Deliverance and inner healing ministries could be greatly simplified if they focused on grace and put the ax to the deepest root of every problem: condemnation.
After 2 Corinthians 3:6, where Paul says, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life,” he goes into an explanation of the contrast between the two covenants. He explains the difference between the “letter that kills” and the “Spirit that gives life.” To better understand what Paul is teaching, think of Verses 7 to 16 as being set off by parentheses.1 Then on the other side of the parentheses we come to verse 17 and the very famous statement,
Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)2
We have heard this verse recited in songs and in “deliverance” meetings and in “inner healing” books. But what does this statement mean in the CONTEXT of 2 Corinthians 3? We need to know because this is the basis for our liberty! The context is that we are no longer under the law! The veil of condemnation has been removed, and now we can look into the face of Jesus without shame! We are free from the limiting thoughts, from the accusations, and from all the fears of the enemy! We are under grace!
The work is finished. We are free.
We should always look at scriptures IN CONTEXT! How many Christians are frustrated because they are engaging in “spiritual warfare” taking up arms to defeat the devil and reciting verses out of context? I can remember leading many conferences and singing songs that declared that “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom,” but we never mentioned the veil being torn and being set free from the bondage of the law. I remember being so frustrated that people were having to cycle multiple times back through this deliverance ministry that I oversaw. They seemed so free at one time. What happened? Many, many times I would vent my frustration by crying out, “What is the missing link?! What are we missing?” At the time I didn’t realize that the root of every evil in the world is condemnation. It started in the Garden of Eden with the fig leaves and the shame, and was later magnified by the law. The missing link was GRACE, and what we didn’t realize was that the work is finished. There’s nothing left to do.
(from pages 196-197 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1John Darby, “2 Corinthians 3”, (sixth paragraph), John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament, BibleStudyTools.com, website: http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/john-darbys-synopsis-of-the-new-testament/2-corinthians/2-corinthians-3.html, accessed on 5-26-14
Also see “2 Corinthians 3”, Darby Translation, website: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+corinthians+3&version=DARBY, accessed on 5-27-14
2Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.”
