Angelic Conflict VI
Demon possession means that the human body is taken over by a demon. But that doesn't mean that the soul is no longer there. That individual soul is still there with self-consciousness, mentality, emotion, volition and conscience, but it is quiescent, it is not active. That person can still exercise positive volition to the gospel if somebody presents the gospel to him while they are demon possessed, and if they respond positively then the demon will be evicted and they will be delivered from that demon possession. Demon possession is defined as a demon taking up residence and control over a person's body.
Since demon possession is not a natural phenomena it can't be solved with medication, incantation, ritual or religion. What we find often is that the liberals come along and they deny supernatural events, deny the existence of a personal Satan and personal demons, and so they say that this is just a way those people talked about mental illness. That is completely false. The Bible recognises mental illness as a separate category, distinct from demon possession.
There are three possible ways by which a person can be delivered from demon possession. Matthew 12:22 NASB "Then a demon-possessed man {who was} blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw." This tells us that because of demon possession the man was blind and could not speak. It was not blindness because of a physical factor. The word for "healed" is the Greek verb iaomai [i)aomai] a general verb related to deliverance, to solving the problem. The fact that this involved casting out the demon becomes clear in the next verse. [23] "All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, 'This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?'" They were responding to this because they recognised that the Old Testament taught that one of the signs of the Messiah would be physical healing and deliverance. Jeremiah 33:6 is a messianic prophecy: "Behold, I will bring to it [the nation] health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth." Another passage that relates to this is Isaiah 35:5, 6 NASB "Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah." So the multitude in Matthew 12 are affirming that this must be the son of David. In contrast, the religious leaders are going to dispute this.
Matthew 12:24 NASB "But when the Pharisees heard {this,} they said, 'This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons'." There we have the verb ekballo [e)kballw]; it is not the verb exorkozo [e)corkizw] which is where we get the word "exorcism." Exorcism is not a sound spiritual practice and it was never practiced by Jesus and the disciples, or later the apostles. They cast out demons, they did not exorcise demons. The Pharisees were saying that Jesus cast out demons by the power of Beelzebul, a title for Satan at that time in Jewish history. It would be true that Satan could intervene for the purpose of distracting and confusing people.
A second way in which demon possession is resolved is through direct divine intervention. This is what happens in the case of the Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5:8. Jesus commanded the demon to depart and the demon departed. So there was direct divine intervention during the time of Christ and also the apostles. The apostles, according to 2 Corinthians 12, did signs and wonders just as Jesus performed, and this was their credentials demonstrating that they were who they claimed to be and that what they taught was from God. It was not the apostles who were directly casting out the demons, they were doing it through a delegated power from God and it was God who was the one who ejected the demons.
The third way by which a demon is removed an individual is by faith alone in Christ alone, 1 Corinthians 3:16 NASB "Do you not know that you are a temple of God and {that} the Spirit of God dwells in you?" 1st John tells us in 4:4 NASB "…greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." So at the instant of faith alone in Christ alone God the Holy Spirit is going to create in us a human spirit, known as regeneration, and the Holy Spirit takes up residence inside the body. At that point He sanctifies the body and that means it is set apart as a temple of God. At that point God the Father and God the Son take up residence in this new temple. Colossians 1:27 NASB "…Christ in you, the hope of glory." So if there was any demon there before hand that demon is instantly ejected and cannot return and take up a residence there. The first reason is the clear statement of Scripture and the second reason is the silence of Scripture. There is one legitimate argument from silence. A argument from silence is trying to derive a conclusion when nothing is said about that. 2 Peter 1:3 NASB "seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence." This verse makes on of the greatest claims for the sufficiency of Scripture anywhere in the New Testament. God has given us everything pertaining to life and godliness, and the Greek word here for godliness is eusebeia [e)usebeia] which relates to the spiritual life, exhibiting the character of God which is what we call living the spiritual life. So this verse says that God has given to us everything we need to know about life and the spiritual life. If we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ could be invaded by a demon, would this not have something to do with our spiritual life? That would be the most horrible thing any believer could possibly imagine. It would mean we would be invaded by this evil force that would completely take over our body. That has something to do with our spiritual life, doesn't it? Yet the Bible says He claims to tell us everything we need to know about the spiritual life. Now where in the epistles, Romans through Jude, written to the church age believer to tell him how to live in this dispensation, addressing every issue in life, is there any mention of a believer being demon possessed. It is not there. The silence of Scripture is deafening on this subject. The fact that the Scripture doesn't even mention is indicates that it is not an issue. If the Bible claims to tell us everything we need to know about a subject and something isn't mentioned, then we don't need to know about it because it is not relevant. Not only that, but in Romans through Jude there is not even one mention of deliverance from demon possession.
The problem is that we live in an age where people want to base their theology on anecdotes and experiences and not on exegesis of the Scriptures. The fact that we are neither warned or told how to be delivered from demon possession tells us that it is not a problem. All of the arguments we hear for demon possession are based on experience and not simple exegesis of the Scripture.
What can demons do to men? They can cause physical disease, e.g. Matthew 9:33; 17:18; Luke 4:35, 41.
How do people get involved in demon possession? Through idolatry, false religions, because it is the demons who underlie all false religions. Also mysticism, because mysticism establishes a false authority—listening to some "inner voice," and who knows whose that inner voice could be? Necromancy, calling up the dead, e.g. 1 Samuel 28.