Demon-Possession & Spiritual-warfare

Who is Satan and what are demons? : Satan (Hebrew: accuser, adversary) was originally called Lucifer (Latin: light-bearer) (ISA 14:12). He was probably the chief angel, and was exceptionally beautiful and morally perfect in the beginning (EZE 28:12). He was in charge of the other angels (EZE 28:14) but became proud and rebelled against God (ISA 14:13-14, EZE 28:15-16). In his rebellion, a third of the angels followed him (REV 12:4). God cast all of them out of heaven (ISA 14:15, REV 12:7-9).

Satan is also called the Devil (REV 12:9), and the angels that fell with him are called unclean spirits, evil spirit or demons. There is one Satan but many demons.

Satan is a murderer and a deceiver (JOH 8:44). His goal is to oppose God and His people, and to destroy as many human lives as possible by corrupting doctrines (1TI 4:1) and blinding them to the Gospel (2CO 4:4). Satan and his demons will be defeated by Christ and His saints, and will finally be cast into the Lake of fire to be tormented forever and ever (REV 16:13-14, 19:11-21, 20:10).

What is demon-possession? : The Bible describes people who "were possessed with devils" (MAT 4:24, 8:16,28,33, 9:32, etc), and those "having" or "possessing" a demon or an unclean spirit (MAR 5:15, 7:25, 9:17, LUK 4:33, 8:27, etc).

A demon-possessed person is invaded and inhabited by a demon, and under the full control of the demon. He is unable to resist the will of the demon. Demons can speak through him (MAT 8:29,31, MAR 5:7-10), make him fall (MAT 17:15), cause him to hurt himself physically (MAR 5:5), cause him to be blind and dumb (MAT 12:22), empower him with supernatural strength (MAR 5:3-4) or make him insane (LUK 8:27).

What is demon-casting? : Demon-casting (or exorcism) is the act of expelling a demon from a person in the name of Christ. Both Jesus and His Apostles cast demons out of people. Jesus empowered His Apostles to cast out demons (MAR 16:17 "In my name shall they cast out devils"). Whenever Jesus or His Apostles commanded the demons to depart, they did so immediately. Even whey there were many demons in a person, they all came out immediately (LUK 8:29-33). The demons simply could not resist but had to obey.

Apart from Jesus and the Apostles, the "seventy" were also given the power to cast out demons (LUK 10:1-20). However, after the seventy accomplished their ministry in LUK 10, they are not heard of again. They were "acting apostles" who were enlisted for a particular mission and then disbanded after that.

Exorcism is a major part of the Charismatic movement. They call it a deliverance ministry or spiritual warfare. This is usually done through the laying on of hands and by invoking the name of Christ, as church members are asked to read the Scriptures aloud, pray in tongues and sing hymns. Most exorcisms of demon-possessed people are long-drawn exhausting affairs - very different from the immediate expulsion described in the Bible. Why is this so? Has the name of Jesus lost its power?

The reason is that exorcism is a sign-gift given to the Apostles to authenticate their ministry (MAR 16:17 cf, v.20). Christians do not have the sign-gifts and therefore cannot do the five things mentioned in MAR 16:17,18. Therefore, the so-called demon-casting of modern-day exorcists is very different from that of Jesus and His Apostles.

"At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow": Many quote PHI 2:9-11 to justify their deliverance ministry. This passage does not describe present conditions but the situation when Jesus returns. In the present time when we mention the name of Jesus very few people will bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Can a Christian be demon-possessed? : Every case of exorcism done by Jesus and His Apostles in the Bible was on an unbeliever. But demon-casting is a major part of the Charismatic movement, and exorcisms are frequently done in church. Since there are so few truly demon-possessed people to exorcise, Charismatics teach that many illnesses are due to demonic spirits - and they cast out the "demons" of fever, migraine, menstrual pains, cancer, depression from church members!

A Christian is born-again by the Holy Spirit (JOH 3:5-8), indwelt by the Spirit (ROM 8:9, 1CO 3:16) and possessed by the Spirit (1CO 6:19,20). How can a Christian be possessed by a demon, when he is already possessed by the Holy Spirit? Is the demon so strong that he can cast out the Holy Spirit from our bodies?

Demons may influence us through false doctrines, tempt us with temptations, oppress us through persecutors, and even distress us with evil thoughts but they can never possess us. If a "Christian" is really demon-possesssed, then he is not a genuine Christian.

Can physical illnesses be due to demonic possession or oppression? : Demon-possession caused physical illnesses (eg. MAT 12:22). In Job's case, God allowed Satan to afflict Job with a severe physical illness (JOB 2:7). But most illnesses are the result of Adam's sin (GEN 2:17 "for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die"). The process of "dying" (ie, decay and corruption) is the cause of most illnesses. The human body gradually breaks down and wears out until it finally is so broken-down and worn-out that it ceases to function altogether (ie, it dies). Bodily break-downs and wear-outs are called illnesses. When a car breaks down we assume that there is some malfunctioning or worn-out part and bring it to the mechanic to fix it. We do not generally think that a saboteur has caused the breakdown and go to the police to make a report! Similarly, when we are sick we assume that some part of our body needs fixing and we go to the doctor, not to an exorcist to cast out the "demon"!

How do we fight Satan and his demons? : Charismatics often rebuke Satan (eg. "Satan, you foul and evil spirit, I bind and cast you out…."). We are warned against rebuking Satan in 2PE 2:10-12 and Jude 8-10.

Since Satan cannot possess Christians, his attack is usually indirect. His main attack against Christians is by corrupting doctrines (1TI 4:1, JAM 3:14,15, 1JO 4:1). If our doctrines are wrong, then we will end up serving Satan instead of God without realizing it.

We are taught to fight Satan by resisting his false doctrines and temptations (JAM 4:7 "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you"). We must put on the whole armour of God (EPH 6:10-18) to be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil. And most importantly we must preach the Gospel and deliver men from the power of darkness, and translate them into the kingdom of his dear Son (COL 1:13). In other words, our fight against Satan is not a macho-type cursing confrontation but one that demands a holy life and a determination to preach the Gospel. Our fight is an indirect one against a subtle enemy.

Charismatics are missing the target: Charismatics are spending much of their energies fighting against demon-possession. But the Bible tells us that demon-possession is not a major problem in the Church Age.

Jesus taught that His coming will lead to a severe restriction of Satan's powers to possess souls (JOH 12:31 "now shall the prince of this world be cast out"). "When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive…"(EPH 4:8). Even the demons were aware of their impending loss of freedom to possess souls (MAR 1:24 "art thou come to destroy us?"). Satan's work in the Church Age is restrained and much of his work is done in secrecy (2TH 2:6-8), until God allows him to organize his forces for a final battle with Christ at the Battle of Armageddon (REV 16-19).

Therefore, demon-possession is rare nowadays except in people who indulge in occult practices.
Though there are many records of exorcism in the Bible in the historical books (ie, Gospel and Acts), there are no instructions on how to conduct exorcisms in any of the "instructional" books of the Bible (ie, the Epistles). Instead the Epistles are filled with instructions on how to lead Christ-like lives and how to preach the Gospel.

Satan is very happy to see so much time and energy spent by Christians on "exorcism" and so little on holiness and evangelism. Let us not waste our energies on a problem that became largely non-existent two thousand years ago!

What should we do with demon-possessed people? : We must pray that God will give them grace to understand and faith to believe the Gospel. Then we must preach the Gospel to them. If the demon-possessed person receives Jesus as His Saviour, the Holy Spirit will come into him and the demons will flee because "greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world" (1JO 4:4).