I remember the first year that I led a Bible school, a student asked to meet with me before the school started. She proceeded to tell me that she would need a room to herself in the dorm. I stifled a laugh, thinking, “Anything else you would like? Your own personal fitness trainer? How about a limo and driver?”. Instead, I decided to humor her and see where this went, so I asked why she needed her own room. She told me that her past roommates consistently complained about her, because she would wake up screaming in the night. As a child, she grew up in a family who worshiped idols and false gods. She had been dedicated to the goddess of her town, and that demon came and controlled her in her sleep. She was a Christian, but was convinced that she was powerless to stop the demon due to her past.
First of all, I was glad I didn’t laugh or offer some sarcastic response. Boy, would I have felt bad! Second, my immediate thought was that Christians can’t be “possessed” or controlled by a demon. I had never encountered something like this though, and went back to the Bible to research this and meet again with this woman. Several passages stood out to me in this, and confirmed my initial reaction. The word “possessed” or “oppressed” are not found in the Greek. The phrase that is translated this way often is “he/she has a demon/unclean spirit”. The Greek for “has/have” does indicate ownership or possession, so that is where we get the word we use in English to describe this state.
In Matthew 12:43-45 (also Luke 11:24-26), Jesus describes what happens in a person once a demon is cast out. He says that the demon searches around for a new place to stay (waterless places refers to the Jewish belief that demons couldn’t travel through water), and will often decide to return to its original host. Upon return, the demon often discovers, “And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.” Since this teaching is included in two Gospels, it must contain an important lesson for us.
I believe the lesson is that once a demon is cast out of an unbeliever, if they don’t receive Jesus and become filled with the Holy Spirit, the demon can just come back and take possession of that person again. Without the Holy Spirit, the unbeliever is just as vulnerable to demon possession as he was before. The disciples (and us) were supposed to understand that casting out demons is only the first step in the process. It must be followed up with leading that person to Christ. Without the “seal of the Holy Spirit”, they are still open to attack from the “prince of the power of the air”. If this is the correct interpretation, the reverse is true, that once a person accepts Jesus, he is NO LONGER vulnerable to demon possession.
Romans 8:31-39 also speak to this protection we have in Christ, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul is convinced that no spiritual power, good or evil, can separate us from the love of God. Paul hammers this home in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in him(Jesus) the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” If Christians can be possessed, then Christ’ and the Holy Spirit’s power is NOT ENOUGH to protect us against demons. That has no basis in Scripture whatsoever.
So, how do I explain what was happening with this woman? Only God knows truly what was happening in the spiritual realm, but I could only come to several conclusions from the Bible. Through a lack of knowledge in the Bible, she had come to the wrong conclusion about demon’s power, and it was leading her through fear to give power to the demon. In addition, she may have been suffering from childhood events that had not been fully dealt with through counseling and the Holy Spirit. I didn’t feel that the last option was the case: that she had never had the demon cast out, so she wasn’t a Christian at all yet.
Satan would love for us Christians to all be in fear and think that he or demons can control and own us. That way, he can bind us in sin and fear, and instead of leading others to Christ, we spend our lives on the sidelines. For many of us, the enemy uses our shame and guilt over past and present sins to lead us to believe that we deserve to be afflicted by demons. The truth is that we do deserve to be afflicted, but God’s grace has set us free. Galatians 5:1 says it best, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” The house was swept clean, and now Jesus is living in that house. No demons allowed!
The Bible Nerd 