Demon Possession and the Christian;
James 4:7b
James 3:15 NASB “This
wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural,
demonic.” That is a crucial verse because in that verse God says all types of
thinking, every philosophy, every religious system, every manner of thinking
about reality that is not grounded from presupposition to conclusion on the
Word of God is demonic. It is not just man’s opinion, it is demonic, it reflects the whole orientation of the cosmic system. What
is happened in that we have bought into this experience oriented position, and
so we run around talking about how Christians can be demon possessed,
motivating them with all kinds of stories that put fear into people, and it is
tragic.
What does the Scripture say about a
Christian being demon possessed?
1)
When Christ died
on the cross it was the focal point of the angelic conflict. (Everything that Satan
is betting his eternal existence on is riding on the cross. He is not going to
sit back and just try to influence somebody. He took over Judas specifically
because this is where all of history was focused: on the cross) It is on the
cross where Satan and all the demons are defeated for all time and eternity.
Colossians 2:10-15 NASB “and in Him you have been made complete, and
He is the head over all rule and authority; [11] and in Him you
were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of
the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; [12] having
been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him
through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.
[13] When you were dead in your
transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together
with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, [14] having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees
against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having
nailed it to the cross. [15] When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having
triumphed over them through Him.” The terms “rule” and “authority” are terms
that refer to the hierarchy of authority in angelic creation, whether it is
fallen angels or holy angels. So when it says that Jesus is the head, that is talking about authority over: He is the ruler
over all angelic authorities, whether they are demonic or holy angels. It is in
Him at the point of salvation when we are baptized by
means of God the Holy Spirit you are identified at that instant in His death,
burial, and resurrection, and are placed in Christ. At that moment everything
that is Christ’s is ours. We are not bastard children to be left out on the
doorstep when we are disobedient to be exposed to demon or Satanic
possession. Circumcision: the cutting of the sin nature. Because of positional
truth our slavery to the sin nature is broken. Here Paul uses spiritual
circumcision as the analogy. “When he had disarmed the rulers and the
authorities” – the entire armies of Satan. They are disarmed at the cross; He
made a public display of them in the heavenlies. The
point of this is that at salvation there is a permanent victory accomplished by
Jesus Christ on the cross so that believers who are united with Christ by
virtue of baptism by means of the Holy Spirit—identification with Christ;
retroactive positional truth—everything that is Christ’s is ours. As part of
this: Colossians 1:13, 14 NASB
“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the
kingdom of His beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sins.” One of the greatest problems we have is that Christians
are not taught what takes place at salvation. There are 39 irrevocable assets
that are given to us at salvation. When we look at the totality of what God
does for each one of us at salvation it puts us ultimately in a position where
we will be elevated above the angels, and God is not going to allow us to be
desecrated by having our bodies invaded by a demon. Conclusion: Since Satan and
his hordes are defeated and we are positionally
removed from his jurisdiction he can no longer have access to indwell a child
of God.
2)
At salvation we
are adopted into the family of God (Galatians 4) as adult sons with all the
privileges thereto, and this includes protection from demonic invasion. 1
Corinthians 3:16 says that the body of the believer is the temple of
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the body the residence of God the Father
and God the Son so that the entire Trinity dwells bodily inside every single
believer. This protects us from any sort of invasion. John 4:4 NASB “…greater
is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” Luke 11:24: The context here
is that the Jews have rejected the sign that Jesus has given them, His
messianic credentials of casting out demons. They had accused Him of casting
out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. NASB “When the unclean spirit [pneuma a)kaqartoj] goes out of a man, it passes through waterless
places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house
from which I came.’ [25] And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order
[personal, moral reformation, not spiritual regeneration]. [26] Then it goes
and takes {along} seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and
live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first.” The
point is that when the believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling him it is not a
place that has been simply swept out and in order, it has been regenerated; and
when it is, it is not empty.
3)
Jesus’ continual
intercession for the believer is recorded in John 17:15 in His high priestly
prayer: NASB “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to
keep them from the evil {one.}” Since Jesus always prays consistently according
to the will of the Father then God always answers His prayers.
4)
There is not one
single biblical example of a believer being demon possessed. Examples that
people usually go to are a) Saul in the Old Testament; b) Judas in the New
Testament.
5)
The sufficiency
of Scripture indicates only that God has given us all we need to know related
to the spiritual life. 2 Peter 1:3 NASB “seeing that His divine
power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through
the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.” There
is no category that is excluded: “has granted to us everything.” If the
epistles are written so that believers can know everything they need to know
for the spiritual life, and the epistles never mention demon possession and how
to get rid of a demon who is possessing a believer, the
only conclusion we can draw from it is that it is not an issue. Listen to the
statistics: The Greek word for demon, DAIMONION [daimonion]
and its related words, all the other words used to speak about demons, are used
77 times in the New Testament. Sixty-seven times they are found in the four
Gospels, three times in Revelation, and seven times in the epistles. Where is
the emphasis in the Scriptures? It was at the time when Christ came on the
earth. In the focal point of all the angelic conflict He stirred all then demons
up. There is very little mention in the sections of the New Testament designed
to teach believers about the spiritual life. The issue is not to be concerned
about attacks from Satan or demons but what is the provision of God. Whether
the problem is inside from the sin nature, externally through Satan’s cosmic
system, or through demons, the solution is always the same: learn doctrine;
assimilate doctrine; apply doctrine. That is what it means to resist the devil.
Believers
who get into deliverance ministries and get out there thinking they can cast
out demons and all of this other stuff that has no biblical authorization
whatsoever are totally exposed and are going to destroy their spiritual lives. When
we are in carnality, in disobedience to God’s Word, then we are not in the
fortress of the stress-busters, not in God’s protective plan, not using the
armour of God, and we are going to be defeated spiritually over and over again.