DEMON POSSESSION
Commentary
Scripture References
Scripture affirms that believers are indwelt and sealed by the Holy Spirit and are no longer their own, having been purchased by Jesus’ blood. It says in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” It also states in Ephesians 1:13-14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.” Additionally, Galatians 4:6 declares, “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Scripture does not teach that God allows demons to co-exist or dwell with His Spirit inside of believers. Neither does it imply or suggest that those who are “a temple of the Holy Spirit” and belong to God, who have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and guaranteed eternal life, are still subject to demonic forces indwelling them. On the contrary, it explicitly stresses the discord, incompatibility, and impossibility of such a notion.
Consider the strict warning Paul gave Christians against entering earthly covenants or partnerships with unbelievers and the reason God forbids it. He wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:14-17, “Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,’ says the Lord.”
Since God forbids His children from yoking themselves to unbelievers because there is no spiritual harmony, agreement, or commonality between them, He would never yoke Himself to demons for the same reasons and more. To put it another way, the Holy Spirit would never allow demonic spirits to indwell believers along with Himself. Rather, Jesus unequivocally said in Mark 3:25, “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Likewise, Amos 3:3 says, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Therefore, when the Holy Spirit takes up residence within believers who belong to God, He does not permit demons to occupy any measure of real estate within them, for He alone indwells and seals them for eternal life.
Another fact to consider regarding the impossibility of demons possessing Christians is Ephesians 6:10-18. Paul gave believers detailed instructions on how to stand firm against the devil’s schemes. Yet, none of his directives involve measures to prohibit demonic possession or cast out demons from one another as if possession were possible. Instead, his instructions involve withstanding external attacks and schemes perpetrated by rulers, powers, world forces of darkness, and spiritual forces of wickedness in heavenly places—not from within.
Finally, the Bible says that ungodly spirits are “in the world,” not within believers. It also confirms that the Holy Spirit, who indwells believers, is greater than the ungodly, demonic spirits in the world. 1 John 4:3-4 says, “Every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.”
Hence, demonic forces can attack or oppress born-again Christians externally but cannot inhabit or possess them.
(See the Scripture References link at the top of the page.)