Discerning True and False Spirits in D&C 50 — Reasoning Together

The window in my garage runs east to west and the light changes across the bench depending on what time of year it is. On a Saturday morning in late spring the sun hits the work surface around seven and moves across it over the next three hours. I know exactly where the shadows fall at each stage of the morning because I have worked at that bench long enough that I can look at a piece of wood in a certain kind of light and know whether the grain is going to give me trouble before I ever pick up a plane.

The early Saints in 1831 did not have that kind of familiarity with spiritual things. They were new at this and people were showing up claiming to have visions and revelations. Some of them were genuine and some of them were not. The Lord gave them D&C 50 as a way to sort through that confusion. It is a chapter about how to tell the real from the counterfeit and what it looks like when the Spirit is actually at work in teaching and learning.

How to Discern True from False Spirits in D&C 50

The chapter opens with a warning that there are false spirits abroad in the world and they deceive people. The Lord does not soft-pedal this. He says some people have given the adversary power through their hypocrisy and that is a sobering sentence when you sit with it.

But the chapter also provides a method. If you encounter a spiritual manifestation that you cannot understand, the instruction is direct. Ask the Father in the name of Jesus and if it is not given then it is not of God. That is the test. Not whether the person seems sincere or whether the experience feels powerful. You ask and see what comes.

When you do have to reject a false spirit, the chapter says something important about how to do it. Verse 32 says to proclaim against it with a loud voice but without railing or accusation or boasting or rejoicing. You push back firmly but you do not make it personal and you do not celebrate the confrontation. That is a harder standard than most of us would meet on our own.

What Does It Mean to Reason Together in D&C 50

The Lord invites the elders to reason together so that they may understand. That word reason is worth noticing because spiritual truth is not always a mystical bolt from the sky. It can be approached with thought and logic and conversation.

He that is of God heareth God's words: therefore ye hear not the words of God because ye are not of God. Wherefore I that am of God have sent you, that ye might receive the Spirit of Truth; even the Spirit of Truth, that beareth record of the Father and the Son.

The Lord says He will reason with them as one man reasons with another, face to face. That is an arresting image. The God who created the stars sits down and talks things through like a person across a table. It suggests that understanding spiritual things does not require you to turn off your brain. Bring your thinking and your questions and see what happens. He can handle them.

I do some of my best thinking at the bench when a joint is not fitting right. I stop forcing it and look at what is actually happening. I measure again and check the square and think through what went wrong. Spiritual discernment works the same way. You do not just feel your way through it. You reason.

How Does the Spirit of Truth Work in Teaching and Learning

This is the heart of the chapter and it is worth reading verse by verse. Verses 17 through 22 lay out a specific structure for how spiritual communication works. The teacher must preach by the Spirit of Truth and the learner must receive by the Spirit of Truth. The preposition changes. The teacher sends and the learner receives.

When both are aligned, they understand one another and both are edified and rejoice together. That word together is doing real work. Edification is not a product the teacher creates and the learner consumes. It is a shared outcome where both sides participate. If nobody is being edified, something is wrong.

My son is learning to tune a ukulele right now and I can show him how to turn the peg and explain what the note should sound like. But if he is not listening to the note, my instruction does not matter because the hearing has to happen on his side. Spiritual learning is the same way. A teacher can be full of truth and sincerity and it will go nowhere if the listener is not tuned to the same frequency.

How Growing in Grace Works in D&C 50

The chapter does not stop at the mechanics of discernment and circles back to the condition of the people receiving it. The Lord tells them they are little children and cannot bear all things now. They must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. That is a gentle thing to say to grown men who are trying to lead a movement. You are still young in this. You have time.

That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

The image of light growing brighter and brighter is one of my favorite passages in all of modern scripture. It is the opposite of a lightning strike. It is dawn coming through a workshop window, arriving not all at once but building slowly. What you can see at six thirty you could not see at six and by seven the whole room is visible. You did not turn on a switch. You just stayed where the light was and let it do its work.

The chapter on the Shakers and the Second Coming in D&C 49 covers the revelation right before this one and is worth reading alongside it. Both chapters deal with how the early Saints learned to sort the real from the noise.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I tell if a spiritual impression is from God

D&C 50 gives a direct process for situations like this and it is refreshingly simple. If you encounter a spirit or impression you cannot understand, you ask the Father in the name of Jesus. If the impression does not come from Him, it is not of God. The answer may not arrive instantly but the instruction is to ask with sincerity and pay attention to what comes.

What does it mean that the teacher and learner must both receive by the Spirit

Spiritual communication is a two-sided process. For a truth to be understood in a way that edifies both people, the teacher and the learner both need to be tuned to the Spirit. If only one side is listening, the message does not land. Both parties bear responsibility for the success of spiritual teaching.

Why does the Lord call the Saints little children in D&C 50

The metaphor is about patience with the process of growth. The early Saints were new to the work and could not absorb everything at once and the same is true for us. We grow in grace and knowledge gradually, not all at once. The light gets brighter over time.

What does light growing brighter and brighter mean in practical terms

It means that spiritual understanding is cumulative. Each honest step of obedience gives you more clarity. You do not get the full picture on day one but you get enough light to take the next step and the step after that reveals more. Staying faithful over time produces a steady increase of understanding.

How should I respond when I encounter something that seems spiritually wrong

Verse 32 gives clear guidance. Address it firmly but avoid railing, accusation, boasting, or rejoicing in the confrontation. You call the error what it is but you do it without pride or anger. The goal is correction, not victory.

I have a plane iron on my bench that I sharpened three times before it started cutting properly. Each pass over the stone took off a tiny amount of metal and each time I checked the edge against my thumbnail. I did not get a sharp iron on the first stroke but I got it by staying at the stone and letting the light tell me when I was done. The Lord says the light grows brighter and brighter until the perfect day and that is how it works with truth too. You stay and keep asking and the light does the rest.

-- D.