Discernment

Discernment in General

When it comes to the gift of discerning spirits, every born-again believer has a certain amount of discernment, which increases as the believer matures in the Spirit. In Hebrews 5:13-14 we read that a believer who has matured beyond using the milk of the Word as a babe in Christ is able to discern both good and evil. The maturing believer is empowered by the Spirit of God through the Scriptures to tell the difference between good and evil, and, beyond that, he can also distinguish between what is good and what is better. In other words, any born-again believer who chooses to focus on the Word of God is spiritually discerning.

We are told to be discerning. The Gift is actually called the discernment of the spirits. Somewhere along the way, especially in the Baptist world, there became this mentality that we needed to distance ourselves from using terms like “spirits”. It is very important that we work to undo this! We live in a world where there are spirits. You know one: the Holy Spirit!

It also means that there are demonic spirits. Spirits with good intentions, and spirits with bad intentions. In general, Christians have the ability to discern to some extent, and we are told to be discerning.

1 John 4:1 CSB

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

clearly tells us that we are to be discerning.

Acts 17:11 CSB

The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Provides an example of how we are to be discerning

But what about the gift?

Most Famous Biblical Example:

1 Kings 3:5–14 CSB

At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?” And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. Your servant is among your people you have chosen, a people too many to be numbered or counted. So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no king will be your equal during your entire life. If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”

God asked what should He give.

Solomon responded with a wise answer. Though he was in his youth, his answer was one that was from the heart and honest.

What did Solomon ask for?

1 Kings 3:9 CSB

So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

The ability to discern between good and evil - discernment of the spirits!

What did God give?

1 Kings 3:10–12 CSB

Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.

YAHWAH acknowledges that the request was simple: you asked for discernment for yourself to administer justice.

The real request, discernment, could only come from God.

I want to point something out here: the word heart. What comes to mind when you hear heart?

An organ?

Love?

Or something else?

In the ancient Hebrew world, the heart, as an organ was uncommon to be referred to in Scripture. The liver and kidneys were far more important, as organs, than the heart. So when we read about Heart, it is clearly not regarding the muscle that pumps blood throughout the body.

The heart means at the center, or at the core, or something.

The Hebrew word leb (lev) means one’s inner self, inclination, or disposition.

It is the same word used in Gen 6:5, used to describe the condition of man before the flood!

Genesis 6:5 CSB

When the Lord saw that human wickedness was widespread on the earth and that every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil all the time,

The words, “and that every inclination of the human mind”, those words: the human mind can also be translated as the thoughts of his heart.

Lib-Bow (lev-vow) - the core of who they were!

By the way it is the same word used in the next verse to describe the PAIN that GOD experienced because of man’s condition!

Genesis 6:6 CSB

the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and he was deeply grieved.

and he was deeply grieved - you can easily translate that to: “and He was grieved in his heart.” Because the same Word shows up in the ancient Hebrew!

So the heart means the inner self, the core, the consciousness, the inclination of a person. That person could be man, God, Pharoah (God hardened the heart of Pharoah), and Solomon!

So God grants Solomon a wise and understanding inner being, so that he can discern between the spirits of good and evil.

Discernment is an amazing gift.

How do we USE the gift?

Discernment aids the body by recognizing the true intentions of those within or related to the body. Discernment tests the message and actions of others for the protection and well-being of the body.

Let’s return to King Solomon for an interesting story of discernment.

1 Kings 3:16–28 CSB

Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house. On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else was with us in the house; just the two of us were there. During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him in her arms, and she put her dead son in my arms. When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.” “No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.” The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king. The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’ ” The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. And the king said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.” The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!” But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!” The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.” All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to carry out justice.

Solomon was able to use discernment to determine the true intentions of both women. When in this story do you think Solomon knew the truth about which woman was the child’s mother?

Discernment in practice today

Discernment is a gift manifested in the spiritually mature.

Hebrews 5:14 CSB

But solid food is for the mature—for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil.

Philippians 1:9–10 CSB

And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ,

Discernment aids the body by recognizing the true intentions of those within or related to the body. Discernment tests the message and actions of others for the protection and well-being of the body.

In the Biblical sense it is cognitive, meaning to perceive something mentally, to know and comprehend the nature or meaning of something/someone; it is also the intellectual ability to get the meaning of something.

Take both of these statements together and you come up with something interesting.

Have you ever met someone, within the body, who seems to know someone’s true intentions almost instantly? Maybe it is you.

It can be viewed 2 ways.

1 - you meet someone and you know they are the ‘real-deal’, or they are the snake in the grass.

2 - you hear a message, something seems off (spidey sense), you go to Scripture and you find the truth rather quickly.

Discernment was prevalent in the Berean community in Acts. They received a message from Paul, took it to Scripture and accepted it as truth when weighed, balanced, and measured against the rubric.

Discernment should be prevalent now. And we should listen to the discerning spirits around us, and within us. That does not mean that we instantly accept them as spot on, but it does mean that if a warning comes, we must take it serious enough to be cautious and examine for ourselves.