Gift of Discernment: In Detail

Discernment is an important spiritual gift but at the same time, most churches do not allow or even have this gift within the local church. This is why false teachings often come into and without discerning, the local Church will be turned upside down from false teachings. Pros of using gift of discernment: To identify false prophets - Deuteronomy 18:21–22; Jeremiah 23:25-30 To identify the heart motives of others- Luke 6:8; John 2:24-25 To distinguish our heart motives - Job 38:36; Proverbs 21:2 To lead one in the ways of the Lord - Hosea 14:9 To empathize with weak and strong - Romans 14:1–8. To distinguish right from wrong doctrine - 2 Peter 3:15–18 To identify false spirits / apostles - 1 John 4:1–6; Revelation 2:2. What would happen if a church do not use the gift of discernment? Leads to a nations fall - Deuteronomy 32:28. Leads to spiritual dullness - Matthew 12:1–8 Leads to misinterpretation - Mark 14:58 Leads to rejecting Jesus - Mark 15:29–30; 14:58 Leads to confusion - Luke 9:7–9. Leads to foolishness - 1 Corinthians 3:18–20 God gives gifts as He sees fit, not how we see fit. One reason is a lack of discernment. But the problem is not with God and Him not being willing to give discernment to His saints. The problem is with us, because we have divided hearts. The Holy Spirit has been so quenched that they can no longer discern the more subtle tactics of the enemy. We are like those Old Testament saints spoken of in the book of Judges, "Every man did that which was right in his own eyes" (17:6). EVALUATING THE SPIRIT The basic Greek root for discern, diakrino, means "to judge through, to see through to the truth, to truly evaluate something." Diakrino ( Strong's #1252). This word means "to separate, discriminate"; and "to learn by discriminating, to determine, decide."So, discerning spirits is simply to evaluate the spirit -- whether it is God, or a spirit other than the Holy Spirit. The gift of discernment (1 Cor. 12:10) is a supernatural ability to distinguish between the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, between holiness and evil. We live in a world in which there is a great spiritual battle raging (Ephesians 6:10-18). There is another aspect of our lives that makes this gift of discernment necessary. As human beings we do not always know whether or not our thoughts, words and deeds are from God. Discernment is the means God uses to literally divide light from darkness, truth from falsehood, right motive from wrong motive, selflessness from selfishness. Another, in Hebrews 5:14 we are told that discernment comes with spiritual maturity that the Spirit works in us (diakrisis - Strong's #1253). The next greek word is anakrino (Strong's #350) and literally means, "to distinguish, or separate out so as to investigate (krino) by looking throughout (ana, intensive) objects or particulars," hence signifies "to examine, scrutinize, question, to hold a preliminary judicial examination preceding the trial proper." This word was used of Pilate's examination of Jesus (Luke 23:14). It is also the word used of the Bereans who "searched" the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). The necessity of being born again of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to have discernment is stated by Paul to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 2:14). The last Greek word translated "discern" is dokimazo (Strong's #1381) which means "to test, prove, scrutinize." This term conveys the thought of "to decide." It is translated "discern" in the King James Version of Luke 12:56. Gift of discernment is a whistle-blower that is never very popular. Anyone who has this gift has to walk a fine line. They are compelled to expose heresy, false doctrine, and untruths, but they must do so tactfully or lose credibility as an “overzealous heresy headhunter” or simply a highly judgmental person. Care must be exercised to expose untruths with clarity and kindness. This special ability that God gives which enables a person to know with assurance whether certain behavior purported to be of God is in reality divine, human, or Satanic. This gift can motivate a believer to seek God’s will and purpose and apply that understanding to individual and congregational situations. It provides the ability to distinguish between truth and error, to know when a person or act is of God. Sometimes the gift of discernment is referred to as “discerning of spirits.” Jesus warned us to beware of false teachers and prophets, and the gift of discernment plays a critical role in helping the church stay the course of true doctrine in the face of error and untruth. Church members with the gift of discernment are responsible for keeping false teachers and teachings from influencing and possibly perverting the church. The Scriptures teach not only that there is a gift of discerning of spirits but that we can also learn to discern. This can only come as we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. But the learning is a result of the Holy Spirit teaching us, and discernment being a spiritual ability, one must be spiritual as opposed to carnal. 1 Tim. 4:1 says that in latter days, deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons will come, so the important role of the gift of discernment is to identify those spirits and doctrines. A discerning spirit tests the spirits with this rule of scripture: "By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God." (1 John 4:2,3)