Spirits are invisible and not seen by the human eye. For this reason, God has gifted us the ability to discern spirits so that we can learn to distinguish between the good spirits and the ones who are evil. Discerning spirits allows us to join ourselves with the spirits of God and turn from the ones that are not. Spirits significantly impact our everyday lives; therefore, it is important to understand the spiritual gift of discerning spirits.
The apostle Paul introduces us to the idea that discerning spirits is done through the gift of God and is empowered by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:1-11)
Discerning spirits is a spiritual gift that empowers you by the Holy Spirit to determine what spirit is present, both good and evil. It's the God-given ability to discern the spirits who are at work. (This gift works hand in hand with eternal judgment.)
Let's be very clear in this teaching: we discern spirits by the Holy Spirit. Without God's empowerment to interpret what we see and hear, we will be deceived by spiritual things. Here are a few critical points to discerning spirits.
Paul's teachings on discerning spirits are crucial to understanding this gift. His zeal to let God have preeminence in everything is key. In 1 Corinthians 12:1-11, he teaches that God gives the manifestation of the Spirit and that no one has that ability without the Holy Spirit empowering them.
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In 1 Corinthians 2:6-16, Paul teaches that the secrets of God, meaning spiritual things, including the discerning of spirits, are all spiritually discerned. He says that it is God that reveals them to us. He also notes that spiritual discernment is imparted to us through spiritual teaching. You need spiritual wisdom to discern spirits to interpret what you see and hear.
The writer of Hebrews joins in by teaching that those who are mature and have exercised and trained their powers of discernment will distinguish good from evil. (Hebrews 5:11-14) They are the ones who have the word of righteousness in them and can discern words and spirits.
Many references by the apostles help us learn how to discern spirits, so using these guidelines mentioned above, let's use John's teaching in 1 John 4:1-6 to learn how to discern spirits correctly.
1 John 4:1-6 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.
Question
How do you discern spirits?
Answer
The simple answer is that the gift of discerning spirits will discern all good and evil spirits. Beyond that, the answer is to look at the manifestations the spirit creates. When dealing with spiritual things, the visible will lead you to what is invisible. Spirits talk and act a certain way. Their manifestation will reveal what spirit they are.
Explanation
Because spirits are invisible, they can easily hide from you and deceive you for a long time. Throughout the Bible, the greatest gift we have outside of Jesus is that God put images to souls and spirits so that we can discern them correctly. Spirits are invisible, but when you put them in a body that acts outwardly according to what's inward, it's much easier to discern what spirit is working behind the scenes.
John is helping us learn how to test a spirit and see if it is from God. In verse one, he says, "Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits." He then brings our attention to something very important; "Because false prophets are gone out into the world." In teaching us how to discern spirits he immediately goes to the parable of false prophets to learn what spirit he is talking about.
He continues by teaching what a false prophet will say and teach verses the one who is sent from God. It's important to know that all parables will have patterns to their manifestations. This is because spirits are creating the manifestation. Good spirits will always be good, and an evil spirit will always be evil.
Twice in verses 2 and 6, John says, "By this, we know". He is saying this is how we know what spirit is working; it's by what they say and do that reveals them. If we are instructed in the teachings of Jesus Christ and empowered by the gift of the Spirit, we will have all that we need to discern every spirit at work in us and others.
In these few verses, John packs in lots of discernment and helps us discern the spirit of false prophecy, the spirit of antichrist, the spirit of the world, and the spirit of error. While also revealing the Spirit of truth who confesses Jesus as the Christ manifested, true prophecy, the children of God, and the overcomer. There is a clear distinction between who came from God and who didn't.
Caution to those who act in haste
Some deception can work in this idea if you are not discerning correctly. What is manifesting outwardly, if not understood, can cause you to discern by the flesh rather than see by the Spirit of God. An example could be when someone seems righteous in the flesh. A spirit of pride (or some other spirit) may drive them to act in an appearance of righteousness so that others can see them as righteous. We see this in the Pharisees, who outwardly acted righteous in appearance but were inwardly led by evil spirits. This is a perfect example that Jesus used to teach His disciples how to discern spirits.
What to do
Let spiritual teaching be imparted to you, and receive the gift of discerning spirits. Test all spirits by their manifestation and determine what you will follow. Never judge by the flesh because of a feeling. The Spirit of God will make all things clear.
Scriptural reference
1 Corinthians 12:1-11; 1 John 4:1-6; 1 Corinthians 2:10-16; Hebrews 5:11–14
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