Discernment | Spiritual Gifts

Clarification (02/19/2020) – The spiritual gift of discernment relates to people being able to recognize false teachers, false believers, etc. It relates to testing the spirits. However, all Christians are called to test the spirits. Discernment, as the definition shows relates to judgment as well. We are to discern, to have proper judgment. Discernment relating to the spiritual gift of spirits is not an emotion and anytime we “feel like” something is off we are not to trust the feeling but look at the person/situation in light of scripture. I realize that some of my wording was misleading or not as clear, and wanted to clarify that. I apologize for any confusion. 

Discernment, like many of the other gifts we have covered, is one that whether or not someone has the gift of the discernment ALL CHRISTIANS NEED TO BE ABLE TO DISCERN!

As with the other spiritual gifts, I want to go over what scripture says so that you can see what the Bible says on these topics.

All Christians Need Discernment

(ESV) Hebrews 5:14, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

Before moving forward into the gift of discernment, it is helpful to understand this particular scripture. If we are not diving into the truth of the Gospel and scriptures daily, and if we are not growing in our walk with Jesus, we will not be able to handle deeper truths, the meat, what is for the mature in Christ. We will not be able to discern properly.

This means we need to be surrendering sin and seeking forgiveness, repenting from sin through the power of Christ, we can only do this through Jesus. The more we hold onto the world, the LESS we will be able to grow in Christ, this includes the understanding of scripture. Salvation is not just about acceptance of Jesus, but also the progression of walking towards Him through the rest of our life in sanctification.

There are many who think they have the knowledge and discernment of the Bible and they do not. If we are not walking and growing in Jesus, it does not matter what we think.

(ESV) Hebrews 5:14, “But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

Participating in anything that takes God’s name in vain, including cursing, gossip, lust, and encouragement for other sins, things that God HATES, these things will not train us in the strict manner the narrow path requires!

If we are not on the narrow path, then we are on the road to Hell. Again, if anything pulls us away from Jesus, we cannot grow in Him! Those who are truly in Jesus, you heard me, will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to give up these things. It’s not a matter of “if the Holy Spirit convicts.” Sin is sin.

Our discernment gets trained through Jesus and the more we identify what is of Christ and what is not of Christ. Once more, this comes through spending time with God, His word, worship, prayer, fellowship, etc. It cannot happen from sin and being part of the world. 

So what is it?

What Is Discernment?

Discernment–

1. It can be the ability to judge well.
2. It also, especially relating to the spiritual gift, relates to having understanding and knowledge that isn’t necessarily given or available to know at the time.

• Please note: all Christians need to discern, to judge well.

Christians tend to struggle with the word judge or judgment in fear that they will be judged as they judge, WHICH IS TRUE! We will be judged as we judge, the manner in which we judge.

HOWEVER, everything in life requires a judgment, a choice to be made. We cannot avoid this, otherwise, we would be constantly sitting on a fence, being extremely lukewarm. This would cause God to spit us out. 

Our judgment needs to be wise and righteous, this doesn’t mean avoiding discussing topics that people want to walk on eggshells with, either. We need discernment, which comes from our Lord and Savior, Jesus (see above). We need to know scripture and know it well. It helps us judge (discern) correctly.

(NIV) Acts 17:11, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

(NIV) 2 Timothy 2:15, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

However, what about the gift of discernment?

Spiritual Gift Of Discernment

(NIV) 1 Corinthians 12:10, “to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits…”

(NLT) 1 John 4:01, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”

The scripture in 1 Corinthians is saying that the gift of discernment relates to distinguishing between who is authentic in Jesus and who isn’t. All spiritual gifts are used for the church body and identifying false teachers especially is needed. We know this by looking at the scripture from 1 John. There are many people who think they are Christian and sound like they are Christian, but they aren’t.

Some people may not have all the information they need to make a judgment call, yet their spirit is pricked to be weary. I’ve experienced this a number of times. Something was just “off” about a person, and sometimes it took months for the truth to come out for others to see a real concern. Please Note: this doesn’t mean to rely on feelings, rather, hold everything up to scripture. If the Holy Spirit shows us something, we need to “test” that feeling to see if it is actually from the Holy Spirit, and we will find our answers in scripture. We do not make assumptions or judgments with no evidence. HOLD EVERYTHING UP TO SCRIPTURE!

Whether or not we have the gift we need to be able to discern the truth. We may not be able to discern all false teachers, but we need to discern other things in our life, to have proper judgment.

This is why knowing scripture deeply is needed. Someone can throw out 2 to 3 scriptures and sound like they know what they are talking about. We must know more, and we must know how all scriptures connect, and the true context of what is being said. A lot of stuff can “sound right” on the surface, but at the core it’s wrong. 

The spiritual gift of discernment can help us be aware of false teaching. Remember, we discern through knowing scripture and growth (sanctification) in Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:10) Spiritual discernment is not an emotional feeling, and it’s not based on symbolic signs or anything like that. It’s kinda like a radar going on when all signs seem to be clear, and knowledge of the Bible helps us!

-For A Full Look On Spiritual Gifts and What Has Been Covered So Far see this post (list is at bottom). 

COMMENT BELOW:

How does Jesus help you discern?

Monthly Scripture- (NKJ) Psalm 85:02, “You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah.” 

Get To Know Me & My Blog

Believer Handbook

Second Blog: Peeking Beneath

Advertisement