CAN A CHRISTIAN BE DEMON POSSESSED?
Computer For Christ

Paul, the Apostle, exhorted both Timothy and Titus
concerning sound doctrine in I Timothy 1:10 and Titus 1:9;2:1. To Timothy
he said, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound
doctrine; but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth,
and shall be turned to fables" (II Timothy 4:3,4). What is the only
criteria for sound doctrine? It must be, that God's written Word can be
and is the ONLY basis for sound doctrine.
The words of 'spiritual teachers or experiences' must never supercede
the Word of God. Paul said that is he or an angel from Heaven preached any
other Gospel that that which they had ALREADY heard, let him be accursed
(Galatians 1:8). The relating of experiences that are fables can never
be the true basis for sound doctrine, and the minute we open the door and
begin to teach from experience, we lose authority and introduce
confusion. People have a great variety of experiences and if we
accept one unscriptural experience as evidence of doctrinal truth, then I
am bound to accept all experiences; for each one would have equal
authority as a basis for doctrine. It is unfortunate that of late,
satan has been getting more than his share of attention; it is sad that
many Christians and non-Christians seem to have a greater interest in
satan and being possessed by demons than they do in Jesus Christ and being
possessed by His Holy Spirit...
The question has been forced upon us: "Can a Christian be demon
possessed?" We wish to look at this in the manner of the Bible and not on
the basis of the pre-conditioning of theologians
and philosophy. "Let us reason together" is the Bible's
admonition and to "Test all things; hold fast to that which is true." We
wish to look at the matter in the light of reason.
The term "syllogism" refers to a process of deductive reasoning
based upon a major premise, a minor premise, and the subsequent
conclusion. An example is that we say "All men are foolish" (Major
premise). We then make the observation "G. Smith is a man" (Minor premise)
and we arrive at "Therefore G. Smith is foolish" (Conclusion). As you can
see it is imperative that all three parts of the syllogy are correct, else
it fails.
The past writers have made the syllogy:
1. A Born-Again Believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
(Major premise)
2. The Spirit of God cannot permit demons to reside
where it resides.
(Minor premise)
3. Therefore, No Born-Again Believer can be possessed by
demons.
(Conclusion)
However, we must point out the major fault in the syllogy in that by
the minor premise could also be phrased:

2. The Spirit of God cannot tolerate sin and will not
allow it in its presence.
The conclusion would thus follow:
3. Therefore, no Born-Again Believer can have sin in him
or commit a sin.
We wish to point out that the Bible never uses the term
"possessed" in references to demons residing inside someone. The term is
"demonized" and never refers to ownership in relation to this "demonizing"
of a person.
Now, it should be obvious that the conclusion of both syllogies
are false. A Born-Again Believer does sin, does have sin in his flesh
and is constantly warring against the Spirit of God. Those who choose to
think that Born-Again Believers cannot be demonized always quote the
Scriptures that refer to our place of residence "in the heavenly places"
(Ephesians 2:6) and that we are in Christ (John 14:20)) and Christ is in us
(Colossians 1:27) and make the conclusion "If I am in Christ and satan has
nothing in Him, satan can have nothing in me!" We must make note of the
verses used to substantiate the argument ALWAYS refers to the spiritual
part of man - not the flesh. All the verses make reference to the
issue of our spiritual relationship with God. To claim that we are
isolated from the demonizing of satan and his forces only makes others
let down their guard. We are able to rest in Christ and know that
Jesus will cover us in His hands; However, we must look to the matter of
those who fail to rest in Jesus and actively participate in occult
activities, either with some knowledge or in ignorance.
Too many appointments for counseling have come up from the issue of
a Born-Again Christian having attended a seance, or been to a retreat
that was (unknown to the Believer) run by a cult group where Tarot
cards and other demonic activity was taking place. TM (Transendental
Meditation) is an example. Many a Christian who has failed to "test
all things" has attended TM meetings and participated in the initiation
rites of the cult. In the process of being given their "mantra" they are
given phrases in Sanskrit that are LITERALLY request for the gods of
Hinduism to come into their lives.
The point we are making is two fold. FIRST, a person, whether
he be a Believer in Jesus Christ or a non-believer, who INVITES demons
into his/her life will have his invitation answered. The invitation
is not nearly as difficult as the eviction will be. SECOND, A Born-
Again believer cannot, without his/her will be demonized! Those who
succumb are those who have, unwittingly, consented to the demonizing.
We are told that satan can appear as "an ANGEL OF LIGHT" and we can
look at the words in the original and see that the intent of satan would
be to make the "viewer" believe that satan represented the truth!
The Mormons have succumbed to this same angel (Look at the first vision
of Joseph Smith), and many a Believer has been baptised by the mormons
and in so doing have received the "blessing of the powers and dominions
upon yourself and your generations after you unto the fourth generation."
In the Bible, who is referred to as "powers and dominions?" Satan and
his forces are the references. The difficulty is that the only basis for
the "test" of "Test all things" is the Bible. The problem is in the fact
that many (too many) Born-Again Believers have chosen to keep one foot in
the world and one foot in heaven and fail to read their Bible. The latest
survey of Christianity tells us that the average Christian reads his
Bible less than 12 minutes a WEEK! this is not enough "meat" to provide
strength to be strong against the weakest of satan's demons.
To close, we wish to state that a Born-Again Believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ can be "demonized" only if the Believer yields room to the
demonic forces - either knowingly or unknowingly. Only through the
"growing to be elder men" through constant and consistant feeding of
the Word of God, through prayer and complete communication with our
Father in Heaven can we even be
aware of the dangers that lurk in the most innocent of
activities. Only if we are aware that such demonizing can occur can we be
wary and take the necessary time to "Test ALL things." We need to "test
the spirits to see if they are of God" all the time (without ceasing) and
be more aware that we "can do NOTHING without Jesus Christ!"
If you believe that you have engaged in any activity that you may
have made the unknowing invitation to satan and his demons, then we
urge you to get counsel NOW! You must have the demons evicted, and ONLY
through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ can that be accomplished. It
is our recommendation that you approach the Elders of your church body to
have this effort made. If they cannot assist, please feel free to call us
at (408) 578-3162 - or leave us a note at the time of your termination of
this call.
It is our prayer that each of us can become more conformed to the
image of Jesus Christ and that we recognize that we must be aware of the
power that satan has. We must be even more aware that "Greater is He that
is in us than he that is in the world!"

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