CAN A CHRISTIAN HAVE A DEMON? Perhaps one the most controversial questions asked today is,

CAN A CHRISTIAN HAVE A DEMON? Perhaps one the most controversial questions asked today is, "Can a Christian have a demon?" The Biblical answer is yes. In order to develop this teaching, it must be first established what Biblical ground rules Satan must follow. By that I mean, because of the blood of Jesus and His sacrificial life, our enemy has lost his power. he can only operate up to the blood of Jesus. From three on, he is powerless. However, the Scripture teaches that Satan does have a power to work in the Christian. So I will deal with the Bible doctrine in this area. First, let me establish the fact that I will not deal in deliverance with a lost person except from the standpoint of breaking the blindness (II Cor. 4:3-4) in order that the unsaved person can see the light of the gospel and be saved. The reason for this is that a lost person cannot hold his deliverance. However, when an individual has trusted Christ, then his body becomes the temple of God. At that point, all that is Christ will be placed within him. It is through this enabling power that he can move and have his being. Satan was completely defeated at Calvary. Therefore when a person confesses his sins in true repentance, giving himself to Christ and inviting Him in, the power of the enemy is stripped. However, in order to overcome the enemy, we must learn to appropriate that power. To begin this study we must understand what the enemy can do through wiles to defeat the Christian and demonize him. First, what does this word, demonize, mean? To make it as simple as possible, it is the Christian who has given place to the devil and has received into his flesh unclean spirits. Incidentally, it is my personal belief that the way most Christians are overcome is through their mouths...not by what goes into the mouth...but by what comes out. (Prov. 23.7; Matt. 12.34) Now regarding carnal or fleshly man, it is through him that Satan sets up his activity. He is easily demonized because of his powerless resistance to the enemy. What is carnal man? He is much spoken of in the Word, especially by Paul. Carnality is the activity of the flesh (Christian man) trying to consume and dominate the Spirit (Christ in you the hope of glory, Gal. 5:17-21). If Satan has to loose you to Christ in salvation, he will then begin to direct his demon forces to bind the child of God to a form of godliness, but to deny the power thereof (2 Tim. 3.5). Now this does not mean to deny the virgin birth, the blood atonement, the basic truths of the Word, but to bring that person to the place of dependence upon the flesh or the activity thereof, rather than upon God's Spirit and His revelation. Carnality is feeling and not faith. It is an activity without revelation. It is pride and not self-denial. The classic Scriptures for this teaching are found in I Corinthians 3.1-5 and Romans 8.5-8. In the Corinthian account we are shown the activity and personality of the carnal mind. Paul says, In 3.1, "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ." Then in verse 3 he uses the word, carnal, and develops it by saying, "For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envyings, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?" The unique position of these verses is that although the word, carnal, is used twice, it is not the same word in the Greek. The first carnal (Verse 1) is SARKINOS which means acting like babies; wanting your way in everything. The second carnal (verse 3) is the adverb SARKIKOI which means fleshly, or totally given over to the flesh. Again, Satan works in the flesh by causing envy, divisions, anger, etc., until it becomes uncontrollable. In fact, a good rule of thumb is: anything you can control is flesh, but anything that controls you is spirit. There are only two kinds of spirit. Flesh out of control is spirit manifestations. We find the same position in Romans 8 in that the flesh cannot please God. In fact, it is enmity against God. This, simplified, means it is hostile to God. So the beginning step of demonization is flesh out of control. Again, the slide very likely begins as a negative confession. Make a study of Galatians 5.17-21. Herein lies the major point. The flesh would, if it could, control the spirit, and the spirit would, if you and I allowed, control the flesh. The Christian chooses whom he will serve, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6.16). Demons move into the flesh once the beachhead or stronghold is established and the deterioration of the Christian's walk begins. In regard to that...what Isaiah 14.17 says...that Satan will not open his prison house. The Christian, to be set free, therefore must have deliverance. Let's look at the way our confession opens the door to demonization. In James 3.6, it says, "And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell." Our confession not only directs our lives, but causes possession, and in the Christian's case, demonization. Someone has well said, "You are what you say." If demons can cause you to be critical or negative or to curse, you open yourself up to infestation. In fact, verse 11 establishes that sweet water and bitter water will not come from the same well. It also teaches the Christian in the 14-15: "But if ye have bitter envyings and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish." There are two things here: First, in this chapter on the tongue, God says a person that speaks the positive (about Christ) and then is negative (against man), does not speak from above (revelation). In fact, his Christian walk is a lie in that he lies against the truth (Jesus). Second, God says about the critical Christian is that the wisdom he shows is not from God's Holy Spirit, but from another spirit. He says that this person is earthly (humanistic), sensual (from the flesh reasoning), devilish or, from another translation, demoniacal. Said another way, it means speaking by a spirit controlling the person's mind and mouth. Again it must be understood that James is dealing with the Christian. TO BE CONTINUED (Demon2.doc) Ron Hossack Solid Rock 3245 Abbotsford Dr. Riverside, CA 92603 modem: (714) 785-9176