Demoizatio of the Believer, A Ubiblical Teachig Exposed Copyright 1994 Published by Idia Hills Commuity Church Systematically Teachig the Word 1000 South 84th Street, Licol, Nebraska 68510-4499 First Pritig: 1994 (1,000 copies) Secod Pritig: 1997 (3,000 copies) All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced i ay form without permissio i writig from the publisher, except i the case of brief quotatios embodied i critical articles or reviews. Scripture quotatios are from the New America Stadard Bible, Lockma Foudatio 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. All quotatios used by permissio. Visit our Web Site at: www.ihcc.org E-Mail us at: ihcc@ihcc.org FAX: (402) 483-6716 Phoe: (402) 483-4541
C O N T E N T S Itroductio... 7 Chapter 1 Si: Who Is to Blame?... 11 Chapter 2 A Biblical Survey of Demoology... 15 Chapter 3 Demo Possessio ad the Believer... 21 Chapter 4 The Biblical Way of Dealig with Demos... 29 Chapter 5 The Fallacy of Cliical Evidece i Spiritual Matters... 33 Chapter 6 Acestral Demos... 39 Chapter 7 Experieced-Based Theology... 41 Coclusio... 53 Bibliography... 55 Notes... 57 3
4 Demoizatio of the Believer I N T R O D U C T I O N Ca a believer be demoized? There is a movemet withi Evagelicalism today that says, Yes. This movemet is teachig that a high percetage of si amog Christias is caused by demos. Followers asset that a perso ca be a believer i Jesus Christ, experiece fulless of salvatio, ad still be i bodage to Sata ad demos. The popularity of this movemet ca be see i the semiars beig held across the coutry ad the best-sellig books beig published that promote this teachig. However, upo studyig this movemet, I believe this teachig of the demoizatio of the believer is cotrary to Scripture ad is i lie with the world s view of everyoe beig a victim. This teachig is a deial of the sufficiecy of the work of Christ ad Scripture. This teachig of the demoizatio of the believer has ot come without a foreruer. Christia psychology has brought the world s idea of victimizatio to the Church. Psychology has taught us that everyoe is a victim. Whe a perso has problems i his life he is ofte told it is the result of his past or how his parets treated him. The ed result is that he does ot take resposibility for his ow actios. We see this today. People are suig cigarette makers because they have smoked for fifty years ad are dyig of lug cacer. Crimials claim that their dysfuctioal families are the reaso for their crimial acts. Everyoe is blamig someoe or somethig else for their problems. Now there is a differet twist. Now our deviat behavior is beig blamed o Sata ad demos. This is the flip-side of psychology. I both cases there is somethig other tha ourselves to blame
Itroductio 5 for our si. Both make the believer a victim who eeds the steps ad formulas of the experts i order to fid true joy ad victory. Christia psychology s emphasis o experiece ad stories also parallels this teachig o the demoizatio of the believer. I have foud i my study of Christia psychology, that the source of authority is experiece rather tha Scripture. Now with the demoizatio of the believer movemet, I fid the same theology by story emphasis. Ad i the process, the biblical way of dealig with people s si problem has bee abadoed. Whe someoe examies a teachig such as this i light of Scripture, he is ofte accused of ot lovig or watig to help people. Certaily, we are to care about fellow believers ad help them with their difficulties but we must make sure that we offer them solutios that are based o the truths of God s Word. It is ot eough just to care about people ad their problems; we must give them the right prescriptio to deal with their problems. This issue is ot over whether Sata ad demos exist. I believe i a literal, persoal devil who is busily opposig us. We are i a spiritual warfare agaist the spiritual forces of wickedess i the heavely places. I am ot miimizig that. However, we must make sure our view of demos ad how to deal with them is based o Scripture, ot stories. Whe filtered through Scripture, it becomes obvious that this teachig o the demoizatio of believers is ot biblical. I believe that may of the experieces cited to support this teachig do ot lie up with Scripture. As a result, people are beig deceived ad Christias are payig attetio to usoud doctrie. This booklet is ot meat to be a exhaustive study of demoology. Istead, it is a aalysis of the demoizatio movemet i light of Scripture. Throughout this booklet, I ofte refer to the works of two me, Neil Aderso ad Fred Dickaso, who have had great ifluece i promotig demoizatio teachig. I do ot questio these me s salvatio or motives. I believe much of their teachig is i error i light of Scripture. I studyig the books of these me I have foud sectios that I would cosider theologically soud. However, it is the mixture of truth with error that esares believers. Ofte whe people promote a teachig they suspect others may disagree with, they use iformatio everyoe will agree o. The they
6 Demoizatio of the Believer woder why their teachig is beig scrutiized. However, the problem is the mixture. Whe a gallo of milk is mixed with a drop of poiso, the product is ot mostly good milk. The result is poisoed milk. Likewise, a mixture of good theology with ubiblical theology results i a poisoed theology. I this booklet we will look at the issue of demos ad their relatioship to si i the life of the believer. I doig so, we will also evaluate the curret demoizatio of the believer movemet. It is my hope i the ed that the reader will have a greater ad more biblical uderstadig of the issues ivolved, all to the hoor ad glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
C H A P T E R O N E Si: Who Is to Blame? Sice we are dealig with the issue of si i the life of a believer, it is essetial to look at what the Bible has to say about the issue of si ad who is resposible for it. May of us are familiar with the phrase, The devil made me do it. Ufortuately, there are Christias today who are teachig that si i the life of a believer ca sometimes be traced to demos. For example, i his book, The Bodage Breaker, Neil Aderso gives a example of this type of thikig whe he describes the case of a Christia woma who he said had bee ivolved i all types of si: Sheila is a soberig example of a dimesio of spiritual vulerability that most Christias do ot like to talk about: demoic cotrol. As a believer, Sheila had obviously lost cotrol i her eatig habits, i her sexual behavior, ad i her devotioal life. 1 Accordig to Aderso, the reaso for this woma s siful behavior was demoic cotrol. She is ot to blame for her lack of disciplie or sexual immorality i her life. Aderso the states that this woma evetually became free whe she reouced Sata s cotrol over her life. 2 But ca the devil make us si? Is demoic cotrol a reaso for our siful behavior? The Scripture is clear o what the source of si is. 7
8 Demoizatio of the Believer Our Lusts Let o oe say whe he is tempted, I am beig tempted by God, for God caot be tempted by evil, ad He Himself does ot tempt ayoe. But each oe is tempted whe he is carried away ad eticed by his ow lust (James 1:13,14). James says that our ow lust is the reaso for our si, ot demoic cotrol. The Flesh Now the deeds of the flesh are evidet, which are: immorality, impurity, sesuality, idolatry, sorcery, emities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of ager, disputes, dissesios, factios, evyig, drukeess, carousig, ad thigs like these (Gal. 5:19 21). Notice that these sis are ot deeds of the devil. They are deeds of the flesh. Whe we si, our flesh is the problem. The resposibility lies with us. No outside force ca be blamed. Evil Hearts For from withi, out of the heart of me, proceed the evil thoughts, foricatios, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of covetig ad wickedess, as well as deceit, sesuality, evy, slader, pride ad foolishess (Mark 7:21,22). The evil thoughts ad deeds of me come from their ow wicked hearts. It is our ow lusts, flesh, ad evil hearts that cause us to si. Si ad the Christia What about Christias? Do they ever si? Yes Christias do si. First Joh 1:8 says that If we say that we have o si, we are deceivig ourselves. James 3:2 says, For we all stumble i may ways. At the momet of coversio, a perso becomes a ew creature i Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). The Holy Spirit ow lives withi him. He is o loger the perso he used to be but is a reewed child of God. However, Scripture does teach that eve though a perso has become a ew creature i Christ, he will struggle with idwellig si i this life:
Si: Who Is to Blame? 9 For the flesh sets its desire agaist the Spirit, ad the Spirit agaist the flesh; for these are i oppositio to oe aother, so that you may ot do the thigs that you please (Gal. 5:17). Withi each perso there remais a desire to si which the Bible calls the flesh. Eve believers, who possess the Holy Spirit, have this battle with the flesh. That is why there is a coflict. The Holy Spirit ad the flesh are at war with each other. The ubeliever does ot have this coflict sice he does ot possess the Holy Spirit. For him, the flesh always has its way. But for the Christia, there is a war goig o iside his ow body. The Apostle Paul talked about his ow persoal battle with the flesh: For I kow that othig good dwells i me, that is, i my flesh; for the wishig is preset i me, but the doig of good is ot. For the good that I wish, I do ot do; but I practice the very evil that I do ot wish.... I fid the the priciple that evil is preset i me, the oe who wishes to do good (Rom. 7:18,19,21). The Christia s Victory over Si The battle with si is a tough, life-log battle. But, provisio has bee made to allow us victory over si: Now those who belog to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passios ad desires (Gal. 5:24). For the believer, the flesh has bee crucified. This does ot mea that the flesh is totally doe away with or ceases to exist, for we still struggle with it. But its power over the believer has bee broke. Though the flesh still exists, the believer o loger has to obey it. Our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of si might be doe away with, that we should o loger be slaves to si; for he who has died is freed from si (Rom. 6:6,7). Therefore do ot let si reig i your mortal body that you should obey its lusts, ad do ot go o presetig the members of your body to si as istrumets of urighteousess; but preset yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, ad your members as istrumets of righteousess to God (Rom. 6:12,13).
10 Demoizatio of the Believer Because our flesh has bee crucified ad its power over us has bee broke, we are ot to let si reig i our bodies. We o loger have to obey our old master of si. We are ow free to serve God ad do righteousess. The Fial Victory Though the battle with si is a lifelog battle, there will come a day whe the struggle will be over: We ourselves groa withi ourselves, waitig eagerly for our adoptio as sos, the redemptio of our body (Rom. 8:23). I a momet, i the twiklig of a eye, at the last trumpet... the dead will be raised imperishable, ad we shall be chaged. For this perishable must put o the imperishable, ad this mortal must put o immortality (1 Cor. 15:52,53). Whe Jesus Christ comes agai we will receive immortal bodies icapable of ever siig agai. The the battle with the flesh will be over for good. The Bible is clear o the issue of si ad where it comes from. Whe a perso sis it is because of their flesh ad siful hearts. The resposibility lies with that perso aloe. Si caot be blamed o ayoe or aythig else. It is true that Christias ca si. Eve though they are ew creatures i Christ, there is still the battle with the flesh. However, Christ s death provided us with the power to have victory over the flesh. The fial victory over si will come whe Christ comes agai ad grats us our siless, eteral bodies. What a joy it is to kow the fulless of salvatio i Christ!
C H A P T E R T W O A Biblical Survey of Demoology We have looked at the issue of si ad the believer. But what is the relatioship betwee the believer ad demos? I discussig this relatioship we must have a grasp of what the Bible says about Sata ad demos. Old Testamet The biblical doctrie of demoology is ot complicated. The Old Testamet gives isight to Sata ad his activities. Geesis 3 describes his temptatio of Eve. Isaiah 14:12-15 ad Ezekiel 28:11-15 portray the fall of Sata as a result of his rebellio agaist God. Particularly applicable to this discussio is the case of Job. The first two chapters of Job give isight ito spiritual battles ad coflicts. Job was the object of Sataic attack but he was ot idwelt by Sata. Job ever was told to deal with the devil. He was ot told to speak to Sata, bid him, or sed him to the pit. What was Job s resposibility? It was to be faithful, resist, ad stad firm. The Old Testamet gives cosiderable metio to Sata ad his work. However, there are o cases where Old Testamet saits spoke to him or tried to cast him out directly. The Gospels The Gospel Era was a uique period of time. As metioed, i the Old Testamet Period, there was o castig out of demos. With the presece of Jesus, the So of God, o earth, demoic maifesta- 11
12 Demoizatio of the Believer tio bega. Demos opely displayed their presece so that Jesus power ad authority over the demos could be demostrated. 1. Kigdom Truth The castig out of demos was directly related to the Messiah s offer of the kigdom to the atio Israel: But if I cast out demos by the Spirit of God, the the kigdom of God has come upo you (Matt. 12:28). Subduig demos was a demostratio of the authority ad power that Jesus had as the Messiah of Israel. The Kig had come ad the kigdom was ow preset i the perso of the Messiah. That is why Jesus could say, The kigdom of God has come upo you. Jesus was sayig to the Jewish leaders, I am the Messiah. I am here to establish the kigdom. The proof is I have authority over Sata ad demos. Whe eveig had come, they brought to Him may who were demo possessed; ad He cast out the Spirits with a word, ad healed all who were ill i order that what was spoke through Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, sayig, He Himself took our ifirmities, ad carried away our diseases (Matt. 8:16,17). Whe the people saw that Jesus had authority over demos, the Messiaic prophecy of Isaiah should have alerted them that the Kig was preset ad the kigdom was beig offered. The there was brought to Him a demo-possessed ma who was blid ad dumb, ad He healed him, so that the dumb ma spoke ad saw. Ad all the multitudes were amazed ad bega to say, This ma caot be the So of David, ca he? (Matt. 12:22,23). So of David was a Messiaic title. Agai, the people rightfully associated His power ad authority over the demos as the work of the Messiah. 2. Bidig the Strogma A verse that has ofte bee iterpreted icorrectly is Matthew 12:29. I this passage, Jesus had bee accused of castig out demos i the power of Sata. He respoded by sayig,
A Biblical Survey of Demoology 13 Or how ca ayoe eter the strog ma s house ad carry off his property, uless he first bids the strog ma? Christ aloe, as the Messiah, had the power to subdue Sata. But Aderso takes bidig the strogma to mea a preset patter to be followed: Stad firm i the armor of God that God has provided ad step out i Christ s authority to pluder the strog ma s house for God. 3 Aderso thiks that if we are goig to have victory over Sata, we too have to bid the strog ma. But as we have already show, dealig with demos directly was a idicator that the Messiah was preset o the earth, ot somethig to be ormative for all believers. What makes Aderso s iterpretatio of this passage icosistet is that earlier i his book he ackowledges that it is ot proper to form doctrie based oly o the Gospels: We have mistakely formulated our methods for dealig with demoic powers from the Gospels istead of the Epistles. This is easy to do, sice the oly specific examples of demoic expulsio are foud i Matthew, Mark, Luke, Joh, ad Acts.... Some Christias object to makig a sharp distictio betwee the Gospels ad the Epistles. Yet all dispesatioal as well as coveatal theologias see at least some distictios i movig from law to grace ad from the Old Coveat to the New Coveat. 4 Aderso admits we should ot be takig our istructio ad patter for dealig with demos from the Gospels, but that is exactly what he did with Matthew 12. Matthew 12 is uique because Jesus was showig His Messiaic authority by subduig the devil. Yet Aderso wrogly makes bidig the strogma somethig to be practiced today. There are those who wat to base their theology of demos o the Gospels sice they caot get it aywhere else. But as we have already show, because of the uiqueess of the Gospel Period, oe should ot build his doctrie of dealig with demos based o how the So of God dealt with them. Jesus Christ s persoal power ad
14 Demoizatio of the Believer authority over demos as the Messiah caot be trasferred to ayoe else. It is true that He gave that authority to the Apostles to go out ad represet Him. But that apostolic authority eded with the death of the Apostles ad does ot trasfer over to us today. Acts There are three occasios i the book of Acts that deal with demos: Acts 8, 16, ad 19. I each of these cases the Apostles were dealig with demos. The Apostles were specifically commissioed by Christ as represetatives of Him. The power give them was for the purpose of validatig their apostleship, ot as a example for the Church to follow. As we have see, because of the ature of their commissio, their castig out of demos caot be made ormative for believers today. The Epistles The activity of demos i the Epistles is well documeted. Demos promote false doctrie (I Tim. 4:1-3), are associated with idolatry (I Cor. 10:20), help cause divisios (James 3:13-16), ad aid Sata i his war agaist God (Eph 6:11,12). However, dealig directly with demos is ever addressed i the Epistles. This is importat sice the Epistles dealt specifically with istructios for the Church. The Epistles were writte to give the Church all the iformatio it eeded to effectively serve the Lord i this age, yet owhere is the cocept of speakig to or castig out demos metioed. If castig out demos was so importat to the Church why was it ever metioed i the Epistles? Also, we do ot fid Paul ruig all over the coutry castig out demos. Eve i a city like Corith, where there was much occultic activity, Paul does ot metio castig out demos. However, what is metioed ofte is how to deal with the flesh (Gal. 5:16). The emphasis is clearly o the flesh whe dealig with si, ot demos. Revelatio I the book of Revelatio, demoic activity picks up agai. But eve i the sectios which are addressed to the churches (chapters 1-3), there are o directios for speakig to demos. Eve with the Church livig uder demoic pressure, where Sata s throe was
A Biblical Survey of Demoology 15 (Rev. 2:13), there were o commads to bid Sata ad demos. Whe Jesus spoke to the church at Thyatira, He did ot say, Bid Sata or You have a territorial demo, drive him out. Eve those believers who were uder the ifluece of the wicked Jezebel were ot told to break her demoic power. Revelatio gives us a glimpse ito the demoic world ad what is takig place behid the scees. However, we do ot have ay situatio where believers are ruig aroud castig out demos. To summarize, the oly legitimate castig out of demos happeed i the time of Christ ad the apostles. This demostrated that Jesus truly was the Messiah the Old Testamet predicted would come. The Jews at that time would recogize that castig out of demos meat that the Messiah was preset ad offerig the kigdom to the atio Israel. The apostles were give this authority to cast out demos as represetatives of Christ. This authority caot be trasferred to ayoe else. Scripture has much to say cocerig Sata ad demos. They are real spiritual beigs who actively oppose the plas of God. They are busy deceivig, temptig, ad promotig false doctrie. Nowhere do we see believers beig possessed by demos.
16 Demoizatio of the Believer C H A P T E R T H R E E Demo Possessio ad the Believer Scripture shows us the activity of Sata ad demos. But o the issue of demos ad the believer there has bee some questio. Ca a believer be demo possessed? Some teach that there is a differece betwee a ubeliever beig totally possessed by a demo ad a Christia beig ivaded by a demo. For example, i Bill McCloud s book, Fellowship with the Falle, he makes a distictio betwee ivasio ad possessio : You will otice that I am usig the word ivasio as well as the word possessio. I am usig the word ivasio as a geeral term to cover the demoizatio of believers, ad the word possessio as a term to cover the demoizatio of obelievers. 5 No Christia ca be so possessed. He ca certaily be ivaded to lesser degrees ad i some cases to alarmig degrees, but he caot be totally possessed. 6 Aderso agrees: To be demoized meas to be uder the cotrol of oe or more demos. Demoizatio is ot a matter of extremes, such as the either/or idea of beig completely free or totally boud; it is a matter of degrees. 7 To these me, demoizatio is ot a matter of extremes. It is ot
Demo Possessio ad the Believer 17 either beig completely free of demos or totally boud by demos. To them it is a matter of degree. Are Demo Possessio ad Demo Ivasio Differet? However, Scripture does ot make a distictio betwee demo possessio of ubelievers ad demo ivasio of believers. To claim otherwise is to play word games. Demo possessio simply meas that a demo resides withi a perso ad is cotrollig that perso. There are o other variatios of demos idwellig a perso. Demos ca oppress, attack, ad tempt from the outside but Scripture is clear that a demo caot idwell a believer ad cotrol him. There are two terms that refer to demo possessio i the New Testamet. First, the Greek word, daimoizomai is usually traslated to be possessed by a demo. Or whe it refers to a perso, it is traslated, demoiac. The word is foud thirtee times i the Gospels ad is sometimes traslated, to be demoized. The secod term, daimmoio echei meas to have a demo. 8 This term is used eight times. Some make a distictio betwee beig demoized ad demo possessio as if there was a differece. But this is a artificial distictio. To be demoized is to be demo possessed. I the Gospels, those who were demoized had a demo residig withi them ad that demo cotrolled them. The demo maifested his cotrol i various ways, but he resided i ad cotrolled the perso he idwelt. The Scripture does ot allow for a special category of believers who have bee ivaded by a demo but are ot possessed by a demo. A few examples will show that there is o differece betwee demo possessio ad demo ivasio: Whe eveig had come, they brought to Him may who were demo-possessed; ad He cast out the spirits with a word (Matt. 8:16). Mary who was called Magdalee from whom seve demos had goe out (Luke 8:2). Ad whe He had come to the other side ito the coutry of the Gadarees, two me who were demo-possessed met Him (Matt. 8:28).
18 Demoizatio of the Believer These were obviously demo possessed people. The demos were to be cast out of them ad ito somethig else, for example, the herd of swie (Matt. 8:31). Ad as they were goig out, behold, a dumb ma, demo-possessed, was brought to Him. Ad after the demo was cast out (Matt. 9:32,33). It is clear that the demos metioed i these passages ihabited the people metioed. That is why Jesus cast them out. To have a demo ad demo possessio are the same thig. I other words, a perso who has a demo is oe who is demo possessed. There are o separate degrees. Does the Bible Teach that Believers Ca Be Demoized? Oe would expect that those who promote that believers ca be demoized would try to make a strog case from Scripture for their view. Yet eve these me recogize that the Bible does ot clearly support their view. Aderso says: Ca a Christia be demo possessed? No questio polarizes the Christia commuity more tha this oe, ad the tragedy is that there is o absolutely biblical way to aswer it... the word traslated as demo possessio ever occurs i Scripture after the cross, so we are left with o theological precisio as to what demoizatio would costitute i the Church Age. 9 It must be asked, if we caot be theologically precise cocerig demo possessio i this Church Age, why are we makig it a issue for the Church? Fred Dickaso, i his book, Demo Possessio ad the Christia, has a chapter etitled, Biblical Evidece Supportig Demoizatio of Christias, i which he examies all the Scripture passages relatig to demo possessio. What is iterestig about this chapter is the coclusios he comes to i the passages that supposedly give support for demoizatio of believers. Though it is ot possible to cover every passage he gives, here are samples of his coclusios to certai passages that are ofte used to prove that believers ca be demoized:
Demo Possessio ad the Believer 19 1 Thessaloias 2:18: This passage says othig of demoizatio i ay clear sese. 10 1 Joh 4:1 4: We coclude that this passage does ot preset ay sure evidece that believers ca be ihabited by demos. 11 2 Peter 2:1 22: We coclude that there is o sure evidece of the demoizatio of geuie believers available from this passage. Where there is a reasoable doubt of the certaity of the cotributio of a passage, we caot legitimately cout o it. 12 Matthew 8:16: We must agai say that the weight of the facts does ot brig us to a iescapable coclusio. 13 Acts 5:1 3: We must agai coclude that there is ot sufficiet evidece to determie if this is a case of believers beig demoized. 14 Acts 8:9 24: The evidece is icoclusive. 15 Remember that this is supposedly the chapter that is presetig biblical evidece supportig demoizatio of believers. Also otice what he states i his summary of this chapter: We have cosidered the major passages ad cases from Scripture that have bee used or may be used to support the cocept that geuie believers may be demoized. Most of these cases caot be cosidered valid evidece for various reasos i the cotext or from other biblical iformatio. 16 Dickaso does say that certai passages, such as the oes describig the daughter of Abraham who had a spirit of illess i Luke 13 ad the Corithia togues speakers i 1 Corithias 12, must be cosidered as fairly strog evidece (for demoizatio of believers).
20 Demoizatio of the Believer Dickaso the says about these passages: However, there still may be legitimate doubts that these are geuie examples of New Testamet believers beig ihabited by demos. Thus we caot coclusively say that the Bible clearly presets evidece that believers may be demoized. 17 I the coclusio to his book, Dickaso says: A rather thorough examiatio of the biblical evidece leads us to coclude that it either clearly affirms or deies the reality of demoizatio of believers.... But to be fair, we must say that with biblical evidece aloe, we caot reach a defiite or dogmatic coclusio. 18 Accordig to Dickaso, after all the biblical evidece is weighed, the best he ca say is that there is o defiite evidece for demoic possessio of believers. But if there is o biblical evidece, why do t we just leave the matter aloe istead of tryig to add experiece ad cliical evidece to Scripture? What the Bible Says Ca it be true that somethig so importat to our spiritual lives would ot be addressed by Scripture? I Christ have we ot received everythig pertaiig to life ad godliess? (2 Peter 1:3). Is ot all Scripture ispired by God ad profitable for teachig, for reproof, for correctio, for traiig i righteousess; that the ma of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work? (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Is the Bible icomplete o such a importat issue? O the cotrary, the Bible is clear that a believer caot be possessed by demos. God s Property Or do you ot kow that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is i you, whom you have from God, ad that you are ot your ow? For you have bee bought with a price: therefore glorify God i your body (1 Cor. 6:19). Amazigly, there are those who thik that the devil ca live i the same temple as the Holy Spirit. Yet this body is the residece of the Holy Spirit. It belogs to Him, ot to us or the devil. Titus 2:14 says
Demo Possessio ad the Believer 21 that Christ redeemed us to be a people for His ow possessio. We are God s property. To say that the devil ca live i the body of believers makes osese of what the Scripture teaches. God Is Greater You are from God, little childre, ad have overcome them; because greater is He who is i you tha he who is i the world (1 Joh 4:4). The He who is i the believer is the Holy Spirit. The he who is i the world is the devil. The Holy Spirit who idwells us is greater tha the devil whose presece is i the world. Plus, if the devil is i the world, he is ot i us. We kow that o oe who is bor of God sis, but He who was bor of God keeps him, ad the evil oe does ot touch him (1 Joh 5:18). This is a promise to all believers. God will ot let the devil have cotrol of a believer. Jesus also prayed that the Father would keep us from the evil oe (Joh 17:15). But the Lord is faithful, ad He will stregthe ad protect you from the evil oe (2 Thess. 3:3). Devil s Power Broke Sice the the childre share i flesh ad blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might reder powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil (Heb. 2:14). Christ s death redered the devil powerless. To reder powerless meas that the power to cotrol was broke. Therefore, the devil s power over believers was broke. No matter what occultic backgroud we or our acestors may have had, the devil o loger has cotrol over us. How ca there be teachers who claim that whe a perso becomes a believer he must still coted with idwellig demos? Christ defeated Sata. We o loger have to worry about demoizatio or so-called acestral demos.
22 Demoizatio of the Believer Newess of Life Therefore we have bee buried with Him through baptism ito death, i order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk i ewess of life. For if we have become uited with Him i the likeess of His death, certaily we shall also be i the likeess of His resurrectio, kowig this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of si might be doe away with i order that we should o loger be slaves to si, for he who has died is freed from si. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him (Rom. 6:4-8). Salvatio is a radical break with our old life. Whe we came to believe i Jesus Christ, we were idetified with Him i His death, His burial, ad His resurrectio. As a result, those who believe i Him ca ow walk i ewess of life. We have bee set free. We are o loger slaves of si. No matter how awful our backgroud may have bee, Christ gave us a ew, fresh start. If that is true, how ca we still be slaves to our past or to demos? Notice that it does ot say, buried with Him, raised with Him to ewess of life, but idwelt by acestral demos. Whe we became believers, if we still had acestral demos, we would ot be walkig i ewess of life. Everythig has bee accomplished for us at the momet of salvatio. This does ot mea that we ever si. But whe we si, we are to face that si, tur from it, ad get o with our walk with God. That is the true biblical patter. Daughter of Abraham Luke 13:10 16 has bee used to try to show that a Christia ca be possessed. I this passage a woma who was bet over because of a spirit of ifirmity is called a daughter of Abraham. Therefore, accordig to some, she must have bee a believer. However, i this cotext, beig a daughter of Abraham simply meat that she was a Jew (Joh 8:33,37). It caot be implied that she was a believer. Should Not a People Cosult Their God? Believers caot be possessed by demos. Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit idwells us ad is greater tha the devil who is i the world. The devil caot touch us ad Jesus has asked the Father
Demo Possessio ad the Believer 23 to keep us from the evil oe. Plus, Christ s death has broke the devil s power over us ad we have ewess of life. This does ot mea that a believer caot be deceived or tempted by the devil. It does mea that the devil caot reside withi a believer or have power over him. The Scripture is clear o this matter. But eve if it was ot so clear, the subject must be mute sice there is o way to have ay authoritative kowledge about the spirit realm apart from the revelatio of God. Isaiah codemed the people of his day for goig outside of Scripture for supposed aswers by askig, S hould ot a people cosult their God? (Is. 8:19,20). Those who say we must look to experiece for the aswer to this problem are sayig that they are ot satisfied with what God has revealed cocerig this spiritual matter. Therefore, they are goig to fid the aswer o their ow. The idea that a perso ca tur to experiece because he does ot believe Scripture is clear eough is erroeous. Christ s work was sufficiet. There is o further deliverace that must take place. If there were, salvatio i Christ would be icomplete. If the Church would stop ad thik through its theology of Scripture, we would realize that somethig is drastically wrog with what is beig promoted by those who teach that believers ca be demoized.
24 Demoizatio of the Believer C H A P T E R F O U R The Biblical Way of Dealig with Demos The glorious salvatio of Jesus Christ has freed us from the power of Sata. Yet as believers, we are still ivolved i a spiritual battle with the powers of darkess: For our struggle is ot agaist flesh ad blood, but agaist the rulers, agaist the powers, agaist the world forces of this darkess, agaist the spiritual forces of wickedess i the heavely places (Eph. 6:12). The battle is real ad we must be prepared. Provisio has bee made for us to be ushakable ad immovable i spiritual warfare. Do Not Be Coformed Do ot be coformed to this world (Rom. 12:2). Believers must keep a biblical view of dealig with si ad demos. We should ot be surprised whe the world buys ito victimizatio programs. But there is o excuse for the Church to get mired dow i the same sik hole. It is importat that we do ot thik like the world o this issue. Stad Firm Resist the devil ad he will flee from you (James 4:7).
The Biblical Way of Dealig with Demos 25 Be of sober spirit, be o the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roarig lio, seekig someoe to devour. But resist him, firm i your faith (1 Pet. 5:8,9). The Christia s warfare tactics are primarily defesive. It is oe of beig alert ad stadig firm i our faith. Notice there is o commad to egage Sata i a offesive maer. Put o the Armor of God Fially, be strog i the Lord, ad i the stregth of His might. Put o the full armor of God, that you may be able to stad firm agaist the schemes of the devil (Eph. 6:10,11). We do ot fight the devil i our ow stregth, but we are strog i the Lord. He is the Oe who gives us the victory. We fight our spiritual battle i His power by puttig o His armor. Take up the full armor of God, that you may be able to resist i the evil day, ad havig doe everythig, to stad firm (Eph.6:13). The idea of takig up the full armor of God is deficiet if the devil is livig i the believer. The picture of puttig o the armor idicates we are goig to do battle with a outer oppoet who is attackig us from the outside, ot from withi. Stad firm, therefore, havig girded your lois with truth, ad havig put o the breastplate of righteousess, ad havig shod your feet with the preparatio of the gospel of peace, i additio to all, takig up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extiguish all the flamig missiles of the evil oe. Ad take the helmet of salvatio ad the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer ad petitio, pray at all times i the Spirit (Eph. 6:14 18). The Bible does talk about the devil ad how believers are to deal with him. We fight our spiritual warfare by stadig firm. We stad firm agaist the devil by usig truth, righteousess, the Gospel, faith, salvatio, the Word of God, ad prayer. We are ot told to deal with Sata i the usee cosmic realm. Nowhere i these direct istructios cocerig dealig with the devil are we told to speak to him, bid him, or cast him out. Also otice that owhere
26 Demoizatio of the Believer do these verses say that a demo ca be i a believer. Our focus i spiritual warfare is to be o what God has provided for us i Christ. As we are o the alert ad stad firm i our salvatio we will experiece victory i spiritual battle. Is Speakig to Demos Necessary? I spite of the clear, biblical istructio cocerig how we are to coduct our spiritual warfare, there are those who teach that we must also speak to demos: As you go through the steps to freedom, remember that Sata will be defeated oly if you cofrot him verbally. 19 If you re goig to resist Sata, you must do so outwardly so he ca uderstad you ad be put to flight. 20 I other words, uless Scripture is spoke aloud to Sata it will have o impact o him. But where does it say i Scripture that oe must speak aloud to Sata so he ca hear? Is t believig, submittig, ad layig claim to the Word eough? Yet ow we are told we must speak out loud to Sata. We do ot kow whether Sata ca read our mids or ot. Evidetly if it was that importat God would have told us i His Word. Neil Aderso caot tell us more tha God has. I his book, Dickaso tells of a time he asked a demo, who was supposedly speakig through a believer, if demos try to keep Christias from thikig that they ca be ihabited by demos. The demo respoded: Oh, yes! We use it all the time. It is oe of the best tools we have ever promoted. 21 Here is a case of a ma askig a demo for iformatio. Is that the way to fid out about the spirit realm? Ca a demo tell us what Scripture does ot say? This souds like the Charismatic movemet all over agai. Christias have regarded the petecostal methods of dealig with demos as ubiblical. However, we ow have wellkow ad respected Christia leaders teachig what Charismatic teachers have bee teachig for years. This teachig that believers are to speak to demos is ubiblical. Eve Michael the archagel, whe disputig with Sata over the
The Biblical Way of Dealig with Demos 27 body of Moses, did ot dare proouce agaist him a railig judgmet, but said, The Lord rebuke you (Jude 9). We too, whe it comes to speakig to Sata, ought to leave it to the Lord.
28 Demoizatio of the Believer C H A P T E R F I V E The Fallacy of Cliical Evidece i Spiritual Matters The use of cliical evidece has bee cited as a legitimate way to evaluate whether believers ca be demoized. I other words, some believe that scietific evaluatio ca be used to help us uderstad more about demoizatio of believers. But ca cliical evidece help us uderstad more about this issue? Fred Dickaso thiks so: But where Scripture is ot decisive, we may gai isight from experiece. 22 We are ready to cosider the cotributio of cliical evidece to our search for the aswer to our pricipal questio, Ca Christias be demoized? 23 Just as sciece has foud the truth of God s world i its research, so may geuiely evaluated ad reliably documeted experiece fid the truth i this matter. 24 We have foud that though there is a great deal of iformatio to cosider ad though me adduce evidece of varyig weight, yet we could ot come to a defiite coclusio. We ow must seek what other valid evidece there might be that could aid us i our quest to aswer this importat ad practical questio. 25 Dickaso claims that the Scripture is ot clear eough to istruct us
The Fallacy of Cliical Evidece i Spiritual Matters 29 o demo possessio of believers. Therefore, we must also look towards experiece ad cliical evidece istead. This is a serious matter. If demos ca idwell ad cotrol a believer i such a way that he has o cotrol over his ow body, would t God address this i His Word? Would t our salvatio be related to this issue? Yet Dickaso is sayig that there is ot eough iformatio i the Bible o this issue; therefore, we must look at cliical evidece ad experiece. The metio of cliical evidece brigs a white coat, medical picture to mid. We assume that sice it is cliical evidece it must be valid. It is just like goig to the doctor. If we have a pai, or a growth, we go ito the cliic ad they examie it ad fid out what is physically wrog. Now there are some who wat to do that i the spiritual realm as well. A Improper Aalogy The aalogy of cliical evidece i regard to physical diseases has bee used to try to show that demoizatio ca also be cliically evaluated. Dickaso has tried to use the aalogy of cacer to show that believers ca be demoized: If we fid that a believer has such a disease, we have evidece for sayig that believers ca have that disease. Whe we are doe, we do ot have a biblical doctrie; but we have used biblical doctrie i applicatio to a experietial ivestigatio. With proper validatio, our coclusio may be accepted as fact, eve though it is ot taught specifically i the Bible. 26 Dickaso is sayig that eve though the Bible does ot address the issue of believers havig cacer, we ca kow through cliical evidece that they ca have cacer. He believes cliical research ca the also be applied to the issue of demo possessio of believers: Havig researched the evidece i broad fashio by proper applicatio of both biblical ad cliical parameters, we may come to the valid coclusio that Christias ca be demoized. 27 No oe will dey that we ca fid out about havig cacer by goig to a medical doctor. Ad o oe will dey that believers get diseases. But Dickaso assumes that the ext step is to fid out about
30 Demoizatio of the Believer demoizatio of believers by usig cliical evaluatio. However, comparig cacer with demo possessio is a improper aalogy. Spiritual matters caot be determied by scietific evidece. That is comparig apples with rocks. The Bible ever preteds to address all the iformatio there is o physical diseases. But it does claim to address all matters cocerig si ad sactificatio i the life of the believer (cf. 2 Peter 1:3). It may be factual truth ad ot biblical truth that a perso ca be diagosed as havig cacer. But there is o factual truth that is ivolved with si ad the spirit world that is ot foud i Scripture. It is ofte said, Not all truth that ca be kow is foud i the Bible. That may be true. The Bible says othig about the truths of electricity. Why? It is ot essetial for salvatio ad sactificatio. However, all the truth cocerig salvatio ad sactificatio is foud i the Bible. Likewise, all truth for dealig with si ad Sata is foud i the Bible. How Valid Is This Valid Iformatio? Cocerig the use of cliical evidece, Dickaso goes o to say: Whe we seek what may be called cliical evidece, we are really lookig at iformatio that may legitimately be gathered ad evaluated from cliets ad couselors who have bee ivolved i hadlig demoic oppressio. 28 We hope this will be accepted as a legitimate ad practical procedure i our search. 29 But are we really lookig at legitimate iformatio whe we seek supposed, cliical evidece? After all, who said it is legitimately gathered? Who said God wats us rootig through the garbage cas of the world lookig for a way to deal with idwellig demos i the lives of believers? Are we goig to fid evidece from the medical ad psychological professios that has ot bee foud i the Bible? Supposedly, we are lookig for iformatio that may be legitimately gathered ad evaluated from cliets ad couselors who have bee ivolved i hadlig demoic oppressio. But how do they kow they have bee ivolved i hadlig demoic oppressio? The Bible does ot tell us this. Are we supposed to liste to the stories of people who supposedly couseled the demo op-
The Fallacy of Cliical Evidece i Spiritual Matters 31 pressed whe the Scripture does ot eve address the issue? I spite of these uaswered questios the fidigs of these experts are supposed to be valid evidece. But we do ot kow this. I referrig to the idea that cliical evidece ca be used to determie if Christias ca be demoized, Dickaso says: Whe we say this, we caot say this is a biblical doctrie or theological deductio from biblical evidece. 30 Notice that he admits that demoizatio of believers caot be a biblical doctrie. He also says: We recogize the lack of coclusive evidece i the Bible o this issue, ad would ot elevate the coclusio to the stature of biblical truth. But we have foud the factual truth to be that Christias ca be ad have bee demoized. 31 But it is questioable whether he truly has foud the factual truth. He has moved ito a realm where all he has is a experiece ad his ow ability to discer what is really happeig i the spirit world. Dickaso eve admits that we caot affirm this is a biblical doctrie or a theological deductio from biblical evidece. How ca we kow that we are dealig with demo oppressed people whe the Bible does ot tell us? Accordig to these me, we have to go outside the Scripture for the evidece. But, whe Jesus prayed to the Father, Sactify them i the truth; Thy word is truth, was He prayig for a icomplete sactificatio? Cocerig cliical evidece, Dickaso also says: This geeral approach to acquirig evidece is commoly used ad accepted i areas of medicie, couselig, ad huma services. It deals with persoal, practical, ad scietific approaches to everyday issues. It seeks to deal with the facts so that they may be aalyzed ad used i beeficial procedures. 32 It is true that cliical evidece is legitimate i medicie ad huma services. However, it is ot a legitimate way to fid out how a believer deals with si. If it caot be determied from Scripture whether believers ca be demoized, the it must be a o-issue for believers. This is ot to say demos are a o-issue. But dealig with demoic oppressio of a believer must be a o-issue, other-
32 Demoizatio of the Believer wise what we have i Scripture is ot adequate for us to deal with the devil or to eable us to live a holy ad godly life. Experiece ad Biblical Truth What is the relatioship betwee experiece ad biblical truth? The issue is ot whether we experiece biblical truth or ot, because we do. The poit is that experiece does ot add to the truth of Scripture. It is true my experiece has taught me may thigs. I leared how to mow the law. I did ot lear that from Scripture. But mowig the law added othig to the issue of my salvatio ad sactificatio. Everythig ecessary for dealig with si, Sata, ad livig a life pleasig to God is cotaied withi Scripture. As we live, we grow i our experieces, but our experieces do ot add to the revelatio of the Bible. This is similar to the trap of psychology which says, All truth is God s truth. With this teachig the Bible became just oe of may sources for truth. As a result, the Church largely abadoed the Scripture as the sole source of truth cocerig si ad salvatio matters ad accepted so-called truth from secular humaists. Now we are reapig the results of that. I additio to fidig out truth from secular humaists we ow fid out truth from demos ad persoal experieces. Dickaso says: Reaso ad experiece may be helpful tools to exted our uderstadig of the facts of the world aroud us ad to apply the truth of revelatio to life. 33 Nobody will debate that. Reaso ad experiece do help us uderstad the facts of the world aroud us. They may eve help us to apply the truth of revelatio to life. As we go through a variety of experieces, we have leared how to apply the Scripture i those areas. However, that is differet from assertig that experiece has added ew revelatio ad iformatio to the Scripture. The Verdict o Cliical Evidece I do believe i Sata ad demos, but I do ot believe the doctries of me regardig Sata ad demos. There is far more to the issue of demos ad the spirit world tha the Scripture has made
The Fallacy of Cliical Evidece i Spiritual Matters 33 kow to me. But I also believe that the revealed thigs belog to us ad the secret thigs belog to God (Deut. 29:29). Scripture has give much iformatio cocerig the perso ad activities of Sata, but we must be careful ot to go beyod the Scripture. Whe we do we ope ourselves to all kids of deceptio. We must be alert to the ivalid aalogies that are used by me who wat to use cliical evidece for spiritual matters. Whe these me caot support their views with Scripture, they build a ivalid aalogy to support their views. They try to take a step off of Scripture, but whe they do they are left stadig o air. The whole idea of usig cliical evidece to evaluate spiritual matters is built o sad. Why? Si ad salvatio matters caot be cliically evaluated. However, some have decided that the eteral uchagig Word of God does ot provide eough iformatio o the subject. They are determied to fid somethig. Ad ofte whe people are determied to fid somethig, the devil will make sure they do. The problem is it will ot be the truth. What the is the verdict o cliical evidece i regards to spiritual matters? It does ot work. There is o valid cliical evidece whe it comes to dealig with the spiritual lives of believers. The Scripture is complete whe dealig with sactificatio. If the Scripture does ot address a issue, we should ot be tryig to fid cliical evidece to supplemet what we thik is lackig i Scripture.
34 Demoizatio of the Believer C H A P T E R S I X Acestral Demos Those who teach that believers ca be demoized claim that acestral ivolvemet i the occult is a major cause for demoizatio. Oe author describes acestral ivolvemet: By acestral ivolvemet we refer to occult or demoic practices of the cliet s acestors. This has bee foud to be oe of the most commo reasos for demoic afflictio or 34, 35 demoizatio. He the says: I have foud this aveue of acestral ivolvemet to be the chief cause of demoizatio. Well over 95 percet of more tha 400 persos I have cotacted i my couselig miistry have bee demoized because of their acestors ivolvemet i occult ad demoic activities. 36 This author says there may be a acestral demo passed dow from geeratio to geeratio i a perso s family through the activity of their gradparets or parets. However, what if that perso became a believer i Jesus Christ? Accordig to Dickaso, these acestral demos do ot leave whe a perso becomes a believer. These acestral demos are differet. I other words, beig raised with Christ to ewess of life was ot eough to take care of these acestral demos. Dickaso the gives a example of a woma who had bee a