Deliverance Ministries

(Are They Biblical?)

By Christian Anarchist

Deliverance ministries have been

around for a while. They are certainly
nothing new, but some of the things
these ministries do, they should be of
concern to Christians who are around
these ministries. Especially since,
based on my experience, the results
either come to unbiblical standards for
their ministry or eisegesis of the
biblical text. In this article, we will go
over and explain what these ministries
do and their flaws. I put the sub-title

as (Are They Biblical?) and I do not

plan to pull back any information I
have learned.
Whenever a deliverance ministry
identifies itself as such, its goal is
aimed to deliver a spirit away from
bondage. They usually identify the
cause of this bondage as a demon
that attempts to control a persons
life. However, while I can agree that
exorcisms are possible and I have
experienced them done, the biblically
consistent exorcists will not identify
themselves as part of this type of
ministry. In fact, the concept will be
quite vague to them. One idea of
where this modern vision of the
deliverance ministry movement came
from was explained by Dr. Thomas Ice,
an Associate Professor at Liberty
University, who has written a book on

this topic entitled A Holy Rebellion: A

Strategy for Spiritual Warfare. In the
first segment on the BIBLICAL
WORLDVIEW OF SPIRITUAL WARFARE
that was aired on Christian Answers
TV, he mentioned Frank E. Peretti, a
Christian Fiction author, wrote a book
in 1986 entitled, This Present
Darkness, which had some content in
it that led people to call him on radio
shows and they basically treated the
book as if it offered actual insight on
how to engage in spiritual warfare. Its
writings would be similar to that of
some of the modern teachings of
deliverance ministries today. However,
the book was reviewed by critics and
bible scholars, some of whom thought
that the author did not actually show
a Christian parallel to combatting
demons and that the book promoted

an idea that people dont have to take

responsibility for sin while denying
Gods sovereignty. The main essential
doctrine that drives this ministry
movement (especially from the book
mentioned earlier) is a form of
Dominion Theology that views that
God lost control over the earth and
that Satan is now the sovereign ruler
of it. As a result, believers, according
to this theology, are called to combat
against the demons of Satan in the
different "dominions" as to reestablish what belongs to God. This
view about the earth and its true
sovereign ruler is false. 1 Chronicles
29:11-12, Psalms 115:3, Isaiah 46:910, Psalms 103:19, Lamentations 3:37
and Proverbs 16:4 are solid verses
that they alone prove that God is in
full control of the things that happen

on this earth. God has not lost his

sovereign reign over his creation, the
world that he created. To suggest that
Satan is the sole reason that bad
things happen to people, is to suggest
that God is not sovereign and in
control, which contradicts the
scriptures.
The next problem with this
theology is pointed out clearly by one
of its followers. A blogger and
YouTuber by the name of Jamaal
Williams has engaged in this ministry.
In a blog article of his entitled, "Those
thoughts might not be coming from
you", he made the following
comment: "Hearing blasphemous
thoughts, voices telling you to do evil,
uncontrollable lustful thoughts etc. ?
Then you probably have a demon and
need deliverance (1)." In other words,

what Jamaal Williams is saying, is that

you are not responsible for your own
actions and should not be held
accountable for your own deeds. This
is heresy and removes any
responsibility for the conduct of sin.
The bible speaks about why we sin as
human beings in general. Romans 8:67 mentions the mind of the flesh is
death and that it is hostile towards
God because "it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be." So
the sinful condition that man is in, as
stated in Romans 5:12, shows this. We
are still struggling with the flesh, even
if we are saved. Paul mentions in
Romans 7:14 that he is under the
bondage of sin. While he says he does
what he doesn't want to do (which he
even says he hates what he's doing at
that time), he goes to say it's not him

doing it. However, does this literally

mean something is controlling him?
By no means. He is simply admitting
how corrupt and weak he is alone as a
man. He humbles and displays his
weakness as a man who must have
Jesus to be saved from the penalty of
sins. Which he says in Romans 7:17 to
be what is causing the actions: "Now
then it is no more I that do it, but sin
that dwelleth in me." This is not a
demon, but a condition of the sinful
nature we are born with as stated in
Psalms 51:5 and Romans 5:12. Plus, if
our will is done by demons, then
they'd have to struggle with Proverbs
16:9 and Proverbs 16:33.
The other problem that I have with
this particular movement is that it is
slowly starting to null out the concept
of Sola Scriptura that was taught by

the early reformers during the

Protestant Reformation. Instead the
believers who follow deliverance
ministries focus on two other "Solas"
as their final authority. They are either
Sola Ratio (Reason Alone) or Sola
Testimonium (Testimony Alone). By
Sola Ratio, I mean that they focus on
reason as their only means. The main
problem I have with this is that it's
difficult to determine if one's
reasoning is actually rational or
justified biblically. By Sola
Testimonium, I mean that they focus
on what they see and hear as their
authority in determining what's true.
Both of these doctrines appeal to
emotions and feelings that arise from
man-centered theology rather than
the scriptures as their final authority.
In fact, concerning the scriptures, we

have Jeremiah 17:9 saying the heart is

wicked and corrupt. As for the natural
mind itself, I think we've covered that.
However, some people, if not most,
will continue in believing this mancentered theology instead because
they want to focus on human
freedom. They do not want to accept
that God is sovereign and is in control
of everything because they want to
maintain that they are in God's throne
and want to maintain control of their
lives. If your going to believe in any
doctrine, dogma or teaching
concerning the Christian Faith, it must
be backed by the scriptures (2
Timothy 3:16-17). If it isn't backed by
the scriptures, then your teaching on
a topic is unbiblical and is more mancentered than God centered.

So what is the biblical way to be

in spiritual warfare against the
demons? It is preaching the gospel
unto all of creation. Because we
preach the gospel unto people, we are
allowing people to have an
opportunity to receive faith by hearing
the word of God (Romans 10:17).
Whenever Jesus encountered Satan
when he was being tempted, he
quoted scripture to him. The holy
scriptures and the gospel of Jesus
Christ is the holy weapon we are to
use against the demons in spiritual
warfare. We are called to put on the
armor of God and the sword, which is
identified as the word of God and the
gospel in Ephesians 6:10-18. If you are
a Christian and wish to participate in
spiritual warfare, then do it by
preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ

and living by the scriptures as your

final authority. Shalom Aleichem.

Sources and
Citations
1.) Williams, Jamaal. Those
thoughts may not be coming
from you.

(https://deliverancefromdemonsi
njesusname.wordpress.com/201
6/08/21/those-thoughts-may-notbe-coming-from-you/)