Greetings,
Repentance is a huge part of spiritual warfare. As a matter of fact, its importance cannot be overstated. Before we get into its applicability for spiritual warfare, I must first address a misconception. It is a true statement that Jesus died to forgive us of our sins. Not only does His death pay for the sins that we committed before we came to Him, but it is sufficient to pay for those sins that we commit after coming to Him. Therefore, some have erroneously concluded that we are cleansed of every sin we commit as a Christian even before we commit it. Let’s take a look at the following verse.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10)
Notice the “we” and “us” language that the apostle uses here. This passage is clearly not intended to be applied only to when we initially repent of our sins and acknowledge Jesus as Lord. This passage is relevant throughout our walk as Christians. We are certainly cleansed when we initially repent, but we will all fall short of the mark again. For those of you that don’t know, sin literally means to miss the mark.
When we miss the mark we need cleansing. This is why we repent. Our repentance allows God to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. This means that although we are Christian, when we do unrighteous things—that unrighteousness follows us. Think about garbage. What does garbage attract? It attracts flies, vermin, rodents and other undesirables. Plus it stinks! What does unrighteousness attract? It attracts the activity of the kingdom of darkness to you in the same way garbage attracts flies and vermin.
To solve the problem of flies and vermin our first step is to remove the garbage that attracted them in the first place. Once the garbage is no longer available they have nothing to stick around for. Just as one might imagine, they will leave in search of garbage and filth somewhere else. It is similar when we begin to repent. When we repent God cleanses us of all that unrighteousness that was attracting the activity of the kingdom of darkness. When the sin is removed from our lives, the emissaries of the kingdom of darkness have little to continually attract them. Sure they may be sent on assignment to attack us from time to time, but the difference is that they are no longer being attracted by our sin.
Theologically speaking, repent simply means to change our mind. It means to do a complete turnaround; to stop doing what you were doing and to start doing what you weren’t doing. It’s much more than a mental assent. True repentance means that we not only acknowledge that what we are doing is wrong, but that we are ready to let God change us. Once God cleanses us of unrighteousness, we need to stay cleansed. If we continue to go back to the same filth, we will keep attracting the same activity. We must change our mind about our sin and follow through with the change that God introduces into our lives.
If repentance is not a normal part of your relationship with God, something is wrong. Soberly ask yourself the following question: When was the last time I made repentance a part of my prayer time? If you can’t remember you’re in bad shape. Don’t waste any time, why don’t you repent of the dirt you’ve been doing right now!
With that taken care of, we will now move on to discuss how repentance is vitally important to spiritual warfare. On a personal level, certain types of sin will open the door to very real demonic activity in our lives. The activity will not stop until we repent. Even if someone drives the demonic activity out, should we fail to repent the activity will resume after a short amount of time. As it is written:
“When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)
I will now share a brief example of how repentance leads to deliverance from demonic oppression. The following example will be taken from my own life. Before I start, I understand that there are people that teach that a Christian cannot have a demon. They will base this lie on passages like Galatians 3:13 (which states that Christ became a curse for us) and argue that if Christ became a curse for us it is impossible for us to be cursed now (or have any kind of demon). I know from personal experience that this notion is flat out wrong. Just like we are healed by the stripes of Jesus (1 Peter 2:24) yet we can still get sick; Jesus became a curse for us but we can still be cursed. The provision purchased for us by Jesus must be activated by faith…it is not an automatic.
When I was in college and backsliding in my faith, I was in an ungodly relationship. I was involved with a girl who had a family history racked with witchcraft. She actually had a cousin (whom I never met) that would disappear and reappear at times, being taken to places by spirits. The child was only five or six.
In any case, after we started having sex I developed a twitch. It wasn’t something that affected my life during the daytime, but only when I tried to sleep. As my body would relax it was very difficult for me to stay still. At times my arm or leg would simply jut out violently. I had no explanation for the activity. If I was sleeping next to her, the violent spasms always seemed to be directed towards her. Yes, there were some punches and kicks that happened in my sleep.
As time went on it became more difficult to control and I still didn’t know what was going on. All I knew was that something wasn’t right spiritually. I finally solved the problem one weekend when I was home from school. It was night time and I had lain down to go to sleep in my parent’s house. I was convicted of my fornication and I decided to repent at this time. When I did, I realized (by divine revelation) why the spasms were occurring. A demon had entered me because of fornication! After I repented I commanded the spirit to leave in the name of Jesus.
What happened next was pretty crazy. Right there in that bed my back arched involuntarily. As it arched I felt the spirit leave. It actually came right out of my chest! How do I know the spirit left? From that point forward, the spasms left and never returned. The physical manifestation was completely demonic in origin. Only by repentance was I able to be set free from that oppression.
Some of you reading this are suffering from demonic oppression that is directly tied to the sin that you refuse to part with. Some of you have sin from your past that you have never repented of. Sins like abortion, Ouija board, séances, fornication, adultery, envy, drunkenness, rape, strife, and other sins can all lead to direct demonic oppression in your life. Repent of specific sins, not only from here on forward, but also from those things in your past that you have never specifically repented of.
As a last note, renouncing often goes along with repentance. To renounce simply means to negate the involvement you had with something. It’s almost like rewinding time and allowing the redeeming power of God to make it as if you had never “had that involvement” or “done that thing”. Renouncing is done by simply saying the words, “I renounce all involvement and activity with (or regarding)…” Below you will find a sample prayer that incorporates both repentance and renunciation. As usual, it is just a blueprint so allow the Holy Spirit to cater the prayer to your specific situation.
“Father I repent of (list the specific sins). I renounce all involvement with (list specific activities). I thank you that your word says that if I repent you are faithful to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I thank you for cleansing me with the precious blood of Jesus. Now all spirits associated with (specific sin) I command you to leave me now and never return in the name of Jesus. I command every door to be closed and sealed by the power of your Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”
