“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in YOUR NAME, and in YOUR NAME cast out demons, and in YOUR NAME perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”
— Jesus Christ —
(Matthew 7:22-23)
Be careful of doctrines that dissuade you from discerning spirits, motives, and hearts of anyone who declares Jesus as Lord with their lips but whose hearts are far from Him (Matthew 15:8). We must not be deceived; not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” has truly made Him Lord (Matthew 7:22-23). Many of these are simply people who practice lawlessness.
In this season of great exposure, especially from within the Charismatic Church, we must be quick to listen and slow to speak (James 1:19). And, we must also be slow to place judgment—neither declaring the accused nor the accusers as being completely right or being completely wrong—but rather be willing to listen to hear, instead of listening to defend.
God is definitely shaking everything that can be shaken in this season (Hebrews 12:27), and my advice is not to hold on to anything too tight. He is removing things from His house that never originated with Him. He is cleansing His house!
In cases involving accusations against leaders, we must be willing to listen to every witness’s testimony without discrediting them, unless they’ve shown a history of blaspheming the Holy Spirit or bearing false witness. We are to weigh these matters based on scripture and on the testimony of two or three witnesses (1 Timothy 5:19-21 for leaders; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1 for fellow believers), keeping our hearts seeking truth rather than allowing our minds or emotions to defend our own desires or doctrines.
The truth will set you free, but only if you are willing to hear it (John 8:32). When the truth is revealed, we must be willing to pivot and repent (changing our minds) when the evidence of an accusation is found to be true. Then, if that person remains unrepentant (refusing to change both their mind and their ways), the Bible instructs us to remove the immoral person from the fellowship (1 Corinthians 5:9-13). Removing consistently unrepentant immoral persons is not unloving, but loving, because God cares about His sheep, especially His little ones (Luke 17:2). Furthermore, when a church member discovered to be encouraging or practicing immorality—including filthiness, foolish talk, or coarse jesting—and refuses to repent, we are told not to partake with them but instead to expose their works and doctrine to the entire body (Ephesians 5:1-15). This isn’t for those who occasionally fall or are new believers learning to walk and talk, but for those, especially in leadership, who choose to do the works and tactics of the enemy to manipulate, deceive, or encourage compromise. And those who justify their behavior, believing the ends justify their means.
While it is true that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23), and God has a history of using the imperfect or “foolish” things of the world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27), we must exercise spiritual discernment now more than ever. We cannot confuse a person’s gift as evidence that they are from the Lord or of Him; neither a leader nor a wolf is measured by their gifts, but by their character—which is their spiritual fruit (Matthew 7:16). Having come out of the occult, I can attest without a doubt that practitioners within that realm are often truly gifted and even very powerful, yet if those gifts and that power do not come from Jesus, nor do they serve Him (Matthew 7:22-23), they are all considered false. Gifts are needed from the body of Christ, but are not evidence of a person knowing Jesus. If gifts were proof, then Simon the sorcerer and Jezebel were true prophets.
Ultimately, the Bible is absolutely clear that we should be wary of hypocritical judgment (Matthew 7:1-5), but it is equally clear that God’s judgment does not start with the world, but within God’s own house (1 Peter 4:17). Consequently, the judgment practiced by Christians is not directed at those outside the church, but is a necessary responsibility for those within (1 Corinthians 5:12). Godly, nonhypocrital judgement within the body, is not wickedness, it’s 100% biblical and a necessity.
I believe that the reason why so much debauchery has thrived from within the church, like a cancer, perverting and consuming the body from within, is because we’ve been taught to believe the words and actions of everyone who proclaims Christ is Lord, without ever examining their fruit. We have put a greater emphasis on gifts and talents over the evidence of spiritual fruit, the character of Christ. Lastly, the church must become Spirit-led and biblically literate again.
The truth will set you free. And the proof is in the fruit.
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