Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.
Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the light of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.
The voice of God is something that every believer wishes to hear at some point, if not often. We know from the Old Testament in the B.C. era, God chose prophets that He spoke directly to. Moses was the primary prophet of the Law, yet even before him God spoke directly to Noah. Almost 300 years later He would speak to Abram. But in the beginning He spoke to Adam and Eve. What is especially intriguing about Adam and Eve is that through Satan’s deception we learn that as a spirit, he too was able to communicate with God’s children.
The knowledge of Satan’s ability to communicate is something every believer must remain aware of. It makes discernment essential and is exactly what 1 John 4:1 teaches: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” False teachers are one of Satan’s primary tools to twist God’s Word to mislead the believer. And when believers are misled, they become incapable of walking in alignment with God.
We know that God is a Spirit and we are made in His image, making us spirit beings as well. We know that Jesus was God in the form of flesh, which makes it easy to understand how we too are spirits inside of a fleshly body. Paul affirmed this when he said, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16). Jesus explained to the disciples that unless He went away the Holy Spirit would not come to them (John 16:7). That promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), when the Holy Spirit came to dwell within all of the disciples that were gathered—including “the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus” (Acts 1:14).
“The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.” This passage suggests that before God’s Spirit communicates with our spirit, He first discerns the condition of our heart. God is not moved by religious appearance or lip service. It’s exactly what He told Samuel, “For man sees the outward appearance, but God sees the heart of man” (1 Samuel 16:7). Only once the Holy Spirit sees that our heart is aligned with God—and not influenced by the spirit of the evil one—does He bear witness that we belong to God.
This is the true meaning of “The spirit of man is the light of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of the heart” (Proverbs 20:27). Just as God’s light reveals who He is, our light reveals to God who we truly are—the motives behind our actions and the intent behind our words. Our spirit is the lamp God uses to search the hidden places of our hearts that others do not see—exposing whether our walk with Christ is sincere or merely an outward appearance. God always knows the difference. Jesus reminds of this in Matthew 15:8: “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” This may be one factor in how God chooses with whom He communicates.
But it is of great importance that the believer understand that God is not the only voice speaking to His children. Not every thought, impression, or inward prompting originates from the Holy Spirit. And when temptation comes, we must remember what James 1:13 teaches: “Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.’” God does not dangle sin before our mind like bait, stirring the flesh to overpower the spirit. The Spirit of God, the flesh, and temptation all seek to be heard in the battlefield of the mind—making discernment essential, not optional.
Amen.