Wednesday, January 21, 2015
1 Corinthians 12:10-11 ...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. But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
THE GIFT OF DISCERNMENT
God can give any of the gifts on today's list to His children whenever and wherever He wants. The more "miraculous" (as far as the world is concerned--performing miracles, speaking in tongues) served a special purpose. They were more prevalent in the early days of God's New Testament church (see the book of Acts).
What is vitally necessary in these latter days though is the gift of "discerning of spirits…"--the ability to distinguish between what is of the Spirit of God and what is not. Those who have this gift make wise evaluations and judgments on what is being read, preached, or taught on the basis of God's Word.
How necessary this gift is comes from realizing what is at stake. Paul wrote that "a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough" (1 Corinthians 5:6), because he was concerned about false teachers undermining the gospel of full and complete forgiveness of sins in Jesus.
Paul's fellow apostle also stressed the need for careful Christian discernment. John put it like this: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God" (1 John 4:1-3).
God's Old Testament prophets were likewise concerned lest His Word be contaminated and the gospel undermined. Jeremiah compared the gift of spiritual discernment to sifting chaff from the wheat (Jeremiah 23:28f).
In the process of such sifting, of course, the Christian discerner will always endeavor to "speak the truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15), speaking humbly and without pride or self-righteousness.
Lord, grant me the Spirit's gift of discernment between what is truth and what is error, what is wheat or what is chaff. Amen.
