What do Christians use for protection from evil spirits?

Rebuke them out loud in the Name of Jesus, and order them to the abyss, never to return or send replacements.

Spirits are easy to deal with this way. They tried to scare me once. Juggling my bedroom door knob real fast when no one was there to be able to play a joke. I laughed and took authority over them so fast it was funny. They left.

Sage can't work. I suspect they are trying to get you to use it more and more...as a distraction from God!

rpsibew110 said:

I don't believe that going to church or reading the bible is a requirement for salvation.

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If someone has never been to church and never read the Bible, then they probably don't know very much about who Jesus is.

Eternal Enigma said:

Thanks for the replies. I don't even know how to respond to all of this. Perhaps I should have kept this as a private matter. I won't ask anymore questions.

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Don't be put off. Everyone here is trying to help as best they can. The central thing to protect yourself is to put on the armor of God, the full armor. That means to immerse yourself in Jesus, to befriend Jesus, to become the sworn co-belligerent with Jesus. By yourself it will be a losing battle. Equip yourself for battle. An occasional prayer to settle things at your house is small potatoes.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14* Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15* and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; 16 besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,

Eternal Enigma said:

Thanks for the replies. I don't even know how to respond to all of this. Perhaps I should have kept this as a private matter. I won't ask anymore questions.

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Please keep asking questions the is how you will learn and grow in fact I learn everyday and I accepted Jesus in 1977. So please do not stop asking questions or trying to grow in your faith.

Radagast said:

If someone has never been to church and never read the Bible, then they probably don't know very much about who Jesus is.

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In 1977 when I accepted Christ I had not been to church since I was 5 years old 13 years later all that I had learned was gone was not even thinking about it. I accepted Christ with out reading the bible or going to church for 13 years because a co-worker at the time was telling me about Jesus. After praying and accepting Jesus I started to look for a church but did not start reading the bible for a few years. You only have to know one thing and that is God raised him from the dead and confess that he is Lord. That's it nothing more and someone can learn that from a forum, a friend, tv, a co-worker or anywhere else. In fact that's the whole reason we are to sow the seed (word) Mark 4:14 The sower sows the word.

rpsibew110 said:

I don't believe that going to church or reading the bible is a requirement for salvation. Confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believing in your heart that he was raised from the dead is. Romans 10:9 YES for growth at least reading the bible is necessary and going to church to be with people with like beliefs is of great value.

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This largely reduces salvation to an individualistic notion of "me and my best buddy Jesus"; but that's simply not what salvation means, not biblically or historically as understood by Christians. No, the mere act of "going to church" or "reading the Bible" don't save anyone. But the Christian life, the life of grace which we have in Jesus is the corporate life we have together as the Church, united together in Christ, with God working upon us through His Word and Sacraments. It would have made no sense to any Christian from the time of St. Paul all the way through most of Christian history to speak of salvation apart from the Church and God's Word and Sacraments. But one of the chief problems, I suspect, is that salvation is frequently taught, today, in largely minimalist terms, namely that salvation means not going to hell and going to heaven instead. But for most of Christian history salvation, as a concept, was the entirety of God's gracious working on our lives to heal, restore, and redeem us. It's all well and good when a physician diagnoses a sick person and the sick person goes, "Yes, I acknowledge I'm sick", but it doesn't do any good if they refuse the medicine and treatment of the physician, or think that if they took the medicine once that's all they need when they need the constant care of the physician.

The medicine is Christ's Word and Sacraments.

From St. Ignatius of Antioch's--a student of the Apostles themselves--epistle to the Ephesians, c.105 AD,

"If Jesus Christ shall graciously permit me through your prayers, and if it be His will, I shall, in a second little work which I will write to you, make further manifest to you [the nature of] the dispensation of which I have begun [to treat], with respect to the new man, Jesus Christ, in His faith and in His love, in His suffering and in His resurrection. Especially [will I do this ] if the Lord make known to me that you come together man by man in common through grace, individually, in one faith, and in Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, being both the Son of man and the Son of God, so that you obey the bishop and the presbytery with an undivided mind, breaking one and the same bread, which is the medicine of immortality, and the antidote to prevent us from dying, but [which causes] that we should live for ever in Jesus Christ." - Ignatius to the Ephesians, ch. 20

-CryptoLutheran

ViaCrucis said:

I suspect, is that salvation is frequently taught, today, in largely minimalist terms, namely that salvation means not going to hell and going to heaven instead. But for most of Christian history salvation, as a concept, was the entirety of God's gracious working on our lives to heal, restore, and redeem us. It's all well and good when a physician diagnoses a sick person and the sick person goes, "Yes, I acknowledge I'm sick", but it doesn't do any good if they refuse the medicine and treatment of the physician, or think that if they took the medicine once that's all they need when they need the constant care of the physician.

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Are you saying that when someone believes that Jesus was raised from the dead and confesses with their mouth that they are only partially saved? And only though the gracious healing, restoration and redemption are we fully saved?

If your answer is yes I respectfully disagree, nowhere in the bible that I have read does it say you will be fully saved after a time of healing and restoration. Salvation is the realization of Christs work not ours it's the moment you believe and confess.

Romans 10:9-10 Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

This verse tells us how to be saved, other verses in the bible will tell us about growth in Christ.

The healing, restoration and redemption is the growth to be Christ like as much as possible. 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

I do believe that going to church, reading the bible, bible studies with people, doing good works, communion and fellowship is necessary for growth and to be as Christ like as possible.

rpsibew110 said:

Are you saying that when someone believes that Jesus was raised from the dead and confesses with their mouth that they are only partially saved? And only though the gracious healing, restoration and redemption are we fully saved?

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There's no such thing as "partially saved". I am saying, however, that salvation is about our life in Christ.

If your answer is yes I respectfully disagree, nowhere in the bible that I have read does it say you will be fully saved after a time of healing and restoration. Salvation is the realization of Christs work not ours it's the moment you believe and confess.

Romans 10:9-10 Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

This verse tells us how to be saved, other verses in the bible will tell us about growth in Christ.

The healing, restoration and redemption is the growth to be Christ like as much as possible. 1 Corinthians 11:1 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

I do believe that going to church, reading the bible, bible studies with people, doing good works, communion and fellowship is necessary for growth and to be as Christ like as possible.

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How does one confess? How does one believe? How does one come to believe in Jesus Christ, and what does it mean to believe in Jesus Christ?

How about Romans 10:17? "That faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ"
How about Galatians 3:27? "All of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ"

I'm not talking about being saved by our own efforts, I'm a Lutheran and so that's antithetical to core beliefs of Lutheranism which teach that we are saved by grace alone through faith. But that salvation is about God's grace, Christ's work, and God working faith in us. The reason St. Paul can say that if we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth that Christ is Lord and God has raised Him from the dead that we are saved isn't because by our doing this thing one time we merit salvation; but because through faith in Jesus we are justified by God's grace--and that faith comes from not ourselves but from God, it is the gift of God,

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

We (and by that I mean Lutherans) say faith comes extra nos, meaning from outside ourselves; it is a gift from God, God creates faith, God gives us faith; He gives us faith as a gift through the word. That is why we need to hear the word, because by the hearing of the word we receive faith. And it is through that faith that we are saved and are being saved. Salvation isn't just past tense, its also present tense--we are being saved.

-CryptoLutheran

Divide said:

Rebuke them out loud in the Name of Jesus, and order them to the abyss, never to return or send replacements.

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That only works if you are truly born again believer. Otherwise you end up in a similar situation to these guys:

To the original question, I would answer the gospel of Jesus Christ. When there is a spiritual battle present, you run to the Sovereign God. As a Christian, you never attempt to battle demons or spirits on your own, there is never any such precedence in the Bible.

Radagast said:

Salvation comes only from faith in Jesus Christ. Salvation does not come from burning sage.

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Amen and Amen!

rpsibew110 said:

I do believe that going to church, reading the bible, bible studies with people, doing good works, communion and fellowship is necessary for growth and to be as Christ like as possible.

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and fasting, Brother.

JoeP222w said:

When there is a spiritual battle present

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When is there ever NOT a spiritual battle going on?