“Error always goes to church because Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, infiltrates the systems of religion, particularly Christianity even true Christianity and plants his seeds of error there and a gullible, witless, uneducated, undiscerning church becomes a victim.”
John MacArthur
I watch a lot of Pastors and christian content on YouTube. I can catch past conferences and most of all, theological debates, which i love. I have a set of Reformed pastors I listen to regularly but for some odd reason youtubes algorithm wants to throw in a ton, and I do mean ton, of content from from not so christian “christian” leaders.
I can search for a Puritan sermon and minutes later I’m flooded with Deliverance ministries. People (I refuse to call them pastors) like Greg Locke, Isaiah Soldivar, Vlad Savchuk and Alexander Pagani. These men along with many other men and women, have made created a huge movement with millions of followers.
They travel around the world in search for people possessed by demons. That’s the main goal of their ministry and they will be the first to admit it. It’s not about the gospel, it’s about deliverance. And from time to time they will “raise the dead”. It’s never on video strangly enough.
Deliverance is the goal. The demon of porn, the demon of anger, the demon of greed, the demon of envy…. Every imaginable sin has its own demon they say. These demons possess and control seemingly good people and make them sin against their bodies, others and God.
Grab a ticket or sign up online! Load up the kids too. These guys will deliver those demons and set you free.
Free……
There is nothing free with these people. You must pay to play. And if you decide on buying that ticket to their show just make sure your demon doesn’t find out.
I will say that demons are real. And they are a real part of many peoples life. But these Deliverance pastors go to the extreme and say Christians can become possessed. The backlash has caused them to change their terms though. Many will now say Christians can become demonized. Demonized means possessed, but they know people won’t check the meaning.
In scripture we see instances of people being possessed by demons.
- Matt 9:32-33 “As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.”
- Matt 12:22 “Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.”
- Matt 17:18 “And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him, and the boy was healed instantly.”
- Mark 5:2 “And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.”
- Mark 7:26 “Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.”
- Luke 4:33 “And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon”
- Acts 16:16 “As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.”
If you believe the scripture you have to believe in demons and their ability to control the lost. And that’s the key, the lost. Every verse listed shows the possession of someone outside of Christ. And scripture gives no cases of a believer being possessed by demons. It actually points to the very opposite!
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own”
- 2 Corinthians 1:22 “and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.”
- Romans 8:9 “, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
- 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God ‘s temple and that God ‘s Spirit dwells in you?”
Scripture is very clear, Christians cannot be possessed by demons. John 1:5 and 2 Corinthians 6:18 explains that light and darkness cannot mix, they cannot dwell together. We can experience attacks from the devil but we cannot come under his possession.
A very real problem with these ministries is the fact that every sin is demonic. This gives the people a way to escape responsibility and an excuse for their sinful ways. There is no call to repentance, they just start casting out.
It shows no understanding of who we are in light of God, and no understanding of who God is. We are sinners by nature, therefore we sin. As a result of the fall, the sin of Adam was imputed to mankind. On the other end, when we are granted godly repentance and brought to salvation through Jesus Christ, we see a double imputation. My sin was imputed to Christ and in return His righteousness was imputed to me.
The deliverance “Pastors” show they do not truly follow this belief. To them, man sins because he is forced/coerced by demonic possession. So if it were not for the demon, man possibly would not sin? Thats a question they dodge. They are the ones that free these poor gullible people. They finish what Christ couldn’t finish. But we must go back to scripture always.
- John 8:36 “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed”
Free indeed! This is true deliverance. This is true freedom. Deliverance comes by way of the gospel, not any person. It’s completed by the Godhead, not a casting out party. The Father purposed it, the Son accomplished it and the Holy Spirit applies it. This is the simplest way to explain each role.
Through the sovereign work of God man is brought out of darkness and away from the power of sin, into light as a slave for Christ, and more than a slave, we become part of the bride of Christ. What kind of master would slip and let his slave be controlled by another? What kind of father would allow his children to become a tool and vessel for his enemy?
These Deliverance ministries are full of Vipers, heretics They are wolves seeking to destroy people. This comes about, in my opinion, when people call themselves rather than being called by God. They gain crowds like snake oil salesmen but haven’t even progressed tonthe first steps of understanding the most basic christian doctrines that we learn as a child. They need to step down and sit under the guidance of real, biblical pastors.
Thanks be to God that He has His own and will see to it that they will be brought to salvation. There are people inside these ministries that will be drawn by the grace of God to repentance and belief. He will not lose one that is His. Christ will not fail.
To the believer I say this: Do not look to these ministries for help. Do not get wrapped up in the lies and twisted doctrines of men and be drawn away from the truths revealed in scripture. Through sanctification you will be further conformed into the image of Christ. This is an ongoing process that ends when this life is over for us. Take responsibility for your actions and don’t look to place blame. Search the scripture to learn to mortify your sin.
Ephesians 4:22-24 “In reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.”
Amen
No King but Christ 