Deliverance

I believe Christians do need deliverance. Whether a Christian who has the Holy Spirit indwelling in him can be “possessed” by an evil spirit, I cannot affirm. But I agree with Reimer that a Christian can be oppressed by the external spiritual force that is “draped over the person’s back and hanging on, slowing the person down, and creating spiritual bondage for them” (p. 197).

Early in my spiritual childhood, our family would study the bible and pray together every night. Many strangers came to pray with us, and I witnessed a range of demonic oppressions that manifested in various forms. Frequently, I have observed the collisions between the spiritual and natural order. One night, however, things were different; my grandfather has always been skeptical of the Holy Spirit actively working through divine healing. Before he became a Christian, he worked as a traveling shaman specializing in conjuring spirits for villagers who were oppressed by demons. He told us the stories but stopped short when we asked him to recite some of his incantations. He finally relented to our incessant harassment and recited a short phrase in an unknown dialect. We continued with our bible study, but during the time of prayer, a strange phenomenon interrupted our solemn ambiance. A small voice of laughter arose in our midst; the laughter became so gaudy that it stopped our prayers. Without opening our eyes, we knew who it was, and we were horrified. Her eyes were opened, pointing at us one by one and gesturing, mocking, and laughing with a disdained tone. Later that evening, more manifestations of demonic phenomena happened to other family members.

Reimer mentioned, “some of the gateways to demonization: sin, abuse, occult activity, and generational demons” (p. 199). I believe that night, we dabbled in the demonic realm that was part of my grandfather’s past. The spirit that my grandfather conjured through his incantation came through our invitation. After the initial fog of confusion had passed, we knew the demon must submit to Christ, “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us” (Mk 1:24). We did not fear the demonic spirit knowing the scripture, “he gave them power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy” (Lk 10:19). After demanding the demon to stop laughing in Jesus’ name, we asked its name and its origin. We learned how to cast out demons through Jesus’ dialogue with the demon-possessed man from Gadarenes (Mark 5:1-13). After a few initial setbacks, we were able to ascertain the demon’s name and its purpose. In Jesus’ name, we commanded the derisive spirit to leave, and at once, it left. That night, we knew for sure that “greater is he that is in [us], than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). What began as a disturbing and perplexing experience turned into a demonstration of the Lord’s absolute authority over both the spiritual and natural realms. His unshakable promise to us was affirmed, “In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover” (Mk 16:17-18).