Can a Christian Have a Demon?

As a Christian, you cannot have a demon cohabit your perfect born-again incorruptible spirit man that is created after God in righteousness and true holiness (Ephesians 4:24).  Your spirit could not be in a state of righteousness and true holiness with a demon polluting it.  The “best” a demon can do is work through your flesh and your unrenewed mind.  Unfortunately, some Christians allow demons to keep speaking unscriptural thoughts to them while putting up no resistance.  These Christians end up in bondage.  Rather than running them off with the Word, they continue to entertain their thoughts.  “You married the wrong person, so that gives you the right to get a divorce so that you can marry the RIGHT person.”  “Your life is going nowhere and you’d be better off dead.  Kill yourself.”  “You will always be broke because you are just a failure.”  “Your father died from this and now it’s your turn to die from it.”  “You NEED this booze or illegal chemical to help you cope with your rotten life.”  “Your life is in hopeless ruins and there’s no way to rebuild it.  Give up on all your dreams.”

The New Testament definitely does NOT teach that believers need to go around casting demons out of themselves or others, only to do it again next week when there are new “pigs in the parlor.”

On the other hand, Christians can be “demonized” in the sense of being influenced or tormented by demons when they don’t know their authority in Christ to run them off.  They can even unwittingly yield their mouths to voice what a demon wants to say, as Peter did when he told Jesus that He was never going to be killed and raised on the third day.  Jesus recognized the true source of the statement and said, “Get behind Me, Satan!”  (See Matthew 16:22-23 and Mark 8:31-33.)  I daresay that many preachers unwittingly yield their mouths to demons when they tell people, “God doesn’t do miracles anymore, so you can’t get one.”  There are times demons might try to speak through other Christians to discourage you.

The Bible tells you how to handle Satan.  You are to RESIST him (James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-10), not try to “cast him out of yourself.”  You do NOT need to be delivered from Satan, his demons and his kingdom because you already ARE legally delivered (Colossians 1:13) from them just as much as you ARE legally healed!  You do not need to GET the right to be far from oppression and free from fear (Isaiah 54:14); you already HAVE that right as a Christian – you just need to enforce it.