


                    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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