David Diga Hernandez - 3 Things I Believe Christians need Deliverance From

There are no secrets to Deliverance. Everything we need to know about walking in freedom is found in Scripture. Scripture says in Second Corinthians 3:17, «For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.» I want to bring you to the simplicity of the Scripture. I want to examine the Scripture and talk to you about this wonderful ministry of the Holy Spirit that is Deliverance. What is Deliverance? Well, Deliverance is simply to be set free. When someone is said to be delivered, they are said to be free. So, we don’t want to complicate this; we want to go through the Scripture and clarify where there is a lot of confusion. I believe that you will walk away with a deeper and more stable understanding of the topic of Deliverance if you’re willing to discard the old mindset and embrace what the Scripture says. Often, we are told things from the traditions of man. We are told things from religious establishments that don’t necessarily align with Scripture. In fact, sometimes the things we are taught are nowhere to be found in the Bible. Therefore, as I take you through the Scripture, I pray that great clarity will come. Confusion can only persist if we are not willing to let go of old mindsets. So, as we examine what the Bible says here, I believe you’ll experience freedom not just from attacks, not just from torment, and not just from temptation, but also from confusion. As you begin to look at the truth of Scripture, a light begins to shine brighter and darkness begins to dissipate.

I’ll start by saying that Deliverance is a simple term. Again, to be delivered means to be set free. To be delivered is to be released from bondage. Now, often—this is where a lot of the confusion arises, especially in discussions about Deliverance—Christians conflate Deliverance with exorcism. There’s a subtle difference between Deliverance and exorcism, and this is not something that’s discussed very often. In fact, we often mesh these terms together and use them interchangeably, where Deliverance always means exorcism and exorcism always means Deliverance. To be clear, Deliverance is the umbrella term. Deliverance is the general term; it’s the generic statement. Again, to be delivered simply means to be set free. Now, depending on what you are being set free from, that will determine what kind of Deliverance it is. Exorcism is a very specific kind of Deliverance. If you are set free from temptation, that’s Deliverance from temptation. If you are set free from torment, that’s freedom from torment. If you are set free specifically from demonic possession, and a demon is cast out of you, that is commonly referred to as exorcism.

Now, Scripture refers to this as having demons cast out. You do not necessarily see the term «exorcism» in every translation of the Bible, but it simply describes the act of someone being set free from a demon inhabiting their being. This, of course, is something performed on the unbeliever. We understand that Christians can be attacked by demons; some people use the term «oppressed,» which is fine as long as you are describing demonic attack. Christians can be oppressed, but we understand they cannot be possessed. They cannot be the possession of a demon where the demon is dwelling in them and they require an exorcism. In fact, the Bible clearly states in Colossians 1:13–14, «Who hath delivered us,» and this is past tense, talking to Christians, «who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.» So, it’s Colossians 1:13–14. Those powers of darkness being described there are demonic powers, and we see plainly that Scripture describes the fact that the born-again believer has already been delivered from that form of demonic influence. Therefore, we understand that deliverance from demonic possession, or exorcism, takes place before salvation or in the moments leading up to it. In fact, in many cases, exorcism is what inspires an individual to receive salvation.

As I said, there’s more than one type of Deliverance. Again, when we think of Deliverance, we may think, «Oh, casting a demon out"—but that’s only one kind. There is also Deliverance from the penalty of sin. Ephesians 2:1-6 states, «Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in this unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved, for he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.»

Now, I’m really going to challenge some perspectives. Whenever you talk about Deliverance and see it in Scripture, for the believer, Deliverance is most often referred to in the past tense. In other words, it’s something that has already occurred. Deliverance is not like a liquid or a substance that you can get more of or less of. Deliverance is yours the moment you are born again.