Come Out in the Name of Jesus Christ is the apostolic command by which an unclean spirit is ordered to leave a person.
In Acts 16 Paul turned to the slave girl with a spirit of divination and said, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.”
The spirit came out that very hour.
The power is not in a formula but in the authority of the risen Lord whose name is above every name.
Throughout the Gospels Jesus cast out unclean spirits with a word. He then gave His disciples authority over unclean spirits to cast them out. After the resurrection He declared that all authority in heaven and on earth had been given to Him, and the church began to minister in His name. In Philippi a slave girl followed Paul and his companions for many days, crying out that they were servants of the Most High God. Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. It came out immediately. The same name that heals, saves, and baptizes is the name before which demons must flee. This is not magic and not a technique. It is the exercise of the authority Christ has given His people, used in dependence on Him, for the liberation of those who are oppressed. The sons of Sceva learned that using the name without knowing the Person brings disaster. The name is effective because Jesus is Lord.
- The command to come out is issued in the name of Jesus Christ, not in human strength.
- Jesus Himself cast out spirits by His word and gave His disciples authority to do the same.
- The spirit of divination in Philippi obeyed at once when commanded in Jesus’ name.
- The name of Jesus is not a charm; it is effective because of who He is and the authority He possesses.
- Those who use the name without belonging to Christ have no authority over unclean spirits.
- Deliverance is part of the gospel’s advance and of the kingdom’s presence.
- The same Jesus who commanded spirits on earth still has all authority in heaven and on earth.
- Authority of the Name – All authority belongs to Jesus; His name represents His person and power.
- Apostolic Pattern – Paul commanded the spirit directly in the name of Jesus Christ.
- Immediate Obedience – The spirit came out that very hour.
- Not a Formula – The sons of Sceva used the name without knowing Jesus and were overpowered.
- Given to Disciples – Jesus gave the Twelve and the Seventy authority over unclean spirits.
- Part of Gospel Ministry – Deliverance accompanied the preaching of the word in Acts.
- Victory Already Won – Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities at the cross.
- Acts 16:16-18 – “As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling. She followed Paul and us, crying out, ‘These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.’ And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And it came out that very hour.”
- Mark 1:25-27 – “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent, and come out of him!’ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him… He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”
- Mark 9:25 – “And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’”
- Matthew 10:1 – “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.”
- Luke 10:17-19 – “The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!’ And he said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.’”
- Mark 16:17 – “And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons…”
- Acts 19:13-16 – “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.’ Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?’ And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them…”
- Philippians 2:9-11 – “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord…”
- Acts 3:6, 16 – “But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’… And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong…”
- Acts 4:12 – “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
- Colossians 2:15 – “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
- Luke 4:35-36 – “But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be silent and come out of him!’ And when the demon had thrown him down in their midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, ‘What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!’”
- Matthew 28:18 – “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’”
- James 4:7 – “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
- 1 John 3:8 – “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”
- Mark 5:8 – “For he was saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’”
Paul commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her, and it came out that very hour. The power was not in the volume of the voice or in a repeated formula. The power was in the name of the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus cast out spirits with a word. He gave His disciples authority in His name. The sons of Sceva discovered that the name cannot be borrowed by those who do not belong to Him. Therefore do not treat the name as magic. Know the Lord. Submit to God. Stand in the victory Christ has already won. When ministry to the oppressed is needed, it is the name of Jesus Christ—the name above every name—that unclean spirits must obey. He still speaks. They still come out. And the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.