1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
Today I want to continue with the category of manifestations or demonstration of the Spirit and of the power of God called “revelation gifts.” These manifestations involve things God will reveal to us so that we may more effectively minister to the people with whom we come into contact. Today, this is usually believers or people in a church related meeting. When Paul first came to Corinth, these revelation gifts would have been functioning as he worked to break through with the non-believers in the city. That is what God is trying to get us to see today. We must take these “demonstrations” to the world as a normal and integral part of personal outreach. This will cause those who come to Jesus to have a faith that rests on God’s power and reality not our powers of persuasion.
The third thing that God will reveal to us through the actions of the Holy Spirit is listed in the tenth verse of chapter 12. Paul calls this manifestation the “discerning of spirits. This gift has been very controversial at times because of how people interpreted what it meant. Great pain has been caused because people with the “gift of discerning of spirits” believed they knew a person’s heart and motivation even when there was no evidence in the person’s life to support that. I have experienced this personally many times.
As a pastor for more than 40 years, many people thought they knew things about me that were not true. There was no evidence that I had done or thought the thing they were accusing me of. When this was pointed out to them, they became offended and told me they knew it was true because God told them. Upon further investigation there was usually either a personal agenda involved, or some hurt that had nothing to do with me.
The discerning of spirits is not the gift of suspicion. It is not the gift of condemnation. In 1 Corinthians 2 Paul says something that is relevant to this. No one knows what is in a person’s heart except that person and God (1 Cor. 2:11.) God does not reveal anything to us about another person for our own agenda. If he reveals what is the spirit behind a person’s actions, it is to help that person not to judge them.
Let us look at the words used here to gain more understanding of how this manifestation works. The Greek word means a judicial estimation or discerning. The word judicial can be used in a legal sense as in relating to a judge or the legal process. It can also mean to proceed or act with good judgement as opposed to being rash in our actions. This is important. Discerning of spirits given by God is always in the context of wise counsel not rash conclusion.
The Greek word translated spirit literally means wind, but by implication means a spirit. It can mean the human spirit, angelic spirits, demonic spirits or the spirit of God. Although certain attitudes and motives can be attached to activity or presence of certain spirits, it is not the discernment of motives or attitudes.
The English word discern or discernment means the quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure: skill in discerning. It also means an act of perceiving or discerning something. The English word spirit means a supernatural being or essence or the activating or essential principle influencing a person. Biblically the spirit of a person is the innermost part. It is the eternal part and the part which is born again in salvation.
Let’s put all this together. The discerning of spirits is not a skill or wisdom we may gain through experience. That does happen. However, all these “gifts” are supernatural. The word of wisdom and the word of knowledge are limited, and specific bits of wisdom or information given by God through a human vessel to minister to a person in need. The discerning of spirits is the same thing only in the area of what spirit or spirits may be involved in the problem or condition of the person we are trying to help. The only use of this information is for their benefit. It does not come for our benefit. It is not something we know in the natural. It is something communicated by God to bring freedom to the person we want to help.
What might this look like in operation? The thing that may come to mind first is in the process of ministering deliverance to those possessed, oppressed or otherwise influenced by demonic spirits. It is out of fashion to say that demons really do exist in the context of Christianity, but they do. All over the Television and other media the demonic and supernatural things like ghosts etc. are very much in style. I wonder if the devil is so adamant about portraying them as silly or extreme when connected to Christianity is because he knows the name of Jesus in the mouth of a believer has the power to bring them under control and cast them out of people’s lives (See Mark 5 and the story of the Gadarene demoniac.)
I am not convinced that the purpose of the discerning of spirits when used to minister to a person with a demonic problem is to show us what type of demon is involved. I believe it is more to reveal to us THATa demon is involved. You cannot cast out an attitude, a hurt or a physical often chemical problem. They need to be healed. However, there are demons in the world. They are active and they do influence people and when we minister to someone, if that is the case, the discerning of spirits will reveal this fact to us.
However, we found that the word for spirit in the Greek can also mean the discerning of the human spirit or even the spirit of God. When we minister to someone and there is a problem in the person’s spiritual life, the discerning of spirits can tell us that is the case. This will be limited, need to know information for the purpose of helping that person only. It can also let us know when the issue is NOT spiritual but something in the soul or emotions. It can let us know when a demonic power is at work on the outside of the situation. It can also let us know that the Spirit of God is present and what he is doing to help the person. This last function of the discerning of spirits can be of great comfort to both the person in need and the one ministering.
What do we do with this information? First of all, we pray. The information that comes via the discerning of spirits can help us know how to pray and what to pray for. In addition, we have been given the name of Jesus as a badge of authority in the realm of the spirit. We can use that name to speak to the spirits which may be involved with the person or their situation. I do not have space to address exactly how that works here, but the Holy Spirit will guide you.
The information revealed to us by the discerning of spirits can also give insight into problems that may be causing a person’s condition or situation. For instance, forgiveness, and more important unforgiveness, are spiritual things as well as emotional. Understanding what spiritual forces are at play can help us understand how to help the person by guiding us in how to pray or where to send them in the Word of God.
We are familiar with this kind of thing in church as I have already said. We are less familiar with it as we go out into the world. How it will function in our witnessing life is up to God. Knowing that the discerning of spirits is what is at work is not necessary or relevant. We simply need to know that, if it is needed, it is available. If this manifestation comes through us it will be as the Spirit wills. What we will be aware of is that the person has been touched by a demonstration of the spirit and of the power of God. That is what will help them and that is what is relevant.
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