Deliverance Ministries

Many deliverance ministries believe that we must take world dominion from Satan. This is why they attempt to bind demons in people, cities, regions and nations. To explain what they do and why they do it I have to detour on a rabbit trail but if you stay on the trail or take a shortcut to the end of the topic it will bring you back to dominionism.

There is also now a major segment in deliverance ministries that claim that Christians can be possessed by demons. They get this view from their faulty understanding of the second commandment, which they claim, supports generational curses.

The second commandment talks about God visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation to those who hate Him. The commandment also speaks about God's mercy to those who love Him for a thousand generations. Israel, by the time of Ezekiel, had a similar view that God would bring judgment on the children of those who did not obey God. It had even become a proverb in Israel. However, in Ezekiel chapter 18 God thoroughly refutes this view. He tells Ezekiel that this proverb (that distorts the truth) will not be heard in Israel any longer. God clearly states in Ezekiel chapter 18 that everyone will pay for their own sins. Other scriptures as well, make it clear that everyone answers to God for their own sins.

God does not contradict Himself. Therefore, we should see from scripture that what God declared in the second Commandment is what will happen in the physical realm if the children and grandchildren do not turn from the hatred their fathers had toward God and toward His laws. Any subsequent generation that turns to God in obedience showing love will receive God's mercy.

The Bible demonstrates this truth in many passages. The generation that got the commandments from God could not enter the land because of rebellion and unbelief but the very next generation did enter the Promised Land. Further, the books of Kings and Chronicles have quite a few examples of evil kings who had good sons and good kings who had evil sons. There are many other such proofs in the Bible. So where are the clear examples of generational curses on believers?

There are demons that possess creatures but I am not sure most deliverance people have any understanding of them. I have been in deliverance circles and what I observed was a lot of foolishness. Those leading the deliverance made claims that cannot be proven by observation and were not proved through any lasting change in the lives in those they claimed were delivered. When deliverance people start casting demons out of non-living, objects and they think there is mystical power in holy oil or holy water or by repeating certain phrases, they lose me.

With all the demons bound and cast into the pit in Jesus name, you would think Satan would be running a little short of them by now. The demons seem to be in and out of the pit so often that Satan should charge a toll at the gates of Hell. The Bible says to resist the Devil and he will flee from you because He that is in you is greater than he that is in the world, but nowhere in scripture does it tell us to rail against Satan. Contrary to the beliefs of some, the Bible does not instruct us to chase Satan and to bind his demons.

If you take the passage they often quote (Mat 16:19) authorizing them to bind demons in context, we would also have power to loose demons on the earth. Now, that is a scary thought considering some of the people I have met in deliverance circles! Maybe some sleeper agents loose the bound spirits by saying "I loose you - demon of whatever - in Jesus name"! Word of Faith deliverance teachers actually say that their spoken words are a creative force that will manifest whatever they say.

Could Satan have sleeper agents in the Word of Faith movement that are speaking these demons into existence? Seriously, why is it that most deliverance ministers also seem to be the best candidates for deliverance?

I am fully aware that we war against principalities, powers, and the rulers of darkness of this world but how is that accomplished? Do we carry out spiritual warfare by saying, "come out in Jesus name you - spirit of whatever" repeatedly until exhaustion? Do we really accomplish spiritual warfare by running around the house and the neighborhood binding demonic spirits with our words and holy oil? Or, perhaps we really do spiritual warfare by the ways actually taught in (Eph 6:11-18). This passage says that spiritual warfare is done after putting on the whole armor of God while standing firmly. The picture given in the analogy is the defensive stand of a Roman soldier. The analogy tells the story that we stand firmly because we know the truth, we have put on Christ's righteousness, we know we are saved, we are prepared to teach the good news of salvation to others, we are trained to use the Bible, above all knowing nothing thrown at us can shake our faith, and we assist other Christians through continual prayer. Those who take the easy scenario above may not be in the deliverance ministry. Most may be into a Christianized form of presumptive spiritual mysticism.

With the deliverance of cities that has been going on for decades now, you would think that they would have bound a few of these territorial demonic spirits by now and they would have freed up a few cites and regions of the world for Christ. In reality, they have not even been able to bind one neighborhood. Yet, they think by this method of "spiritual warfare" they will take the world for Christ. Where does the Bible teach this presumption? If they really believe this theology, they might first bind the spirits in their own congregation and take that for Christ first. Jesus did not take the cities He waited for God and Paul did not take any cities for Christ. God really does His own taking in the world for Himself; He is not dependent on man to bind spirits.

Do not take me wrong, Christians do have power over evil spirits. We can cast out demons in the name of Jesus if we are led by the Spirit of God to do so. Even so, we have enough difficulties in this world without taking part in pseudo-ministries that believe they are specialists in binding demons because they know how to say, "we bind you - spirit of whatever - in Jesus name". In reality, most in these "deliverance ministries" do little for the spiritual Kingdom except creating noise pollution. God has total control over the spiritual powers he has given authority to in the world. He does not need human help. If we wish to change something on earth, the tool God gave us is to ask Him in prayer. We do not remove spiritual authorities by our own presumptuous words.

The real problem here is that most people in the deliverance ministry have not even been trained in the weapons of Christian warfare. They generally do not know the Bible and their faith is really presumption. They become spiritualists, they get into mysticism and they claim powers they do not have. Claiming to free people of evil spirits, they often bind their disciples with cords of mysticism and legalism. In addition, the person being "delivered" often becomes turned off to all Christianity. Sometimes the "delivered" even lose all hope and "deliverance" ends in physical tragedy.

Deliverance Theology is also Dominion Theology when those in it believe that the Church can bind spirits and take whole areas of the world for Christ. Most who teach and practice Deliverance Theology also teach "Word of Faith" theology or dominionist theology similar to "Latter Rain" theology. Most deliverance ministries use "deliverance" as their primary tool to carry out their Dominion Theology and its worldview. They think they can take dominion of the earth from Satan and establish a Christian theonomy or theocracy from authority outside of the prophetic passages of the Bible because they can quote and misuse a few obscure Bible verses and repeat phrases.