| 8. The gift of “distinguishing between spirits” or discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10)—the ability to detect spiritual counterfeits and phoniness. This is the ability to “recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood” (1 John 4:6). This is a gift I often wish I had—and I’m glad my wife, Elaine, has it. It is the ability to see through a phony before his error is manifest to everyone by its ultimate results. When Ananias and Sapphira came bringing an offering of their land and put it before Peter, he exercised the gift of discernment when he asked why they had chosen to lie to the Holy Spirit (see Acts 5:3). Peter knew that these two individuals were lying, and many believers today have this important gift.
The gift of discernment is also the ability to read a book and sense subtle error in it. It is a crucial gift for maintaining the purity of the church and of our individual lives, especially in this age of rising deceit.
9. The gift of speaking in different kinds of tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10)—the supernatural ability to speak in other languages or to interpret for those who speak in tongues. Obviously, this goes far beyond the ability of a person to serve as an interpreter at the United Nations building—it is the ability to praise God in a language that was never learned (or to interpret that praise). This gift is never for the purposes of preaching the gospel. In the Scriptures it is always and clearly for the purpose of praising God. It is not for private use, for we read that all the gifts of the Spirit are given for the common good in the church (see 1 Corinthians 12:7). This gift is useless in the church without interpretation.
Without question, this is the easiest gift to imitate, which is why imitations abound on every hand. Whether they are manifestations of the true gift or not can only be determined by careful comparison with the Scriptures.
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