I start a new series today on a controversial topic as indicated in the title. Why? Because recently, in church, the teaching from the pulpit actually stated that Christians could indeed be demon possessed. It surprised me to hear a pastor teach that. I’d never heard it from the pulpit before. But then teaching in church on this topic is a rare thing, in fact, I don’t recall more than an incidental mention of it from pastoral teaching in over 30 years as a Christian.

Demonology, or the study of the demonic is a well developed doctrine in the scriptures, particularly in the gospels where detailed information is found about how to recognize demon possession and how to engage in the situation to deliver a person. Unfortunately the doctrine is relegated to the first century in our naturalistic and technological minds and thus dismissed to the detriment of the church. This important doctrine goes untaught and therefore people go unequipped and unprepared.

Believers, like myself, must then seek information elsewhere, by personal research in the bible as well as from other teachers out there who address the topic. My advice: if you are not part of a local church who is willing to equip you in the supernatural and unseen realm, then do the research yourself and perhaps offer to teach in Sunday school or small groups. Maybe your pastor would appreciate your help. If not, then you may need to find another church because I believe this is an urgent teaching in our world today.

Can a true believer, saved by God’s grace and filled with the Holy Spirit be possessed by a demon? I think you can see the obvious answer in the question itself and with some basic knowledge about what it means to be saved. If you don’t know what it means to be saved, then that is of utmost priority. Go to the “Steps to Eternal Life” link above first.

I am going to spend some effort on this topic because, while its not a issue of first importance, it is a very important doctrine, worthy of some research and understanding.

To be transparent about my own position on this topic, I do not believe a true Christian can be possessed by a demon because I don’t believe there is any evidence in the Bible to support it, and plenty of evidence to refute it. The purpose of this series of blogs is to see what the scripture says. To be complete, I should also see if there is any biblical support for demon possession of a true Christian.

Some would say, as I found out in this church I was attending, that they observed a Christian who was possessed by a demon, therefore Christians can be demon possessed. A few comments regarding personal experience and observations: 1) Personal observations can sometimes be deceiving, particularly when it comes to dealing with the demonic realm which is full of deception. The demonic forces of darkness use deception as their primary weapon; 2) sometimes our underlying assumptions are incorrect driving the wrong conclusion, and 3) our personal experiences, while important, must never take precedence over clear biblical teaching.

We must subordinate our observations, assumptions and experiences to the Word of God. If our observations and experience are not consistent with the Word, then we must bow to the Word of God and evaluate our experiences in the light of God’s truth that we have in the Word. Otherwise, we open the door for deception to operate in our lives, which absolutely is possible for a true Christian. Remember – Jesus Himself used the Word of God to counter the deception of Satan

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their grandeur. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you throw yourself to the ground and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: ‘You are to worship the Lord your God and serve only him.

Matthew 4:8-10

We must also rightly interpret the scriptures. This simply means following a few common sense rules to properly understand the Bible. Another important topic for another day – but honestly not that hard.

Does the Bible state explicitly that Christians cannot possessed by a demon? Not explicitly. However a number of biblical doctrines are not explicitly stated in the text of scripture. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity is not explicitly stated but the Bible very clearly teaches the doctrine nonetheless. And so it is with the doctrine of demonology. It’s actually a fairly well communicated doctrine in the Bible, particularly the New Testament, but we have to develop a complete picture from relevant passages.

Building a doctrine around what the bible does NOT say is dangerous. It violates a basic rule of logic that doctrine should be based on what the Bible DOES say. Many false doctrines exist that are based on zero support in the scriptures. Just because the bible does not explicitly state that “Christians cannot be demon possessed” in absence of any other evidence, does not give license to say therefore it follows that Christians can be possessed by demons. It does not follow.

Is Demon Possession a Problem Today

I have addressed demonic possession in past posts on this blog. However not this particular topic. I believe demons are absolutely active today and possess people. In fact, I think the church woefully underestimates the magnitude of this problem. I believe we will see more of this as the end of the church age approaches.

Since the teaching I encountered said that it is possible for Christians to be possessed, that is the hypothesis up for biblical review. Can it withstand the test? We’ll see.

Why is This Important?

This is a secondary issue, in other words, it’s not an issue on which we hang our salvation. However it is incredibly important. Believers need to know if they can possibly be afflicted by demon possession or not. It also affects ministry strategy for how we approach a person that may have demonic issues in their life. If we encounter a demon possessed person, what we believe about who can or cannot be demon possessed will inform our approach to minister to the person.

In short, if we are to engage effectively, we can’t operate from opinions and uncertainty. We better know what we are doing because the spiritual enemy knows exactly what they are doing.

Setting the Context

Often, in discussing these topics, discussion or debate becomes confusing because there is no common understanding of basic terms being thrown about. There are a few things that need clarity before we can answer question posed on the title of this post:

1. What is a Christian
2. What is a demon
3. What does it mean to be possessed
4. What are the characteristics of demon possession

There are associated questions:

1. How do I engage if I encounter a demon possessed person?
2. How do I follow up if the demon(s) are successfully cast out of the person?

DISCLAIMER: I do not have a lot of experience in this area although I do have some. Here is some advice: I do not recommend you engage in demonic deliverance ministry unless you are:

• Saved
• Part of a healthy biblical church
• A mature follower of Christ with a vibrant prayer life
• Called by the Lord to this kind of ministry
• Properly trained and equipped
• Very well versed in the Word of God
• Right with God, that is, in obedience to Christ and His commandments; avoiding sin
• Anointed and sent by the Elders of the church for this purpose

The purpose of these posts is to provide information only. What any believer can do regardless of direct demonic deliverance ministry or not is pray for all the saints around the world to be strong in the Lord (Ephesians 6). If you have people in your church called to this kind of thing, they need prayer cover. Pray for them.

What is a Christian?

This is really the crux of the matter. If we answer this biblically, it may put the answer about demon possession to rest pretty quickly.

Years ago my boss came into my office and we somehow got on the topic of Christianity. I can’t recall the whole conversation but at one point, he said “you are one of those born again Christians aren’t you”. My response was “that’s the only kind of Christian there is”. He disagreed because he did not understand that my answer was spiritual and from the Bible while his comment was more denominational with a hint of politics in it. So we were not on the same page regarding what it actually means to be a Christian. Let’s look at what the Bible says.

A true Christian has repented of their sin and is saved by God’s Grace by trusting in Jesus alone.

John 3:16 – For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Ephesians 2:8-9 – For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; it is not from works, so that no one can boast.

A true Christian is “born again” or born from above; born of God.

John 3:3 – Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 1:12-13 – But to all who have received him—those who believe in his name —he has given the right to become God’s children —children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.

Note: Being “born again” as it says here is not from human desires but by God alone. Infant baptism is from a human desire and action, not an act of God. A person is only “born again” when they repent and trust Christ for salvation. At that moment, a person is filled with the Hoy Spirit which is what it means to be “born again” or “born from above”. This is a key part of our answer to the question about demon possession.

A true Christian is a disciple or follower of Jesus Christ.

Acts 11:26 – …Now it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

Luke 14:33 – In the same way therefore not one of you can be my disciple if he does not renounce all his own possessions.

A true Christian has the Holy Spirit dwelling within their body.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 – Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 – 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 with your body.

A true Christian is obedient to the commandments.

1 John 2:3-5 – Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep his commandments. The one who says “I have come to know God” and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him.

There are many other biblical characteristics of a true Christian. The few verses here only scratch the surface but I think you can see that true Christians are not defined by church denomination, organizational affiliation or politics, but spiritually in accordance with biblical description.

This is long enough for this post and a lot to digest so I’ll stop here and get into a rarely discussed topic in church – what is a demon? The answer might surprise you.