Can A Christian Be Possessed By An Evil Spirit?

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The Holy Spirit guides you into truth, empowers you, and intercedes for you. He also gives you spiritual gifts, such as discerning of spirits, for your welfare and that of others I Corinthians 12 ; Mark As you receive God's nature, the traits of your fleshly nature such as irresponsible behavior, pride, and lack of love will be replaced by the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5: Your greatest need is to continually study God's Word.

Meditate upon the Bible day and night Joshua 1: Jesus answered Satan with the Word of God Luke 4: You can do the same.

Pray withoutc easing I Thessalonians 5: As You Pray Consistently honor God with thanksgiving and praise. As you give Him first place in your thoughts and actions, Satan and his demons will have no place in your life. Bible References to demonic activity: I Samuel 28 Matthew 8: Are you searching for peace with God? Telephone Prayer Counselors If you have an immediate prayer request, or if you need to talk to a caring Christian friend, please call our hour Prayer line at Do you have a prayer Request?

Submit your prayer request using our online prayer request form. We pray over each need that is presented to us. Have you invited Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior? Send us an e-mail using our online form so that we can pray with you. It may produce terrible fear as Christians begin to wonder what demon will invade them next.

Can Born-Again Believers be Demon Possessed? (Official A/G Position Paper)

This is certainly not in line with the freedom the Bible assures us we have. Early Christians had no such fear, nor did the Church of the second century.

Hermas, who wrote a very influential Christian book called The Shepherd about a. In the book he also spoke of evil spirits that were able to live and reign within a person, but denied that the Holy Spirit could live in the same person with these evil spirits. The Scripture is full of assurance for the believer: A believer is a person who is delivered from the devil. Some point to Ananias and Sapphira as exceptions. But Ananias either apostatized before Satan filled his heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, or else he and his wife were among those who joined themselves to the church rather than being added to it by the Spirit see Acts 5: At the time, at least, they were no more than professing Christians.

It seems evident that the term possessed should not be applied to true believers. What the Bible does show is that Satan and his cohorts are external foes. The biblical emphasis is on what we must face in the very atmosphere around us. The call is never for us to get someone to cast the demons out of us.

Don Stewart :: Can a Christian Be Demon-Possessed?

They are out there attacking us, testing us, not possessing us. The call is to be vigilant and to put our armor on and take our stand 2 Corinthian Jesus defeated Satan by quoting the Word of God Matthew 4. Then the shield of faith will quench every fiery dart of the enemy Ephesians 6: See 2 Corinthians The result was that Paul learned to depend on God in his weakness, reproach, or distress. Whether the messenger of Satan was a demon, a sickness, or a person, the Bible does not say.

Just what it was, however, is beside the point here.

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The attack, the buffeting, was from the outside, and Paul sought for it to be kept away, not cast out. We note also that Paul sees in himself and in us the living presence of Christ as the only hope Colossian 1: We believe also that the gift of the discerning of spirits is for the purpose of discerning the spirit that may motivate people who are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not the discerning of supposed demons in believers. If the truth remains in us, we remain in the Son and in the Father 1 John 2: Only if we are cut off from the vine and cast forth as a dead branch can Satan or his demons claim us.

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Our redemption is a redemption of the whole person. The full price has been paid. It is a subtle trick of the devil that makes sincere people accuse Christians today of having a demon. Clearly, there are deliverances, but calling them deliverances from demon possession is unscriptural. Nevius, Demon Possession, Grand Rapids: Kregel, reprint from , pp.

Moody Press, , pp. The Danger of Extremes There is a danger, however, when emphasizing any neglected doctrine, to go to an extreme which is beyond the intent of the Scriptures. What Writers Have Said Most of the older writers say that genuine Christians cannot be possessed or indwelt by a demon. What the Bible Says Many Christians have had God-given deliverances from problems and believed they were delivered from demon possession. There are numerous records that tell of him freeing those oppressed by demons, and he has given his followers the authority to do the same.

The news abounds of stories of people who dive into the waters to help a person drowning.

About Bible Answer Man

Christ desires that they be set free and he has given the Body of Christ the authority and power to do it. Experience versus Theology Through the years I have heard a variety of opinions expressed by Christians concerning whether or not a Christian can be demonized. There are two main lines of reasoning when it comes to the topic of Christian demonization.

Simply put, on the one hand, there are people who believe they can be demonized, and then, on the other hand, there are people who do not believe they can. And then, there are a large number of people in the middle who really have no idea one way or the other. If in fact a Christian cannot be demonized, even if we erroneously believe they can, then no real problem exists. However if they can be demonized, despite us believing that they cannot, a very real problem persists because we end up denying demonically oppressed people the spiritual help and deliverance they so rightly deserve.

The Bible must always be our rule for faith and practice. Unfortunately, there are times when the Word of God is not clear on a subject, as happens to be the case in this matter. Concerning scriptural support of either position, Peter Horrobin states the following in his book, Healing Through Deliverance:. For, try as you may, and others before me have looked very hard, you cannot come up with any text which uncompromisingly wins the point for either side of the discussion!

Whenever experience runs contrary to our understanding of Scripture, we must stop and do our best to examine both. If we are honest we will acknowledge that either we are deceived by our experiences or have a wrong understanding of Scripture. It must give us pause when we consider that there are numerous experiences from countless individuals over many decades that seem to indicate that a Christian can be demonized. To uncover the truth on this subject we first need to uncover the rationale for our positions, as well as any assumptions that we are relying on.

There are two common reasons why some conclude that a Christian cannot be demonized. We believe both beliefs are the result of drawing false conclusions from erroneous assumptions. The problem with this reasoning is that it is built upon a mistranslation of the Greek word diamonizomai , and has therefore resulted in people drawing wrong conclusions.

God has given mankind free-will, but it is our personal responsibility to retain it and not turn it over to another. My owning a car does not prevent a thief from illegally stealing and operating it. Certainly the degree of influence and control varies, depending on a number of factors, but nevertheless when this occurs, from a biblical standpoint, they are demonized. However, when speaking of individuals we do not believe the Scriptures support this thinking.

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