(Photo by Kaur Kristjan on Unsplash)

The Bible paints vivid stories of spiritual affliction, possession, and healing — stirring accounts that have captivated Christians for over two millennia, while also sparking vibrant conversations about the relationship between good and evil.

The discussion over spiritual warfare and the levels to which people face affliction has also ignited ongoing theological debate. Among the terms to emerge in this ever-complex discussion is "deliverance," a word sometimes interchangeably used for "exorcism."

"Deliverance is the act of getting free from the burdens and the trauma that the enemy has had an inroad into our lives for," Bible teacher Jareb Nott recently told "Billy Hallowell's Playing With Fire Podcast." "Deliverance [is] simply a matter of ministering freedom and removing the demonic attachments that really have come into our lives."

Nott and his wife, Petra, are coauthors of the book "The Science of Deliverance: How Spiritual Freedom Brings Physical Healing," and operate a deliverance ministry and train others to help set people free from demonic influence.

Nott explained the differences between people who are completely overtaken by the demonic — individuals who have fully committed themselves to evil — and those who struggle with certain issues or in various arenas in their lives.

Full possession, he said, is rare. But issues like pornography, among other struggles, are far less irregular and can open believers up to spiritual problems.

"Most people, they're not going to fully commit their lives to Satan," he said. "What we see frequently is there are areas in our life, say the gates of pornography. our eyes, our ears. The things that we are involved in because they're enticing."

When people "dip their toes" into such sinful behavior, Nott said it can have dire consequences.

"We dip our toes in," he said. "That's the open door for that particular issue and that particular demon to infiltrate our lives."

Nott differentiated between ministering to a person completely overtaken by evil and one who has engaged in pornography or some other moral struggle.


"If I had to minister to someone who was fully taken over and possessed to that degree, it would potentially be a more deliberate, longer-term effort for that individual to come to the knowledge of Christ because you're walking them through first of all renouncing and repenting for all of the participation that they have willingly given themselves to," he said.

Nott continued, "For those areas in their life whereas somebody who maybe dabbled in the Ouija board or pornography, those are areas where we can quickly renounce, repent. We break the evil attachment and we command the demon to go and it's a done deal."

Despite the difference in approach, "freedom remains the same," he said.

Nott is hardly the first person to connect pornography to the demonic realm.

In an interview with Faithwire earlier this year, Sathiya Sam, a Christian author who has developed a systematic process to help men overcome pornography addiction, also highlighted "a demonic component" to porn consumption.

"The reality is, when you engage in something as toxic as pornography, you're almost like literally dancing with the devil, like you're really engaging with something demonic and giving him a foothold," Sam said, noting that, while some men might experience early success in overcoming pornography, many will relapse "because they have not built the spiritual maturity to actually sustain the breakthrough."

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