Christians and Demons

or

Kingdom of light vs. Kingdom of darkness

 

 

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-17 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people."  17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. NIV

 

Mark 7:20-23 He went on: "What comes out of a man is what makes him 'unclean.' 21 For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and make a man 'unclean.'" NIV

 

1 John 4:1-6 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. NIV

 

Here is my interpretation of these scriptures. A person who has the Spirit of God within him cannot have another spirit WITHIN him. John clearly distinguishes between the spirit in this world and the one in us. That does not preclude spiritual harassment or a willingness in our flesh to be led by the wrong spirit. Both positions – believing there are spirits within or believing that it is spirits without that influence a believer, at first glance seem similar. However, the distinction is all important and seriously affects how a believer perceives his or her role and authority in the kingdom of this world. If you are possessed, then much is out of your control. This belief robs the cross of its effectiveness and one is left believing that our loving Father has been impotent to set us free from the effects of the spiritual world. One position is impotent and ineffective, the other is a position of total authority.

 

I find that the belief that somehow or another we need to be delivered by someone from a demonic presence is comforting to some, in that it requires forces outside themselves and diminishes their own responsibility to move on and grow up in God. Though it is taught that these can be ‘cast out’ it is often presented that multiple spiritual personalities are present and often times the believer is subjected to similar sessions again and again and left with the belief that maybe they weren’t all removed. I find this type of teaching robs the believer of the confidence to use the authority and power that God has given to every believer through the use of His name. This belief causes inaccuracy in a number of other doctrinal understandings involving the authority of the believer e.g. the role of the believer in the kingdom of God as ambassador to the kingdom of this world and a clear understanding of water baptism to name just two.

 

I do believe, however, that Christians that don’t understand their authority in this kingdom or those that give a foothold to the enemy can be spiritually harassed by demonic spirits to the point of ineffectiveness in their Christian walk. If they would take authority over the kingdom of this world and rebuke the spirits that harass them in Jesus name, they will find strength and ability to overcome those oppressions that plague them and render them ineffective. Also, if they would pick up and use the "sword of the spirit" and do what the word says to do, they would be "more than conquerors. Demonic spirits are subject to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ when used by those who bear that name as a child of God. That this is so, can be definitively established from the word of God. This statement only relates to those issues that are demonic in origin. It does not address the issue of deep set emotional problems that occur as a result of early childhood abuses. That is an entirely different problem, but the results of those things is often attributed to present day demonic activity.

 

This is not meant to be an exhaustive study on the concept but a general statement of my position on this subject. I trust you will find it useful in understanding my position.

 

Pastor John

 

 

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