Discernment of spirits is the most misunderstood of all spiritual gifts. Because of the confusion surrounding this gift, clear biblical teaching on discerning spirits is needed. The gift of discerning spirits and the natural capacity for discernment are not the same thing. There are many people who have a high level of sensitivity in the natural or emotional realm. This can even be taught through increased self-awareness of your emotional state, as Daniel Goleman explains in his groundbreaking work, Emotional Intelligence.

The difference between natural abilities and the nine spiritual gifts listed in First Corinthians 12 is that spiritual gifts are supernatural in nature. For example, a “word of knowledge” is something supernatural, not something that could be achieved by natural means. The same goes for the supernatural gift of healing; it replaces the laws of the natural world. This applies to all nine gifts, but here we focus on the gift of discerning spirits.

In our culture we have accepted that someone can be very perceptive, but it is a natural intuitive ability. The spiritual gift in First Corinthians 12 is something unique. There is a correlation between natural and supernatural discernment in that both gifts help inform an individual of what is in the atmosphere or environment around them. Natural discernment informs what is in the natural, emotional, or interpersonal realm, while supernatural discernment informs what is in the spiritual realm.

Supernatural discernment generally divides this information into four different areas: (1) the work of the Holy Spirit, (2) the work of the demonic, (3) the work of the human spirit, and (4) the work of celestial beings. Another reason the gift of discerning spirits has been misunderstood is that the gift has been abused. Many believe that discerning spirits is the ability to know another person’s secret sin and have used it as justification to maintain attitudes of suspicion, criticism, and accusation. Good-hearted people do not want to operate in this distorted version of discerning spirits.

I have heard major church leaders comment that if they had to choose to remove one of the nine gifts of the Spirit, they would “absolutely choose to remove the gift of discerning spirits because no other gift has caused alone so much damage to the body. of Christ. » This comment only makes sense in light of the misuse of this gift. Let’s take a closer look at what the gift of discerning spirits really is.

THREE ROOT WORDS.

In the Bible, the words judgment and discernment can sometimes be used synonymously. There are actually three root words in the Greek for the word judgment. This gives us a clear idea of ​​the nature of discernment.

The first root word in Greek is anakrino. In the Vine dictionary, the basic meaning of this word is the ability to distinguish. We must always operate under this type of discernment.

“The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned [anakrino]” 1 Corinthians 2:14.

The second root word in Greek is dokimazo, the basic meaning of which is to test or prove.

“Hypocrites! You can discern [dokimazo] the face of heaven and earth, but how can you not discern [dokimazo] this time?” (Luke 12:56 (NKJV).

This use of discernment is sometimes appropriate as a Christian. For example, we are told to test the spirits (see 1 John 4:1) or to judge our prophecies (see 1 Thess. 5:21).
The third root word for judgment in Greek is krino, which actually means to condemn. This is never the role of a Christian! We should know right from wrong, and we should even test and prove sometimes, but condemnation is forbidden for the believer.

“Do not judge [krino], or you also will be judged [krino]: For as you judge [krino] others, you will be judged [krino], and with the measure you use it will be measured to you ”. Matthew 7:1-2

From these three fundamental words for judgment, we learn that there are two types of judgment that are good and one that is not. As we move forward in discernment, we must remember that Jesus said we are to judge with righteous judgment.

“Do not judge by appearance, but judge with right judgment” John 7:24 (NKJV).

THE FOUR CATEGORIES.

Due to a lack of biblical teaching, the gift of discerning spirits has been misinterpreted in the church as criticism, suspicion, and condemnation. The truth is that it is a supernatural gift of the Holy Spirit to be wrought by love. There are four types of spirits you can discern: the Holy Spirit, heavenly spirits, human spirit, and demonic spirits. Discerning spirits helps us know which of these four spirits we are interacting with.

1. The Holy Spirit.

During the mass confusion on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), Peter, having discernment of the spirits in action, stood before the crowd and declared that what was happening was a movement of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 8, the church sent Peter and John to go check the conversion of the Samaritans by Philip.

It took discernment on Peter’s part to recognize that what was happening with Philip was the work of the Holy Spirit. It took obedience and discernment to bring salvation and baptism in the Holy Spirit to Cornelius’ house. When God shows you something that is outside of your comfort zone, it usually requires the operation of discerning spirits to accept a new truth. John the Baptist also discerned the presence of the Holy Spirit before baptizing Jesus:

“Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and remaining on him. I would not have known it, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “The man on whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and testify that this is the Son of God” John 1:32-34.

Another example of discerning the Holy Spirit comes from my wife, Karen Welton:

One evening, a group of seven or eight of my friends and I gathered at one of our houses. We originally intended to play board games, but I wanted to do something different. I had a persistent desire to invite God’s presence into the room, so I suggested we play worship music instead. I could sense that the atmosphere was pregnant with a potential visit. My friend turned on some worship music and the presence of the Lord filled his living room. We found ourselves face down on the ground, worshiping Jesus.

In spirit, I saw water filling the room. It started out just a few inches deep as we all lay on the ground, but the water got deeper as we worshiped. I was aware of the presence of angels in the room, seven in total. In the center of the room, I felt something different. I thought, “There must be a big angel standing there because I feel something powerful swirling in the middle.”

I tried to discern what kind of angel could be so powerful, and why was he different from all the others? I realized it wasn’t an angel at all, it was a vortex of water about 4 or 5 feet wide swirling powerfully and overflowing from the top and filling the room. I saw the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit.

By now the water was shoulder level and I moved to the center of the vortex and lay face down. In less than ten minutes, without me saying anything, three others moved and lay down in the center of the room with me. The water became deeper as the power source overflowed, filling the room with more water. God was literally pouring out his Spirit on us!

At this point the water was higher than our heads. I saw a friend of mine stand up in the middle of the room and place a flattened hand at the top of where I saw the water level in the spirit, just above his head. I looked at him in disbelief and said, “That’s exactly where the water level is!” Do you also see the water vortex? No one had said anything the whole time, and I didn’t know if anyone else had seen the water filling the room in the spirit realm.

My friend said, “There’s a pillar of water right here, and it’s this high; at the top of the water pillar, it transforms into a pillar of fire descending from the ceiling. If you put your hand here, you can feel a change in pressure. » He held his hand flat in the air, making it bounce a little with the water. I knew about the big pillar of water, but I didn’t realize there was a pillar of fire on top…

This text is an extract from the book “THE SCHOOL OF SEER” written by Dr. Jonathan Welton.

We invite you to read the following article “OBSTACLES TO DISCERNMENT”.