Can Christians ever be demon-possessed?
This text is from a letter written by David Gooding in 1990.
I am not sure that I know what to say regarding your question about demonic influence upon, and even demonic possession of, believers. But it seems to me impossible that a true believer should be indwelt by an evil spirit. Colossians 1:13 is surely true of every believer, and not only partially true of some. That Satan attacks true believers, and is able to infiltrate ideas and thoughts into their minds, seems to me to be explicitly stated in passages like Matthew 16, and 2 Corinthians 2 and 11. There are, moreover, what Paul describes as doctrines of demons (see 1 Tim 4) and there are those who peddle them in the church, and believers can be deceived by them. But I cannot recall any Scripture in the New Testament which talks about assaults of demons upon believers, except the general statement of passages like Ephesians 6, that talk of our warfare against spiritual wickedness.
And this is what puzzles me. I have met from time to time serious Christian workers who insist they have known true believers who have been troubled by demonic powers within them, and that these powers have eventually been cast out. But I personally have never come across any such instance, and I cannot find any such instance in the New Testament, nor any guidance as to what to do about it. Acts 19:18 suggests that some believers in Ephesus had continued dabbling in black magic after they were converted, and eventually confessed it, but there is no mention of Paul having to cast out any demon from them. My question, therefore, would be first directed to those who say that they have had experience of these things. Would they tell us, please, where the New Testament identifies such situations as they describe?
On a somewhat related topic, I am myself very uneasy when I hear people talk about the power of the blood in warfare against demons. Some believers seem to regard the blood as some kind of magical power that the demon fears; but that, surely, is to descend to the level of animism, where the sprinkling of blood or holy water is regarded as a charm against the devil or demons, or illness, or what have you. The blood of Christ is not a charm.
When Revelation 12:11 says 'they overcame him by reason of the blood of the Lamb, and by reason of the word of their testimony, and they loved not their life even unto death', it is dealing with Satan as the 'accuser of the brethren' before God. Satan points to the sins and failings of Christians and argues before God that God is unjust to have anything to do with them. The answer to that type of accusation is a legal one: God is perfectly just to accept the believer in the Lord Jesus, in spite of his faults, because Christ's death is the propitiation for his sins, of which propitiation the blood of Christ is the token (see Rom 3:25–26).
This is a very different thing from pagan superstition, which imagined that the blood of a sacrifice was a kind of prophylactic, such that, if a demon encountered or even smelled blood, it would scare him away. That is plain superstition, and a continuation of the ideas behind black magic. It worries me, therefore, when I hear believers speaking as if they regarded the blood of Christ similarly as some kind of prophylactic or charm which frightens away evil spirits.
On the other hand, I do not pretend to know all the answers in this area. Daniel 11 certainly indicates that evil angels of various kinds exercise special powers over certain nations and, likewise, that the prayers of believers are effective in restraining and removing their influence. As to rebuking the devil: our Lord certainly did it (see Matt 16), and the angel of the Lord did it (see Zech 3); although Michael had to say to the devil 'The Lord rebuke thee' (see Jude 9). Do we have any instructions in the New Testament that we should do it and, if so, how?
I am sorry, therefore, that I cannot shed much light upon this question.
Yours truly,
