A free discernment guide from The Battle for Truth
What if the “truth” you were taught is just an opinion that became popular?
A free guide to testing doctrine, prophecy, and personal experience against Scripture — so you are never carried about by whatever teaching is popular this season.
Free₦0.00 · nothing to pay, ever
You keep hearing conflicting things labelled “truth”
One preacher says a thing is a sin. Another calls the same thing a matter of personal conviction. One teacher says your words release power into the atmosphere; another says that idea has no basis in Scripture at all. A prophecy is delivered with total confidence — and when it fails, no one revisits how it was ever accepted as a word from God in the first place.
Most believers do not resolve this by studying the text closely. They resolve it the way everyone around them resolves it: by going with whichever voice feels most sincere, most confident, or most popular in their circle at the time.
That approach feels safe because it is common. But common is not the same thing as correct, and a feeling of certainty is not the same thing as a test that was actually applied.
The problem is rarely outright rejection of truth
It is something quieter: truth gets redefined — shaped to fit an experience, a tradition, a denomination's expectations, or a preacher's authority — until “this is true” has quietly become “this is true for us” or “this is true because it worked for me.”
Once that shift happens, the question people ask about a teaching stops being “Is this what Scripture actually says?” and becomes “Does this happen in churches like mine?” Those are very different questions, and only one of them can tell you whether something is true.
Sincerity does not determine what is actually true. A person can sincerely believe something and still be sincerely wrong.
A free guide for testing what you're taught
When Truth Becomes Relative: The Crisis of Modern Pentecostalism is a free discernment resource written by Akintayo Akintara, Bible teacher and author, for The Battle for Truth. It was written because the question “is this Pentecostal?” keeps replacing the only question that actually matters: “is this Christian?”
The guide lays out, in plain language, the difference between absolute and relative truth, why Christianity cannot be built on the second, and how to apply the same test the Bereans applied to the apostle Paul himself — to any teaching, any prophecy, any “God told me” claim you encounter.
It is not a takedown of Pentecostalism, and it does not ask you to leave your church. It asks you to bring every teaching, including the ones you already hold dear, back under the authority of Scripture.
How to use the guide
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1
See the problem clearly
Understand why absolute and relative truth cannot both be right, and why that distinction quietly shapes every doctrine you hold.
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2
Learn the standard
See why Scripture, not experience or popularity, has to be the reference point — and what changes when it isn't.
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3
Apply the Berean test
Walk through the same questions the Bereans asked of Paul, so you can ask them of anyone — including a well-loved preacher.
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Keep the glossary close
Use the twelve-term glossary at the end as a standing reference the next time a teaching leaves you unsure what to call it.
What's inside
The guide runs about 12 minutes to read and covers ten sections, a comparison table, and a full glossary.
Right and Wrong Cannot Both Be True
Why absolutism and relativism cannot both describe reality, and what is lost the moment truth is treated as something each person constructs rather than discovers.
Christianity Cannot Be Built on Relative Truth
What James 1:17 and Hebrews 13:8 mean for a faith that claims an unchanging God, and why “your truth” was never a category Jesus used.
When Experience Becomes the Standard
Why a sincere testimony, an impressive manifestation, or a passionate preacher still cannot establish a doctrine on their own — and what the Berean pattern in Acts 17 looked like instead.
A Simple Illustration
A short picture — people guessing at a door's location in a dark room — that makes the difference between sincerity and truth immediately clear.
The Danger of “God Told Me”
Why that phrase can quietly make a teaching immune to questioning, and the specific questions 1 John 4:1 calls you to ask instead.
Reformation Requires a Standard
What genuine reformation does and does not mean — and why it is a return to Scripture, not an attack on a movement or a person.
Christ, Not Experience, Is the Center
Why the right question is never “is this Pentecostal?” but “is this Christian?” — and what that shift changes.
The Choice Before Us
Three paired questions that make the stakes of this whole discussion concrete and personal.
Absolutism and Relativism at a Glance
A side-by-side comparison table you can return to any time you need to name what you're hearing.
Key Concepts, Defined
A twelve-term glossary — truth, absolutism, relativism, objective truth, discernment, sola scriptura, and more — gathered in one place for study and review.
What you walk away with
A working test, not just an opinion
A concrete, Scripture-based method for evaluating a teaching — not just a stronger feeling about which side you're already on.
Vocabulary for what you're noticing
The glossary gives you precise words — absolutism, relativism, discernment, sola scriptura — for patterns you may have sensed but never had language for.
Confidence to ask questions
A biblical basis (Acts 17, 1 John 4) for testing a teaching, a prophecy, or a “God told me” claim without treating the question itself as rebellion.
Something solid to stand on
A clear answer to where your confidence should rest when preachers, trends, and denominational expectations disagree with each other.
About the author
Akintayo Akintara serves at Realm of Glory Int'l Church, Ipaja Centre, and leads The Battle for Truth, a discernment ministry that examines popular Christian teaching — particularly within Pentecostal and Word of Faith circles — against the plain reading of Scripture, from a Reformed, God-centered, Scripture-sufficiency standpoint.
Why this approach works
The guide does not ask you to take a claim on the strength of the person making it. It follows the Berean pattern in Acts 17:11 — where a congregation was commended not for rejecting Paul's preaching, but for testing it daily against Scripture before accepting it.
That is the method applied throughout: every claim about truth, experience, and reformation is worked through by comparing Scripture with Scripture — grammatical-historical interpretation, not proof-texting a single verse in isolation. The same standard it argues for is the standard it is written under.
This guide is for you if…
- You've heard two confident, contradictory teachings and weren't sure how to weigh them.
- You want a biblical basis for asking questions, not just a stronger opinion.
- You've heard “God told me” used to close down a conversation you wanted to keep having.
- You attend a Pentecostal or charismatic church and want to think carefully about what you're taught, not leave it.
- You lead, teach, or disciple others and want language to help them test what they hear.
This guide is probably not for you if…
- You're looking for a takedown of a specific preacher, church, or denomination by name.
- You want a quick answer without engaging the Scripture references it walks through.
- You're not open to re-examining a teaching you currently hold, regardless of what Scripture says about it.
Get the free guide
Everything below is included at no cost. There is no paid upgrade attached to this guide.
- The full guide — ten sections plus a comparison table, about a 12-minute read
- The complete twelve-term discernment glossary
- A downloadable PDF version, formatted for reading offline or printing
Clicking the button takes you straight to the guide at whentruthbecomesrelative.netlify.app.
Questions before you start
Is it actually free?
Yes. There is no price, no trial, and no paid upgrade attached to this guide. It is offered freely as part of The Battle for Truth's discernment resources.
How do I get it?
Click any “Read the free guide” button on this page. You'll be taken straight to the guide at whentruthbecomesrelative.netlify.app, where you can read it online or download the PDF.
How long does it take to read?
About 12 minutes for the full guide. The glossary at the end is designed to be revisited afterward, not read in one sitting.
Do I need a theology background to follow it?
No. It's written for any believer. Every term it uses — absolutism, relativism, discernment, and so on — is defined plainly the first time it appears, and again in the glossary.
Is this against Pentecostalism?
No. The guide is explicit that reformation is not rejection: it does not ask you to leave a Pentecostal or charismatic church, only to test what you're taught there — and everywhere else — against Scripture.
Can I share it with my church or small group?
Yes. It's written to be shared and discussed, and works well as a starting point for a group conversation about how to test what you're taught.
Will there be more free resources like this one?
The Battle for Truth publishes free discernment resources on an ongoing basis. This guide is one of them.
The Church doesn't need a new truth
It needs to recover the truth it was always called to test, believe, and live — instead of being carried about by whatever teaching is popular this season. This free guide is a starting point for that work.
Read the free guide