Much to-do is made over the concept of testing with regards to experiences: do they line up with scripture?
Unfortunately, most of the to-do comes from people who reject all and call that “discernment”, and condemn you if you don’t agree.
What does the Bible really say about testing?
“Test all things and hold fast what is good.” (2 Thessalonians 5:21)
The two verses immediately before that admonish us NOT to quench the Spirit, nor to despise prophesies.
There are numerous warnings throughout Scripture about things like false signs and wonders. We should never forget that occultists and members of other false religions can do/see/experience all sorts of neat-o stuff. And yet the Bible talks about US being able to do, see, and experience some neat-o stuff too!
1 John 4:1 is oft used as a prooftext for rejecting experiences, and the same folks will quote 1 John 1:4 and ignore verses 5 and 6, without ever putting the entire passage together.
Here is 1 John 4:1-6 from the NKJV; emphasis is, of course, mine.
1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world. 4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
So let’s break this down.
John is speaking to “beloved” – brethren, the church.
Do not believe every spirit – tells us that there are spirits out there that we must not believe. (I could introduce you to some, but we’re no longer in touch).
Test the spirits…because many false prophets have gone out into the world - tells us that we’re expected to test them and be sure. As I noted in a previous post, based on the apostles’ lives, it seems that because they knew God so intimately, they were able to immediately recognize who was who and what was what.
Whether they are of God - tells us that we are to ACCEPT some spirits. We are to test to see if they’re from God, and accept the ones that are. There are two inherent implications to this statement. The first is that we will encounter spirits. The second is, if said spirit is from God, “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” – we should receive them. By rejecting God’s angels, for example, what are you missing? You may be “safe” and feel you are insulated from any potential evil, but if God wants to send you an angel, who are you to reject it? YES! By all means! Make sure it’s from God! But when it is, receive with joy.
By this you know the Spirit of God: - AHA! By what?
Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
A spirit will either be FOR Christ and confess His nature… or it won’t. It will either demonstrate by word or deed that it’s of God, or it will show that it’s from satan.
You are of God, little children, – we are His! And He knows our weaknesses.
and have overcome them, - because He has given us the tools to do so!
because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world – If God is truly in us – and we’re testing any spirit by His measuring stick – and we “have overcome them”…
They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us.
This passage has been used by HH’s to say, “If you don’t agree with me, you’re obviously a heretic because I speak for God and you’re not hearing me.” That’s what they say – not what God ordained John to say. 
By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. By what can we tell the difference between truth and error? Contextually, we can know by a spirit’s confession of Christ.
Caitlin referred to 2 Peter 2 in her statement against Bentley/Lakeland, and I hate to say this Cait, but you’ve taken that passage to mean something it doesn’t.
Peter says there will be false prophets and teachers among us. These people will SECRETLY bring in DESTRUCTIVE heresies. They’ll deny Jesus. They’ll blaspheme the way of truth (remember that the truth is not a concept. It’s Jesus.) They will exploit because they’re greedy. They will walk in lust. They will despise authority and be self-willed, not God-willed. They – get this – speak evil of things they do not understand. They have eyes full of sin and entice unstable souls (people not secure in Christ). They walk in the way of Balaam. They are wells without water. They speak swelling words of emptiness (not of Jesus and the gospel) and draw people in by lust and lewdness and the promise of “liberty”.
God gives us lots of clues so we can tell who’s false and who’s not, and we STILL miss it and label anything that doesn’t fit within our personal “boundaries” as “false”.
God does not want us to flee from all things. He’s warned us that there’s evil in the world, shows us in the Bible how to recognize it, and expects us to “hold fast to what is good.”
Commentation