There truly has been much controversy on the subject of spiritual oppression, possession and demonic influence in a Christian /believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Many just say that when a person becomes born again they are automatically protected from this phenomenon. However, this is not always the case. When a person becomes born again, there are still choices that the person has to make. Throughout the Christian’s life daily choices to choose the path of righteousness or the path of the world need to be made. I personally have been in deliverance ministry including training for about 20 years. These are just numbers because there is always learning that takes place in this ministry.
What is Deliverance? This is a process that is sometimes compared to peeling an onion. This process is where demonic influence is broken and removed from an individual’s life. But this removal is/can be temporary, depending on how committed the recipient of this deliverance is. Deliverance is not designed to make a person holy. Deliverance just gets rid of the spiritual entity that had the particular influence in a person’s life. Demons or spirits have personalities (Lk 8:27-30), the have names (Lk 8:30), the can exhibit emotions, recognize Jesus’ identity and also know that their final judgment is pending. Any Christian should not get caught up in the play on words such as demon possession, demon oppression, or obsession. Any of these terms imply that a demon is involved or has influence in the Christian’s life and should be handled accordingly. The only way to deal with these entities is through the deliverance ministry. Not praying long and hard, reading the Bible for long hours etc. Although these are valid spiritual activities,, the have no effect on a demon that has influence in the believer’s life. These entities MUST be driven out. Most Christians seek to deal with their sinful passions and desires through different spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, meditation, Scripture reading, etc. In most cases this reduces the power of the flesh so that the Word of God can be more easily followed. However, some believers discover that even after they have done all that they know to do; they cannot seem to bring some areas of their lives under the will of God. They find themselves seemingly compelled or driven to become fearful, unforgiving, alienated, lustful, jealous, angry, bitter, resentful, depressed, suicidal etc. They feel that these drives are often almost impossible to control. Failure to have victory over their emotions and behavior can result in a sense of personal defeat and failure. One possible explanation of this phenomenon is demonization. Demons cannot be crucified, only flesh can.
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Eph 6:12.
The purpose of deliverance:
- Removal of demonic influence so that the captive can go free
- The have the finger of God come on the scene
- Brings the glory of God on the scene
- Brings healing (sometimes sickness is from demonic influence)
Word of caution: The deliverance ministry may not be appropriate for anyone that does not desire to become a Christian or who is not a Christian already. This may cause more problems for the recipient of the deliverance ministry.
Jesus said: When an unclean spirit comes out of a man it goes to the dry places seeking rest and finding none. Then it says: I will return to my house (the recipient of deliverance) from whence I came out. Then the evil spirit goes and takes seven spirits more wicked than itself and they go and live reside in that person.
A note must be made here that these spirits will reside until a superior power drives the spirit out.
The power to resist sin and become victorious is all up to the Christian. The Bible is very clear to state that the believer has the Holy Ghost power ability to resist the flesh and the world. The flesh has to be crucified the believer, not by the deliverance ministry. The believer, however cannot crucify and evil spirit. These evil entities must be cast out then resisted from all further invasions.