Criteria Which May Be Used To Legitimately Judge The Authenticity Of Claimed Godly Texts

As I indicated here, the only essential criterion provided by God to make sound judgments about the godliness of texts, is that a person has faith correctly. Beyond that, under the guidance a person obtains from the proper pursuit of faith (Philippians 2:13), a person should look at the characteristics of a work, to see if is godly. That is what Christ meant when He said, “Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (See Matthew 7:20.)

Please look at the following scriptures:

2 Timothy 3   

16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action),
17 So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Now if a text is inspired / God-breathed, it means that it is the work of God / the Holy Spirit. The following scriptures outline the characteristics of the works of the Spirit.

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

1 Corinthians 13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(Amplified Bible)

1 Corinthians 2

7 But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God--[that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence].
8 None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.
9 But, on the contrary, as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man, [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him [who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed].
10 Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man's scrutiny].

The above indicates that the characteristics of the works of the Spirit are: great wisdom, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, truthfulness, self-control, ever protecting, ever trusting, ever hopefulness, ever perseverance, non-rudeness, non-envy, non-boastfulness, non-pridefulness, non-self-seeking, not easily angered. Therefore when you examine texts that purport to be of God, it is important that they exhibit the above characteristics of God / the Holy Spirit, before you determine them authentic. For example, when you look at the Gospel of Judas, you see where Jesus is portrayed as mean-spirited to his disciples. This is an important indicator that the document is false, since it is inconsistent with Christ’s depiction in the Bible and other texts.

Logical consistency (an aspect of wisdom) within a document, and among all other documents determined to be of God, is another important attribute which must be found in texts allegedly inspired by God.