The Holy Spirit & Discerning of spirits.

A Spirit-Filled Life: An essential ingredient missing in today’s Christian experience.

The Light of the Spirit

I have provided discussions on evil and spirituality, but I also must show the brighter side of spirituality. It’s not that believers in Jesus avoid being spiritual — absolutely the opposite!

We should not hide from spirituality, but we must learn to discern good spirits from evil ones.

There are signs of evil spirits in scripture whereby a believer can detect and know what they are dealing with.[1] Also, we must be aware that God provides His heavenly protection for those that belong to Him.

The promise of good spirituality is contingent upon the believer being born of the Holy Spirit! Before taking any position on spirituality or the supernatural, the believer needs to be filled with God’s Spirit first. It’s an essential step, or you leave yourself wide open to spiritual attacks of all types and will be powerless to defeat them.

Understanding spiritual things can be confusing; to some, it’s seen as “woo woo” or mystical stuff. It doesn’t translate into something this modern church generation can relate to; that is understandable, but totally undesirable.

We may need to modernize the ancient terms and understandings to gain a better sense of spiritual life.

Jesus spoke in parables in public but more plainly to his disciples. How can we understand this great mystery better? I have found a passage in John 14:17 as a profound, mysterious statement: “This is the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you and will be in you.”

Why is this a mystery? Because there are two aspects of the Spirit described: abiding with them and being in them. This is a great mystery, as those with the Holy Spirit’s gifts in the Old Testament had God’s Spirit abiding with them, but it wasn’t necessarily permanent, and it did not live within them.

This could only be accomplished by Jesus by His death and resurrection. Only then could the sinful human be made purified as to become a temple, a dwelling place fit for the Spirit of Almighty God!

Of course, in this passage, Jesus speaks directly to his inner disciples, the subject involves a difference the disciples experienced with Jesus being in His direct presence than what they would be after he returned to Heaven.

So, what is that difference? This is complex as it doesn’t just involve miracles, healings, or casting out demons, as the disciples could do that when Jesus sent them out (Luke 10:9; Mark 6: 6–13; and Matthew 10: 1–8). This is hardly discussed by today’s theologians, seemingly irrelevant, yet extremely important!

To summarize, the disciples of Christ could perform certain miracles while Jesus was still on earth and with them. This indicated that the Holy Spirit was with them, but the Spirit had not yet established a residence or home within their bodies.

The disciples had the Holy Spirit with them and performed signs and wonders while Jesus was still with them, so this wasn’t the critical sign of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit being in them. The difference was that Jesus himself was the principal teacher when Jesus was with them. Other than the words and instructions he gave them, the knowledge of God was in him, not in the disciples.

The disciples questioned and argued, needing to grasp Jesus’ words meaningfully. This all changed when the Spirit fell upon them and dwelt within them, as seen on the day of Pentecost in the Book of Acts, Chapters 1–4. In Chapter 1, we see the disciples after Jesus returned to Heaven. They are frightened and leaderless.

That had only one instruction — to wait for the Spirit. Only then would they become suitable to be his witnesses.

These same disciples had done signs and wonders before that time, but now they were unsure of themselves and what to do next. Peter, being their assumed leader as Jesus foretold, demonstrated some knowledge of Old Testament prophecy regarding the fate of Judas. That was impressive, as he listened well when Jesus taught them. Also, Jesus stated that Peter had received impressions from God when he recognized Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God.

I see Peter having heightened spiritual sensitivity, perhaps naturally, and open to receiving spiritual impressions. To paraphrase, they prayed and then rolled the dice to pick a disciple to replace Judas. This doesn’t appear to be by divine inspiration, but it did work in that situation — Matthias was chosen.

Next, we see a transformation in Acts, Chapter 2. Over 100 individuals, both men and women, are in a crowded room when the Holy Spirit falls on each of them in a display of violent wind and tongues of fire resting on their heads. They then spoke in other languages as the Holy Spirit gave them the ability.

This occurrence was not just speaking in unknown languages, as today’s Pentecostals insist. Some among them may have spoken in unknown tongues, but some were heard in natural languages spoken by various nations.

The primary transformation was the knowledge the Spirit-filled disciples suddenly had and their ability to preach and teach with authority!

Not just what they heard and previously learned, but also as those who understood the mysteries of God and the scriptures. Now, this is critically important! They had been taught by Jesus for nearly three years in his company. They had the scriptures of the Old Testament being taught from childhood as Jews, and the new concepts that Jesus added to that knowledge. However, that was not enough.

Only the Spirit living within them opened the floodgates of the actual living understanding of the purpose of scripture and Christ.

I propose this remains an essential ingredient in today’s Christian experience.

We have the Scriptures — yes, but actual knowledge comes from the Holy Spirit (the author of Scripture) to handle Scripture knowledge in a right daily fashion. The Holy Spirit is not just a concept but a living guide in our daily lives, helping us understand and apply scripture in our actions and decisions.

No amount of theology training or religious scholarship replaces the Holy Spirit’s rightful place.[2]

How do we generally perceive spirits, if not by the Holy Spirit? First and foremost, the Holy Spirit is a spirit. This aspect is similar to other spirits in a common communication style, whether those spirits are good or evil. But its distinctiveness is what reassures us and helps us to discern spiritually.

As an analogy, spirit is considered a form of invisible vibrations with varying frequencies. Modern science provides substantial evidence to support this theory. For instance, String Theory in physics and quantum mechanics demonstrates that all subatomic particles vibrate at specific frequencies.

If we could perceive reality, everything would appear as a series of vibrating particles or energy waves.

We are constantly surrounded by these invisible forces and particles, vibrating both around and within us. The unique vibration of each force and particle signifies its distinct identity. Some of these vibrations result in visible phenomena, while most are unseen but still impact on our environment.

This is evident in forces like magnetism; although it’s invisible, its presence is unmistakable when two like-charged objects are brought together or two unlike-charged objects are brought together. We may not see anything between the objects, but we can feel the force of repulsion or attraction.

Spirits are another example of usually unseen vibrations.

These various strengths can overlap with our vibrations in a synergistic way or a repulsive fashion — good or bad vibrations that can be perceived as feelings, impressions, voices in our heads, dreams, visions, and number of ways. The origins of these forces and vibrations are fundamental to the unseen universe. They impact on our daily life, our well-being, and the environment around us.

Today’s emerging theories on consciousness are starting to consider that the brain may not be the origin of consciousness but a transmitter that collects information from outside the body. The invisible spirit or soul within us is the origin of consciousness. As we exist as spirits within a body, it should not be a surprise that spirits outside a body may be able to communicate with us.

We see how spiritual experiences and manifestations can occur regardless of religion or belief. Even the non-believers in the paranormal are impacted by spiritual forces of one type or another; they do not recognize or discern the spirit or resist the spirit’s impressions or ideas.

We are living in a paranormal, spirit-filled world.

Today, secular thought and reductionist philosophies abound in the modern age within our educational systems. The real world is, however, a mysterious place. Those who claim to live in the mundane and predictable do not have eyes to see. Jesus often says, “having eyes to see, and ears to hear.” This means that not everyone can understand the deep meanings of the spiritual realm.

Some, and perhaps a growing number, experience spiritual phenomena of one type or another but are reluctant to speak about it, fearing criticism. Some studies support that many face odd occurrences without causal explanations, but they feel isolated from sharing their experiences and suffer silently.

Others seek out others with similar experiences, forming cults or new religions that help them understand what they are experiencing. This is terribly troubling trend, but a lot is connected to the lack of Spirit in the modern Christian churches — they have become dry and uninspiring leaving the door wide open for other spirits to fill the vacuum.

© Bob Russell

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Sources & References:

[1] 1 Corinthians 121:10; 1 John 4:1–3; 1 John 3:8; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; James 4:71 Timothy 4:1; Isaiah 8:19–20; Ephesians 6:10–18; 1 Peter 5:8; 2 Timothy 1:7; Leviticus 19:31; Galatians 1:8; 2 Corinthians 11: 14–15; Isaiah 54:17; Deuteronomy 18:11

[2] Proverbs 2:6; Proverb 1:7; Proverbs 18:151 Corinthians 1:26–28