5. Getting Free and Staying Free

We have all, at some point in our lives or, for most of us, at many points in our lives, given way to Satan and allowed him some degree of influence or control over us. This is an inevitable outcome of living in a world that is under his control and in his power (1 John 5:19). We have also learned that trying to break free from evil once it has gained a foothold is a major challenge. In fact, without the help of God, it is nigh on impossible. Counselling and self-discipline can help us to work around it, but to be totally free we need the intervention of the Almighty.

The apostle James gives us some clear guidance on how to deal with being a spiritual prisoner of war:

(In lesson 3 we learned about being in fellowship with God. James uses the word ‘friendship’, but the idea is the same: you cannot be in fellowship with God and at the same time be in fellowship with the world, which is under the control of the evil one.)

Before you do anything else, you must be clear in your own heart whether you want to be a friend of the world or a friend of God. You cannot be both. If you want to be a friend of the world, you must submit to its rules, beliefs, and culture. If you do so you will never be free, but you will remain in lock-down. However, if you are determined to be a friend of God, by following these simple steps you will become free and stay free:

1. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and submit to His authority. Commit to living under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and being led by the Holy Spirit in every area of life.
2. Resist the devil. Renounce, reject, say “no” to, everything he wants you to think, feel, say, or do. Be ruthless. Show him no quarter. When Jesus was dealing with the devil in the wilderness He kept on saying, “It is written …” Satan recognizes the authority of God’s word.
3. Draw near to God at all times. Don’t be a slave of how you feel. Make it your practice to enter into praise and worship, however difficult it may be at the time. Make it your practice to commit every matter to God and bring every issue before Him in prayer. God delights in the prayer of the righteous. And be thankful. Cultivate an attitude of gratitude towards God.
4. Cleanse your hands. Keep short accounts with God. If you even suspect that you’ve thought, felt, said, or done something that might displease Him, confess and repent of it at once. If in doubt, treat it as sin, because God is committed to dealing with your sins (1 John 1:9). He is not committed to dealing with your shortcomings, faults, or failings, or your “I’m only human” mistakes and errors of judgement.
5. Purify your heart. Be single-minded in your devotion to Christ, His Kingdom, and His church. You cannot have a foot in two boats. You must decide which boat you’re sailing in.
6. Walk in the light. Darkness cannot remain where the light shines. Allow God to shine the light of truth into every area of your being. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Read it, memorise it, meditate upon it, and live by it.

   (NB. We do not believe the Bible to be the Word of God just because “it’s our holy book”. It’s our holy book because generations of God’s saints have lived by it and found by personal experience that it is the truth. If you are determined to live by it, you also will find it to be the truth.)

Spiritual Warfare

When a nation is at war, all of the citizens of that nation are at war, not only the armed forces, and not only those who are on the front line. However, the way that different people fight will be determined by their position and their responsibilities.

• Infantry-men in the trenches on the front line
• Medical corps behind the lines, tending the wounded
• Logistics divisions supplying food, ammunition, and other necessary resources
• The generals in the bunker, poring over maps and determining strategy
• Factory workers producing munitions, clothing, and whatever else is needed
• Agricultural workers producing food to sustain both civilians and the military
• Entertainers keeping up the morale of both troops and civilians
• Politicians keeping the country focused and properly administered

Each of these is engaged in the war in their own particular way.

As the church of Jesus Christ and citizens of His Kingdom, we are engaged in a continual war against the kingdom of darkness and the evil forces that serve that kingdom. Paul reminds us of this:

This does not mean that every Christian is daily engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the cosmic powers. It does mean that we, as the Kingdom of God, and the church, which is the agent of God’s Kingdom on earth, are corporately engaged in that conflict, and that some are on the front line in hand-to-hand combat. Each of us is on the front line for periods of time during our walk with God, but no-one could survive on the front line continually. Those who are on the front line need those who are in support to maintain that support. Those who have been wounded need space and time to recover, and need the ministry of others to help them in the healing process.

Do not engage in front-line combat unless (a) God has called you to it, or (b) you have been attacked and must retaliate. When God goes out with the army, victory is assured (Numbers 21:2-3). If God does not go out with the army, defeat is certain (Numbers 14:44-45).

Dealing with Demons

If you have to deal with the demonic, abide by these principles:

• Stay safe in your strong tower. As long as you remain in submission to the authority of God and in obedience to His will, no harm can come to you (Luke 10:18-20; Psalm 91).
• However, there are times when God allows the evil one to test His saints. In Job 1:6-12 we see that Satan cannot touch Job, because God has built around him an impenetrable hedge of protection; however, God agrees to remove the hedge and allow Satan a certain degree of access to Job – but God sets the parameters, not Satan.
• Remove any legal foothold that the demon might have: repent of whatever needs to be repented of; forgive whoever needs to be forgiven; dispose of any articles that are tainted or defiled; surrender to God whatever needs to be surrendered; submit wherever you need to submit. Allow God to shine the light of truth and holiness into every dark place. Darkness cannot exist where the light is shining.
• Never, ever negotiate with demons. By nature they are liars and deceivers. We have power over all the power of the enemy to bind and to loose, and that is what we should be doing to them.
• When the demon is gone, make sure ‘the house’ is fully occupied by the Holy Spirit so that the demon cannot come back. If you are ministering to someone else and there is no prospect of the Holy Spirit being invited in, do not cast the demon out, as the person may end up in a worse condition (see Matthew 12:43-45; Luke 11:24-26), unless there is a compelling reason to do so (e.g. in Acts 16:16-18, Paul did not cast out the spirit of divination at first; it was only when he saw that the preaching of the gospel was being hampered that he acted.)
• If you’re not in a good place with God, don’t tangle with the demonic. They know who’s who in the Kingdom of God. Remember the sons of Sceva (Acts 19:13-16)!

If there is dog dung on your shoe, it will attract flies. You can chase the flies away, but while the dung remains on your shoe they will always come back. What you need to do is not get rid of the flies, but get rid of the dog dung which is attracting the flies. When you’ve washed your shoe and polished it, you will no longer be troubled by flies.

Similarly, unrighteousness, profanity, and defilement attract demons. To get rid of the demons, deal with the unrighteousness, become pure and holy, and the demons will have no access to your life.

Four Keys to Freedom

All of this can be summed up in the following four keys to freedom:

• Truth and Lies
• The Lordship of Christ
• Repentance
• Forgiveness

Let’s look at these in some detail.

a) Truth and Lies

Because we are born into and live our lives in an environment and a culture where the light of truth rarely breaks through, our souls can be libraries of lies that we believe to be the truth. This is the major impediment to living free in the kingdom of God, because once the truth is known and accepted, we are able to live in the good of it, but while the truth is hidden, or denied, and we are following the lie, we are inevitably being led along a path that eventually brings us to destruction. This is the devil’s agenda for every human being.

When the truth does break through into my space it can be uncomfortable, challenging, and even offensive, especially when it tells me that I am in the wrong. Everyone likes to believe that they are really not a bad person, and so it is not easy to accept that, in fact, each one of us is a sinner in the sight of a holy God. But that is the truth. Jesus did not die on the cross because we were all nice people.

On the other hand, I may believe the fundamental lie that I am worthless. Again, Jesus did not suffer and shed His blood for worthless people. He did it for men, women, and children who bear the image of His Father, and whom His Father values more highly than we can ever imagine.

When the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, brings a truth to your attention and highlights a lie that you have been believing, the lie can only be successfully uprooted and disposed of by being replaced by the truth, and this is a three-stage process:

1. FACE the lie. Recognise that it is a lie and call it out for what it is. This may be painful and can take courage and determination, but it is necessary in order for the truth to make you free.
2. REPLACE the lie with the truth. When you are convinced of the truth and you believe that it is right, you are then in a position to dig out the lie that you have been believing and to plant the truth in its place.
3. EMBRACE the truth. Make it a part of your life. Make it a part of who you are. Something inside of you wants to push it away and return to the lie that you were used to, but you must be bold, strong, and resolute. Fight for the truth that Jesus died on the cross and rose again to bring to you. No longer will your soul say, “I’m only a wasted space”; instead it will say, with conviction, “I am a precious, blood-bought child of God, made in His image, and precious in His sight”. Or, as a pastor of my acquaintance would put it, “I am a unique, unrepeatable miracle of God!”

b) The Lordship of Jesus Christ

We have already seen that, in the Kingdom of God, Jesus Christ is king and lord. There is no other lord, and there is no other king. If you are not submitted to the lordship of Christ, you are not living in the Kingdom of God. And if you are not living in the Kingdom of God, you are still living in the dominion of darkness, still under Satan’s authority, and still travelling on the highway to hell.

The biggest lie that we believe is that God does not exist. The second biggest lie is that there are many paths that lead to God, and we will all meet there eventually. Jesus makes the following claim:

That statement is either true or it is not true, and everyone must decide whether or not they believe it. If you DO believe it, then submitting to His divine authority, which may not be easy at first, is not only the most reasonable and sensible thing to do, but is obviously the most urgent.

c) Repentance

The ONLY way to deal with sin, transgression, and iniquity is to repent, to come clean, and to receive the cleansing that can only come through the blood of Jesus Christ.

We can break this down into a few simple steps:

1. ADMIT that you’re in the wrong. If pride gets in your way, then start by admitting that you are proud and repent of that first (Proverbs 16:18).
2. BELIEVE that God not only wants to forgive you, but wants to bring you back into that place of fellowship that has been lost. Remember the prodigal son’s father (Luke 15:20-24).
3. CONFESS the sin. No excuses; no self-justification; no mitigating circumstances; no comparisons with anyone else. Call the spade a spade and make a clean breast of it.
4. DETERMINE in your heart that you will not do it again, as God gives you grace. It will not be your effort that conquers the sin; it will be the grace of God and nothing else.
5. EMBRACE the forgiveness that God freely offers you, and allow Him to embrace you as His beloved son or daughter.
6. FREEDOM is now yours. Enjoy it, and be prepared to freely give as God has freely given to you (Matthew 10:8).

Which leads us neatly on to the final key, which is …

d) Forgiveness

In Matthew 18:21-35 Jesus answers a question about forgiveness by telling a parable of a man who was forgiven by his master of a massive debt that he could never have hoped to repay, but refused to forgive a fellow servant of a moderate debt that he could have paid off in a few months.

God has promised us that He will forgive every sin that we are prepared to confess and turn away from, no matter how wicked those sins might be. God has reached out to us and extended the hand of forgiveness. As His servants and His children, He expects us to do the same.

Forgiveness can be even more difficult for us than repentance, but it is no less necessary. The opposite of forgiveness is resentment or bitterness. James makes the point that the same spring cannot issue both sweet water and bitter water (James 3:11). Can a Christian reach out with the grace and the blessing of God while at the same time harbouring bitterness in their heart?

The difficulty that we have with forgiveness is that we believe that the other person is being let off the hook, that they are getting away with whatever it was that they did, or that we are accusing them of doing. This, however, is an inaccurate perception and a lie of the enemy.

The truth is twofold:

Firstly, by harbouring unforgiveness I am binding myself to the sin that I accuse that person of having committed. Until I extend forgiveness to the person, I can never be free. In all probability, the guilty person is getting on with their life with not a care in the world, while I am entangled by thoughts of revenge and retribution, and have no peace in my heart. The sin has blighted my life because I am unwilling to let it go. I carry it with me everywhere, like a dead rat in my pocket, and its stench is offensive to me and to everyone to whom I speak about it.

Secondly, by extending forgiveness I am actually handing the matter over to God, who is the Righteous Judge. He is the only one who knows the full details of the case, and the only one who is qualified to pass judgement. If the sinner repents of their sin, then God will forgive them, whether I have done so or not. If they do not repent, then God will eventually judge them and mete out whatever punishment is appropriate, in light of the full circumstances, which He alone is aware of.

So, for those two reasons, make a point of forgiving everybody, and leave it up to God to deal with them, as He alone is able to do, with mercy, grace, and true justice.

Model Prayers

Let’s apply once again the principles that we learned in James 4:6-8:

• Humble yourself before God and submit yourself to His authority (Prayer of SUBMISSION)

  “Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Almighty God, I humble myself in Your presence and declare that apart from You I am nothing, I have nothing, and I can do nothing. I submit to Your divine authority all that I am, all that I have, everyone who belongs to me, and all of my plans and purposes. Not my will but Yours be done, for Yours is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.”

• Resist the devil (Declaration of RENUNCIATION, REJECTION, and EVICTION)

  “I renounce and reject all of the works of the evil one: all of his thoughts, all of his attitudes, all of his plots, and all of his ways. I specifically renounce and reject [name the particular issue that you are dealing with]. I declare that this has no power over me, because my Father in Heaven has given me power over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt me. I cast this thing from me, in the mighty name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who has come in the flesh to shed His blood for my sins and to destroy all the works of the evil one, and I declare myself free today from its power and influence.”

• Draw near to God (Prayer of COMMITMENT to God, inviting Him to be Lord and to come in and DWELL within – Revelation 3:20)

  “Heavenly Father, You have made me a temple of Your Holy Spirit, and You have called me to come boldly before the throne of grace to find grace and mercy in my hour of need. I invite You, Lord, to fill me now with Your presence, with Your Grace, and with Your glory. Come and dwell with me, and let me come and dwell with You forever. Holy Spirit, make Your home in my heart. Fill every nook and cranny of my being. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, I belong to You; I am Yours forever. Be exalted in me; be glorified through me; let Your Kingdom come wherever I may be. Amen.”

Do you have any specific areas that you are aware of where the demonic has an influence in your life?

If so, write them down and then set aside some time to make use of these prayers, dealing with those specific areas in the declaration of renunciation where it says [name the particular issue that you are dealing with].

Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any other areas, which you may not be aware of, where there is demonic influence, and deal with them in the same way.