Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:
Summary:
In today’s episode, we’re digging into spiritual discernment. Everyone practices discernment daily—what to wear, what to eat, who to trust—but spiritual discernment is something deeper. It’s not just a good habit—it’s a biblical command. Is Discernment a Spiritual Gift or a Christian Responsibility?
So what is the gift of discernment, and does that mean only some Christians are expected to use it? Or is spiritual discernment something we’re all called to walk in?
I’ll break down the three areas where every Christian must exercise discernment:
- Truth vs. error
- Good vs. evil
- Sin vs. not sin
If you’ve ever wondered how to sharpen your spiritual radar in a culture full of confusion, this episode is for you!
Women’s Ministry Leaders Conference: SIGN UP!
Intro
Hey everyone! Welcome back to another episode of the Her Faith Inspires podcast where we take cultural issues and examine them through the lens of Scripture. Today’s episode is all about spiritual discernment. I have to be the adjective spiritual before discernment because discernment isn’t just a Christian word. Everyone uses discernment on a daily basis. We discern right from wrong, we discern what to wear based on weather conditions. But what does spiritual discernment look like and since it’s a gift of the Spirit, does that mean some Christians have it and some don’t? I am looking forward to this talk with you today.
Our topic for today:
- What is discernment compared to spiritual discernment?
- What does the Bible say every Christian must discern and what is the gift of discernment?
- How do you get better and discernment?
What is discernment? What is spiritual discernment?
The Oxford dictionary definition for discernment is “the ability to judge well.” Again, this is not just a biblical term. Everyone is discerning when they watch the news, or listen to a speech. They are discerning when they stand at the top of a cliff and wonder if they should jump into the lake below them – assessing the height and their safety. Spiritual discernment is the ability to judge spiritual matters, good and evil. It goes beyond the physical to the eternal. Spiritual discernment recognizes truth from error.
The question is, what do we need in order to be discerning?
You need a mind and conscience transformed by the power of the cross. What do I mean by that? Titus 1:15-16 says, “To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their actions they deny Him. They are detestable, disobedient, and unfit for any good deed.”
What does Paul mean that to the pure all things are pure? In this context, he is talking about the regeneration and work of the Spirit in our lives upon salvation. It is Christ who makes us pure, not the circumcision (or works) of the flesh. When something is purified the impurities rise to the top so that they are visible and can be removed. That means purification is from inside to outside. We talked about this in episode 295 so go back and listen if you haven’t, but these false teachers were unfit for any good work because they were defiled from the inside out. What was defiled? Their minds and their consciences. They had a broken moral compass and could not discern between good and evil, or what was true from what was false. Therefore, their deeds (or impurities) rose to the top and were evident to all.
Not being able to discern right and wrong.
If you do not have a transformed mind – Romans 12:2 – and your conscience is seared like a hot iron by the influence of the culture – 1 Tim 4:2 – you will not be able to discern right from wrong or truth from error. Sure, you can discern basic moral truths because God wrote the moral law on our hearts (Romans 3) and has given us all the ability to know basic write and wrong. But to be spiritually discerning takes a redeemed mind and the Spirit of God who gives us the understanding.
Everyone thinks their judgment is right. Therefore, everyone thinks their ability to discern right from wrong is tracking with the good of society. However, you then have to ask yourself what is good and right and true? Who determines that? Because your ability to discern is only as good as the standard you use to judge what’s good, right, and true?
There has to be a standard outside or you, the government, society – that shows what is good and right and true for all people, at all times, in all places. Otherwise, your discernment will be off because your mind and conscience are defiled. Do you see what I’m saying? It’s more than just claiming that you have the gift of discernment. Every Christian ought to practice discernment because they hold to the standard God set. That’s why you need a redeemed mind and conscience in order to discern, but you also need to be in the word of God.
What does the Bible say every Christian must discern and what is the gift of discernment?
I believe there are three main things that every Christian must be able to discern. And these three things are related to each other in the sense that they all have to do with what is true.
The first thing we must discern is truth from error.
We must discern between what is good from evil.
We must discern between what is sin and what isn’t.
Let’s talk about each of these.
What is truth from what is error (or false):
How do we know whether or not something is true? We have to have the correct source. There is always an authority we’re going to put our faith (trust) in. Genesis 2 and 3 show us there are only two sources for every claim or belief: God or Satan. We might assume there are other sources out there – like New Age, feminism, Islam – but again, the Bible only gives us two sources. Jesus confirms this when He tells the Pharisees they are of their father the devil because he is the father of lies, meaning he is the source of lies.
We are to discern what is truth from error.
This happens in the mind. That means we have to learn how to think critically, but we also have to allow God to transform our minds so that we can discern what is the will of God. Let me read you Romans 1 and 2 and show you that discernment is embedded in this verse: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers,[a] by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.[b] 2 Do not be conformed to this world,[c] but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
That means that when we get saved, we have the ability to discern truth from error. Now, there is a growing process to this. There is a maturing process because Paul also talks about growing from the milk of the gospel to solid food – meaning you are maturing in your understanding of Scripture as the Holy Spirit sanctifies you. And we have the word of truth – our bibles. This is the source we draw from when it comes to discerning truth from error. It was the same idea back in the garden. There will always be an attack on what God has said or determined so that if His word is undermined, we easily dismiss His word and listen to the father of lies.
We must discern between what is good from what is evil:
It’s not that people don’t know what good is. What we talk about in apologetics is how do you know what good is unless there is a God who has set the standard for right and wrong. So all human beings have a general understanding of right and wrong because God wrote the moral law on our hearts (Romans 3). However, we have to make sure that what we identify as good is what God calls good. We see that God used the word good after every day of creation in Genesis. God saw that it was good.
What does good mean? God calls His law good. He works things for our good. He is just, fair, loving, and kind. All of those things are good. Evil is the absence of good, therefore, there is no evil in God. There is no evil in His law. There is no evil in the outcome of His working in our lives. When we know God, we are able to discern between good and evil. In fact, God warns those who choose to call evil good and good evil in Isaiah 5:20. So then, we can identify what is good and what is evil in someone’s words and/or actions.
Every Christian must discern between what is sin and what is not:
As you can see, these are all connected to what is true and what is good, but we can get specific about what is sin and we should. In our culture, there is a debate among Christians as to whether or not homosexuality is a sin. There should not be a debate about this. It’s clear in Scripture that God clearly states marriage is between one man and one woman. Not only that, after God created male and female and gave the creation mandate He said it was very good.
There’s a debate in our culture as to whether or not Christians should use the preferred pronoun of others. Why are we debating this? Sin is not determined by how someone else feels. Sin is what God has determined in His word. There are acts of sin and then there are sins of the heart that none of us may not know about – like the sin of pride or hate for someone else. God will deal with that but because we do not know what someone’s personal sin may be, doesn’t mean we cannot identify what sin is.
We do not get to determine what is sin and what is good. We do not get to determine what is true. God has determined all of these things and it is up to us to discover them. How do we do this? Again, it’s going to come down to His word.
All Christians should be able to discern what is true, what is good, and what is sin.
All of us. And you don’t need to have the gift of discernment in order to do so. Is there a gift of discernment that the Bible speaks of? Yes. Now, I am a continuation-ist – I believe the gifts are still prevalent in believers today, however, I don’t think the gifts are as prominent today as they were in the first century because we have the complete canon of Scripture. They did not. With that said, Paul talks about the gift of discernment in 1 Corinthians.
Let’s read verses 4:11:
“4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”
A gift is meant to be given.
One of my pastors said the other day that a gift is meant to be given. If the Holy Spirit has given you gift it’s meant to be shared among the body of Christ. If you have the gift of discernment, use the gift. But what does it mean that someone has a gift of discernment. Obviously this means in spiritual matters. John tells us in 1 John to test the spirits – that is another way to say be discerning.
Discern whether or not this is a false teacher. Since discernment is also a gift of the Spirit, that means to some there is a greater ability by the Spirit to discern a false teacher. Now, I think with every gift God gives there is a responsibility to be wise in how we use it. I talked a few weeks ago about heresy hunters in the body of Christ. That means we must discern between what is blatant false teaching to something we just disagree with.
With that said, just because some have the gift of discernment and some don’t that doesn’t mean we don’t have the responsibility to be discerning. The more you read your Bible and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to you, you will become better and better at discerning truth from error.
I know some who say, “Well, I have the gift of discernment.” Ok, fine. That doesn’t mean those of us who don’t cannot discern. We all have the Holy Spirit and we all have the word of God, and we are all required to discern what is true, what is good, and what is sin.
How do you get better at discernment?
Most of the messages and questions that come to me from people are about false teachers, questions about doctrine, or something to do with a message or an author. In other words, it’s all about discernment. I don’t mind helping you walk through some of those messages if I can, but the best thing you can do is learn how to interpret your own Bible. The best thing you can do is seek God through His word and be in it daily. You have the Holy Spirit. You are going to have to get better at discerning and taking everything to the Lord.
There is not a magic formula for becoming more equipped to discern.
There’s no book I can recommend. It’s going to be the good old fashioned way – read your Bible and talk to the Lord.
One of the best examples we have of this is the Bereans in Acts. 17:10-11 read, “10 The brothers[b] immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”
That’s the example we must follow. Today, we don’t only have other beliefs and resources refuting the word of God. We have tons of TikTok influencers who have deconstructed from Christianity logging in and telling their followers the Bible has been changed over and over. They tell them the word homosexuality was added in the 1940s. Then they say Paul’s epistles are frauds and shouldn’t be in the NT. They say Christianity is a white man’s religion. Do you know what to do when you hear these claims? You can either do what Eve did and you can buy it, or you can go back to God’s word, dig, and do the work so that you are not deceived. That’s discernment.
The Holy Spirit leads us into all truth. That’s what Jesus said. We have everything we need to discern what is true, what is good, and what is sin.
Closing
We have to be serious about our own discipleship and discerning our sources is extremely important. God gives wisdom to all who ask and He gives liberally and without reproach. There is no pre-requisite for getting wisdom. It always comes down to owning hour own discipleship and making sure you listen to and follow the right teachers. But always, always, always, follow the example of the Berean and be in your word. If it sounds off, it just might be. Trust the Holy Spirit.
When I was growing up in church, people called those the unction of the Spirit, or when the Holy Spirit checks your spirit. It’s like saying you have a gut feeling something isn’t right – except it’s not your gut. It’s the Spirit of God in you telling you that voice you’re listening to is not the Shepherd. I don’t care what you call it. Just know that the Holy Spirit gives you the ability to discern truth from error and it is your job to be a truth seeker. Do that, and you’ll be able to discern so you won’t be deceived.
I hope this episode encouraged you. If you have any questions for me, email me at hello@Shandafulbright.com. Please remember to email me your testimonials to read on the 300th episode. And I’ll catch you on the next one!
Leave a Reply