How to Test the Spirits
Spirit, soul, and body – do you know the difference?
Your spirit is that inner part of you that connects you to the spiritual world; your body or flesh is that external part of you that connects you to the physical world; and your soul is that part of you that chooses whether you are going to walk after the spirit or the flesh.
Walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7)
Faith is the means by which we live the spiritual life. Or to put it another way, you cannot live the spiritual life by relying on your natural senses and abilities.
And if you want to walk in newness of life, the spirit comes first. This is why it is helpful to think of the spirit as an antenna that connects us to the spiritual realm. The spirit receives signals from the spiritual realm (e.g., the Holy Spirit) which it transmits to the soul, and the soul exercises the body in response to the spirit’s instruction.
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. (1 John 4:1a)
Since our spirits can detect signals from any spiritual source, divine or demonic, we need to test the spirits to see if what we are hearing is from God.
For instance, if we find ourselves doubting what God has said and asking, “Did God really say?” we can be sure we are hearing from the demonic realm. Since God is unchanging, he will never contradict himself. So anything that causes you to question what God has said is not from the Holy Spirit.
A word from the devil
One of the sadder stories in the Bible concerns a man called Ananias. Ananias told a lie and died when Peter confronted him about it:
Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit …? (Acts 5:3)
The temptation to lie came from the father of lies. It did not come from the Spirit of Truth. Nor did it come from Ananias himself. “Satan filled your heart” means Satan fed him a lie and Ananias swallowed it.
He never tested the spirits.
Many outrageous claims come prefaced with the words, “God told me to…” Did he really? Are you certain? Or were you fed a lie?
“God told me to divorce my wife.” Are you sure about that?
“God told me to bet the farm on a suspect business dealing.” And how did that work out?
Growing up I had a friend who blossomed into a beautiful young woman. During her late teens and early twenties about a dozen men proposed to her saying, “God told me you were going to be my wife.”
Hmm. They couldn’t have all been right.
No doubt handsome young men have heard similar things from Christian women. “God told me you were going to be my husband.”
Playing the God-told-me-so card is one of the most dangerous things believer’s do. If you ever hear it, make sure you test the spirits to see whether it is actually from the Lord.
All sorts of ideas pass through our heads; some are good, others are not-so-good. We should not act on anything without first asking, is this from the Lord?
How do we test the spirits?
We test the spirits by asking questions:
- Does this idea (or word or message or advice) encourage me to rely on the Lord or myself?
- Does it feed my faith or my doubts?
- Does it release freedom or bind me in chains?
- Does it promote man’s agenda or bring glory to God?
- Does it glorify Christ’s righteousness or my failures?
- Does it fill me with peace or anxiety?
- Does it have the stench of flesh or the fragrance of Jesus?
Ultimately the test is: who does it point me to? Origin determines destination. Any spirit from God, will lead you to God.
When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify about me. (John 15:26)
If the message you are hearing causes you to look to Christ or rely on Christ, you can be sure that you are hearing from the Holy Spirit.
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Source: Spirit, Soul & Body: How to Walk in the Spirit, available now on Patreon.
Read this article in Portuguese.
Escape to Reality 
Using your approach what do you have to say about giving/not giving tithe?
You can find my articles on giving and tithing here.
Top-shelf stuff, Paul. The simple wisdom of God. LOVE IT!
Thanks, Mat. I appreciate the feedback.
Sound advice
Thanks for posting this. I am trying to fine tune my gift of discernment and this is very helpful. I discovered from a sermon recently that sometimes when I hear from God I try to figure it out in the flesh which has led to frustration. The questions in your post gives me a way to get clarity.
Hi there Paul and the rest of E2R Bothers and Sisters in Christ!
You had me laugh my lungs out! Especially when in your reality check list of testing the spirit above… and I quote , ” Does it have the stench of flesh or the fragrance of Jesus?”
I’d rather have the fragrance of Jesus than the stench of my flesh… ha ha ha ha! Better to use Jesus fragrance than my nauseating fleshly made ‘fragrance’!
That’s a good one!
Keep up the good work of educating us in the Spirit spiced with a good sense of humour as you ingeniously do!
‘For instance, if we find ourselves doubting what God has said and asking, “Did God really say?” we can be sure we are hearing from the demonic realm. Since God is unchanging, he will never contradict himself. So anything that causes you to question what God has said is not from the Holy Spirit.’
I’m not convinced that it is that simple. It isn’t a matter of, ‘I know that God said ____, but is He telling the truth?’ but, ‘How do I know that God said ___ in the first place?’
‘It’s in the Bible.’ Yes, but (a) check whether it’s ACTUALLY in the Bible or something we have misremembered, (b) how do we know whether we have interpreted it correctly, and (c) even if it is in the Bible, how do we know whether the Bible writers were always right?
As you yourself say, ‘Playing the God-told-me-so card is one of the most dangerous things believers do. If you ever hear it, make sure you test the spirits to see whether it is actually from the Lord.’
How can you test whether God really told you to do something, without asking yourself, ‘Did God really tell me to do this?’
That’s really a subject for another article. But when you have heard the Lord tell you something and you have a conviction about it, then any word that contradicts or causes you to question that word is of dubious origin. The Lord never contradicts himself and he does not author confusion.
Hi Paul, I’ve been down this path hoping for discussion/clarity on this “hearing from God”, “guided by the Spirit” topic for a few years now. Thank you for raising the topic.
Jesus revealed; demonstrated by his actions; taught, that the kingdom of God does not bear bad fruit, nor does it have anything in common with the kingdom of darkness. Jesus set the record right when he taught, “healing doesn’t come from satan” and “killing, stealing, destroying is the work of satan”.
Jesus further defines the nature and character of the unchanging God as self sacrificing, enemy loving, and a Father to all humanity, without any sense of favouritism or bias towards tribes, race or nationality. We further learn that mans’ enemy is not flesh and blood. What questions should these God given clarifications raise about which spirit was sometimes the source of commands/motivation/directions offered through Moses and the prophets?
Are we allowed, permitted, required to test the writings throughout the bible and discern which spirit, which kingdom is its source?
I think we go down a slippery slope if we start assigning bits of the Bible to different kingdoms with the implication that we can dismiss them. I maintain that we should read ALL scripture is through the lens of the new covenant. We filter what we read through the Person and work of Jesus. More here.