11/12/2022
Can A Christian Be Demon-Possessed? Assessing The Debate Around the Issue from a Scriptural Perspective.
By
Ibi Segun Julius
A demon is an evil spirit, or devil, while among the Greeks, it is an inferior deity, good or bad. Demons were originally created by God with all other creation but along the line, they were also corrupted by sin. Demons were not created by Satan because he cannot create and was never part of the world creation process. As we know, everything that God created was good and perfect.
The point and time of these created beings were never provided by scripture, and their original function was not mentioned in the book of Genesis like that of Satan, the ruler of all evil spiritual beings. The Bibles states this about Satan:
Ezekiel 28:13–15 (ASV)
13Thou wast in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was in thee; in the day that thou wast created they were prepared.
14Thou wast the anointed cherub that covereth: and I set thee, so that thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till unrighteousness was found in thee.
Clearly Satan was created and eventually corruption was found in him, and so were all the angels that were cast down, and demons were also transformed by the corruption that was found in them.
There is no doubt that the activities of demons have not wavered in modern times, despite believers refusing to tackle this subject. Demonic activities continue to thrive in our environment, but recent debates have been on if Christians can be demon possessed. Three points I would like to make clear before bringing up some biblical examples of some people in scripture.
First, most denominations take the stance that the word “possessed” means ownership, and the devil and his minions cannot lay claim of ownership over a child of God who has given over his or her life to Christ. Now if you look at the situation of being demonized or afflicted by demons, we have a lot of information to back this claim that a Christian can be demonized and afflicted by demons like those who do not believe in Christ. One unwavering assurance in the Bible is the declaration that we are God’s cherished possession.
Titus 2:13–14 (ASV)
13looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;
14who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.
Second, we know that Satan is known as the head of demons, and Jesus mentioned that Satan cannot cast out Satan, thus placing His power over Satan, reiterating Christ dominance over creation. One original attribute found in Satan is pride, which was found while Satan was in heaven, before he was cast down, and in most instance, pride stops some people from even considering that demonization amongst believers is worth investigating.
Third, salvation in Christ does not guarantee that we have immunity from afflictions, infirmities, sicknesses, or diseases. In fact, I am yet to find a believer say that being a Christian makes us immune to one of the listed issues that affects the general population. Given that we accepted Christ and are living holy lives, these steppingstones do not earn us our glorified resurrected bodies just yet, in fact we have been told that we will suffer for Christ’s sake, and the forces behind those sufferings are demonic powers.
In the Old Testament, a clear case of demonization would be King Saul. King Saul suffered several bouts of demonic torments, where we see the Spirit of the Lord departing from Saul, and an evil spirit taking over. As a result of this demonization, King Saul went into murderous rages and sought to kill David, and when music was played around him, it gave him some relief for a time.
1 Samuel 18:10–11 (ASV)
10And it came to pass on the morrow, that an evil spirit from God came mightily upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as he did day by day. And Saul had his spear in his hand;
11and Saul cast the spear; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall. And David avoided out of his presence twice.
While in the New Testament, we see several situations where Christ dealt with demons and cast them out of people. Worth mentioning is Mary Magdalene, who we know that seven demons were cast out of her. Her testimony was that of service and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ. She was mentioned in several of the gospels and can even be considered a disciple of Christ.
Luke 8:1–3 (ASV)
1And it came to pass soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good tidings of the kingdom of God, and with him the twelve,
2and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary that was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,
3and Joanna the wife of Chuzas Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others, who ministered unto them of their substance.
Clearly, both were Jewish believers, who believed in God, and not just being Jewish, they were servants and ministers of God. Their qualifications before God did not deter demonic presence or activities in their lives. The wonderful thing is that, in both situations the Scripture offered a solution to dealing with demons. As you can see, in the case of King Saul, David played his musical instruments to maintain the sanity of the King, while in the case of Mary Magdalene, Christ cast the seven demons out. From our perspective, since we are all under the new dispensation, and covenant, we ought to follow in Christ’s example and cast them out of the servants of God.
When a Christian, who is clearly under the new covenants is demonized, and for example certain besetting sins have lingered, and all other efforts have failed to stop the sin, I always advice the believer to renounce any and such sin or activity that may be responsible for the demonization, and I follow in the steps of the Lord to cast out that evil spirit that troubles the believer.
It is always best to deal with these evil spirits, minions (as some would call them), and messengers of Satan as the Lord Jesus dealt with them. For example, medical practitioners do not ask about your religion before they tackle cancer in the body, they address the cancer squarely through their medical knowledge and practices and hope the cancer cells are removed from the body. From this inference, I would also give the same advice concerning demons, do not drive away believers who suffer under the hands of evil spirits simply because they are Christ’s followers, and you feel strongly that a Christian cannot be demonized.
As we all await the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, I encourage us to live holy lives and constantly resist the devil, until the day we put off these mortal bodies and put on our glorified bodies.
1 Thessalonians 4:7–8 (ASV)
7For God called us not for uncleanness, but in sanctification.
8Therefore he that rejecteth, rejecteth not man, but God, who giveth his Holy Spirit unto you.
James 4:7–8 (ASV)
7Be subject therefore unto God; but resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye doubleminded.
Revelation 1:7 (ASV)
7Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen.
