Discerning and Clinging to What is More Excellent
Orientation
Discernment can feel like a negative exercise in fault-finding, but it is meant to be the joyful guarding of a precious treasure.
- The goal is to cling to what is most precious—core, Christ-centered truths.
- It is not about nitpicking but about protecting assurance, freedom, and blessing.
- The treasure is positive and delightful, the very substance of our inheritance.
And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; (Philippians 1:9-10)
— Philippians 1:9-10
Clarification
True discernment tests teachings against core Christian essentials to reject what undermines them and cling to what is 'more excellent.'
- It involves rejecting deviations that strip believers of blessing, freedom, and assurance.
- It is not about earning maturity or accessing hidden knowledge, but guarding what is already given.
- The negative outcome is not mere confusion, but deception and bondage that assault our joy and standing in Christ.
Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. (Colossians 2:18-19)
— Colossians 2:18-19
Structure
Biblical discernment flows from love abounding in knowledge, enabling us to prove and hold fast to the 'more excellent' core truths.
- The cause is love abounding in knowledge and discernment; the effect is the ability to approve the excellent.
- The means is focusing on the treasure of core truths; the result is guarding what is most precious.
- The pattern is steadfastly holding to truth and love; the outcome is endurance and spiritual protection.
And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)
— 1 John 5:11
Weight-Bearing Prose
Discernment tests all things against the core Christian truths entrusted to believers. These are not abstract doctrines but the very riches of Christ. The positive chain begins with love abounding in knowledge, leading to the ability to prove what is ‘more excellent.’ This ‘more excellent’ treasure includes: Christ’s reliable word of prophecy; His incarnation as fully God and man; His substitutionary atonement satisfying divine wrath; regeneration by the Spirit making us new creations; the Good Shepherd’s assurance of salvation; our identification with Christ in death and resurrection, freeing us from sin and law; Christ Himself as our unsearchable riches and inheritance; justification and sanctification by grace through faith alone, where adding law subtracts Christ; the Bema judgment seat as a celebration of victory, not condemnation; the hope of glorification; and the prophetic fulfillment in Israel’s salvation and the Millennial Kingdom. The negative chain shows that ignoring or contradicting these essentials in contemporary teaching leads to the loss of assurance, blessing, and freedom, resulting in deception and bondage. This is not a progressive journey of earned maturity but a steadfast holding to the treasure already given. Paul’s categories define this: we are justified, sanctified, and will be glorified by grace, not works. The believer’s security is in Christ’s grip, not our own.
Integration
Your calling is to guard the treasure, not to attain it. The core truths are your secure possession in Christ. Discernment is simply love for Christ, refusing to let anything judge you unworthy of your prize. There is no pressure to advance to a higher tier; you are already complete in Him. The Bema seat is a celebration of His generosity, not a tribunal for your failures. Your assurance rests on God’s record concerning His Son, which you have believed. Christ is your righteousness, sanctification, and reward. Steadfastly hold to this truth and love. Cling to what is ‘more excellent’—the Person of Christ and the truths that reveal Him. This is your landing place, your rest, and your joy.