Isaac Boluwatise

Deliverance, Truth, and the Freedom Christ Gives

March 10th, 2026

A biblical reflection on freedom, discipleship, and the authority of Christ

Few subjects in Christian life generate as much uncertainty as the question of deliverance. Some believers attribute nearly every spiritual struggle to demonic activity and seek freedom through repeated deliverance sessions. Others react against such practices and avoid the subject entirely, preferring not to speak about spiritual oppression at all. Between these two responses, many sincere Christians are left with questions. They wonder what Scripture actually teaches about freedom. They are uncertain about spiritual conflict and the authority of Christ.

The New Testament offers a wiser and more balanced vision. Spiritual oppression is real. Yet the authority of Christ over every power is equally real. Scripture shows that lasting freedom rarely comes from a single moment of deliverance. Freedom begins with the liberating authority of the Son. It is established as believers encounter the truth of Christ. It is sustained as believers continue in his word.

Jesus himself describes this pattern. Speaking to those who believed in him, he said, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:31–32). A few verses later, he adds, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). Freedom, therefore, belongs to Christ. Yet the experience of that freedom grows as believers continue in his word.

The Reality of Spiritual Conflict

The ministry of Jesus makes it clear that spiritual conflict is real. The Gospels record several occasions where oppressive spirits were confronted and expelled. These events were not presented as spectacles. They were signs that the kingdom of God had arrived. The authority of the Son had broken into a world long held in bondage (Luke 11:20).

The early church encountered similar realities. In the book of Acts, the authority of Christ was sometimes exercised through prayer. This occurred when individuals suffered spiritual oppression (Acts 16:18). These accounts remind us that the Christian faith does not ignore the spiritual dimension of human struggle.

At the same time, Scripture does not present deliverance as the universal solution to every difficulty. The deeper problem of human bondage is ultimately addressed through the work of Christ and the transformation of the heart.

The Warning of the Empty House

Jesus spoke directly about the limitations of deliverance alone. In a striking teaching recorded in Matthew, he described an unclean spirit leaving a person and wandering through dry places. Eventually, the spirit returns to its former dwelling and finds the house “empty, swept, and put in order” (Matt 12:43–44). Seeing the vacancy, it gathers several other spirits. It then re-enters and leaves the person in a worse condition than before (Matt 12:45).

The focus of the story is not simply the departure of the spirit. The emphasis falls on what happened afterward. The house had been cleaned. Yet it remained empty.

Removing oppression alone leaves a person vulnerable. Something must take possession of the space that has been cleared.

Deliverance may clear the house. It does not automatically fill it.

Freedom Grounded in the Victory of Christ

Christian freedom begins with the victory of Christ himself. The New Testament repeatedly declares that through his death and resurrection, Christ triumphed over the powers that enslave humanity. Paul writes that God “disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in the cross” (Col 2:15).

Freedom does not ultimately rest on spiritual technique or personal strength. It rests on the authority of the risen Son.

Because believers belong to Christ, they share in his victory. The life of discipleship teaches believers how to live within the freedom that Christ has already secured.

Many forms of bondage are sustained by deception. Lies about God. Lies about identity. Lies about fear, guilt, or condemnation. When the truth of Christ begins to illuminate the heart, those structures of deception lose their stability. What once appeared powerful begins to shrink in the light of the gospel.

When Freedom Comes Through the Word

Pastoral experience often confirms what Scripture teaches. Freedom sometimes emerges quietly when a person encounters Christ through the truth of Scripture.

Several years ago, a Christian sister approached me with questions about troubling experiences that had followed her for some time. Today she serves faithfully as a minister of the gospel. At that time, she was deeply distressed. She had recurring dreams. In these dreams, a male figure appeared and claimed authority over her life.

In these dreams, the figure insisted that she belonged to him. At first, it threatened to prevent her from marrying. Later, its message changed. She would be allowed to marry, it said, but she would never bear children in the natural order. Any children she bore would belong to him.

The experiences left her deeply unsettled. Fear slowly began to shape how she viewed her future. Over time, she sought help from several sources and visited several deliverance ministers. Eventually, she conceived and gave birth to her first child, and later a second. Still, the earlier threats lingered in her mind. She desired more children but wondered whether those strange claims might somehow limit her life.

When we met, my first concern was not the dreams themselves but her relationship with Christ. As we spoke, it became clear that she genuinely loved the Lord and had entrusted her life to him. Our conversation gradually moved toward Scripture. We opened passages that speak about the believer’s identity in Christ. These passages reveal the authority of Christ over every power. They also discuss the freedom that belongs to those who are united with him.

As we sat in the gallery of the church in Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria, there was no dramatic confrontation with spirits. We opened the Scriptures together. We reflected on what they say about the lordship of Christ. We also considered the believer’s place in him.

After perhaps forty minutes, something changed dramatically in her demeanour. She rose to her feet with quiet determination and said, “Thank you, sir. This matter is settled. It will never happen again.”

I asked her to remain a moment longer so that we could thank the Lord together before she left. From that day forward, the dreams stopped. The oppressive, intimidating, and taunting personage that had appeared so persistently never returned.

Soon afterward, she conceived again. Today, she continues to serve faithfully in ministry. She often recalls that conversation as the moment when fear finally lost its hold.

What is striking about this experience is that no formal deliverance ritual took place. The turning point came when the truth of Christ displaced the deception that had sustained the fear.

Experiences like this are not unusual in pastoral life. Many believers find their deepest turning points on their spiritual journey. These occur when the truth of Christ becomes clear to them in a fresh way. The authority of Christ has always been present. The heart simply had not yet grasped it.

When that understanding arrives, fear begins to loosen its grip. What once seemed powerful begins to shrink. In the light of Christ’s lordship, it loses the authority it once appeared to possess.

When Deliverance Plays a Role

None of this suggests that deliverance ministry has no place in Christian life. There are situations where spiritual oppression becomes deeply entrenched. These situations require direct pastoral intervention through prayer and the authority of Christ. In such moments the church should respond with wisdom, compassion, and discernment.

Yet even in those situations the same principle applies. The life that has been liberated must be filled with something greater than the oppression that has been removed.

Deliverance may empty the house. Discipleship must occupy it.

Continuing in the Truth

The stability of Christian freedom grows through continuing in the teaching of Christ. The mind is renewed by truth. The heart learns obedience. As a result, the believer becomes less vulnerable to deception and intimidation.

Truth reshapes how a person understands God, identity, guilt, and authority. Over time the believer learns to distinguish between accusation and conviction, between temptation and truth. Life becomes anchored in the finished work of Christ rather than in fear.

The apostle Paul expresses this calling clearly: “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1).

Freedom is both a gift and a calling. Christ liberates. Believers learn to stand within that liberty.

A Balanced Vision of Freedom

A healthy Christian understanding of deliverance avoids two extremes. One extreme assumes that every struggle requires a dramatic deliverance experience. The other denies that spiritual oppression can occur at all.

Scripture points us toward a wiser path. The authority of Christ over every power is real. Deliverance may sometimes play a role in releasing people from oppression. The deepest freedom grows when people encounter Christ through the truth of his word. This enduring freedom continues as they live as disciples in that truth.

Some encounter freedom through a moment of deliverance. Others discover it quietly as they listen to the word of God, their eyes opening to the reality of Christ.

However it begins, the path forward is the same.

The Son sets people free.
The truth establishes that freedom.
Continuing in that truth enables believers to stand in the liberty Christ has given.

Where Christ reigns, the powers that once intimidated the soul slowly lose their ground. The believer learns to walk in the quiet confidence of the freedom Christ has secured.
Rooted in the Father: Fidelity to God’s Will in an Age of Visible Success

March 7th, 2026

Jesus’ warning in Matthew 15:13 speaks with enduring clarity. “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” He spoke to religious leaders who were active. They were confident and influential. However, their teaching and posture were not rooted in the Father’s will. Their problem was not zeal but source. They honoured God outwardly while operating from human tradition and self-assurance. Christ’s concern was not how established something appeared, but whether it truly originated in God. That same concern confronts the church today. Christian service is widespread and visible. However, it is not always deeply examined at the level of motive, submission, and truth.

Our moment quietly equates success with divine approval. Growth, productivity, and recognition are often received as proof that God is pleased. Yet Jesus directly unsettles this logic. He warns that many will prophesy, cast out demons, and do mighty works in His name, yet still hear, “I never knew you” (Matt 7:22–23). These are not inactive people but religiously effective people. Their tragedy is misalignment. Christ states the standard plainly: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father” (Matt 7:21). Obedience—not activity, not visibility—is the dividing line. Faithfulness is measured by alignment with the Father’s will, not by the scale of one’s results.

Scripture also clarifies that divine permission is not the same as divine approval. Israel demanded a king out of fear and a desire to resemble other nations. God granted their request, yet named it as a rejection of His kingship (1 Sam 8:7–9). Hosea later records the Lord’s assessment: “They made kings, but not through me” (Hos 8:4). Something may stand in history and still not be planted by God. Longevity does not prove legitimacy. God may allow what He does not endorse. He may use what He did not initiate. But that does not make it His planting. The current world system itself has endured for ages. Yet, Scripture says, “The world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever” (1 John 2:17). Endurance in time is not the same as permanence before God.

At the personal level, Scripture warns against trusting inner certainty without examination. “The heart is devious above all else” (Jer 17:9). The issue is not that believers have convictions, but that the unexamined heart can mislead its owner. This occurs when personal peace is used as final proof of God’s leading. It also happens when correction is resisted in the name of private conviction. Additionally, decisions might be labeled as God’s direction only after they are already chosen. Scripture’s answer is testing, not suspicion. The Bereans were commended for examining the Scriptures to verify what they heard (Acts 17:11). The psalmist invites God’s searching gaze: “Search me, O God… see if there is any wicked way in me” (Ps 139:23–24). What is truly from God stands up under God’s light.

Cultural accommodation presents another pressure point. The desire to reach people can slowly become a willingness to mirror them. Yet the apostolic call remains: “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds” (Rom 12:2). Jesus engaged sinners without adjusting truth to secure acceptance. He came calling people to repentance (Luke 5:32), not affirming them in their current state. Though He drew near to sinners, He remained holy, blameless, and undefiled (Heb 7:26). Salt preserves by being distinct (Matt 5:13). The church serves the world best not by reflecting it, but by bearing a different life shaped by God’s truth.

A further distortion arises when visibility becomes a measure of faithfulness. Jesus warns against practicing righteousness to be seen by others (Matt 6:1), yet the pull toward visibility is not new. His own brothers urged Him to display His works publicly so they would gain recognition, assuming that what is from God should seek a platform (John 7:3–4). John adds that this counsel flowed from unbelief (7:5). Jesus refused to let visibility govern His obedience, submitting instead to the Father’s timing. Much of His formation of the disciples happened away from crowds and acclaim. God’s work often grows in hiddenness before it appears in strength. Visibility may accompany faithfulness, but it never defines it.

Teachability also reveals whether something is truly planted by God. “The Lord disciplines those whom he loves” (Heb 12:6). Correction is not rejection but fatherly care. Yet some dismiss critique as attack, surround themselves only with affirming voices, or treat accountability as control. Scripture describes a wiser posture: those who accept reproof grow in wisdom (Prov 9:8–9). David could call a righteous rebuke a kindness (Ps 141:5). A life rooted in God remains teachable because it trusts God’s means of formation.

All of this leads to Scripture’s repeated reminder that final evaluation belongs to God. “The work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it” (1 Cor 3:13). “Each of us will be accountable to God” (Rom 14:12). Present appearances are provisional. The Day of the Lord reveals foundations, not just outcomes. It tests what was built on Christ and what was built on self, fear, ambition, or imitation. This future exposure is not meant to paralyze the faithful but to sober and purify the careless.

Paul offers a necessary correction in a self-validating age. He states, “It is not those who commend themselves that are approved, but those whom the Lord commends” (2 Cor 10:18). Self-commendation relies on comparison and selective evidence. Divine commendation rests on God’s searching knowledge and truth. The faithful servant learns to leave the verdict with the Lord.

The faithful believer therefore submits desires to Scripture. They subject decisions to discernment. They anchor ministry in accountability. They entrust outcomes to God. Such a posture does not weaken service; it purifies it. It reflects a heart that would rather be corrected now than uprooted later. The governing question shifts from “Is this working?” to “Is this from the Father?” That question guards both the heart and the church.

In the end, only what the Father plants will remain. Blessed are those who prefer to be deeply rooted rather than widely visible. They choose God’s approval over people’s applause. They seek the Lord’s commendation instead of practicing self-commendation. They endure in truth rather than flourish in error. When God acts to set things right, what is rooted in His will shall stand. What is not rooted will fade.

He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
The Narrow Way That Leads to Life

March 7th, 2026

“Enter through the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:13-14 (NRSVue)

The narrow gate refers to a critical turning point. The point when a person responds to God’s reign with repentance and trust. In the Sermon on the Mount, this is not a mystical doorway or a shift from “law” to “grace.” Instead, it is the moment one yields self-rule to God’s rule. It is narrow because it excludes divided loyalty. One cannot carry pride, cherished sin, or self-justification through it. Entry requires reorientation of the heart toward God’s will.

The hard road then describes the ongoing pattern of life that flows from that decision. Jesus has just portrayed this life: reconciliation replaces resentment. Purity overcomes hidden lust. Truthfulness counters manipulation. Love of enemies takes the place of retaliation. Generosity is offered without show. Trust supersedes anxiety. This road is hard not because God is harsh. It is hard because it runs against the grain of ego and cultural convenience. It is the way of transformation.

Thus the contrast is not law versus grace, as touted in some quarters; Jesus is not offering two salvation systems. Rather, he contrasts authentic allegiance to God’s kingdom with a form of religion that keeps control in human hands. Convenient religion trims God’s demands to fit personal comfort. Authentic allegiance receives grace and then walks in obedient trust. The narrowness, therefore, is about sincerity of surrender. The hardness is about perseverance in a life shaped by Jesus’ vision of God’s kingdom.

Choose the narrow gate in today’s choices, not only in life’s big moments. Each quiet act of obedience is a step on the road to life. Do not measure your direction by how many walk with you, but by whether your heart is yielded to God. The way may be demanding, but it is never empty, for the Lord meets and sustains those who walk it. His life at the end of the path is worth every surrendered step along the way.
Israel, the Church, and the Question of Biblical Continuity

March 6th, 2026

Recent comments by a well-known Nigerian Christian teacher have revived a long-standing theological discussion about Israel’s identity and future in the biblical narrative. The central claim advanced in that perspective is that, as understood in Scripture, Israel effectively disappeared after its historical dispersion and that the coming of Christ dissolved Israel as a distinct covenant reality. According to this view, the modern state of Israel is merely a political creation and bears no meaningful relationship to the Israel of the Bible.

Such assertions deserve careful examination, not because controversy is desirable, but because questions concerning Israel occupy a significant place within the biblical story. When Scripture is considered as a whole, the matter proves more complex than either simple dismissal or simplistic affirmation.

A responsible discussion requires attention to three closely related themes within the biblical narrative: the scattering of Israel, the prophetic promise of regathering, and the New Testament teaching about the people of God in Christ.

The Biblical Pattern of Scattering

One part of the argument rightly recognizes that Israel’s scattering among the nations was foretold in Scripture. The covenant warnings given to Israel clearly predicted dispersion as a consequence of persistent disobedience.

In Leviticus 26:33 the Lord warns, “I will scatter you among the nations and will draw out the sword after you.” Similarly, Deuteronomy 28:64 states that Israel would be scattered “among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other.” The prophets later echoed this theme. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both speak of Israel’s dispersion as the result of covenant violation.

History confirms this trajectory. The northern kingdom fell to Assyria in 722 BC. Judah later went into Babylonian exile in 586 BC. Centuries afterward, the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 contributed to further dispersion of Jewish communities across the Mediterranean world and beyond.

The biblical theme of diaspora is therefore undeniable. Israel did experience scattering, and Scripture explicitly prepared the nation for that possibility.

Yet the biblical narrative does not end with dispersion. The prophets speak just as consistently about something else: regathering.

The same prophetic writings that predicted Israel’s scattering also promised a future regathering. In fact, the language of restoration is as prominent as the language of judgment.

The Promise of Regathering

Deuteronomy 30:3–5 anticipates a time when God would gather Israel “from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you.” Isaiah speaks of the Lord recovering the remnant of His people “from the four corners of the earth” (Isaiah 11:11–12). Jeremiah states plainly, “He who scattered Israel will gather him” (Jeremiah 31:10). Ezekiel adds that God would take Israel “from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land” (Ezekiel 36:24).

In the prophetic imagination, scattering is never the final word. It functions as a stage within a larger covenant pattern that moves from judgment to restoration. Israel’s identity as a people is not erased by dispersion; rather, dispersion becomes part of the story through which God ultimately demonstrates His faithfulness.

For this reason, the suggestion that Israel simply ceased to exist as a historical people does not fit comfortably within the prophetic framework.

The Question of the Modern State of Israel

A related claim insists that the modern state of Israel is purely a political construction unrelated to biblical realities. Historically, the establishment of Israel in 1948 emerged from political developments involving the British mandate, international diplomacy, the United Nations partition plan of 1947, and the aftermath of the Second World War.

Yet historical processes alone do not settle the theological question. The deeper issue concerns whether the modern Jewish return to the land bears any relation to biblical promises of restoration.

Within Christian theology, several interpretations exist.

One perspective often associated with classical dispensationalism holds that Israel remains the covenant nation and that the modern return to the land may represent a stage within prophetic fulfillment. In this view, Israel and the church remain distinct within God’s redemptive plan.

A second perspective, common in many Reformed traditions, understands the church as the fulfillment of Israel’s covenant role. According to this reading, the promises concerning land and nationhood are ultimately realized in Christ and in the new creation rather than in a contemporary political state.

A third approach attempts to hold elements of both positions. It affirms that the church consists of Jews and Gentiles united in Christ, yet it also maintains that ethnic Israel may still play a role in God’s unfolding purposes.

This third approach often appeals to Romans 11:25–29, where the apostle Paul speaks of a future turning of Israel and insists that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” Whatever interpretation one adopts, the New Testament suggests that the question of Israel cannot be dismissed too easily. It introduces another important dimension: the formation of a new covenant people in Christ.

The New Testament and the People of God

The New Testament undeniably introduces a profound development. In Christ the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has been broken. Paul writes in Ephesians 2:14–16 that Christ has created “one new humanity” from the two. Similarly, Galatians 3:28 declares that in Christ there is “neither Jew nor Greek,” for all who belong to Christ are heirs of the promise.

These texts emphasize the radical unity of believers within the new covenant community. Faith in Christ, rather than ethnic identity, defines membership in the people of God.

Yet the New Testament also preserves a tension. Paul’s discussion in Romans 9–11 treats Israel not as a vanished concept but as a continuing historical reality within God’s redemptive plan. The apostle simultaneously affirms the unity of Jews and Gentiles in Christ while acknowledging an unresolved mystery concerning Israel.

The biblical picture, therefore, is neither a simple replacement nor an unqualified continuation. It is a complex relationship in which the church emerges as the multinational people of God while Israel’s historical story remains woven into the larger narrative of redemption.

Historical Oversimplifications

Certain historical claims that occasionally accompany these discussions also deserve correction. Suggestions that the modern state of Israel was created solely by a single financial family or secretive political interests reduce a complicated historical process to a misleading caricature.

In reality, the formation of Israel involved numerous factors: waves of Jewish migration, diplomatic negotiations, international decisions, regional conflicts, and the profound moral shock of the Holocaust. Simplistic explanations obscure rather than clarify the historical record.

A Balanced Biblical Perspective

When the biblical material is considered as a whole, several conclusions emerge.

Scripture clearly foretold Israel’s scattering as a consequence of covenant disobedience. At the same time, Scripture equally promises a regathering of Israel. The New Testament reveals that, in Christ, God has formed a renewed covenant community composed of Jews and Gentiles together. Finally, the relationship between ethnic Israel and the church remains an area where thoughtful Christian interpreters have reached different conclusions.

What the biblical witness does not support is the claim that Israel simply disappeared from God’s purposes. The prophetic promises and Paul’s reflections in Romans suggest a more nuanced reality.

Approaching Such Questions Responsibly

Discussions about Israel often generate strong reactions, especially in an age of rapid information and social media debates. Yet theological reflection requires patience, humility, and careful attention to Scripture.

First, believers should resist the temptation to build entire doctrines on isolated verses. The biblical narrative must be read in its full canonical context.

Second, historical claims should be handled with the same care as theological ones. Oversimplified narratives rarely illuminate complex realities.

Third, Christians should approach disagreements with charity. The history of interpretation shows that thoughtful and faithful believers have differed on these questions.

Finally, Scripture itself provides the proper posture. Paul concludes his reflection on Israel and the nations with a doxology: “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33). In other words, some aspects of God’s redemptive plan invite reverence as much as analysis.

Where Scripture speaks clearly, the church should speak with confidence. Where Scripture leaves room for mystery, humility remains the wisest response.
A Call to Faithfulness in an Age of Selective Listening

February 28th, 2026

I went through the passage at 2 Timothy 4 recently and found myself returning to verses 2 to 5 again and again, rereading them slowly and even attempting a careful redaction. The passage reads not merely as instruction to preach, but as a commissioning for faithful ministry in an age of selective listening.

This is my redacted reading of 2 Timothy 4:2–5

Proclaim the word; stand ready in season and out of season.

Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and teaching.

For a time is coming when they will not endure sound instruction,

but according to their own desires they will gather teachers for themselves,

because their ears itch to hear what pleases them.

They will turn away their hearing from the truth

and will be turned aside toward myths.

But you, be sober in all things, endure suffering,

do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry completely.

Reading this passage today feels less like studying an ancient pastoral letter. It feels more like overhearing a conversation about our own moment. Paul did not imagine a church without preaching or teaching. The concern is more unsettling: a church surrounded by teaching yet gradually resistant to being formed by truth.

Selective listening rarely begins with rejection of Scripture. It begins when we quietly prefer what affirms us over what searches, corrects, and forms us. We still listen, still attend, and still read. However, we tend to lean toward voices that confirm what we already think. We excuse what we already desire or soften what God intends to confront. Over time, truth is not denied; it is domesticated.

Paul’s instruction therefore addresses both preacher and hearer. The minister must remain steady, proclaiming the Word whether the season feels receptive or resistant. Faithfulness cannot be governed by audience reaction. At the same time, believers are called to endure sound teaching. Growth in Christ often comes through correction, patience, and instruction long before it feels encouraging.

What Paul describes is a movement of the heart. First comes impatience with sound teaching. Then comes the gathering of agreeable voices. Eventually the ear turns away from truth itself. Myths do not usually arrive dressed as lies. They appear as partial truths. These partial truths remove repentance, obedience, or holiness from the center of discipleship.

Paul’s final charge redirects attention to what truly matters. Faithfulness is not measured by popularity, novelty, or affirmation. It is measured by sobriety, endurance, evangelistic witness, and the full completion of one’s calling before God.

The question confronting every believer today is therefore not whether a message is enjoyable, stimulating, or widely accepted. The real question is whether we remain willing to hear the truth that forms us into Christ.

Deliverance, Truth, and the Freedom Christ Gives

Rooted in the Father: Fidelity to God’s Will in an Age of Visible Success

The Narrow Way That Leads to Life

Israel, the Church, and the Question of Biblical Continuity

A Call to Faithfulness in an Age of Selective Listening