There is a growing need for deliverance ministry in America today and all over the world, as societies fall further away from living faith in Jesus Christ and turn toward the doctrine of demons.
What is Deliverance Ministry?
Deliverance ministry is a ministry of compassion, wherein dedicated Christians pray over a demonically afflicted person to ask God to deliver them from bondage to Satan.
Deliverance ministry should be approached with extreme caution. Engaging in the spiritual battle against the unseen forces of evil requires a dedicated life of prayer, training by those experienced in deliverance ministry, and a specific calling from God to engage in this type of spiritual warfare.
What is Deliverance?
Deliverance is the transfer out of bondage into the Kingdom of God. The most important Holy Scripture that describes this process is found in Colossians.
He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Implications of Spiritual Warfare
According to Holy Scriptures, some time before the fall of man, Satan, and one-third of the angels rebelled against God and so were cast out of Heaven and down to the Earth. Jesus conquered death and all the powers of Satan when he incarnated on Earth, died for our sins, rose again, and was seated at the right hand of the Father.
Jesus then sent his Holy Spirit into the Earth to indwell Christians as a downpayment of what is to come, for soon he will return to establish his Kingdom on Earth. Although Jesus defeated Satan on the cross and by his resurrection, we are now living in the "time of imperfection."
For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
This is a grace period God has granted to humans. Those who use their free will to choose faith in Christ are made righteous in the blood of Christ so they can enter the Kingdom of God. Until Jesus Christ comes back to establish his kingdom, Satan and his minions rule over this present darkness and have the ability to tempt and sway Christians away from God.
This means that humanity is in a constant spiritual battle against the powers of darkness. This is a battle over souls fought in the heavenly realms. As long as Christians are in a state of sin, they can open themselves up to evil influence and so give legal rights through sin to Satan to oppress them. Other reasons that Satan can oppress people include if a parent or someone with spiritual legal authority dedicates a child to Satan.
Luckily, through Christians dedicating their lives to Christ, they place themselves under the authority and power of Christ, who has the power to deliver souls from the bondage of Satan.
Healing and Deliverance Ministry
Healing and deliverance go hand in hand, as many who receive deliverance experience healing as well. There are quite a few Bible verses you can read through to appreciate the connection here. The book of Acts gives us a succinct passage that describes this.
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
Christians who have been saved by faith in Christ have received the Holy Spirit and therefore are called to continue Christ's work, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Any type of deliverance ministry should be performed under legal apostolic authority.
This ministry was handed down to Christians by Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, and this authority has been passed down through the generations apostolically, even to this day.
Satan is a legalist. Deliverance ministers should be commissioned by a Church leader that has been given this authority, and should only engage with a team, never alone.
It Takes a Team For Deliverance Ministry
Deliverance teams are comprised of a group of Christians with varying gifts of the Spirit. The exorcist is the official person who is carrying out the deliverance of the afflicted, and the rest of the team is engaged in prayer and discernment. There are also usually people off-site or nearby, covering the team in intercessory prayer.
All parts of this ministry are important, and this is part of the reason why deliverance prayer should not be attempted alone and without training.
What Deliverance Ministry is Not
Deliverance Ministry is not people willy nilly going around casting demons out of people. Or at least, it shouldn't be. There are many ways that this ministry is abused and misused, and people are worse off because of neglectful ministers.
If a person thinks they are demonically afflicted, the deliverance minister should make sure that the afflicted has first made the choice to turn away from any and all occult practices. There must be true repentance in a person, and they should be equipped to turn their lives completely toward Christ. This is not a one-time decision, but the person needs to choose that for the rest of their lives, they will dedicate themselves to walking with Christ.
If a person undergoes deliverance but does not choose to dedicate their lives to Christ, they can easily land in a worse state than before, because Satan will just come right back in and reclaim that which was taken in the first place.
But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man, it roams through dry [arid] places in search of rest, but it does not find any. Then it says, I will go back to my house from which I came out. And when it arrives, it finds the place unoccupied, swept, put in order, and decorated. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and make their home there. And the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first. So also shall it be with this wicked generation.
This is part of the reason why it's so important for deliverance ministers to be commissioned by the proper apostolic authority, and have the training to make sure that the afflicted are being pastorally cared for in the proper way.
Get Educated.
If you think that you might be called into deliverance ministry, or you yourself are in the throes of spiritual bondage, here are some books* that will be critical for you to understand the nature of spiritual warfare and deliverance.
An Exorcist Explains the Demonic by Gabriele Amorth
Demonology Past and Present by Kurt Koch
Revelations and Possession by T Craig Isaacs
Diary of an American Exorcist by Stephen J. Rossetti
*These are affiliate links. At no extra cost to you, Spirit Sanctified gets a small commission for anything purchased through these links. Thanks for your support!
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