EVEN BELIEVERS MAY NEED DELIVERANCE

EVEN BELIEVERS MAY NEED DELIVERANCE

(SALVATION AND DELIVERANCE ARE NOT IDENTICAL EXPERIENCES)

Main Scriptures: John 8:36 “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

You will agree with me that some Christians continue battling with destructive habits, unforgiveness, bitterness, sexual sin, and other forms of spiritual and emotional bondage?

1. SALVATION DOES NOT MEAN WE HAVE NO BATTLES

Some Christians think: “If I am saved, I should never struggle with anything.”

That is not the testimony of Scripture. Paul himself described struggles in his Christian life.

Romans 7:22–23 says: “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members…”

The Christian life involves transformation. We are saved by grace, but we must continue growing in grace.

SALVATION CHANGES OUR POSITION; SANCTIFICATION CHANGES OUR DAILY LIVES.

2. JESUS PAID FOR FREEDOM, BUT WE MUST WALK IN THAT FREEDOM

Jesus said: “If the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

THE SON MAKES US FREE. Freedom begins with Jesus.

CHRIST IS OUR DELIVERER! But we must cooperate with what God is doing in our lives.

DELIVERANCE REQUIRES BOTH GOD'S POWER AND OUR RESPONSE.

3. SAVED CHRISTIANS CAN STILL HAVE AREAS OF BONDAGE

Are there not Christians whose marriages are continually filled with conflict?

Marriage difficulties do not automatically prove that someone is cursed.

WE CANNOT CAST OUT WHAT WE REFUSE TO CONFRONT.

We must allow God to deal with the roots of our problems.

4. SOME BELIEVERS STRUGGLE FINANCIALLY

Are there not hardworking Christians who still struggle to meet their needs? Yes.

But poverty or financial difficulty does not automatically mean someone is cursed.

Therefore, we should pray and seek wisdom.

WE NEED BOTH SPIRITUAL POWER AND PRACTICAL WISDOM.

5. SOME BELIEVERS SERVE GOD WHILE STILL STRUGGLING WITH SIN

This is a serious issue. Are there people singing in the choir, preaching, praying, and participating in ministry while secretly living in sexual immorality? Sadly, yes.

Being active in church does not automatically mean every area of our lives has been transformed.

MINISTRY ACTIVITY IS NOT THE SAME AS HOLINESS.

Therefore, we must not use ministry as a cover for sin.

God is not merely looking for people who can perform.

GOD WANTS CLEAN HEARTS AND TRANSFORMED LIVES.

6. SOME BELIEVERS EXPERIENCE REPEATED LOSSES

There are Christians who say: “Whenever money comes, something happens.”

An illness occurs. A family emergency comes. A major expense appears.

We should pray about such situations. But we must also examine practical causes.

We should not label every financial crisis a curse.

DISCERNMENT IS BETTER THAN SUPERSTITION.

We pray for God's protection while also applying God's wisdom.

7. SOME CHRISTIANS STRUGGLE WITH HABITS THAT HAVE EXISTED FOR GENERATIONS

Some people recognize patterns in their families: anger, alcoholism, violence etc

We should take these patterns seriously.

But we should not conclude that every disease or behavior passed through a family is automatically a spiritual curse.

Jesus Himself rejected the assumption that every sickness was caused by someone's sin.

John 9:2–3: The disciples asked Jesus whether a man's blindness was caused by his sin or his parents' sin.

Therefore: NOT EVERY PROBLEM IS A CURSE.

But destructive family patterns can be broken through Christ.

8. SOME CHRISTIANS CARRY UNFORGIVENESS

Are there believers who cannot greet one another? Are there Christians who refuse to sit together? Are there brothers and sisters who worship the same God but cannot forgive each other? This is bondage.

Jesus taught us to forgive.

Matthew 6:14 says: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”

Sometimes we are asking God to deliver us from the enemy while we are holding tightly to bitterness.

WE CANNOT WALK IN FREEDOM WHILE CHOOSING TO LIVE IN UNFORGIVENESS.

Forgiveness does not mean pretending that the offense never happened.

It means surrendering vengeance to God and refusing to remain controlled by the offense.

9. SOME SERVANTS OF GOD STRUGGLE WITH JUDGMENT AND PRIDE

There are believers who speak about other people's lives as though they know everything. They judge people's motives. They condemn quickly.

They behave as though they have already received God's final judgment on other people.

But Jesus warned us: Matthew 7:1 “Judge not, that you be not judged.”

We need discernment, but discernment is not condemnation.

SPIRITUAL MATURITY PRODUCES HUMILITY.

The more we know God, the less arrogant we should become.

10. WE USE JESUS' NAME AS A FORMULA

Acts 19:13–16 gives us a serious warning.

Some people attempted to cast out demons by using the name of Jesus without truly belonging to Him.

The evil spirit answered: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

The problem was not the name of Jesus.

THE PROBLEM WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.

The name of Jesus is not a magical formula.

Our authority comes from our relationship with Christ.

11. WE TRY TO DELIVER OTHERS WHILE REFUSING OUR OWN DELIVERANCE

Jesus strongly confronted religious hypocrisy.

Matthew 7:3–5 asks why we notice the speck in another person's eye while ignoring the plank in our own.

This applies to ministry. Before we become experts at identifying demons in everybody else, we should ask: “LORD, WHAT ARE YOU DEALING WITH IN ME?”

DELIVERANCE SHOULD BEGIN WITH US.

12. HOW DO WE WALK IN DELIVERANCE?

A. COME TO JESUS

B. REPENT

C. RENEW OUR MINDS

D. BREAK AGREEMENT WITH SIN

E. FORGIVE

F. SEEK PRAYER AND GODLY COUNSEL

G. WALK IN OBEDIENCE

TRUE DELIVERANCE PRODUCES A CHANGED LIFE.

Dr Lawi Mshana, +255712924234, Tanzania