebrews 3:9.
Proving shows areas which need to be corrected: Deuteronomy 8:2; Deuteronomy 8:16.
Failure to prove a claim has consequences: Deuteronomy 13:3; Deuteronomy 33:8.
We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid: Judges 2:22; Judges 3:1-4; Romans 12:2; 2Corinthians 8:22; 13:5; Galatians 6:4; Ephesians 5:10.
Something which is unproven is unreliable: 1Samuel 17:39; Acts 24:13 and 25:7.
It takes hard questions to prove things from God: 1Kings 10:1; .
God makes sure that others know the result of His test, especially when we pass it: 2Chronicles 9:1; Job 9:20; 1Timothy 3:10.
God's true proof will prove the self-righteous to be perverse: Job 9:20.
Proof of true righteousness will keep God's people from transgressing when future temptations come: Psalms 17:3; Psalms 26:2; Psalm 81:7 and 1Timothy 3:10.
Finally, we have our primary verse which tells us that we can hold fast that which is good only if we first Prove all things: 1Thessalonians 5:21.

Definition from Webster's 1828:

1. To try; to ascertain some unknown quality or truth by an experiment, or by a test or standard. Thus we prove the strength of gunpowder by experiment; we prove the strength or solidity of cannon by experiment. We prove the contents of a vessel by comparing it with a standard measure. 2. To evince, establish or ascertain as truth, reality or fact, by testimony or other evidence. The plaintiff in a suit, must prove the truth of his declaration; the prosecutor must prove his charges against the accused. 3. To evince truth by argument, induction or reasoning; to deduce certain conclusions from propositions that are true or admitted. If it is admitted that every immoral act is dishonorable to a rational being, and that dueling is an immoral act; then it is proved by necessary inference, that dueling is dishonorable to a rational being. 4. To ascertain the genuineness or validity of; to verify; as, to prove a will. 5. To experience; to try by suffering or encountering; to gain certain knowledge by the operation of something on ourselves, or by some act of our own. Let him in arms the power of Turnus prove. 6. In arithmetic, to show, evince or ascertain the correctness of any operation or result. Thus in subtraction, if the difference between two numbers, added to the lesser number, makes a sum equal to the greater, the correctness of the subtraction is proved. In other words, if the sum of the remainder and of the subtrahend, is equal to the minuend, the operation of subtraction is proved to be correct. 7. To try; to examine. Prove your own selves. 2 Cor. 13. 8. Men prove God, when by their provocations they put his patience to trial, Ps.95.; or when by obedience they make trial how much he will countenance such conduct, Mal.3.
PROVE, v.i. To make trial; to essay. The sons prepare-- To prove by arms whose fate it was to reign. 1. To be found or to have its qualities ascertained by experience or trial; as, a plant or medicine proves salutary. 2. To be ascertained by the event or something subsequent; as the report proves to be true, or proves to be false. 3. To be found true or correct by the result. 4. To make certain; to show; to evince. This argument proves how erroneous is the common opinion. 5. To succeed. If the experiment proved not--

Synopsys:

1Thessalonians 5:21 gives us a two-step process, that is divided by the semi-colon, and whereby we can not do the second step until after we do the first step. Unfortunately, many people believe that they have done both steps when they have done neither. When disaster strikes and they loose what is most precious in their life, few people will admit that their loss was avoidable if they had only taken the time to be sure that they had done what God meant for them to do. Many have done what they think God wants them to do or have done what religion told them God wanted them to do, but few have done what God really means for them to do.

I personally suffered felony abuse for over 10 years while attending a 'good Bible believing fundamental church'. I did everything that I was told that I had to do in order to get God's blessings and ended up in an emergency room going into a comma with the doctor telling me that I would probably never wake up. Many of my problems were due to trusting doctors who assured me that they were the experts and that I should trust them without questioning their methods. However, the greater problem was trusting self-proclaimed 'Bible experts'. If you're willing to risk having a similar experience, or having one of your loved ones have a similar experience, then stop reading. If you want to know how to hold onto what God wants you to have, including His protection, then please read this entire document.

It has been over 10 years since that experience and one of the main things that I have learned is how to truly Prove what is and what is not Bible truth. The methods that I am about to reveal come from the Bible, never change regardless of circumstances and can be used by anyone for anything found in the Bible. I have used these methods to prove consistency within the Bible for several different studies. One of those studies (on the major names of the Son of God found in the New Testament) involves over 4,000 verses and is cross-referenced to over 26,000 verses. Malachi 3:6 says For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Hebrews 13:8 says Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Since God does not change, and the Bible is our God given, spiritually alive picture of God (John 1:1, 14), the Bible does not change and the way of properly interpreting the Bible (John 14:6) does not change. Therefore, when we use God's method to Prove all things we get consistent results no matter what subject we study and no matter how much of the Bible is involved. Anyone who claims that there are discrepancies in the Bible is actually finding discrepancies in their own erroneous methods to Prove all things.

With that said, we will proceed to see what methods that the Bible tells us to use so that we can find the consistent truth that God put within His Word. As we find God's methods by looking at this verse, we will start with the second step so that we know what we are aiming for when we figure out the correct ways to do the first step. God always wants us to act through faith but He always gives us an expected result of that faith (promise, etc) before He ever asks us to take the first step. Therefore, we will start be seeing what should be the result we are to find in our lives of faith.

In Matthew 19:16-17 and Mark 10:17-18 and Luke 18:18-19 we are told that ...a certain ruler asked him (Jesus), saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Since Jesus said that the only one Who is good is God, anything that the Bible calls good is from God. Therefore, when 1Thessalonians 5:21 says hold fast that which is good we can know that we are to hold fast to that which is from God.

In addition, we know that hold fast means to: 'hold without wavering' or 'don't let go no matter what changes in circumstances occur' (Matthew 26:48; 1Thessalonians 5:21; 2:15; 2Timothy 1:13; Hebrews 3:6; 4:14; 10:23; Revelation 2:25; 3:3, 11). So we are to hold onto what is from God 'without wavering' no matter how the circumstances change. However, we see many people today that can not hold fast 'without wavering' when the circumstances go against them. That's because doing so requires God's help and God will not help us hold onto error. In order to obey this command we need to separate the truth from error and hold fast to truth while getting rid of error. That is what the commandment in the first part of this verse (to Prove all things) does for us. If we do what the Bible means by Prove all things, we will be able to separate God's truth from error and, as a result, be able to hold fast 'without wavering' to that which is from God ( good). If we do not do what the Bible means by Prove all things we won't be able to separate God's truth from error which claims to be God's truth.

Yes, there really is error which claims to be the truth from God. When people can not hold fast 'without wavering' due circumstances going against what they were taught was truth from God, then that is evidence that they failed to Prove all things. They either accepted error and have God fighting their hold on error or they were told truth and may have examined it but did not prove that it was truth.

Simply put, our ability to hold fast 'without wavering' is based upon our first proving all things by doing what God means by prove. When we do what God means by Prove all things we will be able to separate truth from error and we will be able to hold fast to the truth 'without wavering' regardless of what change in circumstances may occur. So what God's people really need to know is:

While the following points are based upon 1Thessalonians 5:21, we will cover these points in the reverse order of how they appear in the verse.

What does God means by Prove all things
What are the advantages of obeying this command
What are the consequences of disobeying this command.

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Consequences of Disobedience:

If we lined up 50 different preachers and asked them to provide the interpretation of a section of the Bible, we would probably get many different interpretations of that section with each preacher claiming that they had the 'true interpretation'. Most people trust what their favorite preacher tells them but very few preachers can prove their doctrine from the Bible and fewer still do. (Just look at all of the different religions which claim to be Christian.) As a result, we have many people arguing for many different 'true interpretations'. Therefore, the first thing that we see as a consequence of God's people failing to Prove all things is confusion about what is God's true doctrine in the Bible.

1Corinthians 14:33 says For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. While I could run a rabbit trail with this verse, the simple application in this case is that the so-called multitude of interpretations is causing confusion that serves the Devil. God only has one interpretation as seen in Psalm 119:89 which says For ever, of LORD, thy word is settled in Heaven. Settled means God isn't still trying to decide upon the final interpretation. God's interpretation is fixed and is not moving ( is settled). We don't need a lot of erroneous interpretations from different men but we need to know what God's interpretation is. When we face judgment by God, His interpretation will be the only one used. Therefore, His interpretation is the only one that matters. If people knew God's way of interpreting the Bible and used God's way of proving doctrine, we would have only God's interpretation and not this multitude of confusion. Since God wrote His Word to reveal Himself to us, He intended us to have His interpretation and understand it. Our failure to have God's interpretation is due to our failure to seek the truth that God already revealed in His Word by using God's methods. It is not due to God's failure to reveal His truth. There are many ways that we fail to truly seek the truth even while we think that we are seeking the truth. Those methods of failure will be revealed and should be self-evident when they are pointed out.

In addition, to the so-called multitude of interpretations causing ungodly Satanic confusion, it also causes many people to have a false image of the Son of God. The Bible is our God given picture of God (John 1:1) and the Son of God (John 1:14-15). The Son of God said ...I am the way, the truth, and the life.. (John 14:6). The means 'there is only one and here it is'. That means there is only one true interpretation of the word of God ( I am the truth) and only one way (I am the way) to arrive at that truth (interpret) and all of the other 'interpretations' and 'ways of interpretation' are either lies or error. Some examples of the lies and errors that God's people hold as truth are:

That 'God will understand' their (error, sin, etc) and say it's OK for them to hold onto that (error, sin, etc).
That the fear of the Lord only means 'deep abiding respect' for God and not that God will hurt His own children in a great way if they refuse to obey Him. (Please see the Study called Fear the Lord and the following verses: 1Samuel 11:7; 2Chronicles 14:14; 17:10; 19:7, 9; Job 28:28; Psalms 19:9; 34:11; 111:10; Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10; 10:27; 14:26-27; 15:16, 33; 16:6; 19:23; 22:4; 23:17; Isaiah 2:10, 19, 21; 11:2-3; 33:6; Acts 9:31).
That ...the terror of the Lord.. (2Corinthians 5:10-11) doesn't apply to God's children even though the Bible says that it is the direct result of the judgment seat of Christ which only deals with the saved and has nothing to do with the lost who go to Hell.
That there will be no tears in Heaven even though God's people will go to Heaven more than 1,000 yearss before God wipes away all tears.
- (Revelation 21:4)
Claiming that 'I'm just suffering for Jesus until I go to my mansion in Heaven' even though Jesus deliberately excluded over 90% of His church from the only meeting where He mentioned mansions and then only promised a place to all in attendance.

While I could list more examples, hopefully this is enough to get the idea across. In addition, to causing confusion about true Bible doctrine, we have varying pictures of Jesus, erroneous doctrines taught as truth and people who think they are true Christians but are truly a ...twofold...child of hell.. (Matthew 23:15) or are so spiritually immature that they do not know the Biblical definition of a Christian (Acts 11:26: 'a disciple of Christ whose life reveals the true Christ to a lost world around them').

The end result is that many people are sure that they are going to have eternal bliss in a mansion in Heaven while they are truly going to the Lake of Fire (Revelation 20:15) or they are heading for over 1,000 yearss of tears as a homeless person in Heaven. Those are both significant consequences and that doesn't even consider the consequences of their hypocritical influence upon others.

Consider James 2:18, 20 and 22 which say I will shew thee my faith by my works...But wilt thou know, of vain man, that faith without works is dead?..Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? This gives us a direct measurement of faith. God's measurement of faith is the quantity and quality of works produced by that faith. Consider our forefathers whose faith was displayed by willingly facing torture, suffering and martyrdom. Now consider the type of faith displayed by the works of Christians today. When today's Christians claim the same faith as those martyrs but refuse to do the works of faith done by the same martyrs, God will let them call us liars.

21 places in Revelation use versions of the word works and that book makes it clear that our eternal rewards and our position within God's hierarchy for all of eternity is based upon our works. (This is a different judgment than the decision about if we go to Heaven or the Lake of Fire.) Based upon evidence of works today, especially when compared with the works of former Christians, most of the Christians of today will be the poverty class for all of eternity. And to all of those people who think I'm wrong, I remind you that God says Prove it because if I'm right and you don't take the effort to prove me wrong, you also won't take the effort to change your eternal reward. If you are wrong, then it will be you, and those who follow you, who will suffer for all eternity even if you are saved.

The truth is that even God's children can act foolishly, and suffer the consequence of being a fool, when they believe and obey someone that opposes what God teaches them to do (Romans 6:16). The Bible teaches that God gives people (including His children) the fear of the Lord so that they will stop their sinning. Those who refuse to stop their sinning are holding onto error and not to that which is good (from God). James 4:17 tells us Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. When God tells us to Prove all things so that we can hold fast that which is good and we fail to Prove all things, we are sinning. If we don't want to suffer the judgment for sin we need to obey God and do what God means by Prove.

I realize that the reaction of a lot of people to the consequences of sin that I named above is 'I don't believe you'. I say 'good' to that and say 'prove me wrong'. But in order to do that, you have to know how Prove all things the way that the Bible says to Prove things. When Jesus said ...I am the way.. (John 14:6), He let us know that God's way is the ONLY way. Since the Bible does tell us God's way to interpret the Bible, we need to do it God's way. If we don't use God's way to Prove all things then He is going to make us hurt very badly for a very long time. Yes, God does have great rewards but those are only given to people who obey Him and do what he tells them to do. Those who disobey and make excuses are actually helping Satan because of their influence upon others. Remember, God said in 2Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Just because we haven't experienced God's judgment while under His grace, that doesn't mean that judgment day will never come. Just because God is still giving us time to repent does not mean that God will never judge sin or that God is fooled by our excuses. Remember, Psalms 14:1 and 53:1 tell us The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. When we live like there is no judgment of God coming, we have said in our heart that There is no God and we will suffer the consequences of being fools even if we are children of God.

I started out telling what happened to me when I believed 'good godly preachers' without doing what God meant by Prove all things. I honestly believe that one of the reasons that God let me go through those things (and survive) is that He knew that I would learn to do better and try to warn others. I truly pity the person who dares God to prove these same things to them because they might not go through what I went through. The highest probability is that they will have to watch one of their loved ones go through the lessons because their loved ones won't listen any better than the person who dared God to prove His lesson.

The neighborhood that I started out in had a saying of 'put up or shut up' and even at 10 years old people (in that neighborhood) knew better than to bring a knife to a gun fight. When someone said 'put up or shut up' it meant that you had better 'shut up' and apologize real fast or 'put up' your defense because your are about to get hurt real bad. No person can 'put up' a defense that will stop the judgment by God. If they could, they would also be able to make the sun stop shining like God's Word says He will do. When God's Word says Prove all things it includes the meaning of 'put up proof that you are interpreting God's Word God's way or shut up'. God gives grace to those who don't 'put up or shut up', but that grace is so that they will repent. However, eventually God has to judge even His children when they make a mockery of Him and His word by continuing to live in sin and rely upon grace to remove the consequences of that sin (Galatians 6:7).God would be a liar if He did not hurt those who continued to live in sin while they also refused to 'put up or shut up'. When He is forced to judge them, He will hurt them real bad for a real long time (> 1,000 yearss or for eternity).

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Advantages of Obedience:

When we do what God means by Prove all things, we will have what we need to hold fast that which is good. God reveals that which is good then sends a test to prove that we are holding fast and then rewards those who pass the test. If we are holding onto God's truth God's way then we will pass the test. If we are not holding onto God's truth or are (in fact) holding onto God's truth the wrong way then we will fail the test. So far as I recall, every promise in the Bible (that is given to man and not including the promises that are given to Christ) includes a test that we must pass. Many of God's people claim to believe God's word while the evidence of their life is that they failed God's test.

Our salvation starts out with the test of our giving up our religious beliefs to accept what God put in writing according to 1John 5:13. However, 1John 5:13 includes ...and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. That means that God is going to increase our belief on the name of the Son of God the same way that he saved us. This in turn means that at the very least we have to keep passing tests which require us to give up our religious beliefs when they disagree with what God wrote in the word of God. Unfortunately, many preachers are following Satan's way of presenting only part of Biblical truth when they reveal the promises of the Bible without also warning of the included test. People who believe those preachers, don't prove what they say, because they never check the message from the preacher against what God put into writing. They think that they have done what God requires and yet fail to receive God's blessings.

When the blessings don't come, God's people need to go back to what God really wrote in His Word and make sure that they didn't miss some requirement that God included for receiving the blessing. Since the promises of the Bible are well-known, I will simply tell people that those promises are only given after people prove that they have passed God's test and I will move onto what the Bible says is required in order to Prove all things.

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What does God means by Prove all things.

In order to prove something we need to have a valid standard to compare the item against and then use a proper procedure to compare the item being tested against the standard. For example, if someone told us that a counter was 12 foot long and we wanted to prove that claim, we would get a standard tape measure and have a couple of people compare the length of the counter to the tape measure.

While this seems simple enough, life itself is more complicated and, therefore, proving things in life is also more complicated. In my more than 30 years as a professional, I have been used repeatedly to check the claims by other professionals that they had 'proved' that their answer was valid. (I had a reputation for breaking things that no one else could break.) In order for you to prove something, your answer must stand no matter what circumstances (test) your answer is put through. The Bible does use words like try for less comprehensive testing, but when we prove, our answer must stand through all tests. One of the best Biblical evidences of this procedure is what God let Satan put Job through in order to prove the testimony of Job. When we claim to have proved something within the Bible, we are agreeing to have God give Satan the job of proving our claimed answer wrong.

One of the requirements of the Scientific Method is repeatability. God also requires us to meet this requirement for anything that we claim to have received from the Bible and proved to be true. For example, the Bible requires there be at least two people involved in the test so that there wasn't any question about the test being done properly (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15; Matthew 18:16, 20; 1Corinthians 14:27, 29; 2Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28). In addition, to these couple of requirements, there are other requirements which will be dealt with in more detail below

There are two main things that we need to properly Prove all things in the Bible: God's standard of measurement and God's method of using that standard. After explaining each of these two requirements in more detail, this study will examine every place that the Bible uses a permutation of prove to show that the things which I identify actually provide the basic definition of prove that is used by God within His Word.

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God's Standard to use when we Prove all things.

One of the ways that Satan leads people into error is to get them to use the wrong standard. While most people understand that our standard needs to be God's standard, they don't know what God's standard is. God's standard is the word of God used God's Way. While many people accept that God's standard is the word of God, they make the mistake of thinking that a religious way of using God's Word is God's Way. Thus they are led into error.

Most people can't show where the Bible tells them how to use the Bible and even those who can, usually can't say that they are doing all that God says for us to do. The simple test is whether, or not, the way they are using allows anyone to conclude that there are 'problem verses'. God gave us a perfect Word and a perfect way to use that perfect Word to get a perfect result. If it is possible to get 'problem verses', then we do not have a perfect result and the fault lies with man and what he does and how he does it. There is no fault in God.

We all know that God's Word warns us about adding to God's Word or diminishing it. It also warns us in 2Timothy 2:15 that God says we need to be (and will be) ashamed for not rightly dividing the word of truth. I have a separate study on Rightly Dividing which is good sized, so I won't cover that here. However, most people can understand that if we divide a pile of books by two, we separate them into two piles. Likewise, part of rightly dividing the word of truth is separating God's Word from error that claims to be God's Word. When we use God's Standard, which is God's Word, and separate it from error that pretends to be God's Word, we are rightly dividing the word of truth. When we refuse to do so we are propagating error and God will make us ashamed for our error and a lot of that shame will be in Heaven. So we need to know how to separate the truth of God's Word from error that claims to be God's Word.

When people argue against Creation and for Evolution they are ignoring the fact that every standard for measuring time used by Evolution is unreliable. For example, they use the 'life decay of radioactive material' as one method to age things. Radioactive material looses its charge over time (decay) at a steady rate and Evolution uses the amount of 'lost' charge to say how old something is. This measurement assumes that all radioactive material is created with a full charge. However, men have seen things created with less than a full charge. Therefore, something that has 10% of a full charge was not necessarily created long enough ago for it to have lost 90% of the charge. If it was created with a 15% charge, then it only had to loose 5% to get to the current 10% remaining. There (reportedly) is rock formed by a volcano in Russia that was recorded as being created in the early 1900s. Yet this unit of measurement says that the volcano (which created the rock from molten lava) had to explode over 1million years ago. This error in dating is because they are using an unreliable standard for measuring time. An unreliable standard makes an invalid assumption.

Evolution also uses what is called 'Carbon Dating' which ages living mollusks at over 100,000 years. This standard in unreliable in another fashion, but it is still unreliable as is the third standard for measuring time used by Evolution. The one proven reliable measurement of the Earth's age is the decay of the magnetic field of the Earth. However, since that measurement puts the Earth at less than10,000 years old, it is rejected by Evolution.

Thus we see the methods of Satan and of liars. They use unreliable standards of measurement while rejecting reliable ones. This is a standard ploy used by con artists. One of the evidences of the reliability of a standard is that it is rejected by liars. For example, the KJV1611 is rejected by all of the self-proclaimed 'Bible scholars' who seem to have a flavor-of-the-year for which man-wrote 'bible' they use. They insist that all Bibles have errors with the possible exception being the one in Heaven that God will use to judge us but (they claim) won't let men see before He uses it to judge them. The god they believe in does not have a character to match the true God of the Bible. The true God of the Bible reveals Himself to His believers. He does not hide and the God of the Bible does not hide His truth. As said, John 1:1 and 1:14 tell us that the Bible is our picture of God. Those who reject the KJV1611 are looking at the men who were used by God to reveal Himself and refuse to see God behind the men. These are the type of people that John warns us against because they are walking in darkness (1John 2) and are the many antichrists (1John 2:18). 1John 2:23 tells us Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. When they deny their God given spiritual living picture of the Son (the KJV1611), they denieth the Son and prove that they hath not the Father.

We saw that false religion tells us to trust Evolution which rejects the reliable standard of measurement (decay of the magnetic field of the Earth) while giving several unreliable standards of measurement. So also does false religion tell us to trust self-proclaimed 'Bible scholars' who reject the one reliable standard of measurement which provides a consistent picture of God (the KJV1611), while they give several unreliable standards of measurement (several man written bibles). There are two main ways that Satan uses these men to get us to use a wrong standard:

Directly by telling us to trust ourselves, our preachers or our religion.
Indirectly by getting good godly men to tell us to believe doctrine from these sources of error.

We will look at both of these methods in a moment but first we need to recognize one of the easy ways to spot a source of error that God gives us in His word. Isaiah 28:9 says Whom shall he [God] teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. Here we are explicitly told God's way to teach knowledge and ' to understand doctrine. There is a separate paper that goes into this section in more detail, but we can glean a couple of surface points that relate to our current subject.

We have to be spiritually alive (saved) and taking the milk (1Peter 2:1-3) before we can be weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. 1Corinthians 3 says that they were babes in Christ while they were doing the sins that Paul dealt with in 1Corinthians (see Test of Spiritual Maturity) including arguing about spiritual leadership. Therefore, God is not going to teach someone on a personal level, and certainly not going to use them to teach others, until after they have eliminated the sins that Paul dealt with in 1Corinthians (see Test of Spiritual Maturity) from their life. Before they reach this level they are relying upon what other men taught them and part of our source of error is choosing spiritual leaders who have not met God's standard of spiritual maturity. However, before we worry about getting rid of the sins that Paul dealt with in 1Corinthians (see Test of Spiritual Maturity), we have to remove the influence of Satan's false ministers (2Corinthians 11:13-15). Those false ministers are teaching us to accept sinful lifestyle s that God rejects. That is what Isaiah 28:1-8 was dealing with (the verses before we are told how God's way to teach knowledge and...to understand doctrine).

First, God has Isaiah mention The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim in Isaiah 28:3. The priests of Ephraim were considered to be the top 'Bible scholars' of the day. But notice that they were full of pride (Isaiah 28:3; James 4:6; 1Peter 5:5) and they were drunkards. In these first 8 verses of Isaiah 28 God is describing 'spiritual leaders' that we are to reject and not listen to directly or indirectly. Isaiah 28:7 starts with But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way.. and we will follow them into spiritual error if we follow them. Even babes in Christ can understand that when a man is a drunkard he doesn't represent the God of the Bible. Further, religions and doctrines that allow drunkards are to be rejected. Given our drug culture, it shouldn't be hard for people to understand that this include and person or religion that condones drug use in any fashion. In fact, God is using being drunk as a type to represent any physical sin which is condoned by religion for anyone. Any person or religion that condones or excuses physical sin is to be rejected as an authority on the word of God and not listened to directly or indirectly.

In Isaiah 28:8 we read For all tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean. All through the Bible filthiness is a 'type' of moral uncleanness. Even babes in Christ can understand that any person or religion that condones or excuses moral sin is to be rejected as an authority on the word of God and not listened to directly or indirectly.

For example, some people use 'the Greek' to enhance the understanding they received from God using the KJV1611. They do not use 'the Greek' to correct the English, and this is proper. However, other people have been convinced to err and use 'the Greek' to correct their English and this comes directly and indirectly from those men and religions which excuse physical and moral sin. Many good godly men have been led into error and sin by starting out trying to show their 'Bible scholarship' ( pride) by teaching 'the Greek'. They then took the next step of using 'the Greek' to correct their English and they were on the slippery slope into condoning and doing physical and moral sin. Please understand: there are some very good men who teach Greek and are not full of this pride. However, there are also prideful men who teach and use Greek to 'correct' the English KJV1611, when they are not qualified to do so.

I have been hired as a professional to translate between two computer languages and the write some of the rules for translation. This has happened several times when hundreds of millions of dollars were at stake and we were guaranteed to have law suits for any error. I was hired because I knew the rules of translation, which are different from the rules of any language. When I have talked to other professional translators, they agree with me as to what the basic rules of translation are, yet most people who go to 'the Greek' have been taught to ignore, and even to violate, these basic rules of translation. Just search for 'Chinglish' on the internet if you want examples of the results which come from plugging words from one language into another. Please don't end up in judgment by your Lord God and have Him tell you that you ignored His warning about your using a prideful wrong way to handle His Word.

The most popular wrong standard that people use for correcting the word of God is from Original Sin and the consequence of using that standard is that many will suffer is the same fate as the Devil will suffer. Those who don't suffer the same fate as the Devil will still suffer greatly. We read about Satan's wrong standard and His judgment in Isaiah 14:8-14. Satan said I will.. which tells us that his standard was himself. In Genesis 3:4-5 Satan promised ...ye shall be as gods.. which means that Satan claimed that we can tell God I will.. and that our 'standard' is as good as His written Word. If Satan couldn't get away with telling God I will.. then any man who thinks they can get away with it is a fool. Many times when I have been telling someone what God's Word says they respond with 'I don't believe you'. So What!!!! 1Samuel 8:7 says And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. When someone is telling us what the word of God says and we reject it we are not rejecting the messenger but God Himself Who sent the message. We are guilty of Original Sin by claiming that our own opinion is greater than God's written Word.

When we look at what the Bible teaches about antichrists in 1John and 2John we see that there are many of these people already in the world and that they go against what the Bible teaches. Indeed, anti means 'against and/or alternative' and Christ is the role that the Son of God uses to teach us how to mature in spiritual matters. So an antichrist is someone who goes against what the Bible / Christ teaches about maturing in spiritual matters. These antichrists include those who put their own opinion above the written word of God. Romans 6:16 says Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? This verse does not say 'if' we yield [ourselves] servants to obey but says the results that we receive is based upon whichever we obey: the Bible / Christ ( obedience unto righteousness) or self, which is sin unto death. When we obey what we believe instead of what God wrote in his Word we are obeying Original Sin, acting like an antichrist and will reap the consequences of sin unto death. While I could say more about this subject, I will move on.

After self, the second most popular wrong standard is religion in the form of a religious group or one or more religious leaders or religious traditions. Please understand: there is nothing wrong with any of these people or traditions in and of themselves. In fact they are often good. However, the error comes when they try to correct the word of God they go beyond their God given boundaries. It is this exceeding God given authority that is wrong. When I mention these things throughout this paper, please understand that I assume the reader understands that I mean the exceeding of proper authority by these people and/or traditions.

The standard that the religious leaders who crucified the Son of God used was their own authority that they took beyond what God gave them. This excess authority is the standard used by all religions, including most of those who claim to be Bible based, when they try to correct the word of God.

In addition, we all know that if we tell something to one person and have them pass it to another and continue to pass it from person to person it gets distorted. Further, the more people it passes through the more it gets distorted. However, even though traditions are passed from one generation to the next in the exact same way, we are expected to accept that they do not get distorted the same way. Such expectations are insanity.

I have yet to find a way to not get people upset while I tell them that they are following the traditions of the Pharisees and other religious groups that they themselves look upon as Hell bound heretics when those people trust in traditions. The fact is that Jesus and the apostles rejected all religious arguments based upon traditions. When they dealt with religious error they said have ye not read (Matthew 12:3, 5; 19:4; 22:31; Mark 12:10, 26; Luke 6:3; Acts 13:27) or it is written (Matthew 2:5; 4:4, 6-7, 10; 11:10; 21:13; 26:24, 31; Mark 1:2; 7:6; 9:12-13; 11:17; 14:21, 27; 2:23; 3:4; 4:4, 8, 10; 7:27; 19:46; 24:46; John 6:31, 45; 8:17; 10:34; 12:14; Acts 1:20; 7:42; 13:33; 15:15; 23:5; Romans 1:17; 2:24; 3:4, 10; 4:17; 8:36; 9:13, 33; 10:15; 11:8, 26; 12:19; 14:11; 15:3, 9, 21; 1Corinthians 1:19, 31; 2:9; 3:19; 9:9-10; 10:7; 14:21; 15:45; 2Corinthians 4:13; 8:15; 9:9; Galatians 3:10, 13; 4:22, 27; Hebrews 10:7; 1Peter 1:16; 1John 2:21). This phrase was also used in the Old Testament (Joshua 8:31; 2Samuel 1:18; 1Kings 2:3; 2Kings 23:21; 2Chronicles 23:18; 25:4; 31:3; 35:12; Ezra 3:2, 4; 6:18; Nehemiah 6:6; 8:15; 10:34, 36; Ester 1:19; 8:8-9; Psalms 40:7; Isaiah 4:3; 65:6; Jeremiah 17:1; 25:13; Daniel 9:13). So, we know that for all time the God of the Bible has been instructing men to base their beliefs upon what is literally written and not upon religious traditions.

I've had many good godly preachers and spiritually mature non-preachers tell me that what I showed them in the Bible can't be right because it isn't in the traditions that they were taught. God's people should know better because the distortion due to passing things from one person to another isn't the only source of error. We all know that the original person could have been in error. There isn't a person born since Revelation was written that has the God recorded approval that Peter had. He not only has two of his letters in the Bible (1Peter and 2Peter) but he brought the gospel to the Jews in Acts 2 and to the Gentiles in Acts 10 and he worked miracles in Acts 3. In Galatians 2:1-14 Paul tells us about the Council of Jerusalem where the entire church agreed that God had set aside the religious part of the Mosaic Law. Peter was there and yet after that Council Peter listened to other preachers and ended up preaching error that was based upon what God was no longer using. Peter preached the error so much that Barnabas, who was the pastor at Antioch, ...also was carried away with their dissimulation (Galatians 2:13). So now we have the head Apostle and a godly pastor preaching error. If they could be carried away with Biblical error then anyone born since that time can also be carried away with Biblical error. Our standard is not tradition or the man but what God put in writing in the word of God. Having said that, I need to recognize that there is the qualifier of submitting to our God given authority. Done properly, that submitting is not in conflict with this verse but explaining how the conflict is avoided must be covered at another time. The simple rule is that we must have at least two places in the Bible that literally say our God given authority is wrong before we dispute with that authority. At the same time, our God given authority does not need any verses to back what they say because they have the God given position. Hopefully, this simple rule is enough (for now) and we can put that question to the side and continue with the main subject.

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Proper procedures to Prove all things.

We saw that the first thing that we need to prove all things is God's standard. For English thinking people that is the incorruptible (1Peter 1:23) God preserved (Deuteronomy 7:9; 1Chronicles 16:15; Psalm 105:8) KJV1611. It is not your opinion or my opinion or some religion or even a preacher like your pastor (if any of these sources try to correct God's Word).

The second thing that we need is God's methods of using God's standard. Most of the evidence of God's methods is found in the discussion of the verses within the Bible where God uses permutations of prove. What immediately follows (below) is a general discussion of the concepts involved, which are then shown in detail with the Bible verses. This general discussion is so that people can understand the principals that these methods use before we get into the details of God's methods. It is also so that people can see that these methods are not unique to the Bible but are used throughout all of God's creation.

Our initial verse was 1Thessalonians 5:21, which told us Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Notice the all in this verse. Many people will tell you the stupid definition of 'all means all and that's all there is to it'. All means 'each and every one'. A proper definition never uses a word to define itself. If I told someone to give a paper to all of the people in the church and they gave one to all of the people in the auditorium, that would be their definition of 'all' and would match the stupid definition. However, when they are told that all means 'each and every person in the church', most people will realize that 'each and every person in the church' includes people who are not in the auditorium. This probably seems to be a minor thing to many people but A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (1Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). One of the main ways that Satan introduces corruption is to leave out 'just a little' and one of the principals of proper proving is that we have not proven something to be true if there is a limited number of items and we have left out even one. This is one of the main sources of doctrinal error that is taught by many 'good godly preachers'. They study what God's Word says about a subject and tell themselves that they have found 'all' that God says on the subject when there are still verses that deal with the subject which they have not studied. For example, I have met very few people who have looked at 'each and every single' sentence in the Bible (considering context) that uses a given word even though they believe they have the 'final doctrinal word' on that subject. I have found that many 'good godly preachers' stand ready to correct someone who has prayed and diligently searched their Bible for 'each and every one' occurrence within the Bible even though the preacher has not done the same type of study in God's Word. I sincerely believe that such behaviour is due to their being taught the wrong way to study their Bible and Prove all things. However, I also sincerely believe this error of wrong teaching is why we can not hold fast that which is good and we are losing our churches, families and Christian heritage and why we no longer have a true Christian nation where Biblical standards are seen as right even by lost people.

Returning to our word of prove; let me provide an example of the correct way to Prove all things. One of the rules of Algebra is that an equation can not be solved with multiple variables if there was more than one variable with an unknown value. This truth is based upon pure logic which is the foundation of all Mathematics and is also the basis of the rules for proving all things. For example, most people have heard of a double blind study when it comes to medical testing. While many people believe this testing method is limited to medical testing, it is actually required for all testing. Just like Algebra, proper testing requires all variables except one to have a known value. However, while doing medical testing people found that if the person giving the test knew of the desired result or if the person taking the test knew of the desired result, that knowledge affected the test results in an unknown way. Therefore, they had to get rid of these unknown variables or provide a valid value for these variables. Since the variables were actually the people were involved, they could not put a known value upon these variables. Therefore, they came up with the 'double blind' test which eliminates these variables from the test. One person devises a test whereby the test itself does not reveal the desired results. They then have someone else administer the test to a third person without revealing the desired results to the tester or the tested. An example would be to give two testers identical pills and tell them to administer the pills once a day (to several people being tested) and then keep a dozen medical measurements such as blood pressure. One pill would be real and the other a fake and neither tester nor tested would know who received which. Further, even though 12 medical variables are monitored, only 2 might be important. Thereby, both tester and tested ('double') are 'blind' to the desired results.

Even though Algebra and medical testing are different, they have the same requirements because they both use the principals of pure logic to prove all things. These principals of pure logic are what are used by the spiritual gift of understanding in order to prove all things. The problem that most preachers run into is that their main spiritual gift is wisdom and wisdom does not use pure logic (when it applies the word of God to the lives of people). Please stay with me while I explain this important difference. It is this difference that is responsible for a lot of doctrinal error. When the Pope supported the 'flat Earth proof' he did it because that was what everyone believed at the time and he was worried about upsetting everyone by telling them that what their authorities had taught them was wrong. He could see chaos resulting from destroying people's faith in their authorities. Many preachers worry about the same thing today. They let their worry about upsetting people affect their doctrine. However, God's way is to get God's truth from His Spirit and His Word and let God deal with people that are upset by His truth. When the preacher trusts God, God uses the gift of wisdom, which came from God, to show the upset people how to deal with God's truth. The error comes from trying to avoid a problem instead of trusting God to deal with it.

There is further confusion caused by the fact that knowledge and understanding are part of wisdom. This confusion is cleared up below.

In Mathematics there is what is called 'set theory' which also applies to the Bible. The simple principals can be illustrated. If I had a drawer with lots of balls in it, all of the balls within the drawer would be called a 'set'. If I put a box in the drawer and put all f the green balls into the box within the drawer, and left the blue balls in the drawer but outside of the box, the green balls would be one 'sub-set' and the blue balls would be another 'sub-set'. Thus, a 'sub-set' is part of a 'set'.

In the Bible we have a set called man which has the sub-sets of male and female (Genesis 1:27). Sometimes the Bible uses man for male and female (Galatians 6:7) and sometimes it uses man for the part of the set called man which does not include woman (Genesis 2:22). When the Bible does this, the context makes it clear whether or not man includes woman.

We have a similar case with the wisdom of God. The wisdom of God uses the Spirit of God and the word of God to teach us how to live. Within the wisdom of God are knowledge and understanding (Proverbs 2:6). Thus we have a 'set' called wisdom which holds 'sub-sets' called knowledge and understanding. When wisdom is used in a different way than knowledge or understanding, the Bible means all that is in the 'set' called wisdom which is not in the 'sub-set' named. Therefore, we need to look at the context to see if wisdom includes knowledge and understanding or means the part of wisdom that is not part of knowledge and/or understanding.

Within wisdom, knowledge tell us what the word of God says. I've met a few people who had the spiritual gift of knowledge. They had (each) memorized several hundred verses within the Bible and they retained that memorization. I can memorize verses, but I loose them after a short time. I retain the understanding of the verse (and how it interacts with other verses) but do not retain the memorization like someone with the spiritual gift of knowledge does. The spiritual gift of understanding applies the word of God to the word of God and the basic principal of true understanding is that 'scripture interprets scripture'. The spiritual gift of wisdom applies the word of God to everything. However, when it is separated from knowledge and understanding, it applies the word of God to the lives of people. This is where we get into variableness. As my pastor said, when he is dealing with someone about sin in their life, he must consider the spiritual condition of that person. If someone that is a spiritual babe has a problem with a sin, and a spiritually mature person has a problem with the same sin, he can bluntly tell the spiritually mature person that they are sinning and what the word of God says is the consequence of that sin. However, when he is dealing with the spiritual babe, he has to be very slow and gentle and limit the doctrine that he uses to the milk of the word (1Corinthians 3:1-3). Therefore, when wisdom applies the word of God to the lives of people, it must consider the varying spiritual condition of the people. However, when understanding applies the word of God to the word of God, there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:17). Since God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8) and the truths of God are absolute (2+ 2always = 4), the methods of understanding are also absolute. When we prove all things we not only use God's inerrant absolute standard (word of God), we also use God's inerrant absolute method ( pure logic).

Hopefully, the reader understands the concepts which have been stated. Therefore, we will see a few (not all available) verses applied to these concepts and then go into the verses that give us the permutations of prove and see these principals related to God's use of the word prove.

In 1Corinthians chapters 1, 2 and 3; we are told about the difference between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man and makes it very clear that the two are different. (Hopefully you remember my covering the differences between what God and man calls wisdom and knowledge and understanding.) Read those chapters for a better explanation of these differences and to remove man's definitions from your thinking for this study.

Proverbs 3:19 says The LORD by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath he established the Heavens. This means that God used wisdom to create ( The LORD by wisdom) our world. We discover the rules that The LORD used in creation through the Scientific Method which uses Mathematics and other absolute methods which are defined by pure logic. 1Timothy 6:20 warns us of science falsely so called (example Evolution) which claims to be science but does not follow the Scientific Method. (It uses man's 'logic' to produce man's 'understanding'. It does not use pure logic which is from God and used by God's understanding.) While a discussion of Mathematics, the Scientific Method and pure logic are beyond our current discussion, be assured that Mathematics and the Scientific Method are based upon the principals of pure logic. The word pure means '100%'. pure logic is '100% abstract reasoning' with no influence by fleshly reasoning. pure logic is part of God's wisdom that He used to create the world. There could not be any worldly /fleshly influence upon the creation of thee world since it did not exist while God used pure logic to plan the design. Thus the difference between 'pure logic' and 'man's logic' is that 'man's logic' includes influence of the world/flesh.

One of the ways that we can tell that pure logic (and the examples of it such as Mathematics) are from God is because they have the same characteristics as God such ac being the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever and being no respecter of persons (We find the phrase no respecter of persons in: Acts 10:34; Romans 2:11; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 3:25 and 2:1. Also explained in the notes for Romans 14:10-LJC; Romans C7S3 and Romans C10S13. Please also see Romans C10S13 about the phrase no difference in people). 2+ 2= 4 is true in any time, culture, age, etc and it doesn't matter who you are, the results don't change.

When Galileo was alive, he used these principals to prove that the Earth is a globe. Others used man's logic which included authority based upon positions and traditions. When they couldn't convince Galileo, they stuck a rope around his neck and declared that they had proved that the Earth was flat. (Galileo wasn't willing to die for the truth.)

As I go through the rules used to prove all things, you will find that these rules also are the rules used to prove answers in Mathematics and in true science. This is important because people who teach error that claims to be the word of God also claim the have special rules and special knowledge that you don't have and can't get without their help and training. The God of the Bible reveals Himself in creation (Psalms 19; 50; 97; etc). Our God does not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). Our God used the same methods in creating the Earth and in writing His Word. The way that we discover His rules for creation are the same rules that we use to find understanding in His Word.

In summary of these general concepts, it was said that pure logic is God's Method used by the spiritual gift of understanding. As a result, we can say that pure logic and understanding:

Are a part of the spiritual gift known as wisdom.
Are different from the spiritual gift of knowledge and from the part of wisdom that applies God's Word to the lives of people.
Are used to apply the Bible to the Bible (scripture interprets scripture).
Deliberately ignore personal considerations and feelings as much as Mathematics does.
Applied to understand God's limits (within His Word) before wisdom applies God's Word to the lives of people. Understanding gives us precepts (Isaiah 28:10, 13), which are general rules that are always true regardless of circumstances. Wisdom is limited to the rules supplied by understanding what God's Word says. When men go outside of those limits, or refuse part off what is contained within those limits, they end up teaching error (Isaiah 29:9-24) and receive God's judgment.

Rules from 'pure logic' (which were not explained but will be demonstrated in the verses below) include:

Perform an adequate and reliable test. Results from 'pure logic' will always (100% of the time) be the same.
Use a consistent and reliable Standard for the test.
Use diligence to test every case.
Make sure that the results reported are direct results of what is tested.
Do ongoing repeated testing to assure ongoing compliance any time there is a possible change that can affect the results.
Test all new data.
Do hard (volume, performance, etc) testing.
Know that all unproven things and people are unreliable.
Do the testing in public and make the results known to all.
A proper test will show the error of wrong assumptions.
Proof of what is true will help to keep people from accepting an answer that was proven to be wrong.

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Verses that use prove:

Deuteronomy 18:22 says When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him. A prophet had to have God back his word 100% of the time to prove that what he said came from God. Likewise, a 'man of God' needs to have God's Word back his word 100% of the time to prove that what he said came from God. If any place in the Bible disagrees with what he says, then his doctrine is NOT from God.

In order to know what God means by prove, we have to look at every place that he uses any permutation of prove in His Word. Men provide definitions of Bible words that are wrong and if we don't find God's definition for a Bible word then we will use the wrong definition. God's way to get the Bible definition of a Bible word is to do a proper Bible Word Study. The details on how to do that is covered in a separate study but the basic concept is to find the consistent meaning by looking at how the Bible word is used in any permutation found anywhere within the Bible. When the true Biblical definition of a word is found, we can go to any verse that uses it and replace the Bible word with the definition of that word within the verse. The meaning of the verse (found within the context) will not change, although we often get new insight into the true meaning of the verse. (Try replacing ye with 'each and every one of you personally' in Mark 16:15 and other verses that use that word.)

At the start of this paper we saw that the definition of the word prove is: 'An action verb whereby someone provides evidence which allows a claim to continue to stand, no matter what test or circumstance the claim is put through.'

We find variations of prove used in Genesis 42:15-16; Exodus 15:25; 16:4; 20:20; Deuteronomy 8:2, 16; 13:3; 33:8; Judges 2:22; 3:1, 4; 6:39; 1Samuel 17:39; 1Kings 10:1; 2Chronicles 9:1; Job 9:20; Psalm 17:3; 26:2; 66:10; 81:7; 95:9; Ecclesiastes 2:1; 7:23; Daniel 1:12, 14; Malachi 3:10; Luke 14:19; John 6:6; Acts 9:22; 24:13; 25:7; Romans 3:9; 12:2; 2Corinthians 8:8, 22; 13:5; Galatians 6:4; Ephesians 5:10; 1Thessalonians 5:21; 1Timothy 3:10; and Hebrews 3:9.

In addition, to these verses, we find variations of prove used in Acts 1:3; 2Corinthians 2:9; 8:24; 13:3; Philippians 2:22; 2Timothy 4:5. Proof is the visible evidence which is produced when we do the action verb of prove. If we do not have lasting proof, then we did not do the action of prove, no matter what may be claimed.

The first thing that we see is that every one of these verses shows that the word prove involves a test. (Notice that I just said how to test someone's definition of a Bible word.) When God proves something or someone He provides a standard and then tests to see how well the thing that is being proved matches against the standard. If there is no test, then nothing has been proven. The most common source of people being fooled is that they never test what they are told. Someone tells them that they are the authority and the fool accepts whatever that self-proclaimed authority says without testing the claim from that self-proclaimed authority and, thereby, verifying the claim. (Think of the foolish man's acts in Matthew 7:24-27.)

Deuteronomy 13 makes it clear that God wants His people to test the claims made by everyone who claims to speak for God, even if they are family, and God said to kill the false prophet. The least we can do is to stop listening to him and warn others of his false message. God wants His people to verify what they are told, especially what they are told comes from God. Too many people listen to preaching and then go home saying 'that was good' without taking their Bible and looking up the verses used as 'proof text' to verify that those verses actually supported what was preached and that all which was preached actually agrees with the Bible.

Genesis 42:15-16: Hereby ye shall be proved: By the life of Pharaoh ye shall not go forth hence, except your youngest brother come hither. Send one of you, and let him fetch your brother, and ye shall be kept in prison, that your words may be proved, whether there be any truth in you: or else by the life of Pharaoh surely ye are spies.

We can use the Law of First Mention when we look at this verse because it is the first in the Bible which uses any form of prove. In it, the brothers of Joseph claimed to have a younger brother. Joseph tested their claim to prove if it was true or not. Joseph said they would all go to prison until they showed that they had a living younger brother. After the way these brothers had treated Joseph, he had a real reason to fear that they had killed Benjamin. He told them to 'put up or shut up'. He had a very simple test: If they produced a living brother then they proved that they were telling the truth. If they did not produce a living brother then they proved proof that they were lying when they claimed that Benjamin existed. Here we see the basic requirement of a valid test: the test must provide a direct correlation between the claim being tested and the result with no interference from something outside of the test. A basic rule of testing is the 'KISS principal' ('Keep It Simple Stupid'). If the test does not meet these basic requirements it is not valid and will not prove if the claim is valid or not. We see the same truth in Judges 6:39; Daniel 1:12, 14 Malachi 3:10; Luke 14:19; John 6:6; Romans 3:9 and 2Corinthians 8:8.

Let me give you another illustration. I had some serious medical problems which lasted over 10 years and resulted in (among other things) my going into a coma in the Emergency Room as the doctor told me that he didn't think that he could save my life. That was part of a 10 year period where I bled daily for 3.5 years and it took 3.5 more years to get the internal bleeding to stop. For two years I was too anemic to go to work and I qualified for permanent Social Security Disability due to Anemia. I was taking up to 28 prescription medications per day and the doctors told me that I would take that much and more for the rest of my life. I now take 5 prescription medications per day and could drop one of those. I take about the 25 of non-prescriptions per day, but do not have all of the side effects. I am not anemic and work a regular job.

After I woke up in the Emergency Room, I stopped taking the word of self-proclaimed 'experts' and started doing my own research. One thing that I found is that the FDA allows drug companies to deliberately use wrong testing methods while they discredit tests which are done correctly but which make their product look bad. They are allowed to deliberately engage in a campaign of disinformation and out-right lies about competing non-prescription products. For example, I took Lipitor and Zocor for several years under doctor orders. My cholesterol and triglycerides only got worse and I was told to ignore the side-effects since I couldn't get off these drugs and knowing the side-effects would only make me upset. I no longer take these type of drugs, no longer have to put up with the side-effects and no longer have a cholesterol problem. My own research led me to an 'unregulated non-prescription' solution that most doctors don't know about or don't use if they do know about these solutions. I proved that some 'alternative medicinethe words see / sight solutions worked better for me than my 'blindly accepting' the word of 'experts'.

I have found that most people are doing the same thing with their relationship with God. They are accepting the lies and errors of self-proclaimed experts without testing those claims against the Bible. Just as God let me suffer and almost die for acting like a fool and not testing the claims of the doctors, many people will suffer and possibly die spiritually because they don't test the claims of preachers. God expects all people to use the brain He gave them to learn a few basics of the Bible so that they can tell Biblical truth from error. The most basic definition of Prove all things is 'test all claims against what the Bible actually says' and don't just accept the word of some self-proclaimed Bible expert. If someone is truly a 'man of God' they will have no problem with someone verifying their claims against what the Bible actually says.

Exodus 15:25-26: And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,

These verses are our second reference in the Bible. Here, we see that God proved His people by giving them a Law (a statute and an ordinance) to use as their standard. We see the same truth taught in Ecclesiastes 2:1, 7:23; Acts 9:22 and Romans 3:9. That standard was If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight. The voice of the LORD thy God always matches His written Word and He demands our obedience in a way that is visible to others. Our standard (our statute and ordinance) that we are to use is the Bible and our life is tested by God to see how well it matched His Word. When people test different claims in life they are often led into error by using a wrong standard to measure against. Remember what I said about Evolution and unreliable standards for measuring age. In order to find truth we need to use a consistent and reliable standard. When we are judged by God, He will use His statutes and ordinances which are reliable and do not change (Malachi 3:6; Hebrews 13:8). Those who are using another standard are in for a rude awakening.

So the first thing that we know about God's method of proving is that we need to do a proper test. The second thing that we learn is that a proper test means comparing the item in question to God's written Word and not to something else like our personal opinion or something that comes from men.

Exodus 16:4: Then said the LORD unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from Heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

In our third usage, of the word prove, the Bible tells us that God tested the Jews every day in order to prove...whether they will walk in my law, or no. Every day for 40 years is a lot of testing. This lets us know that proper proving is not something is not done 'off hand' but takes a lot of diligence, time and effort. We also see this truth in Psalms 95:9 and Hebrews 3:9. In fact, the Biblical definition of prove uses the same methods as we learned when we had to prove our answer to a math problem. If you remember your Algebra or higher math, you couldn't just give the answer to a problem if the teacher demanded the proof. Showing each and every step could be a lot of work. You had to show how you went from the initial statement of the problem to your solution and prove each step along the way. (Have you noticed that I'm including each use of this word in the Bible?) The fact is that in order to prove something, you have to show it to be true in 100% of the cases unless it is impossible to show it in 100% of the cases. That exception requires showing that there are too many occurrences to prove it in every case, such as when proving a Law of nature. When there are too many occurrences to show the results for each case, then proof demands following the exact demands of Probability and Statistics, as we see used in the Scientific Method for all true science. Anything which does not meet the requirements of Probability and Statistics, such as 'Big Bang' or 'Evolution' are to be declared a lie and God warns us against such in 1Timothy 6:20. Since we are dealing with the Bible, we are dealing with a limited number of occurrences. Therefore, proving something in the Bible requires showing that our proof matches the Bible in 100% of the cases.

Let me give a couple of illustrations as a means of clarifying my point.

There is a saying that goes 'Statistics don't lie but Statisticians do'. True Statistics actually carry two percentages: one for accuracy and one for reliability. When the Weather Person tells us that there is a 50% chance of rain, they are only providing 1/2 of the Statistical requirement. (That makes every claim by the weather person to be a 1/2 truth lie.) When Richard Nixon provided tapes that were 1/2 erased, the entire nation agreed that a 1/2 truth is in fact a lie. Therefore, the 'Weather Person' is lying to their audience on a regular basis. And, in fact, we see this 1/2 truth so often that most people think it is a full truth.

Imagine that the KKK held a meeting in Detroit, and it interviewed 10 people at that meeting. If 9of those people agreed that 'Jews are sub-human', then it could report that '90% of the people in Detroit agree that Jews are sub-human'. However, while the 90% would be accurate, it would be completely unreliable since it would reflect less than 0.001% of the population group that it claimed it represented. Now consider the difference in an audience's reaction if you reported that your percentage was so unreliable that the rules of Probability and Statistics required you to discard the results. When someone claims to prove something from the Bible and does not show that their claim is true for EVERY occurrence in the Bible, their so-called proof is completely unreliable and is not a true Biblical proof.

There are at least three places in the Bible where God promises to curse anyone who adds to or diminishes His Word (Deuteronomy 4:2, 12:32; Proverbs 30:54-6; Revelation 22:19). When we present part of that God's Word says about a subject, and leave out part of what God's Word says, we are diminishing God's Word. This is true whether it is deliberate or not. If the Bible talks about a subject in over a hundred places and you base your theology on only a couple of verses, you may be accurate for those couple of verses but your theology is unreliable. As RU teaches, righteousness is doing the right thing the right way and preaching unreliable theology is as wrong as the person reporting that '90% of the people in Detroit agree that Jews are sub-human'.

In another example, we see people argue that the Bible uses adultery to mean 'fornication by a married person'. If you only look at a few places where the Bible talks about adultery, you can justify that interpretation. However, if you include James 4:4, you can not limit your definition of adultery to mean only 'fornication by a married person'. When you consider that this was the position that the Pharisees had when they argued with Jesus about it, it becomes obvious that keeping that position is claiming that Jesus was doctrinally wrong and that the Pharisees were doctrinally right. While the true Biblical definition of adultery does include 'fornication by a married person', that is only part of the true definition and those people who insist that it is the full definition are preaching a partial-truth lie. Just as God took the time to test His people daily for forty years before judging them, we need to take the time to look at every piece of evidence that God gives us (every occurrence in the Bible) before we claim to have proven what the Bible teaches.

Exodus 20:20: And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

In Exodus 20:1-17 have the 'Ten Commandments'. Exodus 20:18 says God put on a show of power. Exodus 20:19 says the people were afraid and didn't want anything to do with God. Then we have this verse. God said (essentially) 'Here's my standard (the 'Ten Commandments') and if you don't meet it then I'm going to hurt you' (that was the message from the show of power). I already explained the prove means 'put up or shut up'. The first thing that Moses says here is Fear not and I can imagine most of the people thinking that Moses was crazy. However, notice the colon in the statement from Moses. That makes the statements on the two sides of this colon equivalent. Moses said if ye sin not you have nothing to fear. However, God knows that sin is tempting and is our basic nature. Therefore, He puts his fear...before your faces to offset the temptation to sin.

We also see this truth in Psalms 95:9 and Hebrews 3:9. I already mentioned that one of the doctrinal errors that God's people believe is that fear of the Lord only means 'deep abiding respect'. However, respect will not keep us from sinning. God makes it clear that he will hurt His children very much if they fail His test. One of the basic lessons from school was make sure that you are prepared for a test so that you can pass it. In order to do that you need to pay attention to what the test is about. Reading a history book will not prepare for a math test. God told His people 'here is what you will be tested on'. Many people are in financial trouble today because they ignored God's standard for handling finances and followed the advice of men. When we receive the punishment for failing God's test we need to stop crying and asking for people to pray that God removes the consequence of our sin. What we need to do is obey God and attach the fear of the Lord to that failed test so that we will be motivated to prepare and pass the test the next time that God gives us the test (and there is always a next time until we die). This verse shows us that there must be negative consequences to failing a test. Without the negative consequences people will not be motivated to repent and pass the test the next time. The main source of problems in our society today is that we have removed individual responsibility and removed the consequence of failing God's test. As a result, God is punishing the whole society for refusing to punish the individual who failed the test. There must be negative consequences to failing a test or it is rendered ineffective.

Deuteronomy 8:2: And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.

What we see, in our next verse, is that the purpose of a test is to teach us. This verse is part of the instructions to God's people before they entered the Promised Land. The one generation failed their test and were all killed except the two who passed the test. The next generation was told to follow Joshua, who passed the test, and was warned of the consequences to those who did not walk the way that Joshua walked before the Lord. A properly designed test always considers what will be required to teach those who fail it so that they don't have to fail it again. A proper test is not vindictive or arbitrary but is designed to prepare people for the future so that they will not fail in the future. Look at the next verse (which contains the word prove), which is in the same chapter and is part of the same instructions. In Deuteronomy 8:16 we read Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end. Notice that this verse tells us that God might prove thee so that He might do thee good at thy latter end. If we pass the test then we get the reward ( do thee good). If we fail the test, then God is going to teach us how to pass it and run us back through the test so that he can reward us ( do thee good). So part of a test is designed to teach those who fail it. In fact, it is a recognized truth that we learn more from our failures than we do from our successes.

Moses goes on in the next verse, which is part of the same sentence, and says And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. He is warning them to not take credit for what God did. Remember that I already said that a major source of error is using the wrong standard. We all know how we feel when someone else claims credit for our work. Imagine how God feels. In addition, when we give credit to the wrong source we almost always loose or discard the correct source of our blessing and, thereby, cut ourselves off from the correct source. I said in the beginning that the primary principal of a test is 'KISS'. A proper test provides a one-to-one relationship between the result of a test and the source of that result. People hate going through God's test because His tests humble us and create the condition where there is no question that it was God who provided the blessing.

Deuteronomy 8:16: Who fed thee in the wilderness with manna, which thy fathers knew not, that he might humble thee, and that he might prove thee, to do thee good at thy latter end;

Please see the note above for this verse.

Deuteronomy 13:3: Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

In this chapter God said to test people who claim to represent Him and to kill all liars. Simply put, get rid of anything that proves to be unreliable after it fails a test. If you keep it, you or someone else will believe the false claim and get hurt by relying upon something that will fail the test. Part of the purpose of a true test is to show us what to discard.

Deuteronomy 33:8: And of Levi he said, Let thy Thummim and thy Urim be with thy holy one, whom thou didst prove at Massah, and with whom thou didst strive at the waters of Meribah;

This verse is somewhat difficult to understand but basically says that Levi passed the test to choose the Lord's commandment when his family stood against God's commandment. After Levi passed God's test, Levi could get answers from God. This doesn't mean that he always would go to God for answers. However, the lesson of this verse is that when the man of God truly receives direction from God we are to submit to that direction which comes from God through the man of God. Basically, don't accept someone as a man of God until they can prove that they were tested by God at a deep level (kill your own family [Exodus 32:26]) and passed that test. I've already mentioned that we must test in order to prove. After passing a test a person of truth has greater authority. For example, if someone takes the time to study every occurrence of a word in the Bible, the definition of that word has greater authority in their life than it had before. Also, before accepting a new pastor, a church is supposed to examine him and prove him. The greater the test that church gives him, the greater authority he has afterwards.

Judges 2:22: That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not.

This verse is the second half of a sentence that is in Judges 2:21-22 and is a significant part of the summary of Judges 2 which is in Judges 2:19-23. Basically, Judges 2 tells us that God blessed the people while they followed Joshua and obeyed God. After Joshua died the people turned from God and God brought punishment. When you beat anything long enough and hard enough you eventually get their attention. After God punished His people enough they repented and he gave them a Judge to lead them. They served God so long as the Judge was alive but turned to devils as soon as the Judge died. The lesson of this chapter and of this verse is that just because something or someone passes a test one time that does not mean that they will always pass the test. We need to do like God and keep repeating our tests. If we keep verifying that our doctrine still matches the word of God then we will correct errors while they are still small and avoid serious consequences. However, when we stop testing, small errors creep in and A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump (1Corinthians 5:6; Galatians 5:9). Since God's people did not keep testing their doctrine, it drifted into heresy. This verse tells us that Biblical proving is an ongoing process that must never end. We must always check our doctrine against the standard of God's Word in order to catch the error that is constantly trying to creep into religious doctrine. We also see this taught in Romans 12:2; 2Corinthians 8:22, 13:5; Galatians 6:4 and Ephesians 5:10.

Judges 3:1-4: Now these are the nations which the LORD left, to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan; Only that the generations of the children of Israel might know, to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof; Namely, five lords of the Philistines, and all the Canaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hivites that dwelt in mount Lebanon, from mount Baalhermon unto the entering in of Hamath. And they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the LORD, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

Judges 3:1-3is a single sentence which needs to be interpreted as a unit. Then Judges 3:4 is added onto that sentence and we have to understand all of them together. Basically, God's people did not live up to God's standard when He brought them to the land under Moses. So God spent 40 years proving that they would never live up to His standard, unless they had faith in Him, and killed that entire generation except Caleb and Joshua. The next generation got the message and started keeping God's Law, so God led that generation into the land under Joshua. Now Joshua is dead and there is a new generation that God is going to test to see if they will obey or not.

Basically, these verses tell us that God had a program of ongoing testing. Anybody who has been involved with manufacturing should understand a Quality Assurance department and what it is supposed to do. That is what God set up here. The lesson of this chapter is that just because something passes one test that does not mean that it will continue to pass all tests, especially if it proved to be unreliable in the past. God's people were unreliable, therefore God continues to test them and prove them as these verses say. We are to continually test things that supposedly come from God. When something continues to pass our tests we can reduce how often we test them, but we still need to test them if we are going to follow God's example. However, once something fails a test we need to increase the testing to separate the 'one time fluke' from the truly unreliable or wrong. Further, any time that we get someone new, we need to test them separate. We find the same lesson taught throughout the entire book of Judges and even throughout the entire Bible. Indeed, we should constantly test our service to our Lord and be aware of the constant danger of slipping into habits that slowly erode into sin.

Judges 6:39: And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

Gideon's test with the fleece is well-known and the lesson of this verse was already mentioned for the first verse. We need to keep our tests simple and provide a direct link between the test and the result. Only God could do what Gideon asked and it proved that God approved of Gideon and his plan. In our first verse, either the brothers produced Benjamin or they didn't. In Psalms 26:2 we read Examine me, of LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. Of course, reins are used to control where a horse looks and goes. When God proves His control of our reins and heart, it will be to turn us away from something we desire so much that it will be obvious that only God could do that. Our testing needs to be simple and provide a direct relationship between the test and the result so there is no question of the relationship between the two. This is the concept of a 'double blind' test. People found that when the person giving the test, or the person taking a test, knows the desired output, that knowledge alters the result of the test. Therefore, proper scientific testing requires the person who designs a test to have someone else give the test to yet another person. Neither the person giving the test or the person taking the test can know what the test is supposed to prove and the less knowledge they have the less that knowledge can interfere with the results. We see the same thing happens in religion. Show the same section of scripture to people from three different religions and you will almost always get three different 'interpretations' which match the teaching of their religious background. One of the biggest errors that preachers make is starting their Bible study knowing what 'they' want to preach. What they need to do is present the problem to God in prayer then approach their Bible study expecting God to show them an answer that may very well (quite often) be different than their solution. When we approach testing the things related to God, we have to be sure to keep it simple and try to eliminate any personal influence upon the outcome of the test. If we look in Acts 1:15-26 we see Peter leading the church to select a replacement for Judas Iscariot. God's chosen replacement was Paul, which was not one of the choices that the church gave God in Acts 1. They were led into selecting the wrong person by approaching God's choice with a preconceived limit upon God. There is no way to prove that Matthias was God's choice. There is no denying that Paul was made an apostle by God. We need to remove any possible outside influence and keep a simple relationship between the thing being tested and the result of the test. When we are testing things from God, we need to be extra diligent to remove any influence from man.

1Samuel 17:39: And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

We have a couple of lessons about proving things here and we also see these lessons in the stories which contain Acts 24:13 and 25:7. The basic lesson is that something which is unproven is unreliable. The larger and more important lesson is that if proper testing methods aren't used then people are drawn into a false sense of security by trusting something that they thought was proved but which really wasn't. In our story, David was a youth watching sheep when his dad sent him to the army with food for his older brothers. Goliath was insulting God and the whole army and David offered to go kill him. In the verse before this we read And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. Saul was doing what people do all of the time and insisted upon using traditional means even though the traditional means didn't work. As said, the basic lesson found in this verse is that something which is unproven is unreliable. We read here And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. David had enough sense to not rely upon something that he had not personally tried and proved that it worked for him and that he knew how to use. Many people hear things like 'prayer works' and believe them without trying them until they get into a lot of trouble. Then they try a real quick 'Oh God fix everything!!' When that doesn't work they try non-stop repetitions of the same thing, In Matthew 6 Jesus taught us how to pray which includes But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Without going into prayer we can say that the time to test something, and learn how to use it properly, is before you are is trouble. As David said in our main verse, you can't rely upon something that you have not tested. However, there is a greater truth in this story and that is how we are to test and prove things. In 1Samuel 17:36 we see David say Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. I only tried hunting a couple of times but know several people who are hunters and the few who hunt bear want the biggest guns they can get. They don't want to try to take on a bear with only a rock and sling. As I understand it, a bear has a very hard head and David would have to hit it in exactly the right spot in order to nock the bear out with something as weak as a stone from a sling. In addition, David would have to let the bear get very close, probably in the last charge, in order to have enough power to nock the bear out long enough for him to go up to it and cut its throat. The same was true for the lion and Goliath. David had to practice a lot with his sling in order to get good enough to hit such a dangerous moving target in such a small spot. He would also have to have a lot of confidence to wait for such a dangerous enemy to get close enough for him to win.

David used what he had proved. He obviously had used his sling on lots of animals before he tried the lion, bear and Goliath. Hebrews 11:6 tells us But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Among other things this verse equates Biblical faith with someone who is diligent. We know that part of being faithful is doing things diligently. Those who have really proved God are those who have diligently searched for what God gave them and then have tried the gift of God many different ways and kept testing it until it failed so that they not only knew what they could do with their gift from God but also knew what they could not do with it.

Please stick with me while I give an illustration. There is a city call Zilwaukee in Michigan near the thumb. There are several miles between Zilwaukee and the lake and a river which goes between the two. The lake-liners (boats as big or bigger than ocean liners) go from the lake to docks past Zilwaukee using the local river. When I-75 was first built in Michigan, they put draw bridges on the highway to let these boats travel the river. When a boat needed to cross I-75, they stopped all of the traffic on the freeway, lifted the bridges until the boat passed, and then let traffic continue. As time passed and traffic on I-75 increased, this became a problem. Therefore, they built new bridges that rose high enough for these big lake-liners to pass underneath. The contractor for the bridges hired two different sub-contractors to pour the footings of the pillars that would hold the freeway. One poured concrete as specified. The other realized that this concrete was a higher quality concrete than he had ever used before. He realized that he could save a lot of money by using a lower quality concrete and, based upon his prior experience, this lower quality concrete was 'good enough' for a freeway with the anticipated traffic load. However, he didn't realize that they were using a construction method that was new at the time. They built an entire section of freeway (that would fit between pillars) on the side and then had a giant tractor pick it up and carry it over the existing road and lower it unto the pillars. The tractor had to be massive and have a counter weight that weighed as much as the section of freeway that it would carry on the front of the tractor. The foundations had to handle the existing pillars and freeway plus more than double the weight of the next freeway section. While the cheaper quality cement was 'good enough' for past loads, it got crushed with this additional load. And, for more than a year people saw this bridge missing the center section because the two sides of the bridge were obviously too far out of alignment to connect them. In the end, they had to tear down everything built upon the poor quality cement, dig it up, and rebuild according to specifications.

This is how most people approach the truth of God. There were inspectors who had the job of testing the foundation before anything was built upon it. They relied upon the word of the contractor and a couple of quick checks of their own instead of doing their own complete and proper testing. Most people today rely upon the preachers and do a few quick checks instead of doing like David and being diligent enough to properly prove what they are told about God. Romans 3:23 tells us For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; and it is part of a larger sentence which goes from 3:21 through 3:26. That sentence tells us, among other things, that those who rely upon religion have sinned because they also have come short of the glory of God. Likewise, the people who relied upon traditional tests and the credentials of the contractor came short of the other side of the bridge. They could not complete the bridge because of the height differences. The one side had to be torn down and redone correctly. We also see in our original story (about David) that the camp was full of people with all of the credentials and equipment who still came short of doing the job. However, David had proved what God gave him to use, which was different than what tradition said to use, and he did the job to the glory of God. The people who built the side of the bridge which reached the proper height also proved their foundation using non-traditional methods. In the New Testament we read that neither Jesus nor the Apostles had the traditional training for religious leaders but they had the evidence of having tested the gift God gave them and of being diligent in that testing which let them prove God working in their life. So while the basic lesson in this story is that something which has not been proved is unreliable, the greater lesson is that people are led into a false sense of security by trusting someone else's claim to have proved something. Relying upon wrong tests and false proof causes them to sin and come short of the glory of God. Instead of relying upon credentials and the traditions of religion we need to be personally diligent in testing the things of God so that we can prove how God works in our own life. When we have that proof, we can face any test that God sends us, if we rely upon what he gave us just like David did.

1Kings 10:1: And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to prove him with hard questions.

This verse tells us that it takes hard questions to prove things from God. The bridge over I-75 was tested and passed the test but was not proved because the test given was not hard enough. That is how people get led into error and how God's people end up obeying wrong doctrine. I've already talked about being diligent and that is hard to do. Some charismatic person claims to have a message from God and people follow that person because they do not ask the hard questions and many people can't ask the hard questions because they don't know enough. We don't have to know how to prove the answers only how to ask them and to know what are the right answers. For example, I was on a pulpit committee once and some people thought we shouldn't ask for a credit check and didn't understand how bankruptcy could disqualify a man as pastor. 1Timothy 3:5 is only part on the qualifications for a pastor and it says (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?) There is a lot more that I could say on this but I will leave it with the fact that for a secular job I have to have excellent credit and an FBI security clearance. I can be fired if I ever fail either test. The requirements to take care of the church of God are far greater than the requirements of any secular job. The members on the pulpit committee did not necessarily need to know how to handle their own finances but they needed to ask the hard questions and know that the only acceptable answer was an excellent credit score. Many people complain about God's tests. We forget verses like 2Corinthians 12:9 which says And he (the Lord) said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. A first grade math test does not separate a high school graduate from someone with a doctorate in Mathematics. When it comes to the things of God, we do not prove them unless we ask the hard questions which can not be answered by man's wisdom but requires the wisdom of God (1Corinthians 1-3). In verses like 2Corinthians 12:9, Paul could glory in my infirmities because those infirmities proved that what he did was by the power of God and not his own power. We also learn that hard questions are required in order to prove the things of God in 2Chronicles 9:1, Psalms 66:10; 81:7 and 1Timothy 3:10.

2Chronicles 9:1: And when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great company, and camels that bare spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.

Notice that this verse says that she came with a very great company. God makes sure that others know the result of His test, especially when we pass it. We again see this truth in 1Timothy 3:10.

Job 9:20: If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.

This verse shows us that true proof will prove the self-righteous to be perverse. That's why the self-righteous do all that they can to shut the mouth of God's people who call for a true test and valid proof. The Gospels tell us that is why the Jewish leaders insisted upon the death of Jesus. The last time that I worked at Ford I was given a letter saying that I had saved them $70,000.00 per year (not just one time). That was in about 6 weeks. I asked to be transferred to another position where I could have saved them ' million dollars per year but they let me go instead because I embarrassed someone who had position but was incompetent. Throughout my career I've probably been let go from over 6 jobs for doing too good of a job and proving that someone at a higher level was perverse. While we can accept such things happening in this sin-sick world, when we allow the same to happen with the things of God people suffer the consequences for eternity. That's why God says to Prove all things. God does not want any of His people to suffer for eternity because they believed error.

Psalms 17:3: Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.

When people Prove all things, they see the consequence of error, like David did, and they also see the results of following truth. It takes a lot of work to Proving all things. That's why most people won't Proving all things, and are led into error. However, those who do put out the effort to Proving all things and have seen the results are not easily tempted to follow error. David said I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress because he knew the consequence of sin and the reward of obedience at a level that is only achieved by those who obey and Prove all things. We also see this truth in Psalm 81:7 and in 1Timothy 3:10. There is too much temptation to sin in many different ways when someone is leading God's church for them to resist unless they have been proven the way that God wants them to be proven.

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Psalms 26:2: Examine me, of LORD, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.

Please see the note for Psalms 17:3 above. Here we see David asking God to prove him because only then will he have the God given testimony that we need in this world and that we need when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

Psalms 66:10: For thou, of God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. This is a Psalm of praise where near the start we read Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! We do not have proof that God got us out of a situation until after we are in a situation where even the God deniers have to admit that that it was impossible for man to get us out of that situation. It was no fun to go through an accident that resulted in my spending 6 days in Critical Care with 3IV opiates that kept me knocked out because of the pain. However, later multiple unbelieving doctors told me that I had 'undeniable multiple miracles'. I also had a hospital worker tell me that while I was literally 'out of my mind', because of pain and dope, that she heard me praising God. No fun, but God gave me undeniable proof that He worked through my life and He gave me a way to help a pastor friend who has a mother with dementia. He knows that she can still bring God glory, even while she literally 'loses her mind'.

Psalms 81:7: Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.

Please see the note for Psalms 17:3 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. This Psalm is written from God's perspective. God tells how He brought the Jews from slavery and proved them in the wilderness. They had undeniable proof that they could not do right in their own power and that God would punish unrighteousness but bless righteousness, which only comes when we obey God and rely upon Him to change our lives. This Psalm tells us that God wanted to bless His people but had to punish them because they refused to believe even undeniable proof. They closed their mind to God's truth.

Psalms 95:9: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my work.

Please see the note for Exodus 16:4 and the note for Exodus 20:20 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. This Psalm starts with O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. The first note that we reference, for understanding the use of prove in this verse, says 'Proper proving is not something is not done off hand but takes a lot of diligence, time and effort'. God's people failed His test by not maintaining their personal relationship with Him and by relying upon past deeds of relationship. The second note that we reference, for understanding the use of prove in this verse, says 'God is going to hurt anyone who fails to prove that they met His standard'. The verses of our Psalm, which follow our verse say Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways: Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. Here, we see why God had to punish His people. They did not continue to meet God's standard to prove their love of Him and their personal relationship to Him.

Ecclesiastes 2:1: I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

Please see the note for Exodus 15:25-26 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. In this book Solomon tells us how he tried all the ways that man's wisdom says to use if we want a sucessful life. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We are to use God's Law as our standard that we test against when we prove something'. Here we see that mirth fails because it is not part of God's standard.

Ecclesiastes 7:23: All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

Please see the note for Exodus 15:25-26 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. In this book Solomon tells us how he tried all the ways that man's wisdom says to use if we want a successful life. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We are to use God's Law as our standard that we test against when we prove something'. Here we see that man's wisdom fails because it is not part of God's standard.

Daniel 1:12: Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. In our verse we see Daniel begging his Earthly authority to let him 'put up proof of his claim or shut up'. We all know the story of how it went when a child of God relied upon proof from God. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'.

Daniel 1:14 : So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. Here we read of the man accepting Daniel's challenge and we read of the results in the remainder of the chapter. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'.

Malachi 3:10: Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of Heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. Within this verse we see God challenge His people to prove Him. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'. Within this chapter we see God say that He will bless those people who 'trust and obey' and will punish those people who refuse to 'trust and obey'.

Luke 14:19: And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. This verse is part of a parable that Jesus told to show the ridiculous lies told by religious people in order to not personally be saved (attend the wedding feast). No one proves five yoke of oxen at one time but has the workers who will use them prove the oxen. in addition, anyone who can afford to buy five yoke of oxen at one time also has an overseer to watch what the workers do. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'. This is a blatant lie because there is no relationship between the claim and the (lack of) action done.

John 6:6: And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. Sometimes what we think is being tested, and what is actually being tested, are two different things. Philip thought Jesus asked His question to get an answer from Philip but, as our verse says, Jesus asked so He could see in Philip had true faith in Jesus. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'. Philip's answer proved that he did not have the faith to believe Jesus could do a miracle. Jesus did not ask where they would get the money to buy bread but where they could buy the bread. The correct answer was 'no where close by'. Thus, the answer would show the need for a miracle in order to feed all of the people present.

Acts 9:22: But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.

Please see the note for Exodus 15:25-26 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We are to use God's Law as our standard that we test against when we prove something'. In this verse we see Paul using scripture to prove that this is very Christ. As often happens, people with closed minds refuse to accept proof that comes from God, but that does not change the fact that proof was provided and that God will hold the person responsible for rejecting His proof. Please also see the note for this verse in the Lord Jesus Christ Study.

Acts 24:13: Neither can they prove the things whereof they now accuse me.

Please see the note for 1Samuel 17:39 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'Something which is unproven is unreliable'. Here Paul is defending himself in court and saying that the testimony of liars is unreliable. Unfortunately, the judge was corrupt and looking for a bribe instead of looking for the truth. As we have seen elsewhere, the person who seems to be on trial, and the person being tried by God, are two different people. Paul was not set free, like he should have been. However, we have no indication that Felix was ever given another chance to repent and have the indication that God judged him as wanting and that he died lost.

Acts 25:7: And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

Please see the note for 1Samuel 17:39 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'Something which is unproven is unreliable'. Paul had already shown Felix that the charges against him were unreliable but he was not set free because of a corrupt judge. Now we see God using Paul to judge, and condemn, another politically motivated and corrupt judge. When we judge based upon unreliable evidence, and reject reliable proof of God's truth, we condemn ourselves before God.

Romans 3:9: What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 and the note for Exodus 15:25-26 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We are to use God's Law as our standard that we test against when we prove something'. Within this sentence we literally see Paul quote scripture as his proof that he says proves...that they are all under sin.

Romans 12:2: And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Please see the note for Judges 2:22 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. Within this verse we see the ongoing action of renewing of your mind which allows us to do the ongoing action of prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid'. Since we have an ongoing personal relationship with God, what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God is going to change for our personal life, depending upon circumstances of life, just as our personal will changes with time and circumstances. behaviour that God calls good in a spiritual baby may not be acceptable as enough in someone who should be more spiritually mature.

2Corinthians 8:8: I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

Please see the note for Genesis 42:15-16 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. If anyone reads this chapter and considers this verse in the context that it is given, they see a very clear message of 'put up or shut up'. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'There must be a simple direct link between the claim being tested and the result so there can not be any confusion about if the claim was proven or not'. Lots of people like to claim their love of God. Here we see that the real proof is in the attitudes and actions which we live and, in particular, our willingness to give up money for the work of God.

2Corinthians 8:22: And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.

Please see the note for Judges 2:22 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid'. When people are caught not doing like they should do, or they are caught doing wrong, many will try to shift the blame. Killing, or at least blaming, the messenger is quite common. Here, Paul is notifying the people of the church that such action won't work because we have oftentimes proved (this messenger to be) diligent in many things.

2Corinthians 13:5: Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

Please see the note for Judges 2:22 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. . . The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid'. Notice the use of ye ('each and every one of you personally') within this verse. Claiming to belong to a group, such as a church, which is in the faith will not work. The word be is 'a verb of current existence'. claiming that we were in the faith at the time of our initial profession will not work. The context of this chapter makes prove your own selves mean 'make sure you have the proof that will be acceptable in the court room of God'. Please see the note for this verse in the Lord Jesus Christ Study for details on the use of Jesus Christ in this verse. Basically, if our personal current existence is not displaying what the Bible says is the influence of Jesus Christ, then we are heading for a world of hurt. If our personal life does not pass God's test, then He will judge us as reprobates and give us the personal hurt that he promises to such people.

Galatians 6:4: But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

Please see the note for Judges 2:22 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid'. Since we keep doing work all of our life, we need to keep making sure that the work will be rewarded by God and not result in His making us ashamed.

Ephesians 5:10: Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

Please see the note for Judges 2:22 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. . . The note we reference, for this verse, says 'We need to keep repeating our tests in order to verify that our proof is still valid'. As shown in the note for this sentence in the Book Study on Ephesians, 'In this sentence, Paul equates walk as children of light to Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord'. Since walk is an ongoing action, our proving also needs to be an ongoing action. In addition, since we are to walk as children of light, our proof needs to display God's light.

1Thessalonians 5:21: Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

This is our main verse for this document. All of this document tells us what God means by prove. If we do not do all that is required then we will not be able to hold onto the good things from God when a big enough storm comes into our personal life.

1Timothy 3:10: And let these also first be proved; then let them use the office of a deacon, being found blameless.

Please see the notes for 2Chronicles 9:1 and Psalms 17:3 within this document. People who hold a position of responsibility within the church must first prove that they meet God's standard. The notes that we reference, for this verse, says 'God makes sure that others know the result of His test, especially when we pass it' and 'Proof of true righteousness will keep God's people from transgressing when future temptations come'.

Hebrews 3:9: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years.

Please see the note for Exodus 16:4 and the note for Exodus 20:20 within this document for how the word prove is used within this verse. This verse, and chapter, are warning us about the consequences of proving God and then still refusing to believe Him. The note we reference, for this verse, says 'God is going to hurt anyone who fails to prove that they met His standard'. Please notice how appropriate it is that this is God's final warning about this word.

Summary:

1Thessalonians 5:21: We need to do what God means by prove in order to hold onto what he gives us. We can not hold fast that which is good without God's help. Therefore, God's people are losing what God gave us because we are not obeying God's commandment to Prove all things.
Failure to obey God and Prove all things causes:

Ungodly confusion.
False pictures of the Son of God (other Jesus, etc).
Will send people to Hell and the lake of Fire.
Will cause God's people to be homeless in Heaven with over 1,000 yearss of tears.
It allows liars to claim to be Christians and be believed by lost and saved.
Loose many of the blessings that God wants to give us because we do not meet all of His requirements to receive the blessing.

Obedience to God's command to Prove all things causes us to find and do all of the requirements that God gives for us to receive His blessings.
The Bible says that to Prove all things we must:

Use God's Standard which is the KJV 1611.
Use God's Method which uses the spiritual gift of understanding which is:

Is a part of the spiritual gift known as wisdom.
Is different from the spiritual gift of knowledge and from the part of wisdom that applies God's Word to the lives of people.
Uses the absolute rules of pure logic to apply the Bible to the Bible (scripture interprets scripture).
Deliberately ignores personal considerations and feelings as much as Mathematics does.
Applied before wisdom. Understanding gives us precepts (Isaiah 28:10, 13), which are general rules that are always true regardless of circumstances. Wisdom is limited to the rules supplied by understanding that comes from God because to exceed those bounds is to teach error (Isaiah 29:9-24) and receive God's judgment.

The specific procedures taught by the Bible to use in order to Prove all things are:

Perform an adequate and reliable test.
Use God's Standard for our test.
Use diligence to test every case.
Attach reward to passing the test and punishment to failure to test and to failing the test.
Do ongoing repeated testing to assure ongoing compliance.
Test all things especially all who claim to be saved or to be Christians.
Provide a direct relationship between the test and the result.
Do hard (100%) testing.
Know that all unproven things and people are unreliable.
Do the testing in public and make the results known to all.
A proper test will show the error of self-righteousness.
Proof of true righteousness will keep God's people from transgressing when future temptations come.
Finally, we have our primary verse which tells us that we can hold fast that which is good only if we first Prove all things

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Prove

1Thessalonians 5:21 says Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Biblical applications of the word prove.

Definition from Webster's 1828:

Synopsys:

Consequences of Disobedience:

Advantages of Obedience:

What does God means by Prove all things.

God's Standard to use when we Prove all things.

Proper procedures to Prove all things.

Verses that use prove:

Summary:

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