Gift of Discernment

[Mr. M]

There is more to discerning the spirit of another than trying to detect "antichrist". Some people are just plain devious, and it is not a necessity of God's children to be taken advantage of by insincere people. The discipline is simply in being quick to listen, and slow to speak or act.

Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover He said to me: Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.

The gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to listen with our ears, while simultaneously hearing His Voice in our hearts. One or two follow-up questions will normally be sufficient to discern a person's subtlety, revealing contradictions to their narrative. This is an absolute necessity if you hope to walk at liberty in Christ.

Galatians 5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

This is not some gift that you are born again with, but is developed by faith in action.

Hebrews 5:
12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again
the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.
13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe.
14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their
senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

 

[sandman]

There is no gift of discernment …. There is the gift of holy spirit given at the new birth that includes nine manifestations of that spirit (1Co 12:7) …one of them being ….the manifestation of discerning of spirits.
The purpose for that is not that you would discern with your abilities ….your questions would be to God …as to good or evil and whether you should cast it out or not. God will give you the necessary information …if there is no information …then it’s not necessary.

 

[Mr. M]

There is no gift of discernment …. There is the gift of holy spirit given at the new birth that includes nine manifestations of that spirit (1Co 12:7) …one of them being ….the manifestation of discerning of spirits.
The purpose for that is not that you would discern with your abilities ….your questions would be to God …as to good or evil and whether you should cast it out or not. God will give you the necessary information …if there is no information …then it’s not necessary.

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;
to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

I would not have survived running a rescue mission without it.
People come off the streets with legions.
Of course, it was not my own abilities.
I asked, I received. It was necessary.

 

[sandman]

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits;
to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

I would not have survived running a rescue mission without it.
People come off the streets with legions.
Of course, it was not my own abilities.
I asked, I received. It was necessary.

That's great ... from your post it sounded like you were doing the discerning.

But you jumped from verse 4 to 10 ...neglecting the contrasting conjunction BUT starting out in verse 7. ...Gifts were being spoken of in verse 4. however in verse 7 is clearly states
1Co 12:7 But the manifestation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

The gift is the spirit we have..... the manifestation of the spirit that we as believers have is listed in 8-10.

If I gave you a cell phone that would be a gift if you text with the cell phone that is a manifestation of the gift….

A gift is individually given, and you do not have it unless someone gives it to you. A manifestation is an evidence, a showing forth of something you already have.

 

[Mr. M]

If I gave you a cell phone that would be a gift if you text with the cell phone that is a manifestation of the gift….

And if you receive a gift and never use it?
The gifts are available when you receive the Spirit.
They become effective and more powerful with use.
There was no need for me to list 9 gifts, the thread was about one.
I also elaborated on how to employ them in real time, using a verse
from Ezekiel 3 in support.

The discipline is simply in being quick to listen, and slow to speak or act.

Ezekiel 3:10 Moreover He said to me: Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.

The gift of the Holy Spirit allows us to listen with our ears, while simultaneously hearing His Voice in our hearts. One or two follow-up questions will normally be sufficient to discern a person's subtlety, revealing contradictions to their narrative.

People lie to deceive, or speak with improper motive.
The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to discern.
I am not sure why this sounds like I am doing the discerning.
I am simply listening, after asking questions.,
The statement was clear, listen to the Spirit.
The only reason I cited 1 Co 12:4 & 10 was because
you quoted v. 7. Anyone needing context need only to turn to that chapter.
I have no problem with you bringing in 1 Corinthians 12 into the discussion,
but to quote one verse, and then question my quoting relevant verses before and
after seems contradictory. I sincerely hope that taking the time to address
your questions re-enforce the lesson, as well as the application.
Feel free to share your experiences in this regard.

Acts 8:
18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given,
he offered them money,
19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.
20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that
the gift of God may be purchased with money.
21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.
22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps
the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

There is no gift of discernment …. There is the gift of holy spirit given at the new birth that includes nine manifestations of that spirit (1Co 12:7) …one of them being ….the manifestation of discerning of spirits.
The purpose for that is not that you would discern with your abilities ….your questions would be to God …as to good or evil and whether you should cast it out or not. God will give you the necessary information …if there is no information …then it’s not necessary.

"There is no gift of discernment …"
Thank you.

 

[OldAbramBrown]

There is the gift of discernment which is here for everybody and which everybody needs to employ in works of virtue including prudence and insight.
Before Ascension Holy Spirit indwelt, and immediately upon Ascension (while they were praying in fear, as we are) He was already imparting. Praying in fear WAS their ministering.
All the gifts are NOT to be vetoed or rationed. Everybody is meant to have many of them. That doesn't make you someone' else's boss or subordinate.
Manifesting gifts results from belief which results from complete teaching.
Imparting gifts is not meant to be a ceremony or a mannerism. Nor is it meant to be cancelled (false dichotomy combined with conflation - common Anglo-American and Tridentine intellectual sloppiness). The Acts 2 occurrence was a sample, not a picture to be copied.

 

[tturt]

Discerning is different from discerning of spirits. Our experiences and observations operate under personal discernment which can be impacted by the Holy Spirit. While the gift of discerning of spirits operates under the direction of the Holy Spirit. (I Cor 12).

Discerning of spirits -distinguishes the source - either evil or Godly spirits One example -. Even though Ananias put the money "laid it at the apostles' feet." But in spite of what they saw, "But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?" (Acts 5:3) The same for his wife (v 9) Another example - "...girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, “These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.” 18 And this she did for many days." (Acts 16) Even though she spoke the truth, she had the spirit of divination and Paul cast it out.

It's not the discerning of evil spirits only.

Then here's an example of the Godly - "And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision." (Gal 2:9).

 

[SavedByGrace3]

Hi.. can you share chapter and verse for this? I know about "discerning of spirits" which is seeing into the spirit world. As for "gift of discernment ".. yeah Christians do this all the time and its not of God. One said years ago "Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right."

Its not some gift to see the wrongs in others. As another man of God once said "Not one of us requires the baptism in the Holy Spirit to endow us with the gift of criticism and faultfinding."

Another thank you for this.
No, there is no "gift of discernment" that is included in the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit listed in 1 Corin 12.
We all have a degree of discernment that is a trait learned from teaching, experience, and conditioning by the Holy Spirit.

Hebrews 5:14 KJV
14. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use
have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

The phase "good and evil" is better understood to mean "valuable and worthless."
A sliding scale of value.

The verse reflects back on 5:12

Hebrews 5:12 KJV
12. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again
which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk,
and not of strong meat.

That is not to say some scripture is worthless. All scripture is profitable for doctrine. But discernment will prevent us from making major doctrine out of relatively minor subjects and neglect those which are of major importance. Consider Jesus and his comment:
Matthew 23:23-24 KJV
23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to
have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.

So discernment is both a virtue of your born again spirit and a learned ability that comes with age.
And it includes putting things in proper proportion.
Whole cults have been birthed by the wrong discernment of scriptural proportions.

I have found that people who lay claim to some "gift of discernment" are trying to elevate themselves to a place where they can judge and rule over others in God's name. Essentially, they are claiming that they are correct and all others are wrong, and God said so.

 

[johansen]

i find it interesting for folks to declare there is no gift of discerning of spirits. i can.. sort of half agree with it.

back in 2013 iirc, i was listening to steve quayle and david lankford talk for 3 hours together on a podcast. among many other things david shared his fears, stories, tales he's heard of the gift of discerning of spirits.. while steve gave some (what i believed at the time) false stories of illegitimate experiences he had with that gift.

i was basically a new christian at the time (which is actually an exceedingly long story) and i knew in my heart steve had a false gift, and david was wrong to be afraid of that gift. and i asked God for that gift, and i prayed that God would open david's eyes.

about 6 months later i caught the two of them again on a podcast and david had completely changed his mind, he said that gift is more powerful than the gift of prophecy. (which is true, in a certain sense.). but in hindsight now, a decade later and a myriad of experiences.. i have to say i may have already had that gift, a long time ago when i was a child. (hence the "exceedingly long story part" )

but then again if the so called "gift of discernment" doesn't exist, then its simply a matter of praying more, and more intently, about the things you experience or witness such that you put yourself in a position to properly deal with the information that God / Holy Spirit wants to give you.

i am also well aware that God seems to operate on a very subtle, need to know basis. if you smell smoke, ask God to show you where the fire is.. but he is only going to give you the minimum information you need to know within your responsibility limits. -God won't tell you that lee harvy oswald didn't kill JFK. enough people already know that.. (lol)

people can confuse their natural ability to sniff things out with a legit "spiritual gift" of discerning of spirits. -and i have met christians who have that problem.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

There is no Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment" found in scripture.
There is the gift of discerning of spirits," which involves discerning demons.
As far as some Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment," I have never found it.
People who claim to possess a"gift of discernment" will use it to discern doctrine and even people.
If these claim the Holy Spirit is involved in this "spiritual gift," they should be held to the same standards as prophets and teachers. If any of their "discernments" fail, they should be named as false discerners and dealt with by the church.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of knowledge," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that can be known by natural means, and usually is.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of wisdom," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that cannot be known by natural means, such as future events.
In my experience, those claiming this "gift of discernment" are simply trying to validate their opinion by claiming the Holy Spirit's inspiration.
Everyone has a level of discernment, and it involves the scripture and experience. It is not some mystical intuition that is not backed by scripture.
"Heresy Hunters" are famous for claiming this "gift of discernment" as the claim to know who are believers and who are not, and who are heretics and who are not. I have found these usually barely have an elementary knowledge of the scriptures and have no clue what the basic doctrines of Christ are.

 

[tturt]

nevermind

 

[OldAbramBrown]

There is no Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment" found in scripture.
There is the gift of "discerning of spirits," which involves discerning demons.
As far as some Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment," I have never found it.
People who claim to possess a"gift of discernment" will use it to discern doctrine and even people.
If these claim the Holy Spirit is involved in this "spiritual gift," they should be held to the same standards as prophets and teachers. If any of their "discernments" fail, they should be named as false discerners and dealt with by the church.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of knowledge," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that can be known by natural means, and usually is.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of wisdom," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that cannot be known by natural means, such as future events.
In my experience, those claiming this "gift of discernment" are simply trying to validate their opinion by claiming the Holy Spirit's inspiration.
Everyone has a level of discernment, and it involves the scripture and experience. It is not some mystical intuition that is not backed by scripture.
"Heresy Hunters" are famous for claiming this "gift of discernment" as the claim to know who are believers and who are not, and who are heretics and who are not. I have found these usually barely have an elementary knowledge of the scriptures and have no clue what the basic doctrines of Christ are.

So you're saying prudent judgment (a virtue according to the agnostic, Aristotle) (but which is even rejected in some churches), experience etc may be potentised by Scripture and belief. But specific effects that we'll recognise if we are honest, are added by the named gifts as they come and go.

Your penultimate sentence made me realise how heart broken I am, because I and those around me in a wide range of denominations have so often been told by various religious authorities (in England) that we aren't proper believers, that not enough can be done about our depravity and so on.

 

[OldAbramBrown]

1 - Catholic and reformed churches have always drummed it into us to devalue intuition and inference. I'm reverting to my childhood instinct to let red flags show themselves to me, to adapt to or act at my discretion, and not "rationalise them away". In more recent years I walked away from two churches, one months before, and one months after, the other "leavers". I insist on having my reasons (which don't matter to others - hence broken relationships).

case a - I got no reaction when making objectively needed suggestions, on top of the chaotic emotional and doctrinal atmosphere and multiple dubious organisational affiliations (false ecumenism)

case b - no-one would tell me what the big row was about before or after (and I did ask), added to a few of the characteristics of case a.

Individuals are letting slip small pieces of evidence about cases a and b five, six seven years after the events; so why couldn't they have told me then, and I'd have been willing to help them.

2 - Churches also slammed gifts that are partly in the natural cultivated by the spiritual. Gifts had to be 100% miraculous only to be valid. They then have to either give one status (because conventional church lore gives the children of God no status) or be vetoed by church bosses (before / unless we are allowed status). The latter is sometimes done on the basis of mannerism / subculture / central nervous system . . .

3 - Three things Christians need more of:

- philosophy
- imagination
- repetition

Only not the vain ones!

4 - Fellow attenders are not people to be mistrusted and predefined as not worth enlisting to help. I repeatedly see inattention to the impact of practicality vaunted as spiritual.

 

[GTW27]

There is no Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment" found in scripture.
There is the gift of discerning of spirits," which involves discerning demons.
As far as some Holy Spirit-enabled "gift of discernment," I have never found it.
People who claim to possess a"gift of discernment" will use it to discern doctrine and even people.
If these claim the Holy Spirit is involved in this "spiritual gift," they should be held to the same standards as prophets and teachers. If any of their "discernments" fail, they should be named as false discerners and dealt with by the church.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of knowledge," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that can be known by natural means, and usually is.
There is the Holy Spirit-enabled "word of wisdom," which is the reception of knowledge from the Spirit that cannot be known by natural means, such as future events.
In my experience, those claiming this "gift of discernment" are simply trying to validate their opinion by claiming the Holy Spirit's inspiration.
Everyone has a level of discernment, and it involves the scripture and experience. It is not some mystical intuition that is not backed by scripture.
"Heresy Hunters" are famous for claiming this "gift of discernment" as the claim to know who are believers and who are not, and who are heretics and who are not. I have found these usually barely have an elementary knowledge of the scriptures and have no clue what the basic doctrines of Christ are.

The gift of discerning of spirits discerns demons as well as The Presence of The Lord. To me personally the spiritual gifts are The Lord (The Holy Spirit) and me as One.(John 17). Apart from Him I can do nothing, but that shall never happen as "I will never leave you nor will I forsake you" All Glory, Honor, and praise belong to The Lord and The Lord alone.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

The gift of discerning of spirits discerns demons as well as The Presence of The Lord. To me personally the spiritual gifts are The Lord (The Holy Spirit) and me as One.(John 17). Apart from Him I can do nothing, but that shall never happen as "I will never leave you nor will I forsake you" All Glory, Honor, and praise belong to The Lord and The Lord alone.

Thanks for your input.