Can Christians Be Possessed?
In America today we are not as aware of the existing spiritual realm as other nations or cultures. This lack of awareness does not negate the influence of spiritual beings.
Every Bible believing Christian must accept the existence of angels and demons, for the Bible talks about them as very real. However, we believe very strongly that true Christians can not be possessed by demonic spirits, for they are indeed possessed by the Holy Spirit.
We also acknowledge that there are persons who hold a differing opinion. Authors such as Rebecca Brown and Mark Bubeck site examples of believers being under the full control of demonic influence. Though we don’t discount these “experiences” we do discount the interpretations.
Read this article by John MacArthur concerning Christians and demonic possession.
Though Christians can not be possessed, they can still be affected by satanic and demonic influence. Non-Christians likewise can be affected by demonic influence. Only taken a step further, they can also be possessed.
What Does the Bible Say?
- Matthew 9: 32-33 tells of a mute man who was able to speak after Christ cast out a demon. This man was mute because of a spirit. Yet Christ healed him because He chose to do so. This healing was not based on the faith of this man in any way.
- Mark 5: 1-15 tells of a man who was mentally ill and possessed by a legion of demons. This man
- was dwelling in a graveyard
- had strength beyond what is naturally human
- was screaming day and night
- was gashing himself with stones
- was naked
Christ restored him to perfect health after casting out the demons in a marvelous way.
- Luke 9: 38-39 tells of a child who had a spirit that was causing him to have seizures and foam at the mouth. Christ healed the child.
- Luke 13: 11-16 tells of a woman who was bent over for 18 years. The cause? Quoting from the passage, “a sickness caused by a spirit.” Again the woman receives healing after Christ frees her.
Is it possible that we are so scientifically minded that we miss seeing some of today’s illnesses as being caused by demonic influence or direct possession?
Consider the following story:
Ken Eagleton, veteran Free Will Baptist missionary in Brazil, told of several encounters he has had over the years with demon-possessed individuals. In one case, members of his church asked him to visit someone who was having trouble. Entering the woman’s bedroom, Ken found her literally stiff as a board, lying like a piece of lumber, unable to move anything but her eyes. The room was small, but Ken squeezed into a little chair near her bed and tried to talk to her.
He learned from her family that she had recently visited a famous witch in the next village who had given her some medicines to take and rituals to perform to make her feel better. Now she was lying there, unable to talk and unable to open her mouth. The only sound she could make was a faint grunting sound from her throat. As Ken tried to work with her, all at once as fast as lightning, she drew up her knees, spun around as if on a lazy-susan, and slammed her feet into his stomach, pressing him against the wall. Others in the room rushed to restrain her.
Finally Ken stopped trying to talk to the woman, and he addressed instead the demons, asking them their names. To Ken’s surprise, the demons started giving the names of people.
“This is the only time demons ever identified themselves to me using human-like names,” he later explained. “Usually they callled themselves things like Lust, Suicide, Nicotine, Alcohol, Immorality. But this time, they gave personal names.”
Ken worked and prayed a long time, but he was never able to get the demons to leave the woman. Why? He explained that he and coworkers in Brazil had little real success with people who didn’t really want to be delivered.
When asked why we hear and read more about demon possession overseas than in America, Ken’s answer is that in nations like Brazil and Haiti, the people openly seek out evil spirits. They overtly interact with the demonic world.
“But,” Ken continued, “as witchcraft and the occult become more and more a part of the American culture, we’re going to see more and more cases of demon possession here in the United States.”
“We’d all be terribly surprised, ” he said, “if we knew just how deeply our current society is being influenced by demons.” [1]
Don’t neglect to consider satanic or demonic influence or possession as a possible cause for illness. Remember Job. His illness was satanically influenced for the purpose of Job’s testing. If you feel you are suffering for this reason, seek the Lord for wisdom and healing.
Next: Why Am I Sick, Reason #7: Because of Natural Physical Laws, Part A
Return To: Biblical Health Study
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Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.
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© 2017 Mischelle Sandowich
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