Charles Spurgeon Commentary 1 Thessalonians 5:21

"prove all things; hold fast that which is good;" — 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (ASV)

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

That first sentence has become quite a proverb, but that last part, I believe, is often omitted, which is another instance of the common truth that half the truth is a lie. You must give it all or none.

Prove all things, is mischievous teaching, unless you hold fast that which is good. And, after all, in the very first sentence it is not so much Prove all things, as Prove all things – that is, take nothing on trust.

Do not believe it because you are told so. Search the Scriptures; test what you have received, but when you have tested it, do not be forever proving it.

Hold it fast; grip it; grapple it to you as an ox to the stall. Hold fast that which is good.