On March 13, 2023, the movie, Come Out in Jesus Name, was featured in 2,000 secular movie theaters across the United States. Numerous reports came out that night, videos alleging that demons were cast out in the aisles of the theaters. This took place during a live mass deliverance simulcast in which a myriad of demonic entities was rebuked and commanded to leave. Prior to this, a gospel message was briefly presented. There were claims of deliverance taking place in Christians, and this movie is going to be featured again next month for two nights in movie theaters. According to these deliverance ministers, this is the era of deliverance.

Why continue to talk about this? Well, I believe that this is a topic worth discussing and worth testing in accordance with Scripture. It is a practice and belief growing in popularity, which is not a gauge of sound Biblical teaching. As someone who was once affiliated with these types of teachings and practices, there is great concern for those who lack Biblical literacy and for the perpetuation of practices and beliefs leading to bondage rather than true freedom in Christ. The crux of deliverance ministry is the teaching that born-again believers can have indwelling demons and are the ones who are to have demons expelled from their body or soul, while the Holy Spirit is said to simultaneously take up residence in the spirit.

One of the individuals featured in this film has stated on more than one occasion that he only does deliverance on believers, presenting his argument that there are no Scriptures saying a Christian cannot “have a demon”. He has stated that personal experiences and stories do not matter while appealing to Scripture for the truth. However, the Scriptures cited are problematic for support of believers needing deliverance, and in affirming this type of ministry, experience and stories ironically carry weight in the appeal. This same individual encourages others to seek out deliverance every few months or so, depending on “how free you want to be” and if you are “showing symptoms” of needing deliverance from “critters”.

The teachings on this topic are vast online. One can easily search and find videos and books pertaining to this topic. The followings are large and continuing to grow, and there is great concern for deception and a lack of understanding the gospel, progressive sanctification, the doctrine of indwelling sin, and the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of a true born-again believer. As is my intent with each blog post, I hope to encourage fellow believers in the truth of God’s Word and to glorify Christ Jesus, my Lord and Savior, who has delivered me from the domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13,14) and who sealed me with the promise of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13), the One who is greater than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

Free from Demonic Tyranny

We as believers in Christ are reminded to whom we belong and that we are no longer under the tyranny of the devil. We are encouraged and admonished to understand we are no longer slaves to sin and unrighteousness, which agrees with the ruler of this world, but we are slaves of God and slaves to righteousness. This is not unwilling slavery. I heard a minister make a point that though we are slaves to sin, we are not unwilling participants. The same can be said of being slaves to righteousness. Our hearts are transformed, and we are sanctified in ever being conformed into the image of Christ, according to Scripture. Matthew Henry said this concerning John 12:31 and the casting out of the devil by Christ, “Christ, reconciling the world to God by the merit of his death, broke the power of death, and cast out Satan as a destroyer. Christ, bringing the world to God by the doctrine of his cross, broke the power of sin, and cast out Satan as a deceiver. The soul that was at a distance from Christ, is brought to love him and trust him.”

The verse deliverance ministers love to reference so much Matthew 12:43-45 regarding a demonic spirit leaving and coming back to find a house swept, empty and in order, bringing with it seven more demons, ignores that born again believers are not empty. Also, the state of a true believer is better than before salvation, as that individual is no longer under the penalty of sin and the wrath of God. This is a better covenant because of Jesus Christ. The burden is on these ministers to explain how under a better covenant, things are worse for the believer in having to continually contend with indwelling demons while the Holy Spirit cohabits. If these ministers need demonic deliverance themselves, what does that say about their understanding of the Third Person of the Trinity?

It is also worth noting that Jesus seems to make it clear in this account in Matt 12:29 that He is the One who binds the strong man, Satan, and plunders his house. Jesus has truly come to set the captive free from the tyranny of the devil, and to bring redemption and the promise of eternal life. It is by His Spirit that we are sanctified and saved from the power of sin. Jesus prayed in John 17:15 that the Father would not take those who He had given the Word out of this world, but that He would keep them from the evil one. Exemption from trials, hardships, and outward attacks of the enemy are not promised to us as believers, but we have not been left ill equipped or in despair. As Robert Dean stated, “When God purifies the Temple for His indwelling presence, nothing undefiled may enter.”

There is no “up and out” in a born-again believer. Scripture is silent on this matter, and where it is silent, we would do well to be silent. Consider which is good news: to wonder if another demon has to be cast out of you as a believer, to have deliverance maintenance done every few months to get rid of the “critters” and to blame the devil for your sin, or to hear the glorious news of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who came into the world sinless, born of a virgin, perfect in all His ways, demonstrating that He was the true Messiah, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. He is the One who Satan had no claim to and who died to atone for our sins on the cross, who was rejected and despised and led like a lamb to the slaughter, taking the punishment you and I deserved. He is the One who died, was buried, and rose again in three days, and in this, we rejoice because in Christ, we no longer owe a debt for sin. In Christ, the old man has been crucified and buried. In Christ, the new man is raised, and in the midst of a fallen world with unbelievers under the tyranny of Satan, we have a hope the world cannot understand or take away.

Though we face temptation, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, leading us, and guiding us (Romans 8:13-14, Galatians 5:16-18). Though we sin and fail, we have a High Priest ever interceding for us at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Romans 8:34, Hebrews 7:25, 1 John 2:1), who knows what it means to be tempted in every way yet did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). We can come boldly to the throne of grace, asking God to forgive us of our sins against Him, believing we are forgiven, and bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. Though we are bombarded by extrabiblical revelation and experience telling us that even as a Christian, demons can set up residence in our soul or flesh, we have the Word of God to assure us of the truth.

The gospel is not centered upon what demons have done. The gospel is centered upon what Christ has done. What freedom is there for the believer if demons can indwell the temple of God? What security and hope does one have in believing this? Is the devil not a tyrant and oppressor? If you are a citizen of heaven, what Christ did is sufficient to bring you out of Satanic tyranny. It does not mean that you will not face temptations, trials, and difficulty due to the enemy. It means that your battle against the devil is from without, not within.

Do these accounts in Scripture of demon possession and the ones we see from deliverance ministers look similar? Consider they are commanding demons to come out, as Jesus did. Consider that the ancient texts agree with demon possession, not merely being demonized. Definitions matter. Do we see any description of believers acting like this in the epistles, or do we see Paul addressing sin and how to address it by the Word and the Holy Spirit? Do we see individuals coming back for repeat deliverance or deliverance maintenance, or is Christ’s work on the cross sufficient for your deliverance and for my deliverance?

What many are being sold is a bill of goods with new packaging of old material with new and fresh faces. For those who would say that there are no passages in Scripture stating a Christian cannot have a demon, I would argue that just as the Scriptures do not state the word Trinity, we can point to numerous passages referencing the doctrine of the Trinity. The same is applicable for the belief that a born-again believer cannot be indwelt by a demon. It is an insult to true salvation and to Christ Himself.

Let’s return to Scripture in context and to glorifying Christ in word and deed, exhorting one another to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, growing in the grace and knowledge of Him and growing in spiritual maturity rather than mythology.

Listen to this episode regarding a conversation between two deliverance ministers and what Scripture has to say: The Lovesick Scribe Podcast: Up and Out with Christian Deliverance Ministry on Apple Podcasts