Early this month, someone sent this very important mail to me regarding deliverance:
“Hi Tope. I have this question weighing on my mind; when a sinner who is under a covenant with some black or (occult) powers (blood covenant) becomes born again (perhaps it is something his father or forefathers did way before he was born and, he is unaware of the covenant). Will the covenant be broken automatically, once he becomes born again, or, does he have to go for deliverance to break this covenant?”
A lot of Christians are faced with similar situations and I desire that they read this piece. First, the major reason we are faced with such dilemmas is because we were not taught or we do not really understand the implication of being born again. Most believers still think that to be born again means to change your attitude, or as it is commonly said, “the bad things you used to do, you do them no more”. However, that has a totally different meaning from this.
I like the way the question was framed: when a sinner … becomes born again? Last week, I emphasized that before you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, the devil was the Commander-in-Chief of your life. Because of the sin of Adam, man was separated from God and since man is primarily a spirit, the devil could possess his spirit. But what happened when we got born again?
John 3:5 (KJV) “Jesus answered … Except a man be born … of the Spirit, he cannot enter into thekingdom of God.”
2Co 5:17 (MSG) “… anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!”
Rom 6:6 (GNB) “And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on his cross…”
To be born again means to be born of the Spirit of God. A new being was created in us when we got born again. But before that new being was born, something happened. The old being that was easily possessed by the devil was destroyed. As a matter of fact, every time a person gets born again, we should be conscious of the fact that someone just died. Furthermore, a new being (spirit) that previously never existed was born inside that person.
So what if a sinner practiced occultism / witchcraft before and now he is saved? Simple, the person that practiced occultism is now dead; crucified with Christ on the cross. That is what the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ means. In the mind of God, when Jesus went to the cross, we were in him and died with him. That’s why you will see the phrase “in Him” or “in Christ” over 130 times in the New Testament. We may not notice any instant change physically or even in attitude, but let every man be a liar and let the Word of God be true; that new man is born again and will be shocked if you associate him with occultism. It would be like accusing a day-old child of being occultic last year; everyone would think you were out of your mind. The curses (ancestral or not) were automatically broken when you got born again because the person that had their physical lineage and partook in the curse is dead! We now have a new lineage from God (I Peter 1:23). Does a dead man require deliverance from occultism? No wonder the bible says – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free.” John 8:36 (GW).
You may say – But some Christians behave as though they are possessed? Why do some still act like occultists even after they are saved? What about people who say a Christian can have a spirit husband, spirit wife or spirit whatever? Is it possible for an evil spirit to return to a believer if he/ she commits a sin?
We will discuss this and many more in our subsequent messages.
– tope aladenusi
| Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: (Col 1:12)
No doubt we’ve all got different histories. Culture; described as a people’s way of life differs for each one of us. Various backgrounds. Sometimes however we fail to see beyond where it is we came from. This origin defines the core of our being. But it should not be so. The truth is no matter how diverse our culture may be all ends in that one man Adam. The one by whom humanity was brought into bondage. Today however I want us to reflect a little on how we seem not to go beyond the definition given to us by our earthly lineage. I know quite a lot of people who find it difficult to believe certain things the scripture says because truth is they always see everything from the view point of “this is where I came from”.
Dear friends, would you be as the legalistic Jews in Bible who Paul wept over because they found it difficult to accept the righteousness of God because of their culture built on the Law. Rom 10:1 – 4; Matt 15:6; Col. 2:8 Would you be as others who though realize they have been delivered from the powers of darkness yet find it difficult to walk free from the thought of ancestral curses? People who are forever held bound to illnesses and untimely death because of a fear taken away by the Cross. The question arises again friends that whose report would we believe? God’s declaration in love or the ugly picture the world tries to sell to us in a bid to make us walk short of who we have become in Christ. The Christian is a new man altogether. He is no longer defined in the physical because we know him no more by those terms. Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God,… (2ndCorinthians 5:16 – 18a)
Christ came to save us from ourselves. Doomed to death we were but thank God for His mercy. When I see Christians held bound because of the thought that this is what my mom went through or Grandpa died because of so and so; this is what goes on in the town I came from. What I quickly settle in my mind is that this individual has not come to appreciate the new identity he has now in Christ Jesus. He is still walking in the mentality of the old man. The new man in Christ Jesus is not a myth. He is not a legend. He is real and this is who you are. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12 – 13)
He’s lineage and heritage is new. He is born of God and not of man. I love the way 2nd Corinthians 5:18a describes his newness. It says “all these things are of God”. Friends don’t be swayed into identifying yourself by the old man because the truth is you have been set free. Redeemed from the cords that once held you bound.Truly know we no man anymore after the flesh. Glory Hallelujah.
Dr bolaji akanni |