Yes, Christians too, can be demon possessed and manifest during deliverance.
Let’s dive a bit into the life of Jesus to show you why. In a one off scenario where Jesus went to the outskirts of Tyre and Sidon and met a Canaanite woman. (Mathew 15:21-27 NKJV)
“ Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” 23 But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” 24 But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” 26 But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” 27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Who is deliverance actually meant for? What Jesus said…’
In verse 26; Jesus said something strange, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”
As though He was saying, the food I have is only for those in my tribe(family) —us the Christians. That means the good things of God are reserved for you and me, only. Deliverance isn’t for the non believers only but you need it more than them. For you are now a child of God. Did you catch it?
There is deliverance on the day you get saved, yes but there is much more for you to conquer, now. The kingdom of God. There is freedom but it’s not fully matured or ripe.
When does a Christian get fully delivered, then?
There is this verse, 1 Peter 2:2-3
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
We do get delivered, on the day we are saved. Yes but there is still much more lacking for us to mature.
Like a person who was suffering with secret sin may not stop fornication the very day she gets saved. She may stand strong for a while but fall back into the same sin a month later. Is she condemned? Not yet.
However such a person is still young and may need guidance and support in faith. Only then will she be strong and eventually quit fornication for good. That’s why Peter calls for spiritual feeding in the verses above, in that even though a person accepted Jesus as their Lord and saviour they still have personal struggles with sin. And that’s just ok if you’re still growing. And does growth ever actually stop in life anyway?
This is stamped by Paul who calls out the church of Corinth for their need for milk as babies because they were struggling with carnality. As many of us are. (1 Corinthians 3:1-3 NKJV)
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and [a]behaving like mere men?
This shows you that though a Christian may have got saved, he still is a human and prone to sin or struggle with former sins.
But I thought once you get saved, you are fully delivered from all sins?
Yes and no. But how?
Just like quitting an addiction won’t happen overnight and so is full deliverance.
However, what makes getting saved a little bit different is this: You are actually delivered fully on the day you are saved. All your sins are forgiven and you become born again.
But does that mean you won’t ever sin again?
No obviously, but you are now under a new protection, the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus now becomes your new spiritual covering and demons have no legal right to be in your life anymore. The problem is, in spiritual life, you have all the power to determine what stays in your life and what doesn’t. But many don’t even have the knowledge to understand how these things work.
Full deliverance happens here
Jesus is now there in your life but you have to let him lead you now. You have to let go of your carnal urges and desires and submit to His will. This doesn’t come easy, it’s like letting go of your life and letting someone else take control of it. If your life is a car, you have to let go of the driving wheel and sit back to let Him drive for you.
This is easier said than done. Many Christians still struggle to let go of their plans and shift to what God wants them to do. Yet this is what is required.
Going back to babes on milk, and so are most of us right after we have gotten saved and still naive about the ways of God. And that’s ok initially. Growth is a lifelong process and we can’t have it altogether at the same time.
Why does full deliverance take time yet I am already saved?
Notice God tells Israel that he will not drive out those seven nations before them all at once. In Deuteronomy 7:22 NKJV
“And the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you little by little; you will be unable to destroy them at once, lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you.”
And He did so, if you go on to study the wars in the days of Joshua. They were being tested to see if they would obey their God. See the last bit of that verse, ‘lest the beasts of the field become too numerous for you?’
What could He be inferring here?
Can you let a six weeks old baby girl eat a full steak of meat on her own?
No, you either breast feed them or give them some mashed potatoes. Not that steak isn’t sweet or better but because the baby isn’t ready to process such food. It may actually harm them in some way because their digestive system is still growing. And so is a growing Christian, you and me.
Even Israel was at this point under Moses young and growing, letting them conquer everything all at once was going to feel good initially but would have exposed to hundreds of unforeseen
problems.
They had no prior experience in war, they were still under the mindset of being slaves, they had no sense of unity as they had no political leader, and so many other disadvantages. And so are most modern day Christians but mostly newly saved Christians. They are still babes.
The fight for true and full deliverance
God does give us salvation in full but we have to realise it, fight and conquer it. Israel already had this promised land from the time of Abraham. It became theirs then but only by yielding to the Spirit were they able to be delivered, mature, fight and conquer what was already theirs.
Yes, they had to fight and conquer what was already theirs in the first place.
Most Christians are already free because they accepted Jesus but are still in bondage yet they claim to know God. Have they really studied His word and applied it fully?
Israel meandered in the wilderness for 40 years, not because God didn’t want them to inherit their salvation but because they were immature.Till they got tested, learnt how to follow God and were ready; then there God let them match over to the promised land and conquered it after real fighting and wars.
Am I trying to say, some Christians are not delivered because they don’t fight? Well yes, but in what context?
We Christians are fighting an already finished war, as Israel was fighting to conquer the land that was already theirs in the days of Abraham. As so, we are delivered the day we get saved but have to fight to see this victory and triumph over the devil. And fighting yields maturity hence making us ready to eat meat. The good things of God. The fruits of the Holy Spirit and so much more.
Confessions
It will shock you that even some notable pastors confessed to have experienced further deliverance even after becoming pastors. How can it be possible; a pastor casting out devils also needing deliverance sometimes? (I dare not mention their names but you can google to prove me wrong)
Back sliding (The two sided sword)
Sometimes we as Christians tend to divert off the main path due to certain circumstances or discrepancies that may lead us off the straight path towards full salvation. And that diversion may even take us further if we are not helped sometimes or fail to reconsider our walk with God.
If we continue down this path yet some even dare to still identify as Christians and go to church with all majesty yet secretly sinning. Some are even more bold, they dare to say how they are delivered by grace. Now this is something else but as Jesus put it, you who are neither cold nor warm, I will spit you out.
But here a pick for you, in Mathew 12:43-45 NKJV
“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. 44 Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45 Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.
It speaks of how the latter state is much worse than the former. And how many of us here claim to know Christ yet are struggling with private sin?
Do you think you are the exclusion here or was God talking about exactly you?
Many Christians may fall back to the very pitfalls they were pulled from when they fail to uphold unto the truth of Jesus Christ.
Truth is that they maintain the title (Christian) but are dying on the inside much more like shiny graves.
The self destruction trap set up for lukewarm Christians
Proclaiming Christ but living like the world. Now that’s hypocrisy or someone may call it treason. What do you expect God to do for such people apart from deliver them to their former tormentors?
As it is in Mathew, their latter state is much worse than how they were, before they even got saved. Now these go back into oppression because of their failure to abide on the right path. And who is to blame apart from themselves?
There is so much more to elaborate on this area of spirituality but I guess it’s going to take a while for us to fully dissect it.
But what can you do when you find yourself backsliding as a believer… join me in the next article to show you how to jump out of this dark hole.
Actually in some rare scenarios some people are not delivered even after being prayed for. In Matthew 17:14-20 where the disciples fail to cast out a demon out of a boy. But why would they fail if they used the name of Jesus? (Let us find out here)
