Greg Locke says discipleship must follow deliverance; warns pastors not to walk in false humility
Greg Locke, senior pastor of Global Vision Bible Church, believes it's essential for Christians to understand the power behind casting out demons and that deliverance is not supposed to be a repetitive event in a believer's life and must be followed by discipleship.
In his new book, Cast It Out: The Call to Set People Free, which follows the break-out box office success of the film “Come Out In Jesus Name,” Locke teaches that deliverance and discipleship go hand in hand.
The outspoken minister recently severed ties with evangelist Daniel Adams, who was featured in Locke’s blockbuster film. He and Adams are at odds over what Locke described as "spiritual arrogance" and a “mixture” of biblical discernment under the guise of unity during a Sunday service in September.
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Locke, whose church is in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, said many people don't want to come under spiritual authority, but discipleship should always follow deliverance.
"We can so overemphasize evil spirits that we really walk away from the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We have to have a balance, and the balance is, yes, you need deliverance in some areas of your life, but you don't have to be a repeat customer and keep coming back and back and back,” Locke told The Christian Post.
"The ultimate goal is not further deliverance. The ultimate goal of deliverance is discipleship, sanctification, walking in holiness and fear of the Lord, he stressed.
"We don't have to keep going back [for] more deliverance, more deliverance. No, read your Bible. Stop looking at pornography, love your family, go to church, fast, pray, put in the basic spiritual disciplines that most people skip.”
Locke, who is part of a group of ministers who affectionately call themselves “demon slayers,” warned other ministers who operate in deliverance ministry not to be so obsessed with casting out demons that they, too, become tormented by demons.
"Yes, deliverance is important, but it's only part of the discipleship process,” he added. "Paul said the great problem in the church is there are not many fathers. It's not that there's just not that many fathers, it's that we have a generation of people who don't want to submit to spiritual fatherhood.
"Evil spirits attach to rebellion. Rebellion is like the sin of witchcraft, 1 Samuel 15:23. We have a whole generation of people who are distracted because they have no covering. They have nobody that is over them,” Locke emphasized.
"God works through rivers of authority. Christ is the head, and then from there, everything flows down what I call the spiritual mountain. If you're going to be proper in the way that you do things, you're going to have to submit, because demons love people that are out of order. They love churches that are out of order. They love ministries that are out of order.”
The pastor advises young people to understand the importance of spiritual authority.
"I am shocked at how many people are in the ministry like evangelism or they're some kind of missionary or they're a street preacher or something, but they have no local church covering. They have no elders in their life. They have no pastor in their life,” he added.
Locke said he, too, has fathers in the Lord who cover him and call him out when he’s acting “stupid.”
"When people come under the protection of the local church, the pillar and ground of the truth, they're under the covering of someone else. It's protection. It's not something that's hindering you. It's something that's helping you,” he noted. "God's not looking for people that He can abundantly bless. He's looking for people that He can abundantly trust, and when He can trust you, you will automatically have the blessing of God in your life.”
Locke shot to internet fame after he posted a video on Facebook in 2016 criticizing Target for its policy of allowing men who identify as female to enter women's dressing rooms and bathrooms. He later became very outspoken in favor of former president Donald Trump and then spoke out against ongoing government restrictions on houses of worship, which in some states lasted well over a year-and-a-half.
The pastor has since changed his focus and believes he was misdirected in focusing on things that are not in the spiritual realm, as the Bible instructs. He now says his main focus is being in the secret place with God.
"Jesus said to Peter, 'Watch and pray that you enter not into temptation' (Matthew 26:41). So what he was saying was, the secret to victory is the secret place. So the more, I increase my longing to pray and to press in the Spirit and spend time with God. What I find is this: if I will spend more time with the Lord than I do on camera, God will bless my on-camera time because it's not about preaching, it's not about being on camera, it's not about bestselling, blockbuster movies and books. It's about spending time in the secret place. And so, the more I spend time with Him, His presence, [it] commands humility.”
"I just want to walk in humility before the Lord, not a false humility. When you stay in the secret place; you won't fake it till you make it, you will not live in false humility. I have pastor friends; their false humility makes them so fake and it's almost disgusting to be around them in a green room, Locke revealed.
"My new mantra moving from this year into the next year is I don't care about the green room. I want the prayer room. I'm not addicted to the platform and allergic to the altar. I want to get on the altar. I want to get in the prayer room. I don't care about the green room,” Locke declared.
Due to the success of “Come Out in Jesus Name,” a new installment is in its early stage production.
His new book, Cast It Out: The Call to Set People Free, is available everywhere books are sold.
Jeannie Ortega Law is a reporter for The Christian Post. Reach her at: [email protected] She's also the author of the book, What Is Happening to Me? How to Defeat Your Unseen Enemy Follow her on Twitter: @jlawcp Facebook: JeannieOMusic
