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I had a keen interest in spiritual gifts growing up. When I was a little girl, spiritual gifts sounded like magical powers God gave to especially wise and mature believers. As one who ran around her yard pretending the knotted stick she found was a magical wand, I deeply desired to have my own spiritual gifts.
One that caught my attention was the discernment of spirits. I heard adults talk about this gift like it was a mystical knowledge God endowed to certain believers. “She gets this sense when someone isn’t being truthful,” or, “She gets this foreboding vibe when someone is a wolf in disguise,” or “She can tell when someone’s spirit isn’t in God’s will.” It was like they had a glimpse into the spiritual world, like Frodo when he put the ring on his finger. It felt a bit spooky.
The spiritual gift of discernment shows up twice in Scripture and with very little for a working definition. This has left a lot of room for people to interpret and put their own experiences into what this gift could be.
Whenever we study the Bible, context and clearer passages of Scripture must drive our interpretations.
May I offer you a different definition than the ones above? While I don’t believe I have all the right answers, based on my own study of Scripture and convictions I think the meaning of the gift of discernment about which the apostles wrote is more about the deep study of God’s revealed Word rather than a spooky sixth sense.
Whenever we study the Bible, context and clearer passages of Scripture must drive our interpretations. Because of that, let’s analyze the whole context of one of the key texts on the discernment of spirits:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. (1 John 4:1–6)
The first thing we need to note about this passage is that it’s not describing a spiritual gift that some have and others don’t. Instead, this is a command for every believer. He begins by addressing the entire congregation: Beloved. He goes on to give an imperative: Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits. We are each called to test the spirits.
John appeals to the basics of the gospel that every believer knows when testing the spirits.
Next, John goes on to explain how we test them. He doesn’t give instructions on feelings, senses, or secret knowledge. Rather, he appeals to the basics of the gospel that every believer knows: Jesus. If they do not confess the truth about Jesus, if they distort the gospel message, they are not to be trusted.
The next criteria John gives for discerning the spirits is if they listen to the Spirit-breathed, apostolic teachings. At the time when John was writing, this would have been the teachings and letters that came from the twelve apostles chosen by Jesus himself. Jesus, through his Holy Spirit, spoke through these men to lay the foundation for the New Testament church. Now, we have the entire Bible where all of God’s perfect, inerrant words are contained in one book. By knowing and obeying these words, John says we will be able to recognize when a person is speaking truth.
We are to weigh what is said by testing it against God’s word.
The other passage on this spiritual gift of discernment tells us a very similar message. In 1 Corinthians 12:10, Paul simply lists it as “the ability to distinguish between spirits” amidst other spiritual gifts. While he doesn’t provide a definition of this gift within chapter 12, he gives us a glimpse of it in one of the following chapters. Chapter 12 discusses the gifts at large and how the Spirit gifts each person differently to provide a necessary function within the church. Chapter 13 tells us how Christ-like love is the foundation for every spiritual gift (otherwise, it’s useless). In chapter 14 he expands on the proper use of these gifts.
In 1 Corinthians 14:29, Paul says, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.” How do we weigh what is said? By testing it against God’s word. If someone claims to be a Bible teacher or a Christian influencer, their words should align with God’s word. As Paul went on to admonish the Corinthians:
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.” (1 Cor. 14:36–40)
Often when Christians discuss this spiritual gift, the thorough study of God’s word is not first and foremost.
Discernment requires opening God’s word on a regular basis, immersing ourselves into the grander narrative of Scripture, and studying it.
I recently came across a spiritual gift test that described the gift of discernment as the ability to “sense the true motivations of a person and movements,” “recognize when a person is genuine or honest,” and “sense when a person is acting in accord with God’s will.” This sounds like a strange, eerie sense that God downloads into our brains, yet God’s word describes this ability as the hard work of knowing Scripture and examining the words of others to see if they align with the Bible.
This mysterious definition of feelings and senses is problematic for the church. The definition encourages us to listen to arbitrary feelings that the Bible never instructs us to do. We are never given a guide to knowing how to discern feelings and senses, but rather a clear message of law and gospel for us to use as our measuring stick for truth.
Discernment is hard work. It’s not a special gift God plunks into some people’s hearts and keeps from others. It takes opening God’s word on a regular basis, immersing ourselves into the grander narrative of Scripture (not just grabbing random verses here and there), and studying it. Let’s not make light of this skill. Rather, let’s encourage one another to grow in it by opening the Bible together.
This article was originally published on February 21, 2023.
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