Saved but Still Enslaved: Breaking Free from Strongholds

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Introduction

Have you ever thought, Why, if I’m a Christian, do I still struggle so much with sin? Why aren’t I living victoriously? This book is for you—because you may be saved, but you are still enslaved. The good news is, you can get free from the strongholds that keep you from being fully delivered.

You may have picked up this book for somebody else, thinking you do not have a stronghold in your life because you are a Christian. But here is the thing: Many Christians have strongholds operating in their lives, just as nonbelievers do. These Christians are born again and are going to heaven, but because they are still enslaved, they are going through hell while they are here on earth.

That is not God’s plan for your life. Jesus died so that you can be free. Galatians 5:1 says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.

A stronghold is a yoke of bondage, and it is not God’s will for your life. A stronghold is simply anything that has a strong hold on you and holds you back from enjoying the abundant life Jesus promises. It may be fear. It may be unforgiveness. It may be inferiority. It may be religion. It may be an addiction. That stronghold had me by the throat for years. (I will share more about that in chapter 4.) One stronghold is just as dangerous as the next, but no matter what stronghold has you by the throat, the enemy will use it to keep you from spiritual victory.

No, a stronghold will not keep you out of heaven, but it will keep you from enjoying life to the fullest, and it will keep you from fulfilling the awesome plan God has for your life. If you are born again, there is nothing Satan can do to keep you out of heaven. Since he cannot keep you out of heaven, he wants to paralyze you and keep you from taking anyone with you. He primarily does that through strongholds. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables you to break free.

Accepting Jesus Christ and being born again prepares you for heaven. Allowing Jesus to fill you and empower you with His Spirit prepares you for earth. When Jesus first appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He breathed on them and said, Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). At that moment, they were ready for heaven. When you read the first chapter of Acts, however, notice what Jesus did:

He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, you have heard from Me. . . . But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 1:4, 8

The disciples had walked with Jesus for three years, but Jesus still tells them to wait until He empowers them before they go out. Then in Acts 2, we see them go out—filled with the Spirit—and begin to change the world. Again, being born of the Spirit prepares us for heaven, but being filled with God’s Spirit prepares us for earth. Not only does God’s Spirit empower us to break Satan’s strongholds; He also enables us to help bring freedom and deliverance to others.

The next time you sing Victory in Jesus and I Am Free at church, I want you to be able to sing those praise and worship choruses with great conviction and glee because you truly are free. It is time for us to quit playing church and get serious about the strongholds operating in our lives. It is time to forcefully take the freedom that already belongs to us. And, it is time to be saved without being enslaved.

1

Salvation Is

a Journey

The title of this chapter might be a bit controversial, so let me explain what I mean when I say that salvation is a journey. The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9). There is no confusion about that in the Word of God, yet many people doubt their salvation because they are not living completely free.

How do I know? Because I used to do that, and I was raised a preacher’s kid! It was a terrible cycle. I would mess up during the week and go down front to the altar nearly every Sunday to get re-saved. Ever been there? But the truth is, I did not need to get re-saved, I just needed to deal with the strongholds in my life and walk in the freedom Jesus had already purchased for me on the cross. You see, I was saved but still enslaved by the god of this world, and I have discovered over the last twenty years of ministry that a lot of people are living just as I used to live—saved but still enslaved. It is time to break free.

Salvation versus Liberation

We need to begin with an important distinction. There is a difference between salvation and liberation. You can be saved from your sins, but not totally free. The goal is not salvation; the goal is salvation plus liberation. Remember the story of the Israelites when they put blood on their doorposts so the death angel would pass by?

And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the LORD will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the LORD will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

Exodus 12:22–23

The Israelites applied blood to their doorposts and escaped death, but they were still in bondage to Pharaoh. In the same manner, there are people who have had the blood of Jesus applied to their hearts, yet they are still in bondage in certain areas. God’s goal for the Israelites was not just to escape death. He wanted them to be delivered out of Pharaoh’s hand, to enter the Promised Land and to dwell in that place of abundance and fulfillment.

That is what God wants for you, too. If you are putting up with any kind of bondage in your life today—and many of us are—then you are living outside the will of God. Second Corinthians 3:17 (NLT) says, For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. The Spirit lives in you if you are a Christian, so freedom lives in you. There is no room for any stronghold to dwell in you. God desires that you be free.

What has confused the Church is that many Christians believe if you are saved, you are automatically free from strongholds. That is simply not true. Those are two separate things. Need convincing? Let’s dig deeper into God’s Word. Ephesians 1:7 (NLT) says, He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. Do you see that? He purchased our freedom and forgave our sins—two different benefits.

Colossians 1:13–14 (NLT) says, For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. Again, this passage confirms that you can have forgiveness of your sins and still not be free.

First Timothy 2:6 (NLT) says, He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. We qualify as everyone, right? You may have heard that Scripture a million times, but until you understand that you are part of everyone, that Scripture’s truth will not set you free.

John 8:32 (NLT) says, And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. But it is not the truth that sets you free; it is the truth you know that sets you free.

Spirit, Soul and Body

Here is some more truth for you. We learn in Genesis that we were created in God’s image, right? That means humans are spirit beings because God is a spirit being. John 4:24 tells us: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. That being said, God is a three-part being, and so are we. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are spirit, soul and body. First Thessalonians 5:23 says, Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Human beings, created in the image of God, are made up of three parts, and God wants all three of our parts healthy. Here is the breakdown: You are a spirit. You possess a soul, which is made up of your mind, will and emotions. And you live in a body.

Many are confused over this, thinking that your spirit and soul are the same. They are not. I have even heard preachers say errantly, I preached a revival meeting the other night and ten souls got saved. No, they did not. Ten spirits may have been made brand-new, but ten souls were not saved.

You may think, Pastor Bobby, that’s just semantics—what’s the big deal?

It is more than semantics, and it is a big deal. Here is why: Your spirit is instantly saved, but you must renew your soul—your mind, will and emotions—daily to the Word of God in order to overcome strongholds and remain free.

Hebrews 4:12 says, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is no wonder people have confused the spirit and the soul, because the two are so closely connected. Only the Word of God can divide the two. James 1:21 further explains the separation: Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. If you go back and read the beginning of James 1, you will see that he is talking to people who were already born again. In other words, their spirits had been saved. But James is saying, Hey, if you want to get your souls—your mind, will and emotions—saved, you’re going to have to get in the Word.

While the salvation of our spirits is instantaneous, the salvation of our souls is a process. And guess what—the strongholds reside in our souls, not in our spirits. That is why you can be saved and going to heaven, but still be enslaved by strongholds while here on earth.

Romans 12:1–2 says,

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Do you see that renewing our minds and renewing our souls is a process?

Conversely, 2 Corinthians 5:17 makes it clear that when your spirit is reborn, you are a new creature—period! Immediately, you are made brand-new on the inside: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

As for your body, you need to eat healthy and get in some cardio each day to see results, but it will not be completely transformed until Jesus comes back. The Bible says that it will happen in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:52). In that instant, our bodies will be transformed, hallelujah! You know what that means? It means we will not have to sweat it out at the Y anymore. We will go from mortal bodies to immortal bodies, and we will never die. Verse 54 continues, So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’

The transformation of your spirit when you make Jesus the Lord of your life and the transformation of your body at the resurrection are totally God’s doing. But the salvation of your soul is a process, and that process involves you and God working together.

Let the Journey Begin. . . .

As I said when we began this chapter, salvation is a journey. It is a process. True salvation is not a one-time event, as most people think. You go to the altar; you accept Jesus as Lord of your life; you get up and go on with your life. Sure, at that moment you were transferred from one kingdom to another, but the same strongholds you struggled with before kneeling at that altar are the same ones you will struggle with when you get up.

God desires for you to experience full deliverance from all that holds you back—all the strongholds in your life. Think about how we use the word delivered outside church. Suppose you order a book from Amazon. You make the transaction, so you have purchased the book, but it has not been