In Sunday School we were working through Romans 8. The teacher had his agenda and part of it covered this verse but did not touch on what came to my mind. That does not surprise me since my mind tends to wander down crooked, shaded paths.
(Rom 8:16 KJV) The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:My question, which I did not express out loud, was, “How can you tell the difference between the Spirit “bearing witness” and just a feeling generated by other pressures?
The question was already in my mind. Last week I watched a segment of The Narrow Path with the teaching of Steve Gregg. The caller was a Mid-Acts Dispensationalist. The acronym for the group, their choice not mine, is MAD. She was accusing him of condemning a previous caller and reprimanded him for his attitude. The question of any well grounded person paying attention would be “What attitude?” I don’t know if you ever listen to what Steve Gregg has to say but aggressive and condemning are not words that usually come to mind.
She repeated many times that she could “feel” that the caller was sincere and that he was right. The fact that Gregg calmly pointed out errors with scripture, reason and logic had no bearing on her feeling or his attitude. The was the origin of my question more than the verse in SS.
How do you tell which it is? Usually when we refer to the influence of the Spirit it is a non-physical experience. Rarely do people hear God actually speaking out loud. I can remember one time when I thought He spoke, but only one. What is the difference? One is very unreliable and the other is always to be trusted.
Discernment and seeking truth are essential. Start with yourself. Are you a person who tends to experience a lot of emotions? Is that how you deal with the world? Do you cry easy? Do you have the gift of mercy? Be careful when making decisions based on feelings.
One test that is always essential is to run what you feel through the test of scripture. I have heard people say that God told them living in fornication was okay as long as you were in love. Really. You don’t need to look too hard at scripture to see that is not valid. That is an easy one but realize it is not obvious for some people. Keep in mind also that situations that require instant answers for life changing decisions are best put aside until you have time to pray and consider.
It might also be of value to identify some people with the gift of discernment or of wisdom. Run your feeling through them. If they are immediately on board then it is probably the Holy Spirit. If they hesitate then take that seriously.
That feels like a good plan.
homo unius libri
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