Posted on 01/31/2015 3:50:39 PM PST by NYer
I’ve read many term papers in my day. Most of them are no more than a patchwork of quotes. That’s because college students are smart enough to know that they really can’t say much on their own authority–to make their case, they have to lean on the authority of others more learned than themselves.
That’s exactly how the scribes and Pharisee’s taught in Jesus’ day. “Rabbi Abraham says this. . . Rabbi Gamaliel says that . . .
So when a new young rabbi appears in Capernaum, this is what people expect. They are in for a surprise: he quotes no one else except God’s Word. That’s because there is no one more learned than He. In fact, he happens to be God’s Word made flesh.
But he doesn’t just speak to the humble townspeople this way. When he encounters superhuman forces that strike fear into the hearts of men, he is unruffled. There are no incantations; he does not plead. Rather than Jesus being afraid of them, the demons are afraid of him. Upon seeing Him, they shriek. He calmly commands,“shut up and get out.” A moment later all is still. A former victim is now a free man and bystanders marvel. Word easily travels fast–little Capernaum happens to be right on a caravan route from Syria to the region of Galilee and beyond.
But isn’t all this talk of demons just a relic of the mythological worldview of pre-scientific people? After all, these primitive folks don’t know about mental illness, chemical imbalance, viruses, and bacteria. Surely they just explained as supernatural what they could not understand.
That sounds very sophisticated, but it’s dead wrong. First of all, demons are not supernatural at all. Super-natural means above and beyond nature or creation–in other words, uncreated and transcendent. Only God qualifies for this label.
St. Thomas called the realm of angels and demons “preternatural” since it escapes the sensory knowledge that we can have of the rest of creation. We human beings were created by God as enfleshed spirits. But divine revelation tells us that God also created pure spiritual beings with the same freedom we have. Those who have chosen to use that freedom to serve God we call “angels” or messengers. Those who used their freedom to defy God are called demons. Pride and envy lead them to hate not only God, but also us who are made in God’s image and likeness.
So people in Jesus day had good cause to fear demons–they are hostile and powerful. Plus, their intelligence is superior to ours–note that the demon in the story, unlike the humans, instantly recognized who Jesus was.
OK, the ancients may have attributed too much to demonic influence, but moderns tend to make the opposite error. The existence of the angelic and demonic realm is part of the ordinary teaching of the Church’s Magisterium, reaffirmed clearly by Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI. In fact when we say in the Creed that we believe in the Creator of heaven and earth, “of all things visible and invisible,” the invisible things refer precisely to this world.
So why is it important to believe that such creatures exist? Because the first rule of warfare is to know your enemy. Paul tells us clearly in Ephesians 6:12 “Our battle is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers . . . the evil spirits.”
Only God has power over this world. Jesus, in commanding the demons as he later in the Gospel commands the wind and the waves, does only what God can do. Once we are joined to Christ, the enemy has no more authority or power over us. Unless, of course, we give it to him through sin. If we cling to the Lord and listen to him, we have nothing to worry about. If not, we have lots to worry about.
I notice that satan or demons are rarely if ever blamed for all the disasters that happen to Israel throughout its history. Gentiles and their pagan gods are blamed for leading the jews into idolatry from time to time but you would think there would be more mention of the spiritual battles against dark forces.
Perhaps satan and his demons do not affect the commons mans life as much as man himself.
Don't fool yourself. There are classes of fallen angels who are in Tartarus, and another class of criminal fallen angels who have been bound in the Abyss, who will be released in the Great Tribulation.
Just as believers have been given the authority to bind and release, some may be bound and released.
A murderer who has not yet committed a criminal act, may still harm us when he commits the criminal act. Likewise, while our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus has power over all, the angelic conflict is still being played out.
Angels might not be allowed to act except within the authority given them ultimately by God, they also have volition, and might also act criminally.
Some are not yet bound as recorded in Scripture, but may pose a very real threat.
As observed in many criminals, one strategy they employ to avoid direct accountability, is to influence others to perform their will, then deny responsibility for the act. Demonic influence is very real.
RF does bring up a valid point. After the fall in the Garden, God placed enmity into the heart of man against the Adversary. Today, the natural state of man includes a natural hatred for the demonic. Those who find the demonic attractive, manifest how far they have degenerated and further scarred their souls from even their natural fallen state. Much evil in the world is performed by man, independent of demonic influence and independent of God as we also have volition.
Taking the Flip Wilson position, "the devil made me do it" excuse, fails to acknowledge our own volition in those decisions.
HOWEVER, there still exist very real persons who are fallen angles, aka demons, with very real volition, power, and authority. They have been around for millennia. They have studied man intensely. They can observe our behavior and test our thinking.
As believers, through faith in Christ, we are invisible warriors in spiritual warfare, which is very real.
I agree,,,
Scripture indicates that man can indeed be demon possessed ... BUT A demon can never posses one that is occupied by the Holy Spirit .. a saved man has no fear of "possession" because he is possessed by Christ..filled with His spirit
1 Cor 3:16 "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"
1 Cor 6::19"Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's."
2Cor 15 "And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.' "
1 John 4:4 it “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."
People that go through life is blaming things on the demonic influence ( the devil made me do it) are "christians" that have been neglecting normal Christian growth and maturity
Demons can oppress Christians but never "possess" them
There are a couple of things to consider.. First Satan and His demons can do nothing unless God tells them too.. God is the God of satan and his minions ..They are subject to His authority and can only exercise the authority God gives them
We never see demons "cast out "of believers in the scriptures
Blaming things on the demonic actions (like porn or smoking) demonstrates only that a man loves his sin...
(I agree,,,)
It's quite remarkable how the enemy of God is infiltrating the churches,...so subtle and so deceptive...too many are willingly "Ignorant of his devices".
People that go through life is blaming things on the demonic influence ( the devil made me do it) are “christians” that have been neglecting normal Christian growth and maturity
Demons can oppress Christians but never “possess” them
...”There are a couple of things to consider.. First Satan and His demons can do nothing unless God tells them too.. God is the God of satan and his minions ..They are subject to His authority and can only exercise the authority God gives them”.......
We never see demons “cast out “of believers in the scriptures.......Blaming things on the demonic actions (like porn or smoking) demonstrates only that a man loves his sin...”........
Very true...which is why Jesus can certainly handle himself any intrusion from the dark side......and as Christians we should not be entertaining those things that invite activity of that nature....evil “attracts” certain individuals who want to “see” the dark side....they have lost their focus by doing so.
I will respond to this soon.....right now...dinner time! :)
That said...we should not be entangled directly with any Spiritual ‘illusions’ of entities, which they love to make themselves appear as. Jesus is the one who binds or loosens and is certainly capable of handling them himself as we look to Him.
If someone believes they're being “visited”....(attacked would be a better word), by any entity... then somewhere they themselves have opened the way for this to occur in most cases.....there's an "attraction" which draws them to 'allow' these happenings.
Our world is ripe for inviting these occurrences today...and many do...but we do forget this worl domain was given over at the fall...they operate regardless of our invite or not. But we are not ignorant of their devices....smooth operators as they entice and deceive people away from the truth of Jesus Christ...and or occupy Christians who have stepped away from the faith. IMO you are giving them far more credit than needs be...they cannot act apart from God...I would not be giving them credit for being criminally minded.....they are as evil and despicable as the one they follow...as well we the influence they have over man.
Gil Rugh ..
“Believers cannot be possessed by demons…The scripture is clear on this matter. …Christ’s work was sufficient. There is no further deliverance that must take place. If there were, salvation in Christ would be incomplete. If the church would stop and think through its theology of scripture we would realize that something is drastically wrong with what is being promoted by those who teach that believers can be demonized.”
(Gil Rugh Demonization and the believer- an unbiblical teaching exposed, pg.26 1994)
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Paul writes of the spiritual army of the devil that he lists in Eph.6: 12 in Col.2:15... “Having disarmed principalities and powers He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”
The devil and his angels fate is already sealed yet God allows them to continue. But they have no power over a Christian. He works in the sons of disobedience and will continue to do so until he is bound by God, not us. He can lie to us and lead us into sin but its a matter of our will bending to his lies... all one has to do is resist and he is defeated.
As Christians we are Christ’s possession owned by God. (1 Cor.6:20, 1 Jn.4:15)..... We have been bought with a price and are born again of incorruptible seed... 1 Pt.1:23.
1Jn.4:4 ....tells us.... “Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.”..... The Holy Spirit is able to keep us separate and clean when we allow him to do so. If we give in we can’t say he is weaker it really is a matter of choice and an exercise of our will. ....
For one to believe in Christian demon possession a number of factors need to be ignored..... Christ is our good shepherd would he let his people get wolfed?...
While we may unwittingly step over the line this does not annul the grace and protection of the Lord. This would mean God deals with us as a ‘legalist’ every time wittingly or not we violate his boundaries we lose his protection and are at the mercy of the enemy.
It is true that certain areas need to be avoided like the plague (the occult, sex outside marriage, homosexuality, and various altered states of conciousness)..... Yet God is greater than these. If not there are no guarantees for anything when do wrong. we would walk in a state of paranoia not victory.
God does not sleep on the job, nor has he put his protection in our hands and strength. We are to be strong in the grace of the Lord not be paranoid of the enemy.
(Let us reason)
Gospel Groupies...
I agree that a Christian cannot be demon possessed, but I do believe that they can be oppressed.
When the enemy comes in with temptations, and we give in and sin, we give him ground to work in our lives, letting him build a stronghold in our mind.
It’s not a power battle between God and the enemy; he’s already defeated but it’s a truth battle.
Lies are all he has left and if he can get people to believe them over the Truth of God’s word, he can at the very least, render the believer ineffective in his walk and work for the Lord.
That’s why it’s so critically important to be in Scripture and hide God’s word in our heart. That way we can stand on the truth that we know to be true, instead of buying the lies of the enemy to get us to sin or capitulate.
We are told that we have the mind of Christ, and in Romans 12:2 we are to renew our minds, having our thinking transformed.
When we know who we are in Christ and what we have in Him, we can then be effective in our lives in winning people to Him.
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