Deliverance Information

When talking about the ministry of deliverance, one of the first questions that often comes up is

“CAN A CHRISTIAN HAVE A DEMON?” The following is a biblical examination of this question.

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1. POSSESSION VS. OPPRESSION​
First, I want to clarify some terminology. It’s important to understand the difference between being demon-possessed and being demonized. In the New Testament, the Greek word 'daimonizomai' is used to express the presence of demonic spirits within a person. It has often been translated as demon-possession. The problem with this translation is that possession implies ownership. Since a believer is a bought child of God by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Satan cannot own a Christian. A better understanding or translation of the word is "to be demonized; to be under the power or influence of a demon.” True possession is rare, and a Christian cannot be possessed if you understand it as possession implying ownership. But a Christian can be demon oppressed or influenced by a demon internally or externally.

2. TRI-PARTIDE NATURE OF MAN
The next important thing to understand is that a person is made of three separate parts that operate together.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:23 we see we have a body, soul and spirit:

“May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.
May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In 1 Corinthians 6:19 we read that the “body is a temple of the Holy Spirit”. Just as with God’s physical temple, the human also has three parts with different functions. God’s Temple had the Most Holy Place, The Holy Place and the Courtyard of men and priests.

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This correlates with our own person, which has the spirit [holy of holies], the soul [the holy place] and the body [courtyard].
We all know that, while the body may experience healing under the power of Christ, our physical body will eventually die. The part of the person, which is the flesh, will not experience eternal life.
Our spiritual rebirth is just that, a "spiritual" rebirth. Jesus said in John 3; "That which is born of the Spirit is spirit." It is the human spirit that receives new eternal life when we confessed our sins and are born again. It is the spirit that the Holy Spirit brings the second birth to. It is the spirit that the Holy Spirit indwells.

God told Adam, the day he ate of the forbidden fruit, that he would die. But he went on to live for many hundreds of years. What died in Adam when he fell into sin? Obviously it was that same part of his nature that Christ came to bring back to life - his spirit.
A believer’s spirit (the Holy of Holies) cannot have a demon. That part is justified. But the body, which we know has not received eternal life, is still under the ravages and effects of this fallen world. It is the body and soul (mind and emotion) that the demon can have access to.

3. MISCONCEPTION #1: THE BIBLE SAYS A CHRISTIAN CANNOT HAVE A DEMON
Nowhere in the bible does it say that a Christian cannot have a demon. There is simply no scripture that says this. If God wanted his church to believe this would he not directly declare it in his word? The case for Christians being unable to have a demon is based often on Misconception #2.

4. MISCONCEPTION #2: DARKNESS AND LIGHT CANNOT CO-EXIST.
If darkness and light cannot co-exist, the question goes, then how can the Holy Spirit and a demonic spirit co-exist in the same temple?

We understand from 1 Thessalonians that a person has three distinct parts and this helps us understand this question of co-existence.

But I want to focus for now on the first statement; that dark and light cannot co-exist.

The assertion that darkness and light cannot co-exist, as biblical as it sounds, is not found in the bible. Let me say that again – the common assertion that dark and light cannot co-exist is nowhere in the bible.
The closest thing is 1 John 1:5 where is says “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” But that is talking about God.
The passage continues:
“If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”

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Again this does not say we cannot walk in darkness, just that we should not. The fact that John warns us not to walk in darkness indicates a possibility for a Christian to walk in darkness. In fact, Jesus tells us that dark and light can co-exist, and emphasizes that we must see to it that we deal with the dark parts in our light.

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In Luke 11:34 Jesus says:
"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you."

The phrase “See to it” indicates that there is an effort required on our part to rid ourselves of darkness. We need to see to it. The next phrase “if your whole body is full of light and no part of it is dark” clearly demonstrates that it is possible to have a part of our body that is dark. The phrase “completely lighted” shows it is also possible to be not completely lighted.

In conclusion, the key statement that dark and light cannot co-exist in the same body cannot be found anywhere in the bible. Passages relating to this say that they should not co-exist.

5. CASTING OUT DEMONS IS A SIGN OF BEING A CHRISTIAN
In Jesus’ final instructions to his church in Mark 16, we are shown what a believer should be doing as part of their daily walk.
 

“He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. Jesus final words! There is no getting around the clear declaration that a sign of being a believer is that in Jesus’ name we will cast out demons.

So then, if we, as believers, can cast out demons, it begs the question:
“Out of whom are we to drive out demons?” Believers or non-believers?

When we look at the context of deliverance in scripture the pattern is the same. It is done in the context of preaching the good news and healing of the sick. Preaching, healing and deliverance all went together. Physical healing miracles demonstrate God’s power over the natural. Deliverance demonstrates God’s power over the supernatural. Together they show the truth and power of the preaching that has occurred.
If Christians can’t have demons then that implies we are to drive out demons from non-believers, which is absurd in the context of preaching and physical healings. How would we in the name and power of Jesus drive out a demon from someone who rejects the name and power of Jesus?

Surely then, the healing and deliverance are there to build the faith of the person who believes the good news rather than rejects it. In fact this threefold mission of preaching, healing and deliverance was the central mission of Christ’s Ministry on earth. As he stated in Luke 4:18: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim the gospel to the poor, He has sent me to heal the ones who are broken in the heart, to preach to captives deliverance and recovery of sight for the blind, and release to the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down.
In Luke 13:32, Jesus said of his ministry:
He replied, "Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal."

When Jesus instructs the disciples in Luke 9 he gives them the same ministry:

“When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.”

Until the time of his crucifixion his daily ministry was preaching, healing and deliverance. After his death and resurrection the ministry did not change.

Acts 19:11,12 talks of Paul:
He (Paul) took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.”

The ministry of God working through Paul was preaching, followed by MIRACLES of both healing the sick and driving out evil spirits. The miracles were there to justify the word of the Lord – that Jesus is the Messiah.

6. HEALING AND DELIVERANCE GO TOGETHER
In all the scriptures about Jesus and the disciples healing and deliverance go together. It never says that healing is for the believer and deliverance for the non-believer (which would be the inference if Christians could not have demons). In fact, deliverance from an evil spirit is often called a “healing” in the bible.
In Luke 13, the Synagogue ruler reprimands Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. What he had actually done though was deliverance.

Luke 13:10-17
“On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.” 15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.”

First we are in a synagogue. This is done in the context of teaching. Second, this woman is a daughter of Abraham, in covenant relationship with God by faith. Despite being a child of God, she had a demonic spirit that caused an infirmity. This clearly shows the link between infirmity and the demonic. When the spirit was cast out, she was healed.
If you believe that a Christian can be healed by Jesus, then you must also believe that a Christian can be delivered from a demon, as 1. demons can cause infirmity and 2. deliverance is often called healing in the bible.

In Matthew 4:24 it says:
“News about him (Jesus) spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.”
The demonized are right there in the middle of the list of those coming for physical healing. The bible says they were “healed”.

In Acts 5:12-15 it says:
“The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.”

This scripture clearly shows that, as a result of people’s belief in Jesus, the sick and demonized were
healed.