Answering three questions about why ministering to victims of evil spirits is valid today

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For centuries now Christians have been taught that the “deliverance” ministry died with the apostles.

In this short article I briefly address three of the main arguments that I have heard stating why people think that expelling evil spirits / demons is not for Christians today.
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1. We do not have the authority or power that Jesus / Yeshua has / had.
It is true that we don’t walk in the same power that Yeshua did: But still, we clearly have enough because otherwise, Yeshua would not have given us these instructions:

Mark 16:17-18
And these signs shall follow them that believe; 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.

Acts 1:8
You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

2. Christians can not “have demons”.
The Bible never says or even infers that: In fact it says just the opposite. People have made false assumptions and theological leaps to draw those conclusions.  One reasons they state is that God and sin / evil can not co-exist in the same place. There are several problems with this thinking. One is found in Job 1:6 where we see that satan is actually in heaven; sin directly in the midst of pure holiness.

Another example can be found in Jesus / Yeshua. If Yeshua is God, and God can not co-exist with evil, then how was Yeshua able to exist here on earth? We even see this clear back in Genesis when “God” was in the garden, yet satan was also in the same garden, talking with the same people.

In the New Testament the Greek word used to express the meaning of an evil spirit is daimonazaomai which literally means “demonized” or “to have an evil spirit”.

It is extremely unfortunate that the King James translators chose to use the english word “possessed” in place of the Greek word daimonazaomai because that is not what it means. It would have been far better and more accurate to use the word “demonized”

To be attacked or afflicted by an evil spirit, or demon, is very different than being “possessed” by an evil spirit which is what most people think of in regards to Christians “having” spirits. For example; a person can be chilled without being frozen solid. Likewise, a person can “have an evil spirit” but not be “possessed” by it.

We see this exact scenario with Peter when Yeshua very plainly indicates that satan was working through him.

Matthew 16:23
But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offense unto me: for you savor not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.

Even under the best of circumstance, when a person enters into a covenantal relationship with Yeshua, will that person ever sin again? Will they forever be sin free 100% of the time? Yes their sins are forgiven them, when they confess them (1Jn 1:9), but are they thought to be immediately and completely perfected in righteousness? I think all would agree that, since the fall, only one person would match that description.

Simple reasoning can soundly conclude that not only can evil spirits reside within Believers, but also, Christians should be the only ones that evil spirits are removed from anyway. Unless a person is “Born again”, evil spirits that have been expelled will seek to return to the individual as soon as possible in much more force; see Mt. 12:43-45.

Accordingly, James 3:9-10 says
With (the mouth) we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.

This Passage clearly indicates that from the same source (a Christian) proceeds both good and evil. So therefore, a wholly, righteous God can and does reside with unrighteousness, even if a person were to be 100% free of demonic influence.

Along with these things, Mt. 15:26 Yeshua refers to deliverance as food (bread) belonging to the Children of God. To deny a child food is to deny them life itself. Yeshua would never do that.

3. Satan and his demons are too powerful.
Wrong. Yeshua defeated satan and then gave us power and authority over Him.

Colossians 2:15
And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Luke 10:19
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Yeshua’s disciples clearly commanded evil spirits to flee the afflicted.  History indicates that the practice continued until relatively recently when a more diluted “Gospel” became accepted as the norm.

Conclusion
Lastly, our experience should reflect the truth of Scriptures. We should not twist Scripture to reflect our feelings or experience. All of the information above serves as the foundation for what many in the healing ministry, including myself, experience regularly. It is not only common for evil spirits to work through dearly beloved Children of God, it is even fairly typical. We see it all the time.

Dr. Rayphe