THE BONDAGE BREAKER

By Neil T. Anderson

Anderson, Neil T.  The Bondage Breaker.  Eugene, Oregon:  Harvest House Publishers, 2000, (298 pages).
INTRODUCTION

Neil T. Anderson is the founder of “Freedom in Christ Ministries” (FICM) and president and founder of “Discipleship Counseling Ministries.”[1] He speaks on Christ-centered living and has authored and co-authored many books, including Getting Anger under Control, Breaking the Bondage of Legalism, God’s Power at Work in You, Finding Hope Again and his two bestsellers Victory over the Darkness and Daily in Christ, as well as audiotape series entitled Resolving Personal and Spiritual Conflicts.[2]

This paper argues that learning the truth of our spiritual identity and position in Christ and our sonship to God are the essential truths that set us free within a life of repentance, in submission to God and resistance to the devil.”  The methodology consists of a summary, critical assessment, the lessons learnt, and a conclusion.

SUMMARY

The book “reveals the “whys” and “hows” of spiritual warfare and exposes Satan’s battle for your mind…shares the powerful truth that will break even the most stubborn habits or private sins.”[3]   It is composed of three parts: “Take Courage,” “Stand Firm,” “Walk Free,” and an appendix with an inventory for further help.    

Part one, “Take Courage,” explains our position of freedom, protection, and authority in Christ.[4]  It describes a prescription that starts by advising that we don’t have to live in the shadows; that we can find our way in the world; that we have every right to be free; that we can win the battle for our mind; that we can confront Satan; and that Jesus covers us.  Anderson identifies commons misconceptions about bondage: demons activity subsided after Christ; demonic activity is nothing but mental illness; some problems are psychological, others are spiritual; Christians cannot be affected by demons; demonic influence is only evident in extreme or violent behavior and gross sin; and freedom from spiritual bondage is the result of a power encounter with demonic forces.[5]  Satan is a deceiver and the father of lies; believers have to out-truth him by believing, declaring, and acting upon the truth of God’s word.[6]  Anderson’s approach to dealing with the demonically-influenced is to expose the demon then command him to leave then the person set free has to abide in God’s truth in Jesus Christ, who defeated Satan.[7] 

Anderson explains the two-tier mentality worldview that most people conceive: the upper tier—the “transcendent world where god, ghosts, and ghouls reside, a world understood through religion and mysticism,” the lower tier—“the empirical world which is understood through science and the physical senses,” and the excluded middle—‘the real world of spiritual forces, the kingdom of darkness.”[8]  Most people believe in the upper and lower tiers—religion and science, excluding the middle—the reality of evil spiritual forces. The author contends that some physical symptoms that are neither psychological nor physical, are caused by demonic influences that are cured by submitting to God and resisting the devil.[9]  To be set free from bondage to the world system—New Age Movement, parapsychology, Eastern mysticism, occultism, and holistic health, six foundational guidelines Jesus clearly stated in the four gospels: deny yourself—self-promotion, self-rule; take your cross daily; follow Christ; sacrifice the lower life to gain the higher life; sacrifice the pleasure of things to gain the pleasure of life; and sacrifice the temporal to gain the eternal.[10]  God’s truth about “who we are in Christ” disarms the lies of Satan and frees the captives.[11]   Satan works on the mind and injects thoughts contrary to God’s word of truth.[12] In Christ, we have authority and power over demons; who we are—our spiritual identity—must take precedence over what we do—casting out demons and performing miracles.[13] Authority is the right to rule based on our legal position as children of God given authority by Christ; whereas, power is the ability to rule by walking in the Holy Spirit.[14] To qualify to live in the authority and power of Christ, we must believe, be humble, bold, and dependent on Christ.[15] Satan’s first goal is to blind the mind of unbelievers (2 Cor 4) and his weapons are deception and lies; the first step is to be aware of the reality of his existence and to commit yourself to knowing the truth—your position in Christ, live a righteous life, and pray for spiritual sight.[16]  God has provided for our protection through His full armor (Eph 6) but we have to get actively involved because evil spirits work through passivity.

Part two, “Stand Firm,” warns of our vulnerability to temptation, accusation, and deception.[17]  It deals with such issues as manipulating the spirits, the lure of knowledge and power, the temptation to do it our way, the accusation Satan accuses us with, the danger of deception and of losing control.  Anderson gleans several points of information about evil spirits from the passage from Luke 11:24-26, when Jesus cast out demons: demons can exist outside or inside human beings; they are unable to travel at will, to communicate, to combine forces; they are able to remember and make plans, to evaluate and make decisions; each has a separate identity; they vary in degree of wickedness.[18]   There are three ways to responding to the demoniac taunts; two are wrong: paying attention to deceiving spirits and arguing with demons.  The correct response is to raise the shield of faith and deflect the attack, accusation, fiery darts and arrows thrown at us.[19]   

The lure of the occult lies in acquiring knowledge, which is power.  Satan tries to pass his counterfeits to deceive people and to such their vitality and strip off their freedom; for instance, “clairvoyance is a counterfeit of divine revelation; precognition is a counterfeit of prophecy; telepathy is a counterfeit of prayer; psychonesis is a counterfeit of God’s miracles; and spirit guides is a counterfeit of divine guidance.”[20]  Through the New Age, Satan gains foothold by luring people into the world of psychic knowledge and power; practices such as consulting spiritists, mediums, palm-readers, psychic counselors, horoscopes, tarot cards, blood pact, table-lifting, fortune telling, astrology, dungeons and dragons, crystals or pyramids, Ouija board, and automatic writing, among others.[21]  The Lord has strictly forbidden His people to be involved in such practices or to consult supernatural force other than Himself (Deut 18; Lev 19, 20).[22]   The New Age Movement cloaks the occultic message of englightment and pitches the oldest lie of Satan, “you will be like God.”[23]  

“Tempted to do it Your Way,” defines and describes temptation in order to recognize it and refuse Satan’s invitation to do things one’s way.[24] Every temptation is an enticement to live independently of God and satisfy carnal desires which are empowered by the mental strongholds and self-centered patterns of thoughts of our old nature that still linger on despite being born-again of the Spirit of God.[25]  Satan will not lead us to flagrant obvious sins—murder, rape, armed robbery, but will push something good beyond the boundary of God’s will until it becomes sin.  There are three levels of Christian growth in relation to sin (1 John 2:12-14): “little children”—having their sins forgiven and possessing the knowledge of God; “young men”—who have overcome the evil one by winning the battle for their mind; “fathers”—who have developed a deep knowledge of and personal relationship with God, the Father.[26]  There are three channels of temptation: the lust of the flesh—physical appetites and self-gratification, the lust of the eyes—self-interest, and the pride of life—self-promotion and self-exaltation (1 John 2).  The First Adam fell into the three temptations but the Last Adam—Jesus Christ—won the battle against Satan’s threefold temptation.  Satan’s scheme is to draw us away from the will, Word, and worship of God, by destroying respectively our dependence upon, confidence in, and obedience to God.[27]  The way to escape temptation is to apprehend every thought before stepping into the mind, to evaluate it based on God’s word (Phil 4:8)—whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, and praiseworthy, and to dismiss those failing the test. In brief, submit to God, confess the temptation, resist the devil, and change the ways.[28]   

Next to temptation, accusation is the most frequent attack from Satan to paralyze our witness and productivity and to fill us with feelings and thoughts of inferiority and worthlessness.[29]  The Lord has rebuked Satan and provided for our righteousness and He calls us for a response of obedience, which is directly related to our daily victory—obedience.[30] The false guilt from Satan’s accusation leads to death but the sorrow resulting from the conviction of the Holy Spirit produces repentance and life (2 Cor 7:9-10).  

Satan will attempt to dissuade us from God’s truth and deceive us into believing his lies through self-deception, false prophets and teachers, and deceiving spirits.[31]  We deceive ourselves when we hear the Word but don’t do it; when we say “we have no sin;” when we think we are something we are not; when we think we are wise in this age; when we think we will not reap what we sow; when we think the unrighteous will inherit the kingdom of God; when we think we can be associate with bad company and not be corrupt.[32]   The demonic influence on believers depends on the degree of loss of control due to deception.[33]  The first line of defense against deception is through spiritual discernment, then rebuking of negative and evil thoughts about God and oneself. 

Part three, “Walk Free,” defines the steps to freedom in Christ which will enable us to submit to God and resist the devil and how to help others find freedom in Christ coupled with a final word of encouragement.[34]’  Anderson shares seven specific issues that every Christian needs to recognize and resolve by renouncing whatever is not of God and by embracing God’s truth:  counterfeit versus real, deception versus truth, bitterness versus forgiveness, rebellion versus submission, pride versus humility, bondage versus freedom, and curses versus blessings.[35]

CRITICAL ASSESSMENT

The Bondage Breaker is the author’s dissertation of his doctorate.  He was moved by a question, “if the Holy Spirit was testifying with their (professing Christians) spirits that they were children of God, why weren’t they sensing it?”[36]  Then the author discovered the reality of spiritual warfare, the importance of subduing every thought to the obedience of Christ, and the process of repentance.[37]  The purpose of this book is to show Christians how to resolve personal and spiritual conflicts through repentance and faith in God, in order to mature and grow, focusing on Jesus Christ as the bondage Breaker.[38]  The book is filled with biblical teaching and doctrinal content about our spiritual identity and position in Christ as children of God—it is a study of positional sanctification, “who we are in Christ.”

Anderson uses live stories of people who were demon-possessed and tells the various demonic manifestations and influences that affected them physically and psychologically, as well as the how of casting out the demons and people were liberated.  The stories brought home the reality of spiritual warfare and how Satan works and manifests himself; they are interesting, appealing, instructive, and illustrative.  The author exposes in details all the lies of Satan and occultic practices the New Age Movement revives and cloaks in a new apparel; it is an eye-opener as it unveils the various forms of occult that seem innocent and unharmful through various biblical passages (1 Sam 16, 28; 2 Kings 3, 9; 1 Chron 9, 23; Is 8).  

The author uses word studies to explain the various meanings of the word and the particular meaning in context;[39] however, these were not many.  The book is not an exegetical one but rather theological in simple terms and easy to be understood by people searching for freedom in Christ and beginners.  He guides the reader to other references—books for other readers alongside his own books to complement specific topics.

Anderson gives useful suggestions on how to pray for binding Satan and for the lost, as well as sample prayers for various purposes.[40]   In the chapter, “Steps to Freedom in Christ” (pages 199-252), he details the steps and in each step there is a prayer, a declaration, and a checklist of all the sins and habits, one has participated in, then renouncing wrong priorities, and some questions that help one become aware of things one needs to renounce.  He specifies a full chapter to “Helping others find Freedom in Christ” which is evangelistic; he is pushing the person freed to help others too which is the heart of Christianity.   He wraps us with a word of encouragement and an assurance that the Bondage Breaker is Jesus Christ.

Author’s background is not clear and does not surface; however, he is definitely not a Pentecostal, nor a charismatic. He believes in the reality and existence of Satan and demonic forces that have influence and could manifest themselves physically. He counseled, served, and freed many demon-possessed people; people seek his prayers and counsel for deliverance. He seems to be quite involved in the deliverance ministry through teaching the truth of our positional sanctification, authority and power conferred to us in Christ, and being actively engaged in spiritual warfare, covered with the full armor of God.

Did the author convey his purpose?  The author was concerned with focusing on God’s truth in Jesus Christ—the Bondage Breaker.  His basic strategy is to study and examine the personality of God, redemption and salvation in Jesus Christ, the truth that will set us free, our spiritual identity in Jesus Christ, our authority to rebuke Satan, and our birthright as children of God to live a victorious life.  Anderson got across and brought home the key issues and crowned his concerns with the “Steps to Freedom in Christ.”  The above critical assessments are the strengths of the book; as to the weaknesses, they are hardly noticeable for the issues dealt with engulf the reader to the point of not being concerned with weaknesses. 

Among the four books studied, reviewed, and critiqued, Anderson’s book is the best because of the theological truth reviewed in an organized manner; because of dwelling on God’s truth throughout that will set the captives free; because of the real live stories and the feedback letters of the people delivered from demonic influence and bondage; because of the sincerity and honesty of the author that had a power of conviction; because of the step by step freedom in Christ with prayers, declaration, discernment, and commitment taken by the reader.  This book is definitely a primer to the deliverance ministry.

LESSONS LEARNT

“Be Christ-centered, not demon-centered; who we are must take precedence over what we do” are two valuable lessons connected as we are engaged in spiritual warfare, rebuking the devil in Jesus’ name.[41]  When Jesus sent the disciples on their first mission, he gave them authority over demons and to heal the sick (Luke 10). When they came back, they were rejoicing that the demons were subdued to them, so Jesus told them, “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”  Who we are in Christ takes precedence over the authority Christ conferred to us as we receive Him to dwell in us by His Spirit through faith.

“Understanding the spiritual nature of our world should have a profound effect on our evangelistic strategy.”[42]  Many people do not believe in the reality and existence of demons, which means they will never be freed of something they are not aware of.  Raising the awareness of the existence of spiritual enemies is the first step towards freedom, then teaching the truth of Jesus Christ, the Commander-in-Chief and Savior, our position in Him—authority, power, children of God, and the full armor of God are the basic ingredients for winning the  spiritual battle for freedom.

Anderson warns us of Satan’s cleverness of pushing something good beyond the boundary of God’s will, until it becomes a sin.  He listed a number of good deeds that could turn into sins:  physical rest for laziness; quietness for non-communication; ability to profit for avarice and greed; enjoyment of life for intemperance; physical pleasure for sensuality; interest in the possession of others for covetousness; enjoyment of food for gluttony; self-care for selfishness; self-respect for conceit; communication becomes gossip; cautiousness becomes unbelief; positiveness becomes insensitivity; anger becomes rage and bad temper; loving-kindness becomes overprotection; judgment becomes criticism; same-sex friendship becomes homosexuality; sexual freedom becomes immorality; conscientiousness becomes perfectionism; generosity becomes wastefulness; self-protection becomes dishonesty; carefulness becomes fear.  This whole list, many including me, have succumbed to one or more of those; drawing a line to prevent the good to turn into sin needs the discernment and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  I pray for God to preserve me in His Holy Name, to give me the discernment not to trespass the boundary of His will, and to fill me with His Holy Spirit to stand courageously against such sins.

The stories Anderson shared encouraged me particularly as he shared that pastors, full-time ministers, and believers had serious issues and were under demonic influence but were freed.  I praise God that a person like Anderson and others are there to help people especially pastors and ministers.  In the book, Preventing Ministry Failure, by Michael Wilson and Brad Hoffman, the author spoke of “refuge churches” where families of pastors and ministers whose ministry failed, received the proper care, treatment, and love.  Such ministries along with the ministry of deliverance, like Anderson’s, are a great help to burned out servants who offered their best and failed in the process.  The lesson is that no one is exempt from sinning or failing but, in Christ, we can begin again anew as there is no condemnation for Christ loved us to the full extent of love and died to redeem us and to reconnect us to God the Father giving us the authority to become blameless children of God.

CONCLUSION

The book focuses on the foundation for deliverance from Satan’s bondage by accepting and believing our spiritual identity and position in Christ as children of God through faith, provided we believe and submit to God’s truth, and resist the devil, willingly severing all bonds and ties to Satan.  Satan uses a threefold strategy—accusation, temptation, and deception. The threefold strategy, submitting to God, resisting the devil, and raising the shield of faith, is the basic biblical battle plan to deflect the attack, fiery darts and arrows thrown at us by Satan. Freedom in Christ is a journey of discernment where we embrace the truth and reject deception, lies, and ungrounded accusation; where we ask God to deliver us from the deceiving spirits; where we declare our sins and rebuke Satan with a loud voice; where we submit to God and walk blameless in His sight and service.

Learning the truth of our spiritual identity and position in Christ and our sonship to God are the essential truths that set us free within a life of repentance, in submission to God and resistance to the devil.

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IN RESPONSE TO NEIL ANDERSON'S TEACHING IN
Bob DeWaay. How Deliverance Ministries Lead People to Bondage: A Warning Against the Warfare Worldview, http://cicministry.org/commentary/issue78.htm

DeWaay rejects Neil Anderson's Warfare Worldview and advocates the biblical teaching of Providential Worldview warfare based on the gospel of grace and truth to be bond-breaker and not bond-maker. 

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[1] Neil T. Anderson, The Bondage Breaker, (Eugene, Oregon:  Harvest House Publishers, 2000), cover book; also see   http://www.ficm.org/