Modern-day deliverance ministries try to cast out demons from Christians. This is unbiblical. There is also the practice of pleading the blood of Jesus for deliverance, which is also unbiblical.
Let’s dive deeper into these topics.
Casting out demons
Many deliverance ministries attempt to cast out demons from Christians. But no born-again believer can be possessed by a demon. Being possessed means that a demon controls a person, and the person has little control over himself.
A born-again believer is someone who believes in Jesus and follows Him. God the Holy Spirit is in that person and therefore that person cannot be possessed by any demons.
The Bible tells us: “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4).
So if we trust God, we do not have demons in us, but we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to help us live for God. We do not need deliverance ministries to deliver us. But God delivers us from all evil.
When Jesus taught us how to pray to our heavenly Father, He included this in the prayer: “And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13).
So it is God who delivers us from evil and not any person or ministry. We need to directly pray to God daily to deliver us from evil and help us overcome temptations, instead of relying on any person or ministry.
In fact, many deliverance ministries actually do much harm. Many of them practice false tongues and false miracles.
Remember, to overcome evil and the sins that make us fall, we need to pray and work with God in repentance and obedience. This comes with perseverance, practice, and the grace of God. Wickedness cannot be cast out of us. Wickedness comes out from repentance and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit.
Pleading the blood of Jesus
If you believed in Jesus, Jesus’ blood washes you of your sins. The blood of Jesus is atonement for our sins. Because of the blood of Jesus, we have salvation in Christ. But the blood of Jesus is not something we ask God to anoint us with every day as a protection from evil.
If your goal is to ask God to protect you and deliver you from evil, just ask Him plainly like that. You don’t need to say “I plead the blood of Jesus over me today”.
What we say and how we say it matters to God. God tells us in His word to pray “deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). So we should do so according to His instruction.
When we “plead the blood of Jesus”, we are in a sense using Jesus’ blood as protection from evil. But Jesus’ blood is used for atonement of sins to wash away our sins, not as an object to protect us from temptation.
We cannot say: “Here is a drop of Jesus’ blood over me, devil don’t come near me.” Things don’t work that way.
When we say: “I plead the blood of Jesus over me”, we are not directly talking to God. But when we say: “Father, protect me from evil” or “Father, deliver us from evil”, we are humbly asking God directly.
What is more pleasing to God is a personal relationship with Him, where we directly ask Him for our needs, instead of declaring something out loud.
So what we seek in every area of life is to do what is more pleasing to God (Colossians 1:10), which is to follow His instructions in the Bible. In this case, we can pray for God’s protection and deliverance like in Matthew 6:13, but not plead the blood of Jesus (which is not found in the Bible).
(By the way, Matthew 6:9-13 is an outline or guidance for daily prayer. It is not meant as verbatim recitation. We should use our own words to pray centered around giving thanks and praising God [verse 9], praying for our growth and for others [verse 10], asking for our daily needs [verse 11], asking for forgiveness of sins and repenting of any sins [verse 12], and asking for protection and deliverance [verse 13].)
Q: The Bible has many examples of attacks of evil spirits. Isn’t it true we can be attacked and need deliverance?
Yes we do come under spiritual attack frequently. The Bible says: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
We need to put on the full armor of God instead of going to a deliverance ministry. What is the full armor of God?
“Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Ephesians 6:14-17)
So the full armor of God is:
- Know the truth of the Bible
- Practice righteousness or practice what God says in His word
- Share the gospel with others
- Trust God with all your heart
- Rest in the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ
- Fight against the enemy by believing in the words of the Bible
“With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints…” (Ephesians 6:18)
By practicing these things and praying, you can overcome the enemy. It is not by relying on a person to deliver you that you overcome. It is by practicing these things and praying that you overcome.
Read Matthew 6 in the Bible.
See other false teachings Christians should avoid.