Testing The Spirits

Not everything called the Holy Ghost really is. The true Spirit of God will never go against His own Word. Unfortunately, not everyone knows that.

I’ve had people tell me that the Holy Ghost teaches them truth—and then go on to say He told them not to believe the Bible! When someone claims the Spirit has told them something that goes against Scripture, I have to question it.

When I ask how they know it was the Holy Ghost, the answer is often, “Because I felt His presence,” or, “God impressed this upon me.” But your feelings are not the way to test the spirits.

We have to test the spirits to see if they are of God. So how do we begin? How do you know if you are dealing with the Holy Spirit—or something else?

Does God Still Speak

In order to know the difference between a spirit that is not of God and the Holy Ghost, we need to know His voice.

Anyone who has accepted the gift of salvation from Jesus knows the Bible is His Word. They know that because they recognize His voice. I have said it many times and I will say it again: when God speaks, you know it is Him. You will not doubt or have to wonder about it.

His voice does not sound like the one you speak with inside your own head. It does not sound like a sudden impulsive thought. His voice is distinct to Him.

Some ask, “Why doesn’t God just introduce Himself directly? If He wants people to know Him, why not show Himself plainly?” The truth is, He already has. He spoke through His prophets and had them write it down.

And He has not stopped speaking. He still moves by His Spirit today, just as He promised long ago.

Even today, the Holy Spirit is in the hearts of those who love God. We are still living in the last days. The scriptures tell us in the days we are living He will do this. He is still active. People still have dreams and visions. People still hear the still, small voice of God. He has not left us.

Some believe these Scriptures teach otherwise:

They argue that the Spirit no longer speaks, that His gifts have ceased, and that “that which is perfect” refers to the Bible. Since we now have Scripture, they say, the Spirit no longer operates in those ways.

But the Scriptures themselves tell us something else just two verses later:

The Bible tells us we will see Jesus face to face and know Him as He knows us. That is “that which is perfect.” We don’t yet know Him as fully as He knows us. So that which is perfect has not yet come, but it will.

The scriptures say we know in part and prophesy in part. That’s why people still debate over end time prophesy. We don’t have a perfect understanding because it hasn’t been fulfilled yet. That which is perfect is Jesus.

So yes, the Spirit still speaks. He still operates as He always has.

Test The Spirits

Let’s say you are going about your day when you are suddenly blinded by a great light. A voice comes from the light saying, “I am God and I want you to cast away the Bible.” What are you going to do?

God does not change. He will not contradict Himself. He will not defy His own Word. Because of that, we can conclude that anything which goes against what is in the Bible is not from His Spirit.

Sometimes I encounter people that believe they have a “special” walk with God. They believe He has taught them things not known to anyone else. People like Joseph Smith come to mind.

These people reject the Scriptures and follow a different spirit. Because the spirit they follow is only known to them, they become the only one who can bring his message to people. This is not how God does things.

God has remained the same throughout history. He hasn’t hidden Himself altogether. Every prophet in the Bible spoke of the same God. Every word spoken agrees with the others. If no one else knows your god, then it is not God. If Scripture does not agree with your god, then it is not God. God never changes no matter who He meets.

Cult leaders claim to have special knowledge unknown to others. They claim to know god like no one else. Therefore, they believe they are a greater authority than even the Bible itself.

But the Holy Ghost has never changed and has been known to millions throughout history. Their testimony is in the Scriptures. So whatever does not line up with the Bible is not from God.

Who Is The Holy Spirit

In our first unit we learned about the doctrine of the Trinity. We discovered that what many teach on the subject isn’t actually what the Bible teaches. God is not three different individuals. God is one and there is no other. So when we speak of the Holy Spirit we are speaking of God Himself, not someone else.

He is the God we see in the Old Testament. He is the Spirit of the Creator. He is the Spirit within Jesus. He is the invisible Word.

The words written in the Bible in black ink are just as important as the words written in red ink. Any doctrine that seeks to remove or lessen authority from any part of the Scriptures (which is the Word of God) did NOT come from the Holy Ghost. God will not change and will not defy His own Word.

Of course I have no doubt some of you reading this are now yelling at your screen that I am teaching false doctrine about the Trinity. But after you finish here go ahead and visit that link. You are in for a shock. For now lets continue.

How To Test The Spirits

There is a common theme that can be found in every false doctrine. That theme is the ultimate rejection of Jesus being God who came in the flesh. Any doctrine that removes Jesus from being 100% flesh and 100% God does NOT come from the Holy Spirit.

At first glance, this may seem like it only applies to doctrines that outright deny Jesus came in the flesh. But when we trace false doctrines back to their roots, we find that every single one undermines the truth that Jesus is both fully God and fully man.

Some reject His divinity. Some reject His humanity. And some reject both. But all false teaching has this in common: it presents a distorted view of Jesus.

Satan has thrown out many false doctrines, but why? His goal with every false doctrine is to have people reject Jesus as God and Savior. It isn’t always easy to spot. Sometimes false doctrine sounds right.

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

The Prosperity Gospel

Jesus suffered, was rejected, and endured trials though He was perfectly obedient. To say that faith or giving guarantees blessing means that these things should not have happened to Jesus. If this doctrine were true, then it would mean Jesus was not perfectly divine and sinless. In other words, it would mean He is not God. This rejects Him as God.

Original Sin

Some say we are born with the guilt of sin. They believe we all bear the guilt of Adam even if we have not yet sinned ourselves. This would mean Jesus would be born guilty of sin if He were human. But we know that He was sinless. So this doctrine rejects Him as human.

Every false doctrine can be traced back to this. So when you test the spirits, you need to make sure you test them against the Scriptures and against this standard.

How To Handle A False Spirit

If the actions of a spirit contradict the Bible, then it is not of God. An example is false prophets. Has someone claimed to be speaking under the power of the Holy Ghost and given a prophecy that did not come to pass?

Make no mistake, that prophet is not sent by God. Do not listen to them today or tomorrow. God does not get things right half the time. He is always right. His reputation is tied to the honesty of the prophet He sends. So He will not use a liar for that purpose.

But other than not paying them attention, how else should we react? What about preachers who sometimes get it wrong? What about teachers who teach false doctrine?

Preachers and teachers are as human as anyone else. Often we get caught up in our own emotions and feelings. That little voice of impulse in our head can sound an awful lot like the prompting of God—especially when we are not able to hear well enough through our own human weaknesses.

Imagine if every time you said something wrong someone ran around screaming, “FALSE TEACHER, FALSE PROPHET!” It wouldn’t help you at all, would it? You wouldn’t grow as a Christian. You would just be labeled a wolf by the other sheep and cast out.

But what does the Bible tell us we need to do?

It’s important that we consider ourselves in these cases. Have you ever said something you believed to be true and later discovered it wasn’t? Not everyone who speaks false doctrine is aware that they are doing it. How would you want to be treated in that situation?

Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos in and taught him the right way of looking at the Scriptures. They didn’t accuse him or question his heart. In fact, the Bible tells us he was fervent in spirit and diligent in sharing the Word of God. It commends him—even though he needed a correction or two.

Everything we have said here has been to explain only one thing. This has all been about testing the spirit. Any spirit or doctrine that denies Jesus is 100% man and 100% God, contradicts the Scriptures, or acts contrary to the Scriptures is not of God.

In our next unit, we will get into more detail about His voice. We will learn what it sounds like and how to be sensitive to it. In other words, we are going to learn how to hear from God.

Continue To Unit 4:4 – Knowing the Voice of God: The Bible OR

Return To Christianity 101 Unit 4 – The Baptism of the Holy Spirit