But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

Matthew 5:22

In Luke 11:20, Jesus said that if He was driving out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom had come upon those listening.  While all the other miracles of the Old Testament had been done previously by other prophets, deliverance was unique to the New Covenant, and, by this verse, a distinguishing feature of the Kingdom being present.  Despite a small faction in so call “liberal” theologians that attempt to say different, demons, or evil spirits, are presented as the primary cause for many ailments and behaviors.  The basic difference between a Pharisee and Sadducee was that the Pharisee believed in the resurrection from the dead and evil spirits, while the others did not.  Obviously Jesus believed in evil spirits, because He cast them out of people!

So, the understanding of the role of deliverance in the New Covenant is quite understood.  So much as healing is the children’s bread, and Jesus said this in reference to casting out a demon (Matthew 15:26), this is just as necessary in the Kingdom as healing and salvation is (the Greek word for “salvation” generally indicates all three).  But, where does this leave the place of inner healing in the New Testament?  This was a stumbling block for a while for myself, until it suddenly occurred to me, as deliverance and the miraculous is the apparent half of the gospel, the inner work of the heart is its covered, veiled, or hidden work.  The other “half”.

Where is inner healing in the New Testament?  How about start in the Sermon on the Mount.  If you’re angry without cause, you have reason to be concerned.  If you’re worse than that, it is worse.  If you’re living in theft, murder, adultery, or any other sin, the reason points solely to one place, your own heart (Matthew 15:18).

Now, put this in perspective.  A believer is a new creature (2 Corinthians 5:17), they are holy, blameless, and free from all accusation (Colossians 1:22).  They are washed by the blood.  But, not to continue to sin that grace might abound (Romans 6:1).  So, this begs the million dollar question, Why do New Covenant believers not live according to their new nature, which is not according to the flesh, but after the Spirit?

John the Apostle said that no one born of God continues to sin.  It is in no way to question any true believer’s legitimacy in the gospel, but merely to beg the question, With all this great news being so true, why do we continue so, with so little power, so little holiness, and so little of God manifest in our lives?

So, Jesus, the way, demonstrates.  What is the man who listens to what Jesus says?

[H]e is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

Luke 6:48

What is this man?  It is the man who took Jesus as His word, and allowed the Holy Spirit to probe to the inner depths of them, to unveil, reveal, and pull away all that cluttered the free flow of His Spirit within them.

What is one of the primary keys to walking perfect holiness and in the power of God, which should always go hand-in-hand?  Transparency.  Fully living by the Spirit.

Jesus said the man who “dug deep” until he reached bedrock, Christ, and builds his entire life only off the solid rock and not the sands of flesh, is the one who has heard, listened, and obeyed.  No storm can shake this man.  He does not live for himself, nor does he live for other’s opinions.  Though the rains pounded against the house, it stood, simply because it was founded on something unshakable, Jesus Christ.

You see, deliverance is only a part of the solution.  Learning and choosing to live only by the Spirit becomes essential.  You may be able to live a nominal Christian life without such searching, but sooner or later, a storm will come.  How much more for someone who is standing against the front lines of the warfare?

After Peter walked on water, and began to doubt, after they were back in the boat, Jesus asked one of the most pointed questions to him.  “Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31).  Why did Peter doubt?  Self preservation.

Jesus had said that if you try to save your life, you will lose it (Mark 8:35).  Peter was a zealot, one who wanted to see the nation of Israel restored, even if violence was required.  Yet, if the apparent strength of a heart, or some of it, is really rooted in fear, and we don’t see it, we can be vulnerable to the enemy.  You can see the same pattern in Peter.  When Jesus said He was going to the cross to die, Peter tried to stop Him, and Jesus rebuked him, saying, “for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” (Matthew 16:23).  Then again, the night of the betrayal, Peter stood up again with physical violence, striking off the servant’s ear (John 18:10).  And, finally, self preservation, the fear, reared its ugly head later that evening, when confronted while Jesus was imprisoned.  Faced with confusion, uncertainty, and questioned about being with his Lord, in a deeper demonstration of self-preservation, Peter denied His King.

When we respond contrary to the life of faith as demonstrated by Jesus, as taught in the Sermon on the Mount, and demonstrate anger, rage, violence, adultery, and the like, it is a demonstration of something wrong on the inside.  The Spirit’s work, gently, consistently, is to reveal this, to divide soul from spirit, and to teach us to live only from that rock that is within, Christ.  Having dug deep, we stand the storms.

Yet, Jesus chose Peter, all the while knowing his weakness.  The enemy came to sift him as wheat, and Jesus had prayed that his faith would not fail.  Though he was humbled, stripped, and severely chastened, the Lord personally came back, restored him, and confirmed his calling in Himself.  Through it all, from fisherman, to being called Peter, through the denial, to the glorious place he has now, with a throne to judge the tribes of Israel, Jesus the man, knew both his weaknesses and callings, and through gentle, patient love, even through failure, brought him to the place of greatness in all of history as one of His chief apostles.

What deliverance couldn’t do, what the miracles wouldn’t show, was what was in a man.  This required the Christ, the only true living God, and His perfect forgiveness, forbearance, mercy, and truth, to be the captain of our souls, in every part.

Salvation belongs to our God.  He alone can take a man from nothing to everything.  He alone is worthy, wise, and able.  There is no other.  God alone acts, and judges righteously, and His way is perfect.  Both in what we can see, and what we cannot see, He leads us into all truth, and, like the man sent to the pool of Siloam, meaning “sent”, restores our sight, that we might see like Him.