Regarding Deliverance

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I thought it would be helpful to clarify the difference between the biblical use of the term “deliverance” and the more modern term “deliverance ministry”. These two terms are not interchangeable, and have very different meanings and applications from each other. I will start with the Biblical term because it is by the most important, both from a Christian belief standpoint and from a practical perspective in regards to living the Christian life successfully, but I will also visit briefly what modern deliverance ministries are referring to. This will at the very least help us to identify when each may or may not be necessary, as one of our present day problems is the assumption that deliverance ministry is necessary more often than it is in reality needed.

Believing you need what is referred to nowadays as deliverance ministry when you don’t can be harmful to your faith, both because you will be discouraged when deliverance ministry doesn’t work and because it leaves you vulnerable to false prophets and charlatans. If instead, you can identify that you need biblical deliverance you will be empowered to seek out true prophets and Godly spiritual ministries for prayer and support. So lets see if we can clear things up a bit with this article!

Biblical Deliverance: The Godly Rescue Plan

Biblical deliverance is not the casting out of demons, instead it is the rescuing of believers from evil circumstances and the negative influence of people, events and environments which afflict them. There are many examples in the Bible of this, from Moses being used to deliver the Israelites from slavery, through to Noah and his family being delivered from the flood, Daniel being delivered from the lion’s den, Paul and John being delivered from prison and Jesus being delivered from the angry crowds. Many more examples can be found in the pages of the Bible. This is the type of deliverance that Jesus asks for when he prays, “…And lead us not to temptation but deliver us from evil, for yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory” in Matthew 6:13.

The Koine Greek word translated here as “deliverance” is ῥύομαι (rhyomai) which effectively means “to rescue from danger, save, rescue, deliver, preserve someone”(BDAG, p.907). It is a meaning which recognises the complete power and sovereignty of God to intervene in earthly situations, particularly in regards to bringing them out of the situation.

Lot’s Situation: A Biblical Illustration of Deliverance

The biblical example which best illustrates how this sort of deliverance differs from the modern ministry of the same name is the story of Lot and his family escaping Sodom. Looking back at this event from the New Testament era the author of 2 Peter 2:7-9 says, “…and if he [God] rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials…”

The biblical author’s insight, which they share with us in this passage, is that Lot was living under constant spiritual attack because of the evil influences operating inside the city of Sodom within which he lived. However, unlike the other townspeople, Lot himself had not fallen into sin, so Lot remained righteous in the sight of God.

We also should note that Lot had Abraham interceding for him as well, fervently covering him in a prayer of protection. (In practice Abraham interceded for the whole city, but the people of the city had made their own choices, as did Lot’s wife when after being delivered she decided to turn back.) This prayer of covering that Abraham prayed for Lot and his town is one important way that today’s believers in countries with freedom of religion can stand together with their brothers and sisters in the persecuted church. For Lot though, in the end his survival of the destruction of Sodom came down to his own relationship with God, which was also a choice to stay morally pure in a radically rebellious and sinful community.

Exorcism and the Lifting of Curses: How They Differ from Biblical Deliverance

God delivered Lot by taking him and his family out of the midst of evil, he did not take (or cast) anything out of Lot. The action of taking someone out of the midst of trouble is what is referred to by the term deliverance in the Bible, not the exorcism of a spirit residing in a person, or the lifting of a generational curse. Many modern ministries often call these events “deliverance”, but the Bible simply calls the casting out of demonic spirits what it is, the driving out of demonic spirits (Mark 16:17). In regards to curses the Bible does not talk specifically about the lifting of curses, instead it encourages believers regarding their authority in Christ by saying, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

In most situations for Jesus, and those who followed him (like Paul), the actual act of exorcism (casting out demonic spirits) was a simple process. The demons had no choice but to obey Christ and the genuine believers whom he had authorised (Luke 10:17). The only addition to this simple process is that Jesus did indicate in his teaching that people from whom spirits have been cast out have to be prepared to make a lifestyle choice spiritually in order to avoid the departed spirit returning. Jesus indicted this by explaining that departed spirits roam restlessly looking for somewhere to rest and in the course of their roaming return to see if the initial place they were forced out of retains a space for them to return to (Matthew 12:43-45). If they find it is, Jesus went on to explain they bring other spirits with them! For this reason a person must make their own active and ongoing choice to replace the void from which evil has departed with the Spirit and Word of God. This process can be actively supported by the church, who can pastor the freed believer into stronger faith and effective Christian living. The indwelling Spirit of God is the only one that can keep us and guide us into eternal life and wholeness, this is why Paul said, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith” (Ephesians 3:16-17). The Spirit of God fills the void in our being and in so doing ensures the space is not empty for any departed evil spirits to return to. If we do not allow the Spirit of God in to fill the void then we leave the space open for evil spirits to return to.

Conclusion

In summary God has provided a way of deliverance from situations and circumstances via the action of taking people out of harmful and oppressive circumstances, and he is prepared to liberate people from demonic control and curses. These are two different things though, the first is referred to by the Bible as deliverance, the second is simply referred to as casting out demons and reference to the spiritual authority we have in Christ.

In modern ministry exorcism and the lifting of curses has been confusingly mislabelled as deliverance. This article does not intend to say that the modern “deliverance ministries” are unnecessary in specific situations, but it does aim to provide clarity on what they offer and when genuine ministries may be needed by pointing out that the terms they use are misnomers. I am not saying we should stop using the term, it is perhaps too common place now to hope that will happen universally. At the very least though we should understand and be clear in relaying to others what it means in the present and how it is different from the biblical use of the terminology. By doing this we will allow people to be able to both read their Bibles and listen to our ministries with less confusion and by extension have more understanding, allowing their faith to continue to grow and flourish through the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ within them.

References:

Aland, Barbara et al, eds., Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th ed. Stuttgart, Germany: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Bauer, Walter et al, eds., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature. 3rd ed. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2000.

France, R. T. The Gospel of Matthew, NICNT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2007.

Nolland, John. The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, NIGTC-13. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005.

Hagner, Donald A. Matthew 1–13, WBC 33A. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.