In this article, I will clear up any confusion that arises from a popular debate that is a great hinderance to the captives being set free...
This common argument states that the revelation of the work of the cross of Jesus Christ will set you free, therefore deliverance ministry isn't even needed if people would just understand the revelation of the cross. People who say these things think that a renewing of the mind is all that's needed. They say that people just need to submit to God and resist the enemy, or that people need to just pray and read the Bible more, or that they aren't believing hard enough that they are free, or that the curses are broken. They often say that people just need their minds renewed and they just need a deeper revelation of what the work of the cross has done.
This sounds great doesn't it? If it was really just as simple as believing the victory of the cross, and now you're free of any struggles, bondage, warfare, physical issue, oppressions, all of it! You're free!
Casting out demons does not undermine anything the cross has done. Those who minister deliverance actually enforce the work of the cross. We are ENFORCERS OF THE CROSS! We will get back to this, but first let me give you a few things to think about.
If we just need a revelation of the cross to be free, or our minds renewed, then consider the following...
How come we can pray for people to be healed of physical ailments and sometimes they don't get healed? Was the minister not believing in the work of the cross hard enough? Was the person receiving prayer not believing in the work of the cross hard enough? Does either person need their mind more renewed? The answer to all this is none of these.
What about this... Does the person who has a disease need to just simply believe in the work of the cross and they'll be healed? After all by His stripes, scripture says we ARE healed. So when we believe this why don't we see it happen? Have we just not gotten the correct revelation of the cross?
Does the person who has any of the following need to just simply get a correct revelation of the cross, or just spend more time with Jesus, or just submit to God and resist the devil? The ones who have PTSD, anxiety, MPD, DID, severe traumas, addictions, fears, depressions, or anything else, you name it...
I agree 100% that we should submit to God, we should allow God to renew our minds (because we can't renew our minds ourselves), and that we should spend more time with Jesus. I do believe we should live a life full of this spiritual discipline.
But what if someone is doing all of this to the best of their ability and they still are struggling? What if they have exhausted all avenues to the best of their ability? Do they need to try harder? Do they need to force themselves to pray more and pray harder?? Do they need to ask Jesus for a better revelation of the cross?? Does this person just need to better understand their identity? Is this person any less of a Christian? The answer to all of this is no, they need inner healing and deliverance.
Sometimes people are just "stuck" in their walk with Christ and no matter what they do they can't move forward, or they can't receive breakthrough in an area, etc. Even if they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. This is because they need inner healing and deliverance to move things out of the way so that they can go deeper with God and move into deeper levels of freedom in Christ. Sometimes the enemy needs to be told to leave through deliverance. Jesus gave us the authority to tell the enemy to get out, and the enemy will stay unless told to leave.
I absolutely do believe in the power of the cross and all that it does. I do believe the Word of God about my identity in Christ. The way these people come at deliverance with this argument is because they are only seeing one side of this. They are correct in what they are saying but only half correct. I'm going to explain why this argument is only half correct.
I've done over 300 inner healing and deliverance sessions, and I've seen the Lord do mind blowing things in these sessions. I'm not saying this to boast, if anything I'm saying it to boast in the Lord. All glory to God! With this being said, I've learned a lot through this, I've seen how God does things, I've watched Him work in these people's lives right in front of me! And this is a very important thing that I've learned, so here it is...
Jesus absolutely did buy for us, through the work of the cross, physical healing, inner healing, and freedom from the enemy. Freedom from bondage, torment, afflictions, and oppression. Yes this is true! So how come so many christians don't have it? How come so many are struggling? I'll tell you what it's not, it's not because they need a better revelation of the cross...
It's because the victory of the cross needs to be enforced, and the way to get that done is through inner healing and deliverance. The enemy doesn't care if you believe that generational curse is broken. The enemy doesn't want you to command him to leave your bloodline because the curse is broken. The enemy doesn't want you to act on what you believe. It's fantastic if you believe you are free from generational curses and if you believe in what is yours because of the finished work of the cross, but have you actually acted on that faith and commanded the enemy to leave you? If you haven't, they might still be there. Look at the following example...
Generational curses are curses that entered the bloodline generations ago because of the covenants our ancestors made with demons through various things like worshipping them, rituals, the occult, false religions, etc...
It's not enough to just say that you believe that these curses are no longer valid. The enemy doesn't care if you believe that. You have to ENFORCE THE CROSS upon the enemy and verbally break those curses and command those demons that came in through those curse to leave you and your bloodline! This is what the enemy doesn't want you to do, or to know!
I've seen this countless times! A Christian comes for deliverance and we go through the breaking of the curses and command the demons to leave and the demons manifest and get cast out! The person always says "I always thought that since I believed I was free and in the work of the cross, I couldn't have a demon, or I couldn't be under a curse." But now they know the truth, because they just experienced freedom from demons that were there because of a generational curse. Why is that? It's because it's not enough to just believe these things, we must act on them. We have to enforce the victory of the cross in our lives! Did these people who came for deliverance not have an understanding of the cross? Did they need to pray more or believe harder? NO, they needed deliverance, they needed the cross enforced in their lives!
The enemy doesn't want you to enforce the cross, or the Word of God. They could careless if you just believe it. If you just believe it, they can still stick around.
This is my last point and I'm done. Look at the following scripture...
Ephesians 4:26-27 - "Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath: Neither GIVE PLACE TO THE DEVIL." This is an example of Paul telling us that we should not open a door to the enemy or give the enemy a legal right to operate in our lives.
2 Corinthians 11:4 - "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye RECEIVE ANOTHER SPIRIT, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." This is clear evidence that we can receive a spirit other than the Holy Spirit, a demon.
2 Corinthians 2:11 - "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not IGNORANT OF HIS DEVICES." Paul tells us that we the enemy can take advantage of us if we are ignorant of their devices. So we should not be ignorant of the enemy and their devices.
Philippians 2:12-13 - "So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT YOUR SALVATION WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING, for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." The healing and deliverance process is part of every believer's sanctification journey as much as is salvation. In this verse in Philippians, it is explained that God is at work "in you," but the salvation spoken of is not completed. It needs to be "worked out." The word for "salvation" in this passage is "soteria." Thayer's Lexicon gives as the primary meaning of this word "deliverance from the molestation of enemies." So we are told to work out our "soteria" every day, which means "saved, healed, and delivered"...DAILY. This was not written to unbelievers, but to believers.
Hosea 4:6 - "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou has rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee"
In summary, deliverance ministry understands the victory of the cross and it does not by any means minimize it. We enforce it, just like all of us should be doing. Enforcing it against the enemy through deliverance. I've done a lot of deliverance and I know that the enemy will try to just stick around until they are actually commanded to leave. It's just the way it is, they need to be commanded to leave. It's time to move past the issues of "can a Christian have a demon" or "deliverance minimizes the work of the cross" etc... because Christians everywhere are struggling, they are in bondages, oppressions, and so on, because we don't want to humble ourselves and accept deliverance ministry and start casting out demons. It's time to move past all of this and set the captives free like we are called to do! The laborers truly are few, we need you on board! It's time to get free ourselves and get equipped to set others free!
Father God, I pray in the Name of Jesus Christ that this reader's free will/mind would be blessed from You Father God to desire truth, and to choose freedom in Jesus Christ. Thank You Father God in Jesus' Name! Amen.
Much love and blessings!
~ Mason Ledbetter
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Credit to Miranda Robertson for sharing with me the title of this blog, and also the bit about working out our salvation "soteria" daily, and for proofreading and giving such great suggestions, such as the short prayer at the end. Thanks Miranda!
Miranda Robertson and her husband Tyler are good friends of mine, great deliverance ministers from Canada!
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