Arising out of the case of deliverance recorded above, Mr. Evan Roberts writes the following notes, showing true and false doctrine regarding liberty and bondage in action by children of God.

THE symptoms broadly mentioned in this case indicate that the man got into awful bondage over his actions.

How does God work in man? Does he deprive him of his liberty in action, and of his own individual characteristics?

Firstly: The operations of God are not carried out in the body. In the Tabernacle of old, God’s presence was not in either of the two outer courts, but was found in the “Holy of Holies.” So also spiritually, God is not joined to the human body, and therefore does not act in it from within, nor does He operate upon it from without, in gratifying its needs. He only deals directly with it in cases of healing.

Secondly: God is not found in the “soul” in any direct union whatsoever; he influences it from without by conviction, and indirectly from the spirit, after the spirit union with God.

Thirdly: The joining with God is spiritual on both sides. On God’s side it is divine and spiritual; on man’s side human and in the spirit — neither being physical nor soulish.

Any doctrine that teaches this Divine union with man to be in the body, gives at once a foothold for deceiving and possessing spirits. Hence, if any man believes his body to be joined to the Lord, he naturally concludes and expects to have physical results from such a union.

One of the results of this is a bondage in action. The believer loses to some extent, either great or small, his own control of all, or of part of his body. And when the body, as the outlet of the Holy Spirit through the human spirit, is in the hands of evil spirits it becomes a great block to the outflow of the Divine life. As a consequence there is stagnation in the spirit, both of its life and its work.

If the believer wishes to be victorious at every point he must be ceaselessly putting on truth — all truth. Truth alone dislodges the lies of the deceiving spirits of Satan, truth must be known to warrant and guard every action, and truth alone will be the weapon —though the search may be long and weary — to repel every onslaught and capture each new stronghold (Psa. LI. 6, XCI. 4, John VIII. 32, Ephes. V. 9, VI. 14, 17). — E.R.

How comes it about that believers cease to act for themselves, and drop into a passive state waiting to be moved of God? Such a condition is totally evil, and the doctrine upon which it is built is absolutely foreign to the Scriptures, and has the characteristic of teaching demons.

When God desires a person to act under His instruction, He does it not by direct command as to the nature of the action, but He expects to have the use of the intelligence of the operator — the man himself.

A person having given himself fully to the prayer life, may consult God, and ask: “Shall I remain indoors to pray, or go for a walk?” He remains upon his knees waiting for light. He may spend an hour or two waiting for guidance. Then feeling he cannot go out, he remains indoors. But had he used his intelligence, he would probably have known that there was no specific need for prayer-time; no other-demand upon him regarding work, and that it would have been better for his health had he gone out of doors. That is bondage of action, contributed to by lack of the use of judgment concerning circumstances and spiritual verities.

There are different kinds of bondage. Some bind up the whole person, and some bind up only a part. God does not manipulate the person.

People say of things within the range of reason, and which have no need of spiritual guidance: “I have no liberty, I am waiting instructions.” Why do they not reason the thing out and decide? Because they are in bondage in regard to action. When people are in this state of bondage, there is unreasonable inaction and bondage of action about them. When you suggest action they are in bonds; when they should be speaking they are quiet; when they should be silent they are talking.
And they give to all this state a Divine significance, whereas it has nothing but a Satanic significance.

It is not a sign of Divine working, but of Satanic hold on them, They may have

1. SURRENDERED THE liberty OF ACTION;
2. SURRENDERED THE right OF ACTION.

In the first stage the man says, “I must not act,” In the second stage the man says, “I must act according to Divine instructions.”

There may be a beautiful boat inside the dock, but if the dock has one owner, and the sluice another, and the latter will not give permission for the ship to leave, of what use is the harbour, or the boat? In the same way does the body stand in relation to the work of the spirit, and. the mind, and where similar conditions prevail these fail to have a free passage when the body is governed by evil spirits. The man himself then remains unexpressed.

If the demons make blindness so that a man cannot see; deafness so that he cannot hear; muteness so that he cannot speak; could they not also put him into bondage in action so that he cannot do anything at will?

In working out (* Phil. II. 12, 13.) his emancipation the captive should realise the difference between the two following states of bondage:

(1) THE DEMONS ACTING INSTEAD OF HIMSELF;
(2) HE HIMSELF ACTING AT THE DICTATION OF THE DEMONS.
The two main refusals in connection with either of these states are as follows. The captive should

(1) REFUSE EVIL SPIRITS ACTING INSTEAD OF HIM.
(2) REFUSE ACTING UNDER THE DICTATION OF EVIL SPIRITS.

Added to this it is important in all cases to refuse not only the ground which gave the demons an entry in these aspects, but also the ground which keeps them in possession. (i.e., if a manifestation be misinterpreted this becomes new ground to strengthen the hold of evil spirits. Consequently, not only the original causes of the possession, but the present causes of the manifestation — the acceptance of the lie — must be refused. The original ground of possession becomes augmented by each misinterpretation of manifestations.)

The captive should, in order to remove the lie and to put on truth, also declare:

(a) That he has not been acting according to Divine dictation;
(b) That he has been acting according to Satanic commands, and henceforth
(c) He wills to act, and acts according to his own judgment.

The demons will endeavour to get him to comply with the right which he has given them over his actions, but over every act he must resist them with all his force, until his actions become normal and are carried out without trouble.

In deliverance from the state where the demons are acting instead of the man, there are five progressive stages:

1. In a state of full deception — The man declares that all his actions are Divine.
2. With the entrance of light — He is not positive whether God or he himself is acting.
3. With the growth of light — He cannot discern whether it be God, or the devil, or himself acting.
4. After full undeceiving — He declares them Not to be Divine; but he is not sure if it be himself or evil spirits acting.
5. After skill in detection — He is fully able to discriminate when he himself or the demons are acting. Each act of these latter he refuses until they all disappear.

Actions may be from either of the following sources:

1. Natural. Governed by the man himself.
2. Divine. Governed by the Spirit of God, through the renewed human spirit being filled with the Divine life, and “joined to the Lord one spirit,” with a consciousness of the Divine presence in the spirit, and not in the body.
3. Supernatural. Governed by Satan and evil spirits, and being unreasonable. The actions do not always appear so, because the demons seek to cover their unreasonableness by dressing them in some burden, weight, pressure, or anything that might cause them to be read as natural. But they are always evil, and do harm.

The deliverer will find that at first the captive has to be almost carried to the place of freedom, but as the light dawns and intensifies he is able to take up the battle on his own behalf. The deliverer must never make it his objective to fight instead of the captive, but only until he can get him to break his own evil bonds. That point must be made for as soon as possible. As the demons’ substitutionary work is broken, the captive needs less and less of the deliverer’s substitutionary co-operation. (The work is only substitutionary in so far as it enables the captive to be released from the bondage of his faculties. Were it not taken up by others he might never seek or get deliverance.)

The second stage is that, having discovered his deception and refused the substitutionary work of the demons, he does not find himself immediately with the fall control of his faculties. Now that he refuses this substitutionary work of the demons they contest him using his faculties, so for a time he is in a state of inactivity, or partial inactivity. Nevertheless, he should use his force in order to get his faculties into the normal state. This is the using of force against force, and tends to break up the possession and the non-activity.

For instance, the right over his memory was given to evil spirits, so when the captive discovers what he unwittingly did, and refuses the surrender to them, they will not always “let go” easily. The captive has to fight for his freedom, and insist upon having it.

As the demons acted instead of the man, so the deliverer must act instead of the captive where the captive should be acting himself, e.g., in praying for his deliverance; in detecting the works of the enemy in him, etc. Prayer should, therefore, be made to get the captive’s own initiation in action.

At times the deliverer needs to retire to the background, although the captive seems to fall a prey to the enemy. But the retirement should be most carefully made, and according to the Divine indications, for which he should carefully watch. The deliverer’s substitutionary protective work is withdrawn in this way, in order to throw the captive on his own resources, (*At these times there is less unity between the captive and the deliverer, because the captive becomes bewildered as to what he is to do.) because ultimately he must fight for himself and should pray and toil for the whole Church. The sooner this is developed in the captive the more efficient he becomes in the warfare. He went into bondage by believing that God did things instead of him. The initiation for his deliverance is taken up by others, who have to pray, think, remember, and work for him. But just as the evil substitutionary work of the demons must pass away, so also will the temporary work on his behalf for deliverance pass away.

The captive must be made to understand every point of deliverance. Just as God told the prophet, “Cause the people to know their sin,” so the captive must be made to see his deception, and to do his part until he reaches final deliverance. It is also important to remember that the captive must not be solely occupied in fighting out to liberty from his bondage, but he should endeavour to express his spirit life to the utmost. The deceiver will endeavour to show that the captive’s spiritual life and work has nothing whatsoever to do with his real spiritual condition, but that it is wholly due to possession, whereas the possessed may have a pure spirit burden even in this state. That which is the outcome of the spiritual life the enemy endeavours to smother and disregard, by entangling it with the deception and possession which the believer may find himself to be in at the same time, while on the other hand the deception and possession will, if possible, be covered by its being attributed to the spirit life. Possession by demons does not necessarily rob a man, of his spiritual life, and his union with God. But it is because of possession that his true spirit life has been diminished in its usefulness, and QUENCHED IN MANIFESTATION.

One tendency of possession is to cause the captive to become self-centred. Therefore, the deliverer should endeavour not only to rid the man of evil spirits, but teach him the spiritual life as well, drawing him out in universal prayer and keen interest in others. The expression of the life of God in the spirit will become
(a) a source of consolation,
(b) a cause of ease, and
(c) a means of fruitfulness.
The Divine life in him should be used at all times, avoiding all compression of the spirit life, which, as well as possession, may cause suffering.

The place of prayer in the work of deliverance must always be given its due significance. Constant prayer is needed in order that the deliverer may be able to conform to God’s plan and pattern, which He has in every case. The deliverer should realise that he is not dealing with a believer in a normal state, and, therefore, he must carry on his work patiently and lovingly to its completion.

By Evan Roberts.