74 - Demon Possession and the Christian

Demon Possession and the Christian; James 4:7b

James 3:15 ^NASB "This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic." That is a crucial verse because in that verse God says all types of thinking, every philosophy, every religious system, every manner of thinking about reality that is not grounded from presupposition to conclusion on the Word of God is demonic. It is not just man's opinion, it is demonic, it reflects the whole orientation of the cosmic system. What is happened in that we have bought into this experience oriented position, and so we run around talking about how Christians can be demon possessed, motivating them with all kinds of stories that put fear into people, and it is tragic.

What does the Scripture say about a Christian being demon possessed?

1)  When Christ died on the cross it was the focal point of the angelic conflict. (Everything that Satan is betting his eternal existence on is riding on the cross. He is not going to sit back and just try to influence somebody. He took over Judas specifically because this is where all of history was focused: on the cross) It is on the cross where Satan and all the demons are defeated for all time and eternity. Colossians 2:10-15 ^NASB "and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; [11] and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; [12] having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. [13]  When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, [14] having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. [15] When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." The terms "rule" and "authority" are terms that refer to the hierarchy of authority in angelic creation, whether it is fallen angels or holy angels. So when it says that Jesus is the head, that is talking about authority over: He is the ruler over all angelic authorities, whether they are demonic or holy angels. It is in Him at the point of salvation when we are baptized by means of God the Holy Spirit you are identified at that instant in His death, burial, and resurrection, and are placed in Christ. At that moment everything that is Christ's is ours. We are not bastard children to be left out on the doorstep when we are disobedient to be exposed to demon or Satanic possession. Circumcision: the cutting of the sin nature. Because of positional truth our slavery to the sin nature is broken. Here Paul uses spiritual circumcision as the analogy. "When he had disarmed the rulers and the authorities" – the entire armies of Satan. They are disarmed at the cross; He made a public display of them in the heavenlies. The point of this is that at salvation there is a permanent victory accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross so that believers who are united with Christ by virtue of baptism by means of the Holy Spirit—identification with Christ; retroactive positional truth—everything that is Christ's is ours. As part of this: Colossians 1:13, 14 ^NASB "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, [14] in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." One of the greatest problems we have is that Christians are not taught what takes place at salvation. There are 39 irrevocable assets that are given to us at salvation. When we look at the totality of what God does for each one of us at salvation it puts us ultimately in a position where we will be elevated above the angels, and God is not going to allow us to be desecrated by having our bodies invaded by a demon. Conclusion: Since Satan and his hordes are defeated and we are positionally removed from his jurisdiction he can no longer have access to indwell a child of God.

2)  At salvation we are adopted into the family of God (Galatians 4) as adult sons with all the privileges thereto, and this includes protection from demonic invasion. 1 Corinthians 3:16 says that the body of the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit makes the body the residence of God the Father and God the Son so that the entire Trinity dwells bodily inside every single believer. This protects us from any sort of invasion. John 4:4 ^NASB "…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." Luke 11:24: The context here is that the Jews have rejected the sign that Jesus has given them, His messianic credentials of casting out demons. They had accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.  ^NASB "When the unclean spirit [pneuma a)kaqartoj] goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' [25] And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order [personal, moral reformation, not spiritual regeneration]. [26] Then it goes and takes {along} seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." The point is that when the believer has the Holy Spirit indwelling him it is not a place that has been simply swept out and in order, it has been regenerated; and when it is, it is not empty.

3)  Jesus' continual intercession for the believer is recorded in John 17:15 in His high priestly prayer: ^NASB "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil {one.}" Since Jesus always prays consistently according to the will of the Father then God always answers His prayers.

4)  There is not one single biblical example of a believer being demon possessed. Examples that people usually go to are a) Saul in the Old Testament; b) Judas in the New Testament.

5)  The sufficiency of Scripture indicates only that God has given us all we need to know related to the spiritual life. 2 Peter 1:3 ^NASB "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." There is no category that is excluded: "has granted to us everything." If the epistles are written so that believers can know everything they need to know for the spiritual life, and the epistles never mention demon possession and how to get rid of a demon who is possessing a believer, the only conclusion we can draw from it is that it is not an issue. Listen to the statistics: The Greek word for demon, DAIMONION [daimonion] and its related words, all the other words used to speak about demons, are used 77 times in the New Testament. Sixty-seven times they are found in the four Gospels, three times in Revelation, and seven times in the epistles. Where is the emphasis in the Scriptures? It was at the time when Christ came on the earth. In the focal point of all the angelic conflict He stirred all then demons up. There is very little mention in the sections of the New Testament designed to teach believers about the spiritual life. The issue is not to be concerned about attacks from Satan or demons but what is the provision of God. Whether the problem is inside from the sin nature, externally through Satan's cosmic system, or through demons, the solution is always the same: learn doctrine; assimilate doctrine; apply doctrine. That is what it means to resist the devil.

Believers who get into deliverance ministries and get out there thinking they can cast out demons and all of this other stuff that has no biblical authorization whatsoever are totally exposed and are going to destroy their spiritual lives. When we are in carnality, in disobedience to God's Word, then we are not in the fortress of the stress-busters, not in God's protective plan, not using the armour of God, and we are going to be defeated spiritually over and over again.