We used to sing a song on how we have victory in the name of Jesus and how demons will have to flee in the name of Jesus. Demonic influences are a reality and this is why Jesus said in his name they shall cast out devils (Mark 16:17).
gracetidings with dr doug mamvura
I believe, while a non-believer needs to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13), a believer doesn’t need deliverance because they were delivered at the time they received Christ. Once you are in the kingdom of His Son, where else would you want to be delivered to? The word “delivered” is in the past tense which confirms that you were delivered the moment you got born again.
We aren’t trying to get free from the power of the devil. It’s already a done deal. We just need to believe it. All we are fighting against is the devil’s lies that tell us we are still in bondage. We aren’t trying to get translated into God’s kingdom. We are already there, seated in heavenly places in Christ.
Some people will say that they want to be delivered from generational curses. I would understand that if one is a non-believer. How can you be affected by generational curses when you are born again? The bible tells us that you are now a “new creation, and old things have passed away and all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
God said my people perish because of lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6. To be free from such error, we have to be addicted to the scriptures. Most of us are very lazy to read the word of God. Do we really know what it means to be born again and the nature of our relationship with God?
“God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:9).
If we were called to this fellowship, it means we were called to a communion with God. The word fellowship has to do with togetherness, oneness and union with God. We are one with Christ. We are partakers of the divine nature. This relationship is further expounded in 1 John 1: 1-3.
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Apostle John states that we have eternal life from the Father and through that we have our fellowship not only with Him, but with His son too.
Some of us run around looking for deliverance because of wrong teaching, or ignorance. We are blown away by every wind of doctrine. Let us search the scriptures.
The doctrine that is preached will determine the spirit in operation. Don’t just get excited by the spiritual activity in the name of deliverance. The bible advises us “not to believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
These things were written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Son of God and also that through His name we would have eternal life (John 20:30-31). Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
As human beings, we already had human life which unfortunately had been corrupted due to the fall of man. God wanted to rectify that problem by imparting His nature into the human spirit so we would have the true nature of our Father. Man had to be born again and be given a new life (2 Corinthians 5:17).
This is what Christianity is. It is not a religion. It is human life supplanted by divine life. In other words, Christianity is divinity at work in humanity. This new life is superior to the human life. It is superior to Satan, poverty, sickness, disease or any other challenge we may experience in this world. We are overcomers (1 John 5:4).
However, in order for us to fully experience this life, we have to grow in the knowledge of God by renewing our mind through His word (Romans 12: 1-2). As long as we remain children in the things of God, we will never fully experience this eternal life. “Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all…” (Galatians 4:1).
As the church, we haven’t done a good job in teaching the doctrine of righteousness. There are different doctrines being propagated by some of us as ministers of the gospel, most of which are based on law and human performance. We tell our congregants that in order to be righteous, you have to pray, fast, pay your tithes and make sure that you don’t miss church.
While no one argues about the importance of all such activities, it should be noted that, that is not how we obtain righteousness. Righteousness is not attained or achieved through our acts or performance. It is a gift (Romans 5:17). The moment we are born again we receive this gift (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Unfortunately, most of us are still “partaking only milk” and as a result we are “unskilled in the word of righteousness”. We are not yet on “solid food” and so our spiritual senses are not fully trained or exercised (Hebrews 5: 13-14). We remain “babies” because we are still rooted in the elementary things of God.
So what is righteousness? Righteousness is the nature of God that describes His rightness and also what separates Him from evil. Righteousness is also the ability of God to do right. When God makes a man righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21), it means that He has imparted His nature in man so that he is able to stand in God’s presence without feeling guilty, condemned or inferior. Righteousness is the ability of God imparted to the human spirit that produces in man the rightness of God. It is Him who causes man to do the right things (Acts 17:28).
Why does God declare you righteous when you are born again? It is because when Jesus died on the cross, we also died; when He was buried, we were also buried. This is the gospel of substitution which resulted in Him taking our place.
As a believer, you don’t need deliverance because you are already in the kingdom of God and He who is in you is greater that he who is in the world.
Dr Doug Mamvura is a graduate of Charis Bible School. Feedback: [email protected] or Twitter @dougmamvura
