Can People Actually Be Possessed By A Demon? by
Annagail Lynes
Many movies, such as Carrie and the Exorcist, talk about people being
demon possessed. Even the Gospels of the Bible refer to people being
possessed by demons.
Can people actually be possessed by a demon? Can a believer be possessed
by a demon?
First, let's take a look at why demons are allowed to move throughout the
earth.
In the Garden of Eden, at the beginning of time, God told Adam and Eve,
His first creations, not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and
Evil.
The devil disguised himself as a serpent and slid into the Garden. Then he
struck up a conversation with Eve. He convinced her that she would become
wise like God if she ate the fruit. She and Adam, who was with her, did.
They disobeyed God (Genesis 3).
Now everyone who is born of flesh, born of a man and a woman, is born in
sin.
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" ~ Romans 3:23.
Satan and his demons, just as God, cannot come to Earth and walk around
any longer. They must use a body.
In order to redeem us, Jesus, the Son of God, has to be born of a virgin.
Then He gained legal access to this world. He grew up and was crucified on
the Cross. He took all our sins–past, present and future–on Himself. God
required a perfect, sinless sacrifice to die in our place. The only One
qualified to do that was Jesus.
He went to Hell to reclaim the authority that Adam and Eve relinquished to
Satan during the fall.
He was raised from the dead and gave that authority back to us. After
ascending back into Heaven, He is now at the right hand of the Father,
making intercession for us.
His shed blood on the Cross puts us in right standing with God. Good works
can't. Obedience can't. Perfect living can't. Only Jesus' shed blood can
(II Corinthians 5:21).
But can a person be possessed by a demon? Yes, unbelievers, people who
have not accepted Christ, can be possessed by a demon.
However a demon cannot just possess someone. The person has to allow them
access through some kind of disobedience to God--drugs, witchcraft,
drinking to excess, violence. When a demon finds an opening, he comes in.
This is the same for believers, but instead of being possessed, they are
oppressed, meaning the devil and his demons try to get Believers to turn
against God and His promises themselves. Satan whispers lies in their ears
as he did with Eve. He tells them they are alone, no one cares about them,
especially not God. But those are lies.
The devil tries to depress and discourage Believers, hoping they will stop
their destinies, the plan of God, has for their lives.
If he can get us to speak against our destinies or give up on them
entirely, then he will defeat us. For an unbeliever, though, he is not
possessed by God. When you are not possessed by God, you are a possession
of Satan. If he can find an opening in your life, he will send his demons
in to possess you.
Why can he do this? Because you are not a possession of God. When you are
a possession of God, when you are Born-Again, the devil cannot possess
you, but he can oppress you.
As I mentioned, the demons are allowed access when we do things that are
disobedient to God's Word, God's expressed Will, for us. Then we allow
Satan to play with our lives. Especially when we are involved with
witchcraft and conjuring up dead spirits.
Why is conjuring up dead spirits wrong? It's not just wrong. It is an
abomination to God (Deuteronomy 18:11-12).
When the prophet Samuel, King Saul's greatest advisor, died, Saul conjured
up Samuel's spirit through the witch of Endor (I Samuel 28). This only
proved how sick Saul had become.
After he disobeyed God, Saul had allowed the enemy in, and the more he
flirted with the things of the devil, the more perverted his sense of
right and wrong became.
That's what happens when we conjure up dead spirits through seances and
Ouija boards. Our lines between right and wrong become blurred. What we
once thought of as wrong, we now see as right.
So if we are being bothered by spirits, what do we do?
The first thing to do, if we haven't already, is to accept Jesus as our
Lord and Savior. We can do this by saying this prayer aloud: "Jesus, I
repent of all my sins. Come into my heart and be my Lord and Savior."
Second, we must renounce our involvement in any demonic activity, such as
witchcraft, seances, Ouija boards, horoscopes, drugs and so forth. Just
say aloud, "I renounce my involvement with _______ (insert items) in the
Name of Jesus." We should repeat this for every activity we were involved
in.
Third, we need to command that spirit to leave us in the name of Jesus. We
have this right. We have the authority because Jesus gave it to us.
Fourth, we have to throw away any paraphernalia that is associated with
the things we have renounced.
Fifth, we must turn away from those activities. We must cease to
participate in them. Otherwise we will continue to give place to the devil
and his demons.
Lastly, we need to plead the blood of Jesus over our lives on a daily
basis to prevent the demons from coming back.
We must give no place to the devil (James 4:7). If we do, we will continue
to live in torture. Give place to God instead and walk in the light of God
and His Word.
