Saved but Not Free: When the Gates of Darkness Hold a Believer Bound
"That which is not revealed to you cannot be possessed by you."
Greatness, success and breakthroughs in the life of a believer are products of revelation. So I pray the Spirit of the Lord opens your understanding as you read this.
God asked Job, "Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?" (Job 38:17). And again, "Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof?" (Job 38:19).
There are gates of death. There are gates of hell. Jesus told Peter, "Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). Heaven has gates, and hell has gates.
Two Kingdoms, Two Kinds of Gates
When people hear "gates of death," they think only the dead go there. No. Anything in your life that is held beyond those gates is dead, because that is how hell works.
The devil has not created anything. He is an imitator. God wants to unite heaven and earth, and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). The devil wants his will done on earth as it is in hell. God's mission is to give life, and life more abundantly. The devil's mission is to steal, to kill and to destroy (John 10:10).
Here is the difference. For heaven, the entry is restricted. You cannot just walk in. For hell, the exit is restricted. Anyone held there finds the gates shut against their leaving.
Seated With Christ, Yet Bound?
God "hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:6). We are blessed "with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3). That seat means rest, authority, honor and access.
Now let me ask you a question. Do you have to die for heaven to manifest in your life? No. In the same way, you don't have to die for hell to manifest in an area of your life.
There are so many believers who are happy on the Lord's day during the service, and a few hours later it is the same sadness, the same rage, the same anguish. You have life, but you have not yet known abundant life. You are God's child, but you struggle in your health, in your character or in your finances.
The human soul can be fragmented, and there are a thousand ways to trap a life in places where it does not belong. Emotional trauma, broken hearts, broken homes and occult backgrounds can all leave a soul caged. Think of an animal tied with a rope. It can go round and round, but never beyond the length of that rope. A caged person will see things, but never receive them. Your soul is like a city. If it is broken, your inner city is desolate and in ruins.
That is why being born again does not mean every area of your life is healed automatically. It means you can now begin a process of restoration and deliverance, and take back everything that belongs to you, because Jesus is victorious.
Signs That Part of Your Life Is Bound
Spiritual stagnation: saved but not free, and joyless.
A fruitless life. Jesus chose you "that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain" (John 15:16).
Powerlessness and a hopeless feeling that nothing will ever change.
Tormenting thoughts and a cycle of defeat. "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).
Constant fear. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7).
Depression, helplessness and sleeplessness. "He giveth his beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:2).
Demonic harassment in your dreams.
Poverty and debt. "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want" (Psalm 23:1).
An accidental life. I am a product of a plan, not of an accident.
Potential with no performance.
Constant sadness, rejection and a feeling of abandonment. But we are "accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).
How It Shows Up in Life
You lose it at the edge of breakthrough
You reach the last stage of the interview and you are disqualified. The courtship is good, but every time it comes to marriage, there is disappointment. You labor, but the labor is fruitless.
Nothing comes easy
School was a war. College was a war. The job is a war. Marriage is a war. There is "a time of war, and a time of peace" (Ecclesiastes 3:8). What you are experiencing is not a season. It is a life condition. For some people, the pause between two fights is what they call peace. That is not peace. You work like an elephant but eat like an ant.
Strange dreams
You are always writing an exam and never completing it. You are always running for the bus and missing it. In life that shows up as trials without triumph and lost opportunities. I once saw a man in a dream who was going through debt, gambling and all kinds of destruction. He was driving a black bus backwards, sitting at the back and facing the rear. His life had been programmed to go backwards. I said, "Never again, in Jesus' name. You shall move forward."
How to Walk Free
Deliverance is the children's bread
When a mother begged Jesus to deliver her daughter, He called it "the children's bread" (Matthew 15:22-26). Of the woman bent over for eighteen years He said she was "a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound" (Luke 13:16). Bondage is illegal for a believer who is seated with Christ in heavenly places.
Stand fast and take back what is yours
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free" (Galatians 5:1). You cannot live a passive life. "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12). It is one thing to be defeated. It is another thing to remain defeated. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Let the Holy Spirit show you where you are bound
If you seek God, He will give you a word of knowledge and lead you to pray certain prayers. For some, He will lead you to repent of certain things, come out of certain relationships or ask forgiveness from certain people. For some, it takes the prayer of faith. For others, He will show you in dreams where you are bound.
Know that Jesus can reach that place
Jesus holds "the keys of hell and of death" (Revelation 1:18). This message is not about casting out demons. It is about deliverance from prisons. Peter was in prison with guards at the gates, but while the church prayed, the Lord sent an angel (Acts 12:5-10). In the kingdom we don't enter those places the way witches do. We enter by prophetic words, by revelation and by submission to the Holy Spirit.
Jesus came "to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" and to give "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:1-3). Don't believe for change. Believe for an exchange. Pray it today: "Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name" (Psalm 142:7).
Declarations
I am seated with Christ in heavenly places.
Freedom is my portion. I refuse to live saved but not free.
I hate fruitlessness with all my being. I shall bear fruit.
I am accepted in the Beloved. Rejection is not my portion.
I am a product of God's plan, not an accident.
Wherever my soul is bound, the light of Jesus will enter that place.
I will move forward, never backward, in Jesus' name.
The Mystery of Open and Closed Doors Series
This is Part 6 of a six-part teaching on the doors God opens, the battles at the threshold, and how to walk through. Here is the full series in order:
The Stealer of Joy: Why Closed Doors Are Part of Your Warfare (and How to Walk Through Them)
A Great Door and Many Adversaries: Why the Battle Intensifies at the Door
People Are Gates: How God Opens Doors Through the People He Sends
Open Heavens: Signs of a Closed Heaven and 8 Keys to See It Open
Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving: The Kingdom Protocol for His Presence
Saved but Not Free: When the Gates of Darkness Hold a Believer Bound (you are here)
Previous: Enter His Gates With Thanksgiving
More Teaching Series
Marriage in the Lord series: Start with Part 1: Marry Only in the Lord
The Decision series: Start with Part 1: Why Decisions Matter
The Lordship series: Start with Part 1: Is Jesus Your Lord or Only Your Savior?
Stay Connected & Grow Deeper
Watch the full message: The Mystery Of Open And Closed Doors (Part 6) on YouTube.
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