The Deliverance Ministry [Ministry of "Casting out Demons"]: What About it?

Introduction

In the gospel according to Mark, in the sixteenth chapter, the seventeenth verse, it is written, And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils. Luke 10:19 reads, Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. From such passages as these many in the present hour derive a "ministry of deliverance" from demons, a sort of exorcism ministry. The purpose of the present writing is to examine the claims of some who are involved with this phenomenon today, and to seek to come to clear scriptural conclusions about whether or not such a thing is really the will of God for His people. Are such ministries really Christian; are they really of the Lord?

The reader is exhorted to keep in mind the words of Matthew 7:22-23, where we hear our Lord strongly state the following. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. So then, the Lord Himself warns us about misjudging ministries based on the “power” they seem to demonstrate!

It is the contention of writer after writer in the “deliverance ministry” or “spiritual warfare” camp that the contemporary church ought to be occupied with a ministry of deliverance or exorcism. However, in order to simplify these considerations I will present a critique of some of the leading propositions put forward in the book The Deliverance Ministry, by George A. Birch, published by Harvest House in 1988. It is not unfair to say that the teaching of this book is representative of both the writings and the teachings of many of the other writers and ministers involved in the field of “deliverance ministry.”

Promoting the Deliverance Ministry, Pastor Birch states his purpose for writing in the preface: “...to glorify God, to encourage others to use the authority which the Lord Jesus Christ has given all believers and to demonstrate the power of God’s Word.” Farther along he is speaking of a book that greatly influenced his thinking when he says, “It confirmed my conviction that the deliverance ministry is for us today.” This is a dear man of God whose desire is clearly to glorify the Savior. What are we to think of the entire “Deliverance Ministry” movement he is so strongly supporting?

Do we accept as truly Biblical everything a good man teaches?

Two important principles must be kept before us as we continue: Good men can certainly err if they depart from the clear teaching of Scripture. And: We must part company with good men when they do depart from the teaching of Scripture. This is non-negotiable. Throughout the history of local New Testament churches unscriptural movements have often begun when saints followed “good men,” remaining “loyal” to their teaching even when it became more and more unbiblical. The true difficulty in this matter lies in the fact that the vast majority of God’s people are not well grounded in the scriptural revelation of Truth, and are easily led into error.

Critique

Part 1: Even a cursory look at the Scriptures reveals that in the early church (as in Acts), when one might expect the clearest commitment by the apostles to a “deliverance ministry,” since evil spirits were certainly openly manifesting themselves then, the conclusion one is forced to is that no such ministry arose. And, in the writings of these same apostles, which became the documents of the New Testament canon and which are the final inscripturated words of the ascended Lord to the churches, there is absolutely no support for anything like a “deliverance ministry.”

The first Scriptural evidence against a “deliverance ministry” can be found in the book of Acts. In the three situations in the book of Acts where evil spirits [plural] are mentioned,[1] there is not the slightest hint that any of the apostles were involved in any kind of ministry focused upon the confrontation of demons. In fact, the exact opposite is really true. The reader may recall, for example, the incident recorded in Acts 16:16-18, in which the apostle Paul finally commanded a [singular] spirit of divination to come out of a damsel. The passage is clear in its revelation of the fact that the apostle, rather than engaging in a “ministry” of exorcism, seemed to show great reluctance in dealing with the demon, waiting until the girl became a grievance to him after many days, and was corrupting the message.

This is the only case in the record where Paul has any dealing with evil spirits. The inspired record identifies that Peter manifested power over evil spirits in Jerusalem (Acts 5:16), and that Philip did so at Samaria (Acts 8:7). In all cases it was directly associated with the servant of the Lord as the messenger of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In each case the servant in question was an apostle, or working directly with the apostles of Christ.

In this same book of Acts, there is another very telling statistic. Consider the following:

Ø Evil Spirits are confronted 3X in Acts

Ø The Word of God is mentioned 37X

Ø Preaching is also mentioned 37X

For every time demons are confronted by an apostle or servant of God in Acts, the preaching of the Word of God is emphasized over twelve times! Does this imply that the preaching of the Word of God ought to be considered at least twelve times as important as confronting evil spirits?

The second Scriptural evidence against such a ministry arises in considering the Epistles of the New Testament. It would seem that if exorcism was intended to play a vital role in the day-to-day ministry of the church that such a ministry would be clearly identified and commanded in the Epistles, especially the Pastoral Epistles. But that such is definitely not the case is brought out by the following facts:

[1] The devil (or devils) is only mentioned 19 times in all of the N.T. epistles combined. That amounts to an average of less than once in every Divinely-inspired epistle!

[2] The words spirit or spirits only occur 16 times in a way that might be construed to refer to evil spirits in the epistles.

In none of the above-mentioned occurrences (devil, devils, spirit, spirits) does the context ever support in any way a ministry of deliverance. Since these Passages do not support a “deliverance ministry” what should be our response?

Part 2: Surely anything which can be billed as a vital ministry for the twenty-first century church ought to be able to be supported scripturally on a clear and very broad scale, and not inferred from so-called proof texts wrested from their context. Okay, but What about some of those Specific Passages that seem to suggest such a ministry?

Notice first Ephesians 4:11 ff. In this passage the Holy Spirit identifies the human gifts given to the churches for the sake of establishing the churches and the gospel in a hostile world. The gifted men, equipped for vital ministry in the churches, were apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors and teachers. There is no mention of “exorcists.” In fact, there is nothing in the passage that even vaguely supports the supposed “vital ministry” of exorcism.

Another passage identifies spiritual gifts supplied by the Holy Spirit to individuals in the churches, the well-known passage in 1 Corinthians 12-14. One portion of a verse in the passage mentions the gift of “discerning of spirits.” But nothing is said, or implied, about casting out demons. (In fact, one is left with the impression that this matter of discerning of spirits has to do with discerning false teaching from the truth.)

The point is that where one would expect the strongest support for every vital ministry in the Scriptures, the "deliverance ministry" is utterly missing.

Part 3: What, though, about the passages that are so often quoted by advocates of the deliverance ministry, seeming to support their contention that demon exorcism ought to be practiced as a commonplace ministry in the churches?

In the context of each verse there is ample evidence that such is not the case.

Note first Mark 16:17. A portion of that verse certainly does say that “they shall cast out devils.” Those who contend for the deliverance ministry are inclined to say that these words constitute scriptural grounds for such a ministry. But, if that is so, does the passage as a whole also provide scriptural grounds for all serious-minded Christians to handle serpents, drink poison, speak in tongues, and heal? After all, when the verse is read, along with verse 18, it declares these activities as well.

Those who opt for this interpretation of this passage as a whole are the same folks who are strongly inclined to ignore the passage in Matthew [Matthew 7:22-23], where Jesus says that not everyone who casts out devils, etc., is real.

In Luke 10:19 Jesus tells His disciples, “I give you power over all the power of the enemy.” The advocates of the deliverance ministry say that this promise from the Lord is valid for every Christian all the time, and that the ministry of exorcism is just a natural outworking of it. But the real emphasis of the passage comes out when the disciples return unto the Lord, rejoicing that they had been able to exorcise demons. Jesus speaks a stern word to them. He says, in verse 20, “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Clearly the emphasis is upon redemption through the gospel. And, looking at the context of the entire chapter, the emphasis is upon the fact that acceptance or rejection of Christ is the issue, not deliverance from or subjection to evil spirits. (It is stunning how Satan will wrest Scripture to win special attention for himself, even in passages which are so clearly saying the exact opposite of what he likes to suggest.)

[1] Acts 5:16, 8:7 and 9:12-13.