Possessed

Demon possession is a Bible topic long
misunderstood. Skeptics deny it, believers
are curious about it, and Hollywood is
obsessed with it. The truth is the Bible says it happened
(2 Tim. 3:16).

Those who choose to deny the Bible’s claims that
demon possession legitimately happened have several
explanations for their skepticism. They might think that
people were superstitious and easily fooled. Perhaps
they attributed some unexplained illness to demons.
To think this way you would necessarily have to call
Jesus’ deity into question. If He is God then He would
have known the difference. According to the skeptics,
because no one has seen a demon possessed person in
modern times it must not have ever happened.

The truth is demons and demon possessions were
real. Jesus indicated that He actually believed in demons
(Matt. 17:21) and taught that demon possession is
directly related to the power of Satan (Matt. 12:25-30).
One cannot pick and choose words of Jesus to believe
or ignore and be consistent. Based on my belief in the
Bible and our Lord, I must believe also that demons
existed in that time. But what are they really?
Some have suggested demons are the spirits of
evil dead men, others the offspring of angels and women. Some say they are fallen angels. The Bible
indicates that the dead return to God (Eccles. 12:7;
Luke 16:19-31) and reading Genesis 6:2-4 out of
context and without proper research of Hebrew
terms is the only way to conclude that angels have
had children by women. We do not have enough
information to answer every question we have, but
some things we can know.

Why would God allow these demons to take
control of a man or woman and cause them to harm
themselves and others? Luke 11:20 teaches that this
was allowed to show God’s power during the time of
miracles. When the Bible with its testimony of the
power of the Godhead was complete, such miraculous
signs were no longer necessary (1 Cor. 13:10). This
would mean that demons cannot possess people today
(despite what all the exorcism movies say).

Satan cannot control us, because God promised
that we can overcome any temptation (1 Cor. 10:13).
The Bible teaches that Satan influences us through
the world which is where his power lies (Eph. 2:2;
2 Cor. 4:4). There is no need for the miraculous casting
out of evil spirits today, but there is a need for casting
out evil behaviors. Satan cannot control us but he can
devour us (1 Pet. 5:8). Beware his evil influence and
choose instead to live for Christ (Gal. 2:20)

-Ross Haffner