Should Christians Seek Help from Deliverance Ministries?

Many so-called "deliverance ministries" claim they can help struggling Christians find freedom from spiritual bondage by casting out evil spirits and breaking generational curses, covenants, soul ties, and other forms of spiritual control and manipulation.  Are these ministries legitimate, and does the Bible support their claims? Dr. David K. Bernard responds by turning to the Scriptures.

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SPEAKER_00 0:00

What influence can demonic spirits have on born-again Christians? Are generational curses, covenants, and other forms of spiritual bondage real? Should Christians seek help from what are sometimes known as deliverance ministries? Dr. David K. Bernard addresses this question next. Welcome to Apostolic Life in the 21st Century, a podcast dedicated to helping modern-day believers live out the teachings of the first century church. This podcast is part of the teaching ministry of Dr. David K. Bernard. Dr. Bernard has dedicated his life to studying the Bible and helping believers apply its message to their daily lives. In Apostolic Life in the 21st century, Dr. Bernard answers your questions about what the Bible teaches and how those teachings apply to everyday life. Thank you for joining us for this episode. If you enjoy this podcast, we encourage you to check out Dr. David K. Bernard's books. Dr. Bernard has written more than 30 books on biblical theology and Christian living and leadership. Visit Pentecostal Publishing.com and search David Bernard for a list of available titles. Enter promo code DKB10 at checkout to save 10% on your order. That's Pentecostalpublishing.com, promo code DKB10 to save 10% at checkout. We've had several audience members ask you to address the subject of deliverance ministries. That's a broad term, but these ministries seem to focus on casting out demons or spirits that are causing problems in a person's life. Just for example, if a person were struggling with, say, smoking, the deliverance minister might cast out the demon of nicotine. And many of these ministries, they focus on addressing problems in the lives of Christians who are purportedly under some type of bondage, often the terms generational curses, covenants, soul ties, and other terms are used to describe these spiritual bondages or control that's supposedly going on in a person's life. What influence do demonic spirits have in the lives of a believer? And should Christians seek help from a deliverance minister?

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Well, to answer these questions, we're going to focus on the Bible as our authority. Experiences are not our authority, they're subjective, and they should be interpreted in accordance with the Bible. Many people have genuine experiences, but how to interpret them, how to understand them is another question. And we don't establish doctrine from experiences. Rather, we use the Bible to help us understand our experiences. So if you read the Bible, and let's just take an example, 1 John tells us that there are three main influences towards evil. There is the devil and demons, evil spirits. We believe in the reality of evil spirits, just as we believe in the reality of God and the angels who are good spirits. We believe in the reality of the devil and demons who are fallen angels and evil spirits. So there's that influence. Second influence is the world, and that means the value system, the culture of the world that's contrary to God, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. These things constitute the world. And then there is our own sinful nature, internal lust or evil desires. We're not born in a state of innocence like Adam and Eve were created, but we're born with a nature of sin. There's a disposition and even a compulsion to sin, even a bondage of sin. Without the grace of God, we are going to sin. We're sinners by nature, we will commit sinful acts. But when we receive the Holy Spirit, we receive power to overcome the sinful nature. So what we need to understand is the influences of evil include evil spirits, but are not limited to evil spirits. So when you examine something like an addiction, there could be a demonic component, but there could be an influence from the world, and there could be your own flesh, your own sinful nature and sinful desires. So while we believe in the reality of evil spirits, not every problem is created by evil spirits, and therefore not every solution is going to be just attacking evil spirits. Now, when it comes to the Christian, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. Now, some Christians don't really teach that or don't experience that. And so it would be understandable that a professing Christian who actually is not filled with the Spirit might have a struggle with demons in a way that we do not. And so their experience would lead them to believe that Christians have demons, where that is not what scripture teaches. So the Bible would indicate to us a true Christian not only believes in Jesus Christ intellectually, not only has repented of their sins, but has received the gift of the Holy Ghost, actually been filled with the Holy Ghost. Now, if you think of that term, filled means you're controlled by God's Spirit, not against your will, not as a puppet or not by force, but by voluntary surrender. So there's no area of your life. If you're filled, there's no area of your life where the Holy Spirit is not supreme or doesn't have authority. And so I do not believe that it's scriptural to think that a Christian could be possessed with the devil or an evil spirit, because that would be contrary to being filled with the Spirit. We are owned by Jesus Christ, not by an evil spirit. However, if someone is not a Christian, or maybe they are beginning or they're in the journey of being Christian, but have never received the gift of the Holy Ghost, well, yes, it is possible that they could be possessed by an evil spirit or demonized, you might say. I will say, however, that Christians can be attacked by the devil. They can be tempted by the devil. That's clear. Even Jesus was tempted, but he, of course, he never sinned. So we sometimes talk about being oppressed. So uh and the devil doesn't have power over Christians except the power of the bluff. In other words, if he can convince you that he has power, then he has power. So sometimes we go through trials, we go through temptations, maybe we ourselves have failed personally, we've sinned. And so the devil convinces us that we're under his control, even when we're really not. To the extent we believe that, then we are under his control. And so there are times that he can oppress us. He can make us uh have thoughts of uh depression and discouragement, even suicide. But the true Christian needs to realize I don't have to be subject to that. I can resist that in the name of Jesus Christ. And of course, every Christian can be influenced or tempted by the devil. So I think it's legitimate to pray against the devil. In fact, the Lord's prayer gives us a good example. Uh, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. And some commentators point out the connotation is the evil one, not just evil generically, but the opposing evil force. So certainly it's biblical to pray for God's grace and to pray against evil, to pray against the devil. If there's a time where we feel like we're attacked by the devil, we're um influenced or tempted or even oppressed, then we should pray in the name of Jesus Christ. And sometimes we say, I plead the blood of Jesus. That's not a New Testament expression, but it goes back to the Old Testament sacrificial system. But it's a way of saying, I know Jesus died for my sins. He was buried, he rose again, he won victory over the devil. So I have victory through Jesus Christ. And so I plead the blood of Jesus Christ, or I call on the name of Jesus Christ. And the book of James says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Both 1 Peter and James talk about how the devil attacks us, but if we resist him, then we have authority over him in the name of Jesus. Ephesians talks about how Jesus Christ, by his crucifixion and resurrection, has already defeated the devil. So the devil is a defeated foe. Now, when it comes to deliverance ministries, uh, and you mentioned um generational curses. Well, I do believe we're all sinners by nature. We're all born into sin, and we inherit that all the way from Adam himself, our original parent, uh, once he fell into sin. But I don't believe there is some mystical thing whereby if an ancestor has committed a certain sin, you are bound to that sin. It is true, of course, that the decisions and lifestyles of ancestors, uh, grandparents, parents, can influence us. So certainly a person who's born in a Christian home has many advantages. Where a person who's not born in a Christian home, or even worse, a person who's born in a home of, say, drug addiction or prostitution or paganism or idolatry, they already have certain things set against them because of the freedom of demonic influence, because of poor teaching, because of wrong thoughts, because of wrong examples. But I don't think that's something that has to be mystically broken. I think all of us, no matter our background, no matter our influence, we all contend with the same thing that I've already mentioned. And the flesh, that's internal, the sinful nature, the world, and the devil. And so the solution is always going to be the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, prayer in the name of Jesus, faith in Jesus Christ, repentance from sin, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and walking in the Spirit. And so we appropriate the victory that Jesus Christ has already won. We don't have to create a new victory, but we simply apply the victory that Jesus Christ has already won. So when it comes to uh there are some people who are possessed by the devil. We can, by discerning of spirits, we can know when somebody's possessed, we can rebuke them in Jesus' name and we can cast out the demons. I do believe there has to be in that person's heart, even though they're bound, there has to be a desire for freedom. There has to be a desire to overcome. Otherwise, even though we have faith and we have power, some people have chosen their sinful life. Some people have chosen that demonic influence. So until somewhere in their heart they have a desire to change, then we, God is not going to force them against their own will, but God will deliver them. So when we face problems in our own lives or in the lives of people we're trying to influence, we should try to discern there are cases of demonic possession. That's not the typical case. Usually that could come about because of gross idolatry or maybe gross immorality, uh, unrestricted involvement in things that give our minds over to evil, such as uh drug use and so forth. So that's a real possibility. And if we discern that, we need to pray in the name of Jesus and rebuke the devil. But as is often said, you can't, you can cast the devil out of someone, but you can't cast the flesh out of someone. So if someone is yielding to the temptations that beset us, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, that can develop into addictions. And the solution is not just casting out the devil. Certainly we can pray against any evil influence, uh, but we don't have to have some special technique to break an ancient curse or to cast out a demon. We have to focus on repentance from sin, faith in God, spiritual disciplines, that is a consistent spiritual life, a prayer, reading the Bible, coming to church, listening to preaching and teaching, having fellowship with godly people, following godly leadership, uh, and uh supporting the work of God with our time, with our tithes and offerings, sharing our testimony, just learning how to live a life of faith, learning to resist temptation, learning to develop godly habits to replace sinful habits, learning to uh replace evil influences such as worldly friends and worldly activities that will try to pull us into sin. And we have to minimize those or replace those with godly activities and wholesome activities. And so there's some practical things that we have to do, which we consider to be the pursuit of holiness. So, in most cases, then, uh, simply casting out a demon or praying against a demonic influence, while that can be helpful in some cases, that's usually not the total answer because it has to go to the more fundamental issues of I've got to personally repent of my sins. I must personally put my faith in Jesus Christ, I must be filled with the Spirit, and then thereafter I must walk in the Spirit. That takes effort on my part to cleanse myself from evil things, to develop godly habits, and to develop spiritual disciplines and to live accordingly. So while I certainly think it's always important to pray, uh and to uh intercessory prayer has a strong role in breaking the yokes of bondage that the devil has placed in our lives, that that can't be the total answer because the human will has to be involved. And so I would say, yes, there's there are real evil spirits that would need to be cast out whenever they come, whether they possess a person or whether influence a person, we rebuke those spirits and we cast them out. But having done that, then we have to focus on the personal issues of faith, repentance, receiving the spirit, walking in the spirit, pursuing spiritual disciplines. And so I don't necessarily think we have to have a deliverance ministry that's narrowly focused. I think deliverance should be part of the ministry of the whole church as we pray from deliverance of all of these influences. We pray for God to heal, to deliver, to transform us, to deliver from addictions to tobacco, alcohol, drugs, which may not, they could have a demonic component, but it's a physical component as well. And the same way, sinful lifestyles, uh adultery, fornication, habitual lying, habitual stealing, homosexual behavior, all those could have demonic influences. And so we pray against those demonic influences, but they also have a strong component of the human will, the human flesh, and we have to address them on those levels as well. In all things, the solution is not just a narrowly defined ministry or technique, but it's trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood for us and applying that victory to our lives.

SPEAKER_00 15:22

Thank you for listening to this episode of Apostolic Life in the Twenty First Century. If you enjoy this podcast, please take a moment to give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. We also appreciate it when you share Apostolic Life in the 21st century with a friend or family member. And make plans to join us again next time as we look at how the Bible applies to everyday life.