Demon Possession

[Hollypop]

I really need to know all of your opinions.


This is not meant to be a debate.

Ok so heres the question... this might have been posted before but i didnt see it so...

Do you believe that someone can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time have a demon?

I have heard of deliverance services and such... Where christians get delivered from evil spirits. It's not that i dont believe it... its just that i havent had much learning on this subject.

The only problem that i see is that how could someone have an evil spirit if they are a christian and are filled with the Holy Spirit. I thought that the Holy Spirit wouldnt dwell in any unclean vessel.

thanks for your comments.

Hopefully Quaffer will take a look at this... you seem to know a lot.

 

[LastMaxim]

I really need to know all of your opinions.


This is not meant to be a debate.

Ok so heres the question... this might have been posted before but i didnt see it so...

Do you believe that someone can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time have a demon?

I have heard of deliverance services and such... Where christians get delivered from evil spirits. It's not that i dont believe it... its just that i havent had much learning on this subject.

The only problem that i see is that how could someone have an evil spirit if they are a christian and are filled with the Holy Spirit. I thought that the Holy Spirit wouldnt dwell in any unclean vessel.

thanks for your comments.

Hopefully Quaffer will take a look at this... you seem to know a lot.

..well, I'm not Quaffer, but perhaps I'll do?

...in an effort to answer your question, regardless of what theological stance you may decide to stand with, I've had personal experiecne with the sort of thing (after beicomming a Christian), and I've met others who have as well...we are all in a process of 'dying to our flesh', so there is always more to be done. The demonic are great at finding that which is not yet conformed to Christ within us, and using it against us...it's late here, and this was a short answer...hope it helped...

God Bless

 

[Hollypop]

thanks... anymore? anyone else?

 

[geocajun]

maybe this article will help. I will provide a quote and a link below:

Man is in various ways subject to the influence of evil spirits. By original sin he brought himself into "captivity under the power of him who thence [from the time of Adam's transgression] had the empire of death, that is to say, the Devil" (Council of Trent, Sess. V, de pecc. orig., 1), and was through the fear of death all his lifetime subject to servitude (Heb., ii, 15). Even though redeemed by Christ, he is subject to violent temptation: "for our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places" (Eph., vi, 12). But the influence of the demon, as we know from Scripture and the history of the Church, goes further still. He may attack man's body from without (obsession), or assume control of it from within (possession). As we gather from the Fathers and the theologians, the soul itself can never be "possessed" nor deprived of liberty, though its ordinary control over the members of the body may be hindered by the obsessing spirit (cf. St. Aug., "De sp. et an.", 27; St. Thomas, "In II Sent.", d. VIII, Q. i; Ribet, "La mystique divine", Paris, 1883, pp. 190 sqq.).

Demonic Possession

 

[silentmessenger]

Hello all, this is just my opinion.

God the Holy Spirit is OMNIPRESENT, meaning in all places - so if this is the case, how can demons dwell anywhere at all if the two can not be in the same place at the same time?
No where does the Bible say specifically that a Christian can be indwelt by a demon and no where does it say that a Christian cannot be indwelt by a demon. There is no plain and clear statement one way or the other.
There are many debates to this, such as 11 Corinthians 6:14-18 is most widely used for discussion. But you have balanced scripture and the Bible must be taken as a whole, not just some parts leaving others out to fit man's doctrine of what God is saying to us.

1 John 1:8-9 and 1 John 2:1 versus 1 Corinthians 9:27

CHristians should not sin but as long as we have the flesh and that struggle with the flesh we will have trouble with our sin nature.
(1 Corinthians 9:27)
But 1 John 5:18 claims those who are as the one born of God keeps himself from sin he is protected from the wicked one.

My opinion is (since we are not debating but i thought I would add a couple points in scripture)
As soon as we accept Christ and cleanse ourselves the demons and trespassers have no right to remain in us unless we give them legal ground to do so through sin and/or ignorance.
We have to be obedient to God's word and make sure we stay out of places - the darkness of sin, that will invite them back in. If we sin Satan has a legal right to be there right with us. He dwells in darkness and that is the place where sin is.

Hope this helps you some. Peace and Joy.
Bless God

 

[AlabamaMan]

There have been some good posts here. I will throw in my .02.

Remember this is just my opinion. I don't think a christian can be possesed. Your verse you gave was a good one about the Holy Spirit not dwelling in an unclean temple. When we are saved we are covered with the blood of Jesus and no devil in hell can cross that. That is my simple minded opinion lol.

 

[silentmessenger]

Amen Alabamaman - I do agree in my opinion that if you are under the blood covering covenant Satan and his demons can not cross that line, but I do also believe that we can fall prey to sin and allow these demons back into our lives if we don't plead Christ's Blood through faith and stay away from situations that would compromise the blood line.
Stay strong in the word and be in constant fellowship with God! With the renewing and filling of the Spirit of Christ, no devil in hell can cross that. Praise God always! God is so good to us!

I did not mention this in the other post about the blood, but now I am adding to my opinion. Daily I have to die in the flesh and in faith cover myself with the blood so the destroyer can not come against me even in my weakest moments!

Bless God Always

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

I really need to know all of your opinions.


This is not meant to be a debate.

Ok so heres the question... this might have been posted before but i didnt see it so...

Do you believe that someone can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time have a demon?

If the Christian opens the door to the demonic then the demonic has been given permission to raise havic in the Christians life.

I have heard of deliverance services and such... Where christians get delivered from evil spirits. It's not that i dont believe it... its just that i havent had much learning on this subject.

The only problem that i see is that how could someone have an evil spirit if they are a christian and are filled with the Holy Spirit. I thought that the Holy Spirit wouldnt dwell in any unclean vessel.

thanks for your comments.

QUOTE]

I would agree for the most part with what others have said.

I don't believe that demons can possess a body that belongs to Jesus, however, they can certaintly cause alot of problems for those who do not or will not learn what their authority is over the demons.

Also, as I believe silentmessenger said, if one continues to sin and open themselves up to demonic forces then they are still going to reap what they sow. . .that law of reaping and sowing does not go away just because we are now filled with the Holy Ghost. We are filled with the Holy Ghost and now have the ability to do what's right instead of being slaves to sin and doing what it tells us.

We are now workers of righteousness. As we draw nigh to God and resist the devil, he (the devil) flees from us.

There was a woman who came to my church years ago who had been a budist. Through a series of circumstances that brought her to our church she was led to the Lord. However, over a period of months, she was delivered from many demons.

She is now the most exuberant person I know and bounces around with great joy and tell everyone what Jesus has done for her.

We allow demons into our life by rebelling against what God says. In 1 Sam 15:23 we are told that rebellion is the same as witchcraft. So everytime we knowingly disobey God's Word or what He's told us to do then we are in rebellion and in essence practicing witchcraft.

And that's only the beginning. If we allow that rebellion to go unchecked we are opening doors in areas that don't have to be opened.

We don't need to live in fear of unsuspectingly being taken over by a demon. We just need to become informed on our authority over them and learn to walk in that authority.

The way I understand a deliverance service is that one has become aware of the demonic attack against them and they are needing help to get rid of it. However that person also needs to be taught how to keep the demons away. . .which mainly is drawing near to God, resisting the devil, therefore causing him to flee.

Hopefully Quaffer will take a look at this... you seem to know a lot.

Well, I've been around awhile. There's still lot's for me to learn though.

Thanks for the compliment,

Quaffer

 

[Blade]

You have it right. Jesus will not share his house. When he comes in he cleans and makes sure all the dirt stays out..

 

[godson777]

i know an awesome book on the topic of demonisatioun in christians.
its called "defeating dark angels - breaking demonic oppression in the believer's life" by charles h. kraft
blessings

 

[Andrew]

I really need to know all of your opinions.


This is not meant to be a debate.

Ok so heres the question... this might have been posted before but i didnt see it so...

Do you believe that someone can be filled with the Holy Spirit and at the same time have a demon?

I have heard of deliverance services and such... Where christians get delivered from evil spirits. It's not that i dont believe it... its just that i havent had much learning on this subject.

The only problem that i see is that how could someone have an evil spirit if they are a christian and are filled with the Holy Spirit. I thought that the Holy Spirit wouldnt dwell in any unclean vessel.

thanks for your comments.

Hopefully Quaffer will take a look at this... you seem to know a lot.

The short answer is no and yes.

If you can, read the book Triumphant Church by the late Kenneth E Hagin. It deals with this question and Bro Hagin shares 60 years of ministry experience on demons and deliverance.

You need to first understnd that the human body consist of
1. physical body/shell
2. soul (mind, will, emotions, basically)
3. spirit (where the Holy Spirit dwells)

So, the Christian can be 'dominated' (possessed is not really the right word to use) in 1 and 2 but not 3.

• In 1, it usu manifest as an incurable disease.

• In 2, it usu manifest as mental illness (somewhat like demon 'possession' but not the full sense of the word as described in Bible accounts) and that's why you have Christians in the asylum.

• In 3, this is when there is full possession -- like those of the Bible -- where the realms of 1 and 2 are also affected. Christians CANNOT be possessed in THIS SENSE. ie in his spirit, but they can be dominated, harrassed, oppressed in the realms/sense of 1 and 2.

If you think about it, Paul NEVER taught the church to cast demons out of Christians. When Paul dealt with the carnal (yet most gifted) Corinthian church, he did not tell them to go for deliverance, but simply reminded them of who they were in Christ, and to keep their FLESHLY desires under the control of the Spirit in them. ie most of the time, it is the flesh that is the problem, not some demon. Hagin deals with this too.

eg. If a fat Christian likes to eat and eat, it does not necess. mean that he's got some "spirit of gluttony". You can scream and shout at the demon all day long, but if that Christian still wants to fulfill the desires of his flesh, the problem remains. In short, not a demon problem but a flesh problem. And as long as we are in this mortal body, the flesh will always war with the Spirit and vice versa.

 

[allieisme]

I also agree with the posters in here.. If you are Christian, and have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and know that God is all loving, then really... WHO could be against you? If you have the Holy Spirit within you then IMO demons cannot possess you for it says in the Bible..James 4:7
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
Just from that scripture alone tells me, that all you have to do is tell the devil to flee from you, if its that easy to tell him to flee, I can't see how one could be possessed but also a Christian

 

[Tobias]

James 4:7
"Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."



This is exactly why some Christians can be oppressed by the devil. If there are areas of your life that are not submitted to God, you open the door for satan in that area alone.

Also, if you don't stand and resist satan, you follow him instead of God making satan your god. We are capable of having many gods in our lives, as we have many facets. I could make my work related descisions based on the god of Mammon, and pick the jobs that will make me the most money whether they glorify God or not. I could pick a wife based on the world's standards rather than God's. I could make my friends based on their possisitons in life rather than on their relevance to God's Kingdom. Or, you could resist a calling God has on your life so that you can do your own thing instead.

None of these actions will cause you to loose your salvation, yet in practicality you would be putting other gods before Him. I've seen many Christians whose lives are riddled with problems where ever they go, and sure as anything they are resisting God in some way or another.