How to Discern and Test the spirit

Never put man’s opinion above God’s Truth. Sounds obvious, right? As I was prayerfully writing this post, I found myself writing about the confusion that can happen with us as Christians today because our Perfect God, in His amazing grace, has chosen to work and speak through imperfect man by His Holy Spirit.

It seems more than ever that we live in a world where it whispers or even yells, ” Follow the MAN speaking, follow the MAN behind the pulpit, follow the prophet (MAN) or the MAN doing “signs and wonders.” (By the way, when I use the term “MAN,” I am talking about mankind, which includes both men and women).

Now, we have a tendency—at least I know I do—when I see the word “opinion” to think, well, that’s just what they think; it’s not scripture. But what if the “opinion” being spoken by man is a scripture from God’s Holy Bible? What if a “man of God” performs miracles, signs, and wonders in Jesus’ name? Does that throw us off?

I think if we are honest, many of us have been in a position at one time or another where we may not have discerned properly between what is God and what is man or the enemy, even with ourselves. So, while it may sound obvious regarding man’s “opinion,” I think a good question to ask is, do we actually know how to discern who we are hearing: God, man, or the enemy? In other words, is it the Holy Spirit of God giving that person utterance or leading that person as they teach, preach, or prophesy, or is it something else? Sometimes it can be a mixture. How important is it that we know?

First and foremost, God speaks to us through His Word. So, let’s look at some scriptures in the Bible regarding this topic. There are many in the Bible, and I will only touch on some for this post. In fact, depending on how God leads, this may turn into a series.

The scriptures tell us in 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another.

So, the scripture above clearly tells us to respect our leaders and fellow workers in the Lord, to “esteem them very highly because of their work.”

However, 1 John 4:1 also discusses the need to test the spirit: “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

Most of us know to respect our leaders and fellow workers in Christ. I also think that this may be precisely why it may be hard for some to “test the spirit.” Some may think they are somehow being disrespectful if they test what is being said. They may confuse testing with questioning in a disrespectful way. Has that ever happened to you? Others may assume that because God spoke through a person accurately before, this must mean every time that person speaks from the pulpit, it must be God. This can create confusion, and the enemy loves to come in and take advantage. The fact is no person is perfect, and that is why we need to test the spirit behind it. It is not an insult, it is in obedience. It is part of our responsibility.

What I also notice in the 1 Thessalonians scripture is that at the end, it says, “Live in peace with one another.” This part honestly kind of makes me laugh to myself because the Lord knows how hard it is for His imperfect creation to live in peace with one another at times! All of our fleshly egos, insecurities, and pride, perhaps? Remember when the disciples argued over who was the greatest (Luke 9:46)? It makes me wonder what Jesus thought at times LOL.

Scriptures about God Working through Man

Here are some powerful scriptures below that discuss how our Perfect God chooses to work through imperfect man by the power of His Holy Spirit.

John 14:12: Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Acts 1:8:  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Mark 16:17-18: And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Matthew 10:20:  for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Scriptures on our Need For Discernment and Testing

The scripture also tells us in 1 Timothy 4:1 that the Holy Spirit warns us about later times when some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

In 2 Corinthians 11:13 Apostle Paul talks about some who are “false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.”

Wow, that is sobering, isn’t it?

What about signs, miracles, and wonders in the name of Jesus? Is that a guarantee it’s God? Well, Jesus Himself says in Matthew 7:21–23: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

We’re getting quite a picture here, aren’t we?

• We are to respect each other but test the spirit behind everything.
• Yes, God works through man, so we need to test the spirit behind a man.
• The Holy Spirit is real, and so are counterfeits. Test.

Lastly, Matthew 10:41 says: Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

Now, in Matthew 10:41, we see that when we welcome a prophet or a righteous person of God and rightly discern, we will receive the reward that God wants to give us through that person by the Holy Spirit. This infers that we will not receive if we discern they are of God but refuse to accept what they are saying. Have there ever been times when a person shared and you didn’t respect them or like them, so you would not receive them? This is often based on some sort of offense, and we need to realize it is sinful. This is actually rejecting the Spirit of Christ in them.

All of the scriptures we have been looking at together show us that it’s not as simple as just listening to someone who says they are a man or woman of God and swallowing everything they say, hook, line, and sinker. We need to test, pay attention, and listen to what is coming from their mouths. At the same time, we want to be respectful in this process and make sure we don’t act like a religious Pharisee or walk by fear, unbelief, and paranoia.

Paying attention to a person’s character may give us some insight, but not necessarily at first if we have not known them long. This is based on Matthew 7:16 when Jesus taught the disciples about fruit (character). “By their fruit, you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

Some practical examples of questionable character would be if a person says or preaches one thing and then lives the opposite of what they say. I don’t mean making mistakes from time to time like we all do, but more like a lifestyle of opposing scriptures. For example, do they preach all about “I love you,” but then, when they are done speaking, he or she won’t acknowledge the people listening or be respectful to the leaders or congregation? Do they teach, give me your tithes, but don’t tithe themselves as a pattern of behavior? Pay close attention to who you listen to or sit under; this is an example of inspecting the fruit or character of a person. I did a post about the importance of us being a good fruit inspector here.

Caution

Now, I say, “Pay close attention” with caution, as I don’t want someone to take this out of context and use this as a baseball bat to hammer someone over the head and watch their every move with a critical, paranoid eye. We want to become sin-conscious, going against the very work of Jesus Himself. If God says He will remember our sins no more, then we need to be very careful about thinking we should be uncovering someone else’s sin (Hebrews 8:12)! Sadly, this is a problem in the body of Christ which has turned so many people away from going to church, and we need to take responsibility for it. Discerning can be a very fine line: test, pay attention, and observe respectfully, but do not cross over into trying to play God or critical judge.

Remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3: If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

In other words, we can have plenty of gifts from God, including the gift of discerning spirits, but if we walk without love, as far as God is concerned, we are nothing more than a clanging gong!

We must not forget that we all have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and need a Savior Who’s name is Jesus. We all need to be saved by God’s grace. It is not based on our works but on Jesus’s work lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). We are all imperfect, Jesus is the only Perfect One. We need to practice empathy and give the mercy and grace that Christ has given us, realizing that we, too, miss the mark at times.

Our Loving Father does not hit others over the head with a baseball bat or worse, so when we “test” the spirit, may we remember our Abba Father’s character. John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

What Testing the Spirit is Not

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1. Staring a person down and putting them under a critical microscope.
2. Sitting on some high horse, we look our noses down at someone (Pharisee).
3. Being ungracious.
4. Being disrespectful.
5. Being unkind.
6. Jumping on the first mistake a person makes and then making assumptions.
7. Not allowing someone to be human and have the Holy Spirit teach them.
8. Taking the place of God.
9. Nasty gossip and calling it “discernment.”
10. Being judgmental in the flesh.

The gift of discerning spirits is a challenging and powerful gift from God. It can be very hard if you pick things up that others don’t, and you may not understand what’s happening. Just like in any gift from the Lord, training is always needed and never stops.

Suffice it to say, I had to learn years ago to pray and ask the Lord to please give me not only His discernment but also His love, grace, forgiveness, wisdom, and anything else that was needed to go with the gift of discerning of spirits. I joke about it now, but any of you who have experienced discerning a lying spirit behind a person you trust who is lying to your face without flinching in real time know what I mean. It is very important as we pray for discernment that we stay humble before God and ask Him for a pure heart before Him. We cannot afford to miss this part.

A key scripture to remember is Ephesians 6:12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 What Testing the Spirit is (with Some Tips)

Here are a few tips I hope will help you test and discern. This is not an exhaustive list and does not replace training (learning over time by trial and error) in the Lord; it is just some guidelines.

I have bolded the quick points and added more in-depth explanations for those wanting more information. I pray that you find this helpful.

1. Get in the Word of God! God does not contradict Himself. Does what the person of God claims to be saying line up with scripture?
2. Spend time with the Lord. Get to know Your Heavenly Abba Father, the Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. This can only happen by spending time with God and cultivating a relationship like you do with your closest friend or spouse. When you do this, you will begin to recognize the Lord’s characteristics, and it will be harder to fool you.
3. Pray. Always ask the Lord for His spirit of wisdom, discernment, knowledge, and understanding of the Lord, as well as regarding the person you are listening to. Also, for His protection, wisdom, and guidance. Don’t be afraid to ask the Lord point blank, “Lord, is this person speaking by Your Spirit or himself?” or “Lord, please help me to receive what You want me to, and if there is anything I should not receive, that I don’t, in Jesus name Amen.”
4. Godly counsel. The Bible talks about wise counsel in Proverbs (15:22). Now when I say this, I’m not talking about worldly wisdom, to be clear; it’s leaders or other Christians. Write the message down, play the recording, and show the trusted leader or wise counsel in your life the book or whatever resource you are unsure about. Pray together and ask for their impression. Do they think it’s from God, man, or the enemy?
5. Do you “witness” to it? Some other ways to put this are: Do you feel a yes inside from the Holy Spirit? Is it something that resonates inside you? Do you feel peace or joy? Does it confirm something? Have you been praying about this, and do you know inside that this is from God?
6. What are you feeling and why? We don’t want to be led by our feelings but rather by the Holy Spirit, who sometimes produces a feeling. Notice the difference. This is learned over time.
7. Audience. If you are at an event, who else is there? Do you know any of them? Are they baby Christians or others that you’re unsure about? How do they seem to you? For example, if you see a bunch of Christian leaders that you know have good discernment and are supportive and comfortable, that is worth noting. While it may not mean the person speaking is still being led by the Lord, it is a good possible indicator. If needed, you can ask those you trust who are there what they discern.
8. Trust and obedience. Trust that God will watch over you and warn you if there is an issue. Be prayerful, and if you do get a check and feel led to leave, obey and leave without shame. God is God, and He can restore it back to you if, for some reason, you got it wrong. Remember, God is your source, not man. While He chooses to work through man often, He knows your heart and concern and will teach you how to discern what is of him and what is not.

What Do You Think?

Can you see where people can get confused or sometimes go overboard in either direction with this? Have you ever become hypercritical or religious? What about trusting too much and not testing at all? What have you learned? Have any discerning tips?

I would love to hear your thoughts, tips, and examples in the comments below.

God bless you, and may you always stay blessed in Jesus’ name, amen.

Sybella