Christians with Demons – Freed For Life!

“Can A Christian Have a Demon?”
This page is part of our Frequently Asked Questions section

Author’s response:
This is a difficult question to answer because the scriptures don’t really nail the answer down specifically. For sake of argument, let’s define the term “Christian” as a person who believes in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and trusts in Him for the salvation of his or her soul.

The concept of “having a demon” can be confusing because there are likely degrees or levels of demonic control and/or occupation that a person may experience. These may range from occassional evil thoughts injected into one’s mind, to a demon taking control off a person’s voice and body.

Once a person has placed faith in Jesus Christ, the scriptures tell us that he or she has eternal life (John 3:16). Also, Jesus states that no one is able to snatch His believers out of His hand (John 10:27-28). With that in mind, I think its accurate to say that the devil or an agent thereof like a demon, cannot steal someone’s salvation. I think it is very possible that they (devil, demons, etc) can, however make life very difficult for believers, and that would include tormenting them with evil thoughts, temptations and trying to take control of their bodies.

I believe that the degree to which the devil and his demons may oppress a person is directly related to how much ground a person surrenders or has surrendered to evil. For example, dabbling in the Occult opens doors in a person’s life to the devil in profound ways, many of which cannot be closed without specific confession and renouncing of the sin involved. Sexual sin is another area that opens a person up to demonic interference, as well as unhealthy spiritual unions with other people.

In our personal experiences with prayer ministry to Christians, we have witnessed many examples of Christians being oppressed by demons. Many of the cases were linked to sexual sin and/or sins in the occult.

Jesus’ commentary on what an evil spirit does once it is cast out suggests that it would be harmful to a non-Christian to cast a demon out of him or her because the spirit could return with seven additional wicked spirits, making the final condition of the person worse than before:

“When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then he says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when he comes, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first. So shall it also be with this wicked generation.” Matthew 12:43-45 NKJV

A Christian who has been freed of a demon has the opportunity to “fill” his or her life with Christ so that the evil spirits are unable to re-enter.

If a Christian can have a demon, how could the Holy Spirit occupy the same vessel as an evil spirit? In thinking about this, it occurred to me that there is another, similar hurdle for the Holy Spirit – our thoughts. The reality is that Christians, though they are saved, still have evil thoughts welling up from their hearts. Somehow, though we are saved, we still battle with the “old self” daily and have to put on the “new self” in Christ. How could the Holy Spirit live in us when we are still harboring evil thoughts in our hearts?

I think the answer is that the Holy Spirit is united with our spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17), which is separate from our soul and body. Perhaps evil spirits oppress our body and soul, but are not able to touch our spirit? An analogy that I’ve heard used is that of the Jewish temple compared to the body. The Jewish temple has three parts – The Holiest of Holies, The Inner Court and the Outer Court. The Holies of Holies may represent the spirit, where the Holy Spirit dwells with our spirit. Nothing unclean can enter this part. The Inner Courts represent the Soul and the Outer Courts represent the body.

Unfortunately, I don’t have scripture linking the individual parts, except that our bodies are identified as temples of God:

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 NKJV

If we assume that Christians can have demons, then the next point is that the Lord desires to free his children from such oppression. God desires that we be free to live a new life as new persons in the fullness and power of the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, God has given every believer the authority and power to expel demons and live free of demonic oppression. This freedom can come through self or group deliverance ministry, depending on the person and the situation. In cases where many demons may be involved, it is best to join with other Christians for deliverance prayer instead of trying to do this by yourself.

Believing in Christ obligates us to live in a godly manner by not engaging in our former sin habits that perhaps opened the door to the demons in the first place. As Paul wrote in the above passage, we will do well if we focus on glorifying God with our bodies and minds, instead of using them for sin.