Can Christians Have Demons? Pt. 2

Item 3: “The Devil Made Me Do It!”

The late Flip Wilson on his 1970’s ‘The Flip Wilson Show’ pretended to be a particular character named “Geraldine” who often uttered, “The devil made me do it!” That was comedy. Unfortunately, in real life many individuals continue the same theme.

We will have to acknowledge some individuals are controlled by demons and do what demons tell them to do, and even are possibly possessed of demons for real. Need I mention Jim Jones, who saw to it that he would kill hundreds in Guyana, and did so happily until the end. Then there’s David Koresh, who claimed to be Jesus leading the people of God to a new apocalypse and a bright new future. Then there are others such as Sherman Allen, and and Terry Hornbuckle who thought that the women of the congreagations were there for pastoral freak purposes instead of the salvation of their souls.

Then there are the more moderate individuals who, if they don’t have a demon, certainly spend their time listening to them such as Creflo Dollar who has recently said that Jesus was not God because Jesus “slept” and the scriptures says that God neither “slumbers nor sleeps”. Now, if that that doesn’t sound like a demon then I don’t know what does.

Many of us would all like to rationalize the actions of these individuals as the result of demonic infestations, because we really can’t fathom someone doing those acts or saying those things without being possessed by demons. We can agree that there is and was some demonic activity in all of what I just mentioned, but we must ask…Is all of that a result of a demon or just the defiled hearts of these individuals who love themselves more than they love God?

There is another class of demons such as Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy, killers that kill for fun or that cut off people’s heads, mutilate their bodies. Then there are individuals who perform certain sins such as drugs and sexual activities to the point where they damage themselves or others uncontrollably. Certainly demons are real and manifest themselves through people in many different ways.

Is There Any Personal Responsibility?

On the other hand human nature without Christ is just so atrocious that it has the ability to be demon like if lives are not yielded or rendered to God. It all begins in the heart of man:

Jer. 17:9-10 ~ “9-The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10-I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings”

Partially because of how we were born into sin and its effects:

Ps. 51:5 ~ “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me”

You see out of the “heart” flows the issues of life...Jesus stated that all these behaviors that are manifest are because of the wickedness of the heart, the "deliverance ministry" claims that it’s because of some external force of demons. Jesus claims it’s because of our dark hearts:

Mk. 7:20-23 ~ “20-And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21-For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22-Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23-All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.”

And due to our condition of what the Calvinists have coined as “total depravity”,we have no self ability to make our hearts clean or righteous.

Ephes. 2:1-5 ~ “1-And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 2-Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 3-Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 4-But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5-Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

It is here that Paul in Ephesians says something interesting,(as always)He says in v.2:

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience”

We were not only dead in our trespasses and sins but we walked according to the “prince of the power of the air” ie: the devil himself and the demonic realm. Some of us were nice, had outstanding moral values, were even assets to our communities but yet still walked according to demons. However, notice what Paul also says. He says:

“Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;”

What we did in times past, was according to OUR minds and OUR flesh. In other words the devil didn’t make me do it as much as I wanted to do it and had the capacity and ability to do it.

Herein is the problem, when the Christian shifts the responsibility of their actions to simply a “demon”; they also relinquish any personal responsibility for their actions, decisions and ultimate carrying out of their thoughts. This is the deceit of “Pigs In The Parlor” and deliverance ministry in general. The devil can’t make us do anything that we don’t already either want to do or have a predisposition to do.

James confirms this thought out when he says:

James 1:13-15 ~ “13-Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: 14-But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15-Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”

The best effort of the world is to minimize what is called “original sin” In an interview with CNN discussing the recent demise of Michael Jackson, mystic and universal consciousness guru Deepak Chopra expressed that there was no one who was born bad or that was born a sinner. He explained that these things happen to people (they become bad) but that everyone is basically good. Now that could be a lie of a demon, certainly it’s deceitful and untrue, but his sentiments exemplify the desire of the sinful nature to feel that it has no problems, that it is perfectly fine without God and that bad influences only exist outside of it, not from within it. Deliverance ministry denies that our nature is sometimes messed up without the assistance of demons and ultimately, that we need a savior, not because of demons (which are already defeated) but because we’re messed up and are sinners!

Whatever we are “drawn away” with belongs to us in the end. As with anything there are exceptions but this is the norm. We are first reminded that we are culpable for our own actions. Even if we have predisposition’s for certain behaviors, this is why we must be born again (John, 3:3) in order to do away with the old nature and order of things. What does the scripture say:

2 Cor. 5:17-18 ~ “17-Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18-And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;”

“All things” include and pertain to the spiritual wellbeing, welfare, life and godliness of the individual. Through Christ all things are accessible.

2 Peter 1:3-4 ~ “3-According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: 4-Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

Christians that feel that they have demons are not walking in full biblical council or the freedom of Christ. If one persists with that idea, one should make sure that they are first IN CHRIST because Christ will not live with a demon. Leaders that teach that Christians have and can be possessed by demons, or that attempt to cast demons out of already saved individuals, are leading followers astray and into false doctrine, heretical teachings and “strange fire” for which there is a penalty. (Lev.10:1-2)

Item 4: The Power Of Demons Are Defeated In The Believers Life

One thing we know, Christ has come to destroy the works of demons in the believer’s life. Contrary doctrines flourish where there is a lack of exposition of God’s word or mere misinterpretations of what Jesus actually came to do. Yes, we are all in a growing pattern but it should be a primacy for the gospel minister to both communicate the understanding of the true gospel. Contrary to Joyce Meyer and Joel Osteen who believe that salvation was completed in hell, the bible tells us that it was ON THE CROSS that our enemy and his mignons were defeated.

Col. 2:13-15 ~ “13-And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14-Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 15-And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

The enemy is already defeated because of the victory of the cross. The problem is that we have split service issues. Jesus said “no man can serve two masters” (Mt. 6:24, Lk.16:13) and the body cannot house both God and the devil simultaneously unless one is subdued and brought under control or cast out (Mt. 12:29, Mk. 3:27, Lk. 11:21). As stated the powers that were opposing the believer were defeated, broken and destroyed on the cross. This includes demons whether known or unknown. They have been “triumphed over” and this was done “openly” The “enemy” or evil one and his agents, both natural and spiritual, has been cut down when Jesus came in:

Ps. 44:7-8 ~ “7-But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. 8-In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever. Selah.”

In addition we have experienced the freedom that has been “made” within us.

John 8:36 ~ “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

And given power over the powers of the enemy:

Lk. 10:18-19 ~ “18-And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven. 19-Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

It is our ability as believers to continue to be made free from the enemy and not be entangled with his yoke and this especially includes his demonic infestations:

Gal. 1:1 ~ “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”

Item 5: Are There Demons In Music?

We know from both observation and current science that music has an ability to effect the innermost part of an individual. However there is yet not a “wicked” C or a “evil” A on the music scale. So why does music have an effect the way it does?

Remember that when God created man he created him a living soul. (Gen. 2:7) This is a physical or material (body) and spirit (breath or life) union, which God calls “living soul”. Man is a physical and spirit mixture with limitations and extensions in both physical and spiritual dimensions. God gave man certain attributes which extend from himself. These attributes are called God’s communicable attributes. This is partially how we are in “his likeness” and “his image”. One of those attributes is the ability to communicate with feeling or expression. The ability to communicate goes beyond the material world and includes the spiritual realm or world also.

In other words we live in an open continuum that includes both the material and immaterial realities. Prayer is spiritual communication with God, who is a Spirit, (Jn. 4:24) from a material being with spirit ability, called a “living soul”. If we were not spiritual beings with the ability to communicate spiritually we could not communicate with God at all. We would be stuck and confined to the materialistic and naturalistic realm. One should be encouraged to come to or develop this understanding otherwise prayer would make no sense.

The “soulish” part of us is where the nonmaterial aspects of our being comes. (I won’t deal with tripartism which is a questionable teaching anyway, I’ll save that for a later writing) The atheist supposes that this is the brain or some mere meta-natural process. The naturalist denies the “soulishness” of our being and assumes that science will one day provide the answer to immaterial parts of our beings such as love, dreams and the ability to hope etc. Please study our post Antisupernaturalism & Miracles Pt.1 and Pt.2 for more indepth information on this dichotomy.

I propose that music to a great extent, is developed from the immaterial part of man and because it originates from a spiritual part has an effect upon not only the physical body but also upon a person’s spirit or immaterial nature. Music, though containing natural notes which don’t change on the scale, is directed and effective by what it intends to do.

Biblical example: King Saul had an “evil spirit from the Lord” that could only be eased with skillful harp and music playing (1 Sam 16:16). David however played skillfully upon his instrument and it drove the “evil spirit” away (1 Sam. 16:23) However a second time the music didn’t stop Saul from remaining in that “evil spirit” and trying to kill David (1 Sam. 19:9-10) Music does not either possess or relieve one of demons, but music can be directed to accomplish a function and is an effective nonmaterial communication tool.

Music can incite inner emotions for the better. This is what we call “happy music”. Music can make us feel sexy. This is what we call “mood or love” music. Music can make us sad. This is what we call “blues”. Music can make us feel like dancing and be sad and sexy at the same time. This is what we call “rhythm and blues” music. Music can also present demons to us and influence negative behaviors. This is what we call “holy hip hop” and “gangsta rap”- LOL. )(OK holy hiphoppas, I’ll cut you some slack. Some of your messages are good, methods questionable and debateable but that’s why we’re here right?)

Remember, Saints are not the only ones who communicate spiritually or by immaterial means. Sinners do also. If what I’m saying is correct, there are many individuals that create music who are controlled and certainly influenced by the devil himself. (Remember Ehesians 2:1-5) If communication can occur through immaterial processes through immaterial means, then the stage is set. Demons can communicate, subdue and seduce using music as a medium.

The fact yet remains that the Christian cannot be possessed by the devil no matter what’s on the radio, but the challenge to those who haven’t yielded and surrendered their musical tastes and appetites fully to God is that there should be an awareness that one could be entertaining demons and allowing them to influence you spiritually whether you are possessed by them or not. One cannot take fire into your chest without being burned. (Prov. 6:27)

Steps Of Musical Freedom

Sometimes escaping influences of devils take steps of faith similar to taking a journey. At times tearing up a poster, relinquishing a CD may be what it takes to make a psychological escape from the influence of devils that await and exploit weakness. However, one must be careful because it’s not the outside of the cup that makes one clean, it’s the inside where the change takes place. (Mk. 7:20-23) One could very well burn up all their CD’s as promoted by a popular minister and yet not be free of the influence of that music in their souls. One who found that out was Kirk Franklin who claimed to be addicted to pornography on the Oprah Winfrey Show. He claimed to have thrown all his tapes and DVD’s away only to drive back hours later to the same dumpster, get in and retrieve all his material. What does this say? Deliverance doesn’t begin on the outside, it begins in the heart.

Of one thing we can be certain, there’s no way one can say that artists such as David Banner as referenced in Hip-Hop, Idolatry & The Church Pt. 8 is not either led, plagued or guided by demons based on the content placed within his works. We must realize that he is at least entertaining demons as he performs and develops ideas. This is similar to many groups and individuals such as the found innocent but still "Horny" R. Kelley and others that we have examined in our Hip-Hop Idolatry & The Church series on this site. However, the dilemma still remains, that many of these individuals are not claiming to be saved and those that are certainly don’t produce the fruit of that salvation. So that should tell us something.

So music can be a demonic tool for a number of reasons not to minimize the fact that the devil because of how he was created, has always used music as a tool of expression even in heaven before his being cast down.

If a Christian rejects sound council in this area, he or she will usually display that they have a greater problem than just music. Music is similar to alcohol and tobacco. They are simply doorway drugs that lead to greater destruction if one is not careful. Music can be a doorway and a pathway to immorality and immoral behavior. A better question would be, does the devil use music? The obvious answer to that is yes.

What About What We Can’t Reasonably Explain?

As stated, the reality of demons in no way empowers individuals to shirk or relive themselves from any personal responsibility, however we are in a very spiritual warfare and there is a spiritual reality that we face whether we know of it or not. The scripture clearly says that there is a spiritual dimension to our fight and struggle:

Ephes. 6:12 ~ “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

But what about experiences that are not found within the bible and that are sometimes difficult to reconcile? Some examples include:

• The feeling of “presences” that enter a room and you feel or may even see it.
• There are some who suffer from a sudden inability to move while they are asleep. Some have even been attacked in their sleep by beings that had extension in time and space. Many report that they feel that they were helpless to defend themselves and felt as if they were being pressed upon as they lay there and are unable to call a spouse or loved one for assistance.
• Other instances include sudden, strange and unusual pressure and urges to engage in certain ungodly activities.
• For some there are sudden blackouts and losses of time. Some associate these type of episodes with addictions, but could this also be because of a demon(s)?

Because we are in a dimension that is spiritually open, the unseen spiritual world can be revealed at any time. One thing is for sure. There is no safety in that world without Jesus. He has claimed to be the way, the truth and the life (Jn. 14:6) and that no man can get to the father except it be by and through him. There are entries into the spiritual realm that open the world of demons to us. No TRUE Christian follows those paths as they would be led by the voices of “strangers”. God leads the Christian and directs us into better relationship, fellowship with him and into protection from spiritual enemies.

A Word Of Caution:

In providing a writing such as this, I hope not to give the impression that the Christian can behave themselves in such a manner that they can enter into ungodly situations and be exempt from the results of demonic activity. Example: Ouija Boards are ungodly doorways and pathways to the supernatural and that will expose individuals to demonic activity and possibly even demon possession. The same goes for WICCA, Witchcraft, tarot reading, palm readings, seances and Voodoo and tattoos. All of those are demonic in nature and are ungodly practices that Christians need not be involved with in any manner. One of the seeming more innocuous items is the horoscope…Though it seems innocent, the horoscope can be used as a tool of the devil to bind and direct individual’s lives exposing believers to the leading and character traits of the devil himself.

In all of these things it takes submitting to God and resisting the devil and self-discipline. You have the ability to win that battle because Jesus fought it on the cross and won on our behalf.

Conclusion & Summary

In heaven judgement for reward is made based on what a person has done.

Rev. 14:13 ~ “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.”

Our works will follow us and judgement will not based on what a demon made or caused a person to do. All illnesses are not necessarily demonic, but we know that some illnesses cause persons to act abnormally. Some actions are chemical and even biological in nature and regardless of all that all actions can be made subject to the Cross of Christ.

1 Cor. 10:13 ~ “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

The saint has not been placed in a situation that they cannot bear. The Lord leads us besides still and peaceful waters. (Ps. 23) The Lord does not lead or expose the Saints to demons, neither is his power so ineffective that he cannot prevent a demon from taking over the physical body or spirit of the believer.

There is a solid case and evidence that demons, at times, possess individuals, but at no instance within scripture do we see believers either possessed or being possessed with devils or engaged in casting demons out of other believers. I believe that these articles have demonstrated the following facts:

1. The parallel between the “Temple” and the “body” is ineffectual and out of context, and therefore found to be unscripturally based.
2. Moneychangers were a part of the temple processes by need and were not why Jesus cast them out.
3. The animals that were being sold in the temple were there by necessity and the instruction of God and did not defile the temple.
4. The temple was defiled only because of the usurious practices of men. (Special Note: Be careful of individuals who condemn others in the gospel for their website, DVD and promotional item sales while they themselves simultaneously and selfishly promote the sale of their OWN DVD's and promotional items as if they are somehow doing something different than those they condemn ~ Those type of things are defiling to the body of Christ in general. If it's not demonic, it's certainly ungodly.)
5. What Christ has done on the Cross has broken the power of the devil and demons in the life of the believer who accepts Christ’s atonement by faith. In the life of the believer demonic power is broken at the time that saving faith is exercised and received.
6. The power of demons are destroyed by the work of Christ whether one denounces specific activities or not.
7. Spirits are not necessarily responsible for many personal behaviors. When demons are in the process it will be revealed plainly.
8. Man is a living soul with an immaterial spiritual dimension that must be subject to Jesus for personal safety and wellbeing.
9. Music can be a spiritual tool in the physical realm and can be used by demons to incite behaviors in humanity.
10. Games such as Ouija, and activities such as horoscope, tarot, seances, palm reading, tattooing etc. should be avoided at all costs by believers as those games and activities assist in opening spiritual dimensions without the protection of Christ.
11. A Christian or Saint CANNOT be possessed by a demon and therefore does not need to have one cast out.

This has been submitted for the edification of the Saints. I hope that it was as much of a blessing to you as it was to me going over these concepts once again. I’d love to hear your feedback on both articles.

Blessed!