Being slain in the spirit, is it biblical or a dangerous deception? Now, being slain in the spirit is a temporary physical response to a spiritual encounter with God that causes someone to fall. Sometimes the terms are used falling under the power or being overwhelmed in God's presence.
Now, some see this as a move of God. Others believe it that this is unbiblical and even demonic. So, is it biblical?
Is it extra biblical? Or it's anti-biblical? Now, let's look at the arguments against being slain in the spirit.
One of the biggest critics of being slain in the spirit as well as other manifestation of the Holy Spirit is John MacArthur. MacArthur's stance is that modern supernatural manifestations are a corrupt of a biblical spirituality. He connects things like speaking in tongues as well as being slain in the spirit with pagan religious practices because actually you can look at some of the condolini manifestations and for a person who doesn't know the difference they will say well this looks exactly like the same thing that is happening in charismatic circles you know but you can look at water and alcohol from a distance and come to the same agreement that water is alcohol and alcohol is water when in reality they are not the same thing.
Uh the other argument that people use is the absence of direct biblical command. For example, there is no explicit mention in the Bible of believers being slain in the spirit as a normal practice. Uh so critics would argue that scripture doesn't command believers to seek this experience.
Example like Paul's epistles do not teach this as part of church doctrine or church practice. Uh other people would argue as well is that this falling under the power of God is very consistent with non-Christian religions like condundalini spirit in Hinduism and other shamanistic transes that happen in other religions and critics would argue that if it occurs outside of Christianity it must be deceptive and we should completely stay away from it you know but uh Satan even used the scriptures to come against Jesus and Jesus didn't throw away the scriptures. So just because Satan copies and abuses things, it doesn't mean that we throw away everything that the enemy abuses like for example meditation, you know, it's practiced in Eastern religions.
It doesn't mean that now we take every scripture that talks about meditation and throw it away because somehow other pagan religions have taken this practice and put it in their own context. The other argument against being slain in the spirit is the risk of emotionalism and manipulation. Now, some people argue that uh people fall due to peer pressure, suggestion, or psychological influence.
Concerns about charismatic excesses where people seek manifestations instead of Christ. Uh fake and manipulated experiences can discredit genuine moves of God. And while there's a truth that some people do it out of manipulation, I've seen people being pushed down.
I've seen people do it falling just a courtesy fall and just so that the preacher, you know, um doesn't feel, I guess, less anointed or or something like that. Plus, in charismatic circles, the issue of being slain in the power of God or falling under the power of God has really became a religion. And some people do it out of a routine already, no longer feeling any power of God.
And so and it's just more of an emotionalism and for some people it is a form of manipulation and some preachers do push people which is wrong. The other argument that is used is the 1 Corinthians chapter 14:40 talks about that all things should be done in decency and in order. Paul emphasize orderly worship whereas being slain is sometimes perceived as chaotic.
And some people say, well, these manifestations like being slain in the spirit disrupt the services and therefore they cannot be from God. But if you look at the gospels and see some of the things Jesus did in the synagogues, they were very disruptive and they were not in decency and in order as some people perceive. Yet this was God in flesh doing those things of bringing his order or deliverances.
There also might not be viewed as indecency and in order. But we have to understand is that when the Holy Spirit moves, we don't grieve the Holy Spirit. But this also doesn't mean we don't create weird bizarre stuff that have absolutely no point.
But when the power of God touches people and people get delivered or people fall or people get on their knees or people weep, um for some people this is not decent. Uh they need to not show any emotions. And so I think we have to really take those scriptures in context and not necessarily take them out of context and squeeze any and every move of the Holy Spirit within our congregations.
Now is the issue slain in the spirit falling under the power extra biblical or anti-biblical? So we have to understand is that in the Bible there are extra biblical things and there are anti-biblical things. So extra biblical practices are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but they are not contrary to the Bible.
For example, there are a lot of extra biblical practices. Like for example, we have church buildings. A lot of us spend a lot of money on church buildings who are in ministry.
Like it's not in the Bible. We don't see church buildings um in the New Testament and Paul telling every church to have a budget for their building. Altar calls, for example, uh people coming forward and receiving Jesus Christ going to a room.
We don't see that in the Bible. So that's extrabiblical, but it's not anti-biblical. It's not contrary to the teachings of the Bible.
Or something that all of us are used to. Uh we don't imagine church without it is Sunday school. It's also not in the Bible.
It's extra biblical, but it's not anti-biblical. So some people argue that being slain in the spirit falls into the category of extrabiblical practices. Now what are anti-biblical practices?
Anti-biblical practices are things that contradict clear teachings of the scriptures. Now, if being slain in the spirit were condemned in the Bible, it would be anti-biblical, but no passage explicitly forbids it. So, of course, there is this debate between the cessationists and the continuationists.
Cessationists believe that supernatural gifts have ended with the apostles. Therefore, any manifestation of the Holy Spirit is really deemed as no. No.
Continuationists, and I'm one of them, believe that miracles and manifestations, they do continue today. And our interpretation of the book of Acts and the Gospels, they influence our view on spiritual gifts and their manifestations. So here are some of the arguments used for being slain in the spirit or as I would call it biblical precedent for falling under the power of God.
So Peter's trance, the Bible says Peter fell into a trance. Now we don't know if he fell backwards, forwards, if he just knocked out and went into the spirit realm. But this does suggest that encounter with God can cause an altered physical state.
Book of Acts 10:es 9 and 10. Now Paul's trance. The Bible says that Paul fell into a trance and received divine revelation.
Book of Acts 22 17-18. We see Jesus and soldiers in John 18 5 and 6. When Jesus said, "I am," the soldiers fell to the ground.
Now, do they fall backwards or frontwards? We don't know. But it does suggest God's presence can physically overwhelm people which is consistent with instances where people would encounter the presence of God or a presence of an angel and would fall out of fear would fall like dead and God would touch them and say don't be afraid.
So God's presence can be extremely overwhelming. Um Paul's conversion experience in book of acts 9:es 3-4 we see that Paul fell to the ground when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. Again, did he fall backwards or frontwards?
We don't see that. But it does indicate God's power can sometimes cause someone to fall involuntarily. We also see the dedication of Solomon's temple.
2 Chronicles 5 13 and 14 that the priest could not stand to minister before God because of God's glory. This shows that God's presence can physically affect people. Again, it doesn't say there whether they fell backwards and frontwards.
So I do not want to read into those scriptures what it does not say. But the main principle is this. The presence of God can cause an overwhelming feeling within the people of God that they fall.
Now we also must understand is the power of God. The power of the Holy Spirit can flow and could do wonders. For example, people sought to touch Jesus because power flowed from him.
handkerchiefs from Paul were healing people and demons were cast out. Um, a woman touched the hem of Jesus's garment. So, if God's power can flow through a touch, it's kind of reasonable to believe that it could cause someone to fall.
Have you ever touched an electric socket on accident? You know, there is a shock that goes through your body. Now, God's power is gentle, but God's power is power.
There are times when the power of God touches you, your knees just give out. You feel as light as feather and you feel heavy. In fact, one of the definitions of the word glory is weightiness.
And so, it is possible to experience this power and some people respond differently to this. Some people respond without any emotion and others respond with very strong emotional expressions. Now also I need to highlight that not only what we see in the Bible the power of God touching people but this phenomena has been reported throughout church history.
If you read Jonathan Edwards in great awakening revival or Charles Finny uh revival or Pentecostal and charismatic movements, you will see that many people report having deep encounters with God which led to lasting transformation and there were some manifestations that at first seemed just bit awkward to people who have not been used to any manifestations of the Holy Spirit. So, it's easy to come to quick conclusions and say, "Well, this is demonic just because you've never experienced it or just because you've never seen it. " But we have to be careful that we don't label everything that is demonic.
Why? Because we might be grieving the Holy Spirit. Yes.
So, how do we discern what is demonic and what is from the Holy Spirit? We have to check the fruit. Jesus said, "You shall know them by their fruit.
" Matthew 7:16. If people are truly changed, convicted, and drawn closer to God should the manifestation be rejected, a real encounter with God can have physical effects without being demonic or fake. And you can look through the scriptures of different physical, sometimes I call strange things people have experienced in the scriptures.
The Bible doesn't hide those things. The Bible doesn't shy away from those things. So to say that God can no longer move in a way where people experience laughter or uncontrollable tears or where people go into a trance or they receive visions or they prophesy or they have dreams or they fall under the power of God.
You know we have to be very careful that we don't throw the baby with the bathwater but we judge this experience by the fruit. Now I do want to address the condolini spirit argument. Just because something can be a counterfeited, that doesn't mean that the real is false.
Satan mimics God's power. We see in Exodus 7, we see in Matthew chapter 24, there will be false signs and false Christ that will come. And so the question is not whether people shake and fall, but who gets the glory?
Where is the fruit of this? Who does this point to? Let's not develop this unhealthy fear of the fake that we have a greater fear of the fake than we have hunger for the real and genuine.
Yes, not every manifestation is genuine. First John 4:1 says, "Test the spirits whether they are from God. " Some experiences may be emotional, some may be manipulated, but it doesn't invalidate the real experiences that people experience.
So in summary, is being slain in the spirit biblical? There is really no direct command to seek this experience, but there are biblical framework that shows people falling or people not being able to stand in the presence of God. So is this then extrabiblical or anti-biblical?
It is extra biblical, but it's not anti-biblical because there is no passage in the Bible that forbids this. Should you as a Christian accept it? If it glorifies God and produces spiritual fruit, you shouldn't reject it.
But you should exercise discernment and separate genuine encounters from emotionalism. Now, if you're watching this and you are a pastor or you are a preacher, traveling evangelist, and you practice praying for people and they fall, could you please stop pushing people? It doesn't add to your anointing.
Number two, having more people laying on the floor is not going to change their life because you pushed it. Let Holy Spirit touch them. And if he does it and they fall, well, praise God.
If he does it and they fall, the real question is what fruit is going to happen from that touch. That's what really what we're pursuing. I'm far more interested in seeing people healed, delivered, breakthrough happen in their life than somebody shake, bake, roll on the floor, or fall on the floor.
While I welcome the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, I think a lot of people, we're just tired of people trying to manufacture things and produce things in the flesh when the Holy Spirit is not moving and they're trying to make him move by making people fall. It doesn't honor God. It doesn't honor the Holy Spirit and it does not aid spiritual fruit in their life.
Thank you for watching this video. Let me know in the comments below. Have you experienced being slain in the spirit?
What was that experience like? Have you been pushed before? What was that experience like?
Share your comments below. In my personal experience, I have experienced where I've fallen, but I would say most of the time I've been pushed. I've prayed for people and I'm very careful not to push people um because I just I just know how that feels.
And so sometimes I pray and people just about to fall and I hold them back or if the usher is holding them back and I really want I want people to experience the presence of God. And if that causes them to fall, well, so be it. But that's not the aim.
The aim is for them to know Jesus, develop the fruit, and experience breakthrough that only God can bring.
