The Holy Spirit: Power Presence and Purpose Part 162

The Gifts Part 67

Discerning of Spirits continued...

Galatians 1:6-8, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.”

We’ve been told that we’re special and unique for so long that we’ve started to believe it. Since we’ve started to believe that we are special and unique, we’ve extrapolated this to every area of our lives, and so have come to believe that our difficulties, our struggles, and the issues we must confront within the congregation of God are likewise new and unprecedented.

We have come to believe that no other generation in the history of the church has faced the struggles with which we are confronted, no other generation in the history of the church has had to deal with deception and with those who want to pervert the gospel of Christ, yet the more we read the word of God, we come away with the realization that Solomon was right after all, and there really is nothing new under the sun.

Ever since the church began, the enemy has been there attempting to turn believers away to a different gospel. Whether with subtlety or brute force, whether with veiled deception or lies so outrageous even a spiritual infant could readily spot them, the enemy has been tireless in his mission to blur the lines, pervert the gospel of Christ, and recapture those who by the grace of God had shaken off the shackles of sin and darkness.

The only difference between our generation, and the generation Paul is addressing in his letter to the church at Galatia, is that in our day and age the enemy is apparently more successful in troubling the children of God, and causing an almost general uncertainty as to what we ought to believe and what we ought to reject.

In his attempt to simplify the methodology of choosing what we ought to believe, and what we ought not to believe, Paul simply says, that no matter who it is that comes to you with a different gospel than that of the gospel of Christ, whether it be a well-known preacher, an evangelist, a miracle worker, or even an angel, not only should you not believe it, but let them be accursed for doing it.

Since much of the church has given in to political correctness, and a backbone is harder to find than dinosaur eggs in some congregations, in many an instance even when gifts such as the gift of discerning of spirits were present in the church, and the vessel had the constitution and wherewithal to boldly proclaim that which God had shown them, they would summarily be silenced by either the pastor or the elder board for fear of hurting someone’s feelings.

Perhaps if we understood the enemy’s intent, we wouldn’t be so quick to protect, tolerate, insulate, and overlook those who would pervert the gospel of Christ. Perhaps if we understood that those who would preach a different gospel are not our friends, they are not misunderstood, nor are they well intentioned, but are the minions of the enemy, we would not be so quick to mock, ridicule, assault and shun those who would warn us of their presence within the church.

The more we look at today’s church, the more we come to the realization that everything’s upside down, and inside out. We reject and scold and tongue lash those who out of love warn us, we distance and disavow ourselves of those who would attempt to draw our attention back to Christ and the cross, yet we embrace and honor those who pervert the gospel of Christ, and exhort us to focus all our attention on the things of this earth and the trappings thereof.

Paul doesn’t mince words, he doesn’t attempt to soften the blow, to pacify or placate those who would come teaching a different gospel, or who would pervert the gospel of Christ, he simply says, ‘let them be accursed.’ To be accursed, is to be, by definition, damned, condemned, ruined, doomed or undone. It is not a lighthearted word, it is serious in its meaning, yet we take it upon ourselves to overlook it, as we do so much of scripture for the sake of keeping the peace, of being non-confrontational, and showing the world that we can be just as tolerant and all-embracing as they are.

We love our spineless, compromising, character lacking spiritual leaders, because in some sort of morbid way we feel it gives us license to be just as spineless, just as compromising, and just as lacking in character and spiritual fruits. What we conveniently choose to forget however, is that God doesn’t grade on a curve, He doesn’t judge us as a collective, nor will He judge my life based on the lives of others. God judges based on the standard that He has established in His word, God judges in holiness and righteousness, and God judges us individually.

So what was the point of today’s post? What did it have to do with discerning of spirits? Simply put, today’s post was just another biblical way to discern the spirit of a man, without the specific gift of discerning of spirits. God is wise enough not to use a hatchet when a scalpel will do, and as such there are ways and means by which we can discern the easily discernible as individuals not endowed with the gift of discerning of spirits that are biblically established. When something is uncertain, when we go through the biblical steps of discerning the spirit of a man and still come to no conclusion, be certain God will intervene, He will step in, He will send the gift of discerning of spirits, and reveal the truth to us.

We must do our part, we must be diligent, and we must know the word of God, that when men teach something contrary to the word, when they attempt to pervert the gospel of Christ, we will know it and shield our hearts from their poisons.

With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.