Posted on 03/13/2018 2:03:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Our Western conception of the world is far too shallow. We don't reckon with the spiritual realities that mark the world in which we live. This is especially true when considering the existence and activity of demons. If C.S. Lewis was right, we may err in two ways: either to deny their existence or obsess over them in an unhealthy way. Many people in our culture err on the side of the former. We reduce reality to the things we can see and touch, and you won't meet many people who will claim to have seen and touched demons.
But demons are real. Satan and his kingdom of darkness is real. Christians actually struggle "against rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12) Christians actually do have an adversary who roams around like "a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8) It's high time we start taking the forces of darkness seriously.
But taking the forces of darkness seriously only raises tough questions. For example: what should we think about the Christian in relation to demons? More to the point: Can the Christian become demon-possessed?
Demonic Forces Exist in a Domain of Darkness
Part of the initial problem in answering this question is that our ideas about demons and demonic activity are often unbiblical. We tend to think of the world as a neutral place, in which people and demons coexist. In this conception of the world, a person is not under demonic influence until he is. But this is not how the world is depicted in Scripture. In the Scriptural view, this now-fallen world is far from neutral; it has a "god." (2 Corinthians 4:4) People are born into a hostile environment. They're born into a domain of darkness (Colossians 1:13), which is ruled by oppressive, demonic authorities.
If this is the case, then the way we think of demon-possession must change. Concentrated demonic influence over people isn't a crazy occurrence that goes against the grain of the world. "Possession" is simply an example of the demonic forces' chosen exercise of authority at any given moment. The people who live in the domain of darkness who are "demon possessed" and those who are not are, in a sense, in the exact same boat: both are equally unprotected from demon possession. In other words, any person who lives in the domain of darkness is "demon-possessable." Put simply, if we are an unbeliever, demons can get us. This can only happen with God's permission, of course, but the principle stands: the unbeliever has no Christ, no Savior, to protect them. They are vulnerable. How awful.
Christians Have Been Transferred Out of the Domain of Darkness
Praise God, the same is not true for the believer. To the question posed earlier, "Can demons possess the believer?" We have an emphatic answer: "No". Christians cannot be possessed by demons in the way described throughout the Scriptures. They cannot be dominated by demons because they no longer belong to the domain of darkness. If you are a Christian, the Father reached down into the domain of darkness, grabbed you by the scruff of your neck, picked you up, and gently placed you into the kingdom of his beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). The Gospel is the Triune God's rescue mission of his people who were trapped in the domain of darkness.
But this rescue mission isn't merely an extraction. It's not as if Jesus were planning to take his people to some sweet by-and-by, leaving Satan and his forces to ravage the rest of the earth to their hearts' content. The world, in bondage to sin and under the enemy-occupation of Satan, has been invaded by Christ. From the very beginning of Mark, we see Jesus, like the nation of Israel in the book of Numbers, driven by the Spirit into the wilderness for 40 days (Mark 1:12-13). And what does he do as soon as he emerges? The same thing Israel did when they emerged from their 40 years in the wilderness: he "invades Canaan." His announcement that the "kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:14-15) is both good news for those whom he came to rescue and recruit (Mark 1:16-20), and bad news for the demonic movers and shakers whose doors he came to kick down (Mark 1:21-28).
Here's the takeaway: our focus is not on figuring out tips and tools for exorcism. Our focus is on preaching the Gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation, and the means by which the Spirit of God takes up residence in the believer.
The Gospel in Demonic Perspective
Jesus protects his people, in sum. We see this in John's Gospel. The Father sent the Son by the power of the Spirit to penetrate the satanic lines of defense and free his oppressed people (John 1:9-18). This he did by shedding his blood on the cross, thereby paying the penalty of their sin. This blood payment takes away Satan's power over the believer(Colossians 2:13-15; Romans 8:31-39). Christ also gives the church the gift of his Holy Spirit (John 7:39; 16:7), recruiting them to be a Spirit-empowered extension of that same mission (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:18; 2 Corinthians 20:21). This is why we can be absolutely certain that Christians cannot become inhabited by demons. The Holy Spirit has taken up residency in them (Romans 8:9-11). There's no room for demons.
In Matthew 12:43-45, Jesus warns about the danger of seeing demonic exorcism as an end in itself. It's not; a demon can still overtake an unbeliever, even if an exorcism has happened. But what happens if the demon comes back to find that his previous home is now a Christian? What the demon now finds is not a house neatly prepared for him, but rather an impenetrable fortress, with divine weaponry pointed right at him. The Spirit indwells us. That's what every true Christian has become: a dwelling place uninhabitable for demons.
Jesus has not finally rid this world of demons. At present, we still wait for the final arrival of the kingdom and all of its promises (Hebrews 4:2). As believers, we feel the presence of this evil domain around us daily. In this sin-cursed world, demonic bullying still happens. As we wait, furthermore, we struggle not against flesh and blood, but the spiritual forces of darkness. Yet, we ought never to be overcome with fear. Demons cannot take us over. Satan cannot un-save us. Our spiritual warfare is ongoing, but we know how this story ends.
Samuel G. Parkison is a PhD student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Kansas City with his wife (Shannon) and their two sons (Jonah and Henry), where Samuel serves as a Pastor of Teaching and Liturgy at Emmaus Church. You can follow Samuel on Twitter at @samuel_parkison
Concur.
Salvation is by faith/believing.
Yes, water baptism is important and significant, but not salvific.
“Angels or demons, there is nothing else.”
What are you? An Angel or a demon?
Do you not call God in Heaven “Your Father” as well, just as Jesus did.
Jesus stated,”The things that I have done and even more, you too shall do in My Name.”
So what is wrong with doing the things that Jesus did in His Name. He taught His disciples to do these things as well.
The problem is that most Christians call Jesus their Savior and treat Him as a lifeguard sitting on a chair who will rescue(save) them when they are drowning(dying.)
While Jesus can do this, just as a lifeguard can rescue you, which would you sooner have, a lifeguard to rescue you or a lifeguard who teaches you how to swim? Jesus was a rabbi, a teacher who was teaching us how to be like Him, filled with Him, and to do the things that He did and even more.
I’m not criticizing where people are at. Quite the opposite. However, they need to know that the scriptures teach us so much more if we live them in our daily actions, thoughts and hearts, not just in our words.
The Apostle Paul spoke of his personal demon that kept after him. Was Paul not a Christian?
God allows the demons to tempt us as in our suffering we will seek Him out for refuge. It is better to go through the battles now and learn from the difficult experience, than to be forever unaware.
It was in context.
We were talking about spirits, not God, not Jesus or the holy spirit.
Angels or demons, spirits don’t exist.
Baptism is great, it’s a public confirmation of your faith in Jesus Christ and your obedience to God. You’re right, it’s not needed for salvation.
That's right. No such thing as human spirits hanging around, trapped somewhere.
Anything that presents itself as a wandering or trapped human spirit is demonic posing as human to deceive others.
That deranged creature is the creepy mother from “Carrie”.
“We were talking about spirits, not God, not Jesus or the holy spirit.”
The human physical body would not have life if it were not for your spirit occupying it. When you are conceived, it is your spirit that gives you life itself. When you die, your spirit leaves your physical body. We are all spirit. If you were truly filled with the Holy Spirit you would perceive this. God and Jesus are real and physical, here right now. However, those without ears cannot hear them and those without the Holy Spirit cannot see them. They are in us and we are in them. I see them as liquid Light. When you tune into them through prayer and meditation you experience total bliss and rapture beyond words.
The Holy Spirit is Light of lower intensity. You feel it and it warms you up with a good feeling. It cleanses your soul and guides you. Jesus is a brighter Light. He brings you bliss and tears of joy to your eyes. God is an even brighter Light than you can imagine and gives you ecstacy beyond words. They are all here right now for your experience if you tune into them with prayer and meditation. These Lights, are Spirits that all exist in the same space, like Russian Nesting Dolls the smaller in the greater. We are in the womb of God and we are all awakening by the Light within us.
God and Jesus are also in Spirit. It’s why Jesus said what He did in John 14:
Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?
Role of the Spirit
16 I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
20 In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
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Jesus said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom ...”
Are you a son of the kingdom?
The anthropology of man is in our body, soul, and spirit.
Every human being born has a body and soul, but the human spirit is the new life given to man when he is forgiven of sin. While the judgment of occurred at the Cross, forgiveness occurs when we face Him through faith in what Christ provided in the Cross and confess all known and unknown sins to Him. That forgiveness by our true and just God, also allows Him to give us a regenerated human spirit.
That human spirit, now is the new man, wherein God the Holy Spirit in this Age chooses to dwell.
A believer who is saved may not have his soul possessed by a fallen angel, but there may be many people who seek human good, associate themselves with Christian culture, but have never answered the divine call, nor may fully understand the Gospel and have never received a human spirit from God.
Accordingly, there may be situations where somebody is associated as being a believer, who might become demon possessed.
A born again believer, also has the ability to sin and fall out of fellowship with God. They may be demonically influenced. They would still be indwelt by God the Holy Spirit, but out of fellowship and degenerating in their soul, not their spirit, until they turn back to God and confess their sins to be forgiven in post salvation forgiveness (1stJn 1:9).
Also one needs to recognize there are multiple parties with volition. Just because somebody sins, doesn’t mean they were caused to sin by any fallen angel. Believers still have souls scarred from their lives prior to salvation and continue to make mistakes, falling out of fellowship. They may even succumb to temptation and degenerate without possession by another person, into extreme behavior, which could be confused as demonic.
“forgiveness occurs when we face Him through faith in what Christ provided in the Cross and confess all known and unknown sins to Him. That forgiveness by our true and just God, also allows Him to give us a regenerated human spirit.”
Forgiveness is an ongoing cleansing process, not just something in the end. If your brother has anything against you, .......
23 Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering. 25 Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. 26 Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.
The greatest judgement is self judgement that shackles the soul. I recently was working with a 97 year old hospice patient. She was crying and I asked her why. She replied, “I’m afraid I’m going to hell!” We prayed together and I continued praying for her. She was afraid to die.
The Holy Spirit moved into her to cleanse her soul. For the next three weeks, she ate nothing. She had no infections, but yet her 90 lb body was radiating heat like a furnace. Her bodily functions continued, purging everything from her intestines while her soul was being cleansed. I could see the liquid Light around her.
After two weeks, she stopped drinking any fluids. The Light and the heat became brighter. Finally, after three weeks with no food and a week with no liquids, her spirit had no fear due to the Holy Spirit cleansing her soul.
The portal opened up and the bright Light of God shown upon her, lifting her soul from her body. She went to Heaven.
Her fear and guilt had caused her soul to hide from the Light of God. People don’t realize, but the walls we put up to block us from Loving others due to hurt, and from receiving their Love, also blocks us from receiving God’s Love.
When she died, it was late in the evening so I told the hospice nurse not to bother coming out that night to pronounce the death. The next morning would be fine.
Twelve hours after death, there was no rigamortis. Highly unusual.
People who do not cleanse their souls are often stuck in this realm with no physical body, as they are afraid to move on into the Bright Light. I have no idea why I can perceive and communicate with these earthbound spirits as I am no one special. I Love God and I care, so I help when God Wills.
My point in sharing this is to stress the importance of cleansing our houses NOW as an ongoing process. The increasing intensity of the Light, the same Light that dark spirits fear, is not available to us if we hold onto fear, anger, guilt or self judgement. We must cleanse our souls every day at all times. When our soul is wounded with dark thoughts, immediately turn toward God in prayer and ask for help.
I’ve been through this process often with many people. If you wait until your death, it is often too late. However, as long as you are still alive, it is still available to you, just as it was for the vineyard workers who arrived during the last hour.
I work with people, helping them to forgive while in their final hours prior to physical death. Miracles happen. I am pro life at both ends of the spectrum as the physical body is the vehicle for the soul to have experiences necessary to grow closer to God.
You and I are much in agreement. Your words are scriptural and the bible is the truth.
Our semantic differences are due to my application of the scriptures in everyday life reality, not just theological interpretation of scriptures.
I share, I do not impose. My desire is that anyone who disagrees with my comments, please pray for me that I may seek and find greater understanding of God’s teachings. Please do not judge this poor misguided wanderer.
James 4:11 New American Standard Bible
11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
“Every human being born has a body and soul”
Every human being is a soul. The physical body is merely a manifestation of the soul in order that it gain the experiences necessary for the soul to grow.
We are the seeds of God, planted here in the darkness of the earth in order to grow and become “One with the Light” in whose image we were created.
That is a clip from ‘Carrie’ the Stephen King book/movie (starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie’). It is her mother in the final scene, trying to kill her daughter Carrie. Her mother is a religious zealot who tries to kill Carrie because she believes Carrie is possessed by a demon because she can move things with her mind via telekinesis.........
Folks so easily apply anything remotely "religious" to "Christian".
I wonder how many churches will have eater bunnies on the wall for the kiddies and an easter egg hunt ...... on Resurrection Day.
See ?
Yes, I know, but the final point in the movie was that the mother was the one who seemed to be possessed by the demons not Carrie......
I hate Ishtar eggs, too...................
bump for future reading & reference
Because they were were part human and had lived, they mimic the living, knowing much about them, as they follow them. They can easily make someone think that they are their dead relative, or a ghost.
I don't know if this is true. People who believe it say that is why Jesus spoke of both demons and unclean spirits, two different groups, according to them.
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