Is Being Slain In the Spirit Biblical?

Falling under the power of God or being so overwhelmed in God’s presence that you fall over is often seen by some as a typical response to God’s power being evident in someone’s life. However, while some see this as a move of God others believe it is unbiblical. So the question is: is it extra-biblical or anti-biblical? Here are the arguments for each side.

Difference Between “Extra-Biblical” and “Anti-Biblical”

As believers, it’s important that we understand the difference between extra-biblical practices and anti-biblical practices. Extra-biblical means they are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible; and since they are not contrary to it, these are not condemned by many. This can be things like church buildings, altar calls, and Sunday school. These aren’t necessarily in the Bible, but they don’t contradict it.

Anti-biblical practices, on the other hand, contradict the clear teachings of Scripture.

Arguments Against Being Slain in the Spirit

1. Modern supernatural manifestations are seen as pagan or corrupt

One of the most well-known critics of being slain in the Spirit is John MacArthur. He believes that the modern supernatural manifestations are corrupted. He often compares things like speaking in tongues and being slain in the Spirit to pagan practices like kundalini.

However, I believe that you can look at water and alcohol from a distance and believe they’re the same but the truth is that the closer you get, the more you realize they couldn’t be more different.

2. Absence of direct biblical command

Secondly, another strong belief against this practice is that there is no explicit mention of being slain in the Spirit as a normal practice anywhere in Scripture. They say that because it is not found in Paul’s epistles and was not taught as part of church doctrine or practice, we therefore should not participate.

3. Similarity to non-Christian practices

There are also some who believe being “slain by the Spirit” resembles kundalini spirit experiences and shamanistic trances too closely. They believe that if it occurs outside of Christianity, then being slain in the Spirit must be deceptive, but just because Satan copies and abuses a practice it doesn’t mean we discard everything that the enemy abuses.

4. Risk of emotionalism and manipulation

Now, many argue that people should stay away from it because some people do it out of manipulation. Some preachers push people down, and some people fall due to peer pressure, suggestion, or psychological influence. There are those who may do it out of habit, without any genuine sense of God’s presence.

This creates room for emotionalism, where the focus becomes the manifestation instead of Christ, which is wrong.

5. Concern over lack of order

Lastly, they argue that it creates chaos that contradicts what the Bible teaches (1 Corinthians 14:40). However, when we see Jesus’ actions in synagogues they were also disruptive.

At the end of the day there must be a balance that is taken into account because when the Holy Spirit moves, we don’t grieve Hime, but this also doesn’t mean we create weird, bizarre stuff that has absolutely no point.

Arguments For Being Slain in The Spirit

1. Peter’s trance

The first argument for this manifestation is Peter’s trance in (Acts 10:9–10). This passage shows that there can be encounters with God that cause someone to have an altered physical state.

2. Paul’s trance

Next is the Scripture in Acts 22:17–18 which also talks about Paul’s trace. In this passage we see that during that time, he received divine instruction.

3. Jesus and the soldiers

Another passage that shows the power of God to overwhelm people is found in John 18:5–6. In this Scripture, when Jesus said “I am,” the soldiers fell to the ground. This shows us that God’s presence can, in fact, overwhelm people physically.

4. Paul’s conversion

We also see something similar happening to Paul on the road to Damascus when he fell to the ground after an encounter with Jesus (Acts 9:3–4).

5. Dedication of Solomon’s temple

Lastly, the Bible tells us in 2 Chronicles 5:13–14 that “The priests could not stand to minister because of God’s glory.” In other words, there were times when God’s presence physically affected people.

One definition of glory is “weightiness” and it’s not uncommon for God’s presence to cause people’s knees to give out. In fact, church history supports the idea of God’s glory being “weighty.” Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney all reported people being deeply touched by God.

How to Discern What is From the Holy Spirit

Jesus states in Scripture that we should know them by their fruit (Matthew 7:16). If people are changed, convicted, and drawn closer to God, should we then reject the manifestation?

While I do believe that not every manifestation is genuine, I don’t believe that the fake ones invalidate the real experiences people have. I would encourage you to not develop such an unhealthy fear of the fake that it prevents you from having a hunger for the real.

Read: You Won’t Be Led By The Spirit Until This…