The Implications for Deliverance Ministry
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The practical importance for deliverance ministry of being in submission to God is seen in the dismal failure of the sons of Sceva to cast out a demon (Acts 19:13-16). Being not just Jews, but priests – sons of the chief priest, in fact – these men would have known Scripture exceptionally well and were most likely highly moral. They were probably also very caring and loving, since they were trying to relieve someone afflicted by demons. This all counted as nothing, however, because they were not in submissive union with Jesus. Their attempted exorcism was so disastrous that they themselves ended up attacked.
We are like five year olds in a tough neighborhood. Jesus is our devoted, much older brother. Our father has warned us to always stay close to big brother traveling to school and in the schoolyard, and for as long as we do we are safe. We must be careful not to feel untouchable, however, forgetting that would-be child molesters avoid us and we can mock school thugs and see them retreat only because big brother is with is. Instead of going where our brother wants, we could decide it would be more fun elsewhere and run off alone, having no idea how vulnerable that simple act has made us. That’s what happens when we disobey God. We move out of the Almighty’s protection and have no conception of the terrifying danger that action exposes us to.
We can be like Samson compromising with Delilah and getting away with it for a while until suddenly we go too far and don’t realize it until the Philistines overcome us, take us captive and make us their plaything (Judges 16:4-25).
The centurion with the sick servant was highly commended by Jesus because he understood that power hinges on submission to authority (Matthew 8:9-10). Those under his command obeyed him as fully as we would like demons to obey us, but he recognized that he was obeyed only because he obeyed those above him. As a Roman soldier, he knew that submission does not allow him to choose which orders he will obey. He could not obey easy orders and reserve the right to disobey battle orders that could cost him his life.
Just as becoming a soldier means giving up the right to make one’s own decisions on critical matters, so does becoming a genuine Christian. Living in submission to God, however, is true freedom. Like an electrical appliance submitting to electricity, submitting to God empowers us and releases us into our full and glorious potential. It is what we were made for. Disobedience disconnects us from our life sources and renders us pathetically less than we were intended to be, like a disconnected electrical appliance that can only be turned by hand.
God, in his grace, can respond to anyone’s prayers. For instance, I’ve heard of Muslims converting to Christianity after discovering the effectiveness of using the name of Jesus in exorcism. Here’s scriptural confirmation that demons can sometimes be cast out in the name of Jesus without the exorcist being fully submitted to God:
Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”
No wonder, when the seventy-two returned rejoicing and saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name,” Jesus replied, “ . . . do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:17,20).
Despite the occasional exception, however, no one has any guarantee of dominance over demons without total submission to Jesus. And even if the Lord were to graciously kick start our freedom removing a demon without us fully submitting to Jesus, we cannot hope to keep the demon permanently at bay without full submission.
John 15:4,5 . . . No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. . . . apart from me you can do nothing.
To not want full submission to God is as foolish and destructive as a branch no longer wanting the life of the vine flowing through it. Our power over evil teeters on the extent to which we are in perfect, submissive union with our Lord.
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