Can A Christian Be Demon-Possessed?

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.
–Ephesians 1:13

Yesterday we saw that demons manifest through other people, including Christians. Does that mean Christians can be demon-possessed?

Let’s look at that term “demon-possessed.” That phrase is found nowhere in the New Testament. You might be thinking, “But what about the demon-possessed man in Luke 8?” In the Greek text, the phrase is not “demon-possessed,” but simply “demonized.” In other words, the man was under the influence of demons.

As we will discuss tomorrow, Christians can be influenced by demons, but demon possession is not an accurate term for a Christian. Think about what the word “possessed” means. If you possess something, you own it. So the real question is, can Christians be owned by demons or by Satan? The answer is no. No Christian can be owned by Satan and his demons. In Ephesians 1:13-14, Paul wrote, “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.” The moment you trust in Christ as your Savior, you not only receive the forgiveness of your sins, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is God’s stamp of ownership on your life. And God does not believe in joint ownership–He does not share His possessions with anyone. If God owns it, nobody else can own it. The fact that you as a Christian are owned by God means it is absolutely impossible for you to be possessed or owned by Satan and his demons.

That should be comforting for you as a Christian, but it also means every person who is not a Christian is possessed by Satan and his demons. When you are born into this world, you are not born as a free agent–you are born as a part of Satan’s kingdom. It is only through Christ that you are rescued from the kingdom of darkness and placed into the kingdom of light. But every non-Christian you know is still demon-possessed. That does not mean they levitate off the ground or have their heads spin around like that girl in “The Exorcist.” Demon possession does not manifest itself that way. But what it does mean is that those people belong to Satan. He is free to do to them whatever he wants to do. If that is unsettling to you, remember that you can help do something about it. As Christians, you and I are called to be part of God’s plan to deliver people from Satan’s kingdom by sharing the gospel message with them–that only through Christ can they be redeemed from the ownership of Satan.

Today’s devotion is excerpted from “What Demons Want To Do To You” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2010.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.