Some churches teach us to rebuke evil thoughts and feelings. For example, they teach people to say: “I rebuke any feelings of procrastination or laziness in the name of Jesus”.
However, this is a false and dangerous teaching.
In general, we should not rebuke the devil, fallen angels, or even thoughts and feelings that are evil. Humans are sinners by nature. We don’t have the right to rebuke evil, having done evil ourselves.
Take responsibility for sin
Christians can still sin. This is why Jesus taught us to pray daily: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). So we need forgiveness ourselves everyday, because we are weak and may have committed sins we don’t even know about. The Bible says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8).
So we all need to work with God to overcome sins and be molded to be more Christ-like. Knowing this, we are in no position to rebuke evil.
When we rebuke evil, even feelings of procrastination or laziness in the name of Jesus, we put ourselves in a position as if we are in the right and only that feeling is in the wrong. But in this position, it is easy to not take responsibility for our own thoughts and actions. It is kind of like saying: “This thought or feeling is separate from me. If I rebuke it, then it will go away. And then I’m alright again.”
This becomes easily unbiblical, because we are the ones who have the feeling or thought. We need to take responsibility. So instead of saying in prayer: “I rebuke this evil in the name of Jesus”, we ought to say humbly: “Father, forgive us our sins and deliver us from evil”.
God is the One who can forgive and help us. If we ask God to forgive us and help us overcome sin, then we can succeed. If we just keep rebuking things, we are not acknowledging that we are at fault and we are not doing anything to confess our own sins so that God can heal us.
A method without faith or holiness
In some churches today, it is popular to rebuke evil in the name of Jesus. Although Jesus has given us all authority in His name, using this authority without faith or holiness is very dangerous.
Many Christians today don’t have enough faith to combat evil spirits. Yet many Christians rebuke evil and the devil, not knowing that they don’t know God very well, have little faith, are not practicing God’s word diligently in their lives, and are in over their heads.
The Bible records: “But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, ‘I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.’ Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. And the evil spirit answered and said to them, ‘I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?’ And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” (Acts 19:13-16)
These sons of Sceva had no identity in Christ, and therefore no power. They followed a method instead of knowing Jesus, repenting and living for God.
So also we need to be careful to NOT do the same thing. Let’s not follow a method. But focus on a personal relationship with God. In that relationship, ask God to forgive us and help us to not sin. Work with Him diligently to overcome sins and resist the devil.
Jesus said: “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23)
For Jesus to not say to us: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”, we need to know God and not practice lawlessness. Knowing God is an ongoing personal relationship with God that begins when we believe in Jesus who died for our sins. To not practice lawlessness is to work with God diligently to overcome sins and resist temptations. If we fail, confess our sins to God, repent, and practice diligently to resist sin next time.
If we say we believe, we need to act like we believe. We need to live in holiness. If we truly believe in Jesus, we would not practice lawlessness or sin like the devil. If we believe in God without any action to turn away from our sins, then we are false believers.
So just rebuking evil is dangerous, because a person doing this is not taking action to turn away from sins (repenting). He is just declaring that the evil is bad and it should go away using Jesus’ name. But we should never use Jesus’ name as a method. We should have a growing relationship with Jesus and live for Him.
“To live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
Do not rebuke fallen angels
Not even good angels rebuked or judged the devil. “But Michael the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!'” (Jude 1:9).
Let God be the judge, not us humans who have sinned. We who have sinned have no right to pronounce judgment against others.
Although Jesus will give us authority to judge fallen angels in the future (1 Corinthians 6:3), let us do that after we have overcome this world and are in heaven. Before the judgment day is here and we are given authority by God on that day, let us not judge or rebuke fallen angels.
How to resist evil
“Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8)
Let us not give him the opportunity by using methods instead of sound doctrine. Let us hold fast to God, obey Him, build our faith, and stand firm.
“Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7)
We resist the devil by trusting in God: “greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). And we resist the devil by abstaining from wickedness: “Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness” (2 Timothy 2:19).
Read 1 Corinthians 6 in the Bible.
See other false teachings Christians should avoid.