And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons.
Do you realize that when Jesus told His disciples to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons they hadn’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit yet? Jesus taught His followers to perform signs, wonders, and miracles before they even knew about Holy Spirit. He told them to do this based on their faith in His authority as the Son of God, not based on a spiritual gift or “anointing.” Everything Jesus demonstrated was based on His identity as a Son, and this is what He taught His followers. They were also sons. And based on that, they could do what He did.
This revelation should cause us to rethink our approach to healing and deliverance. In our Charismatic mindsets, we have lumped everything into a spiritual gift or an “anointing” and forgotten the simple power of faith in Christ to defeat the enemy. The majority of Jesus’ instructions to His followers were to destroy the works of the devil (Luke 10:19). He repeatedly reminded them of the authority they had because of their identity with Him. There was no mention of needing a gift of healing or a gift of deliverance to set the captives free.
What the disciples received on the Day of Pentecost was an increased capacity and exponential power to override the natural order. They no longer just “practiced” healing and deliverance by following Jesus’ example. They became conduits of another realm. They were now filled with a boldness and power that was not of man. Not only could they “do” the works of Jesus, but they also had access to a realm of wisdom and understanding to actually think like Jesus (1 Cor 2:10-16). They now had the ability to perceive and discern the realms of darkness and light and judge accordingly.
The main take away here is that it is our identity in Christ and knowing who we are as sons and daughters, that gives us the authority to overcome the power of the enemy. Even as the baptism of the Spirit empowers us with increased boldness and capacity for the miraculous, we don’t need a spiritual gift or special anointing to destroy the works of darkness. We don’t even need to “feel anointed” to pray for deliverance.
What Christ gave us in our starter kit as believers was an authority to overcome our enemies out of sheer faith. It is our belief in Him that determines miracles and freedom from bondage – not our gifts. Selah.
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