How can believers discern Satan's deceptions and sort out false teaching?
Believers discern Satan's deceptions by relying on the Holy Spirit's direction and using their God-given mind to search the Scriptures, sorting out false teaching. They should test practices by asking whether Scripture instructs them; anything not found in the Book is not part of the Christian walk and must be wrong.
Les explains that Satan can transform himself into an angel of light and can make it appear he is promoting the Scriptures, yet by doing so he leads millions astray. He is a master at that deception. Les teaches that the Lord has given believers the direction of the Holy Spirit, plus a mind and intelligence, so that by searching the Scriptures they can sort these things out. He illustrates this with a late-night caller who asked for verses showing a practice was wrong. Les told her he could not do that, but instead advised her to look for a verse that instructs people to do it. If she could not find it, and it is not in the Book, then it must be wrong, because anything that is part and parcel of the Christian walk is in the Book. If it is not in the Book, she is on thin ice. He stresses it is just as important to realize what is not in Scripture as to know what is in it, because many people go through life thinking something is in the Book merely because they heard it somewhere.