Exorcism

Exorcism is correctly classified as a “sign & wonder” in the New Testament. The extra ordinary miracles done by the apostles were grouped together in these verses; ~ Acts 5:12-16 / 8:6-7 / 16:16-18 / 19:11-12.

Here are some important things to consider regarding exorcism in the New Testament;

• The book of Acts covers a period of 30 years and only mentions exorcisms four times throughout the book. It was not as though the apostles were running around doing countless miracles daily.
• Not all Christians practiced or were able to do this. It was performed only by the apostles and those closest for the purpose of authenticating the ministry.
• Everyone who had power over demons also had the power to heal the sick and raise the dead.

We need to compare the above facts with that of today’s spiritual warfare ministries that pretend to perform signs and wonders on a regular basis, teach a watered down gospel message, provide temporary psychosomatic healings (while they definitely fail to raise the dead) and command all its followers to practice the same thing.

Moreover, there is a lot of uncertainty and speculation surrounding the methods and practices concerning exorcism, which makes one wonder how much of this is actually useful?

For instance, how do you know how to exorcise a demon? There are no details / instructions in any of the epistles about how to exorcise a demon like;

• What to say?
• How to say?
• How to prepare for it?
• Should we hold a cross?
• Should we sprinkle oil?
• How long will it take?
• How many demons are involved?

But how do the Spiritual experts claim to do the exorcisms if the Bible has no details?

• They claim it is mostly learned through their experience.
• They proclaim Christian mantras like pleading the blood of Jesus or claiming the power of Christ (when there is no biblical precedent for doing so).
• They rebuke Satan by binding him with the blood of Jesus, which when they claim weakens the spiritual forces.
• They hold a cross figure towards the person possessed.
• Some pastors also claim to have interviews with satan to find out their weaknesses, or they talk to ex-satanists to identify cracks in the Satanic kingdom, some even refer to books written by other spiritual warfare experts.

But what does the Bible say about this matter? And are we to trust men or the word?