On the Demonization of Believers

By Tom Austin

There is a novel movement afoot. It has been given the name spiritual warfare or sometimes, more narrowly, deliverance ministries. Actually the reality of spiritual warfare has been with us since the Fall. Therefore this movement is nothing more than an inventive approach dealing with an age-old problem - Satan. Others will speak to this approach on a wider scale. My purpose is to speak to one specific aspect of this movement - the demonization of believers.

Satan and his demons are very real, powerful, and active in the world today. That we have a faithful and a dangerous adversary, there can be no doubt. The Bible teaches us much about Satan's authority to rule the earth and those on the earth who are his. However, what about those who dwell on the earth but do not belong to him? What can be said for those of us who are regenerated, new creatures in Christ?

Proponents of this spiritual warfare movement tell us that we, too, can be ruled by Satan very much in the same way as those who belong to him naturally. [1] This is obviously a very controversial theory in the church today. Those who teach this theory explain that they avoid using the word possess when speaking of demons controlling believers, but prefer the word demonize. There are several reasons for this, but the main reason given is that the word possess gives the idea that the person is under total, absolute ownership and control by satanic forces, and they do not believe that this can be true for Christians. [2] However, they do use such words as control, [3] infest, [4] attach, [5] enter, [6] inhabit, [7] indwell, [8] bound [9] and enslave [10] in relation to the demonization of Christians. Definitions of these words can get confusing as one reads the various authors. However, it does seem to me that "a rose by any other name ..."

Identifying those who believe this theory is not easy. It is sufficient to say that those authors who are supporting and defending this view are, for the most part, evangelicals who are either in the Third Wave movement, or with interests there. [11] Of course, individual supporters and practitioners may not consider themselves as part of any movement or group.

It is also important to note that there is no particular model or method or approach used by practitioners of this theory to "free" or deliver demonized believers. Any method used is based on pragmatism - what works at the time. Therefore it cannot be explained or evaluated based on any specific practices since no one is necessarily doing the same thing. The lowest common denominator for this approach to spiritual warfare is "if it works, it's true." Different methods are used because they produce the desired results. This is the standard for what is right and true, not Scripture. As a result, we cannot work from a body of doctrine but must evaluate it on what the known proponents are saying and doing.

What They Are Saying and Doing 

The general consensus among these spiritual warfare advocates is that Christians can be demonized to the point that they are indwelt and enslaved by a demon(s). The indwelling and enslavement begin when a believer chooses to sin over a period of time until demons are able to enter the believer's body and control at least a part of the person's body and mind. Usually this would be considered severe demonization. [12] (However, they do not teach that the believer has lost his salvation. Eternity with Christ is secure. [13]) The demonized believer has no ability to restore his walk with the Lord but must rely on a practitioner to come, and through whatever means and methods he finds that give the desired results, rebuke and cast out the demon from the believer. [14] These methods usually involve several different exercises, such as "binding Satan," is "casting out," Satan and the particular indwelling demons, [16] rebuking Satan, [17] "pleading the blood of Jesus," [18] "claiming the name of Jesus," [19] and prolonged wrestling with the demonized person. [20] Very often many of these exercises involve using particular words repeated in a particular way in order to get the desired results. Practitioners believe that they have the right and power to exorcise demons or cast out demons because they have the authority of Christ given to them by Jesus in the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18). [21]

Most proponents will voice their belief and commitment to the basic doctrines of conservative, evangelical Christianity. However, in spite of what is said about these basic doctrines, what they teach and practice in this area of spiritual warfare implies that they deny the biblical teaching concerning many of the basic doctrines of the Christian faith. Therefore it is important that we recognize that this teaching, specifically regarding the indwelling and enslaving of believers, is erroneous and even dangerous to the faith. The reasons for this statement are as follows: This teaching degrades the character of God; it demeans the effects of Christ's atonement; it despises the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer; it denies the sufficiency of Scripture; it disavows the responsibility of the believer to put to death the deeds of the flesh and to walk in obedience to Christ.

The Character of God 

This teaching degrades the character of God in that it belittles His sovereignty and His omnipotence. Scripture testifies of God's sovereign rule and control over His creation (which includes all things, even Satan and his dominion [Col. 1:16]). Psalm 103:19 says: ''The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all" (cf. Eph. 1:11; Isa. 40:21-26; Job 38-41). No one or nothing can overrule or thwart the purposes and decrees of God (lsa. 14:24,27; Dan. 4:35; Prov. 21:1) Even the details of our lives are under His care and control (Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 12:9; 1 Peter 5:7). Job's very difficult experience demonstrates for us that even Satan must be granted permission from God to touch one who belongs to God (Job 1-2).

Yet, as important as this is for the believer involved in spiritual warfare, the recent teaching on this subject seemingly ignores God as if He had saved us and withdrawn, or as if He were unconcerned or powerless to protect His children from the onslaughts of Satan. This teaching forgets that spiritual warfare ultimately is not between fallible, weak Christians and all the demonic forces and powers that Satan can muster, but between our omnipotent, omniscient, sovereign Creator and an already defeated enemy, who functions only according to the will and good pleasure of Almighty God (Eph. 1:11).

A God who allows, wills, or cannot stop the indwelling and enslaving of His own children by the evil one is not the God of the Bible. For the God of the Bible is Jehovah: personal, continuous, absolutely self-existent, needing no one or nothing. He is Elohim: the absolute Creator and Ruler of the universe, who keeps His promises to His people. He is El-Shaddai: the all-powerful, Almighty God, who gives wonderful blessings to His people. He is Jehovah-Jireh: the great provider, who gave His only begotten Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is Jehovah-M'Kaddesh: the sanctifier of His people, who has set us apart for His own peculiar possession and made us partakers of His divine nature, a holy people for His own glory. He is Jehovah-Rohi: the Shepherd of His people, who walks through "the valley of the shadow of death" with us, whose rod and staff comfort us because He guides and protects us. [22]

It is important to understand that God's ultimate purpose is His own glory. (This is only proper, since He alone is God.) Clearly a teaching which holds that those whom the omnipotent, sovereign God has set apart as holy, as partakers of His divine nature, whom He has promised to protect and to guide and to bless, can be infested and enslaved by demons, does not contribute to that high purpose. May we, in our theology and in the practical application of that theology, first and last, give Him the glory that is due His majestic and holy name.

The Effects of Christ's Atonement 

This teaching demeans the effects of Christ's atonement in the believer's sanctification. By implication it espouses that Jesus' Atonement is sufficient for our Justification but not our Sanctification, and, as a result, all believers are subject to satanic control and enslavement. [23] According to this theory, it would be logically possible for a Christian to go from salvation to glorification thoroughly indwelt and enslaved by demons.

Scripture clearly does not teach that view. Hebrews 10:14 says, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified." True believers are sanctified and are being sanctified. "He who has begun a good work in you will continue it until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). This sanctification process is a work of the same one who accomplished our salvation - our sovereign Lord. God's plan for us is accomplished in Christ all the way through Sanctification to Glorification (Eph. 2:4-10; 1 Thess. 5:24; Rom. 8:29-30). Jesus has accomplished our victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil on the cross (Heb. 2:14-15), and we have been made complete in Christ (Col. 2:10).

Colossians 2:13-15 is crucial to this subject. According to Paul's explanation in this passage, our debt of sin was cancelled by God because of Christ's work on the cross. Not only has the work of Christ's cross brought about the forgiveness of our sins, but it has overthrown the rulers and authorities of evil (v. 15). Christ has liberated the believer from these powers. Satan no longer has legitimate control over us. We have been transferred from the domain of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col. 1:13).

This stand does not support a doctrine of perfectionism, for we know that the Christian life is a spiritual battle and that the believer will engage in spiritual warfare against powers and principalities in the heavenly places (Eph. 6: 12). However Scripture teaches that the atoning work of Christ on the cross negates any possibility of demonic control, enslavement, or possession of the true believer or their continual, habitual spiritual defeat (Rom. 8:30; 1 John 3:9). Furthermore, Scripture teaches that a true Christian will be being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).

Union with Christ 

It is helpful, at this point, to bring into our discussion the doctrine of the believer's union with Christ. John Murray says, "Union with Christ is really the central truth of the whole doctrine of salvation not only in its application but also in its once-for-all accomplishment in the finished work of Christ." [24] The Scripture which explains our union with Christ is devastating to this theory that Christians can be indwelt and helplessly enslaved by demons. We are in Christ, and "if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17). Christ is in us (Gal. 2:20), and "if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Rom. 8:10). This union with Christ is something that God determined long before we ever heard the Gospel or were even born, for "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight" (Eph. 1:34). John Murray explains:

The Father elected from eternity, but he elected in Christ. We are not able to understand all that is involved, but the fact is plain enough that there is no election of the Father in eternity apart from Christ. And that means that those who will be saved were not even contemplated by the Father in the ultimate counsel of his predestinating love apart from union with Christ - they were chosen in Christ. As far back as we go in tracing salvation to its fountain we find "union with Christ"; it is not something tacked on; it is there from the outset. [25] 

The believer's union with Christ, as explained in these verses and many others, does not only guarantee our past Justification and our future Glorification but also our present Sanctification. Union with Christ sustains and perfects the entire process. Murray explains that in everything the believer is made rich in Christ in all utterance and in all knowledge. [26] Thus we are made righteous by our union with Christ, for He is our righteousness, and He is making us righteous (2 Cor. 5:21; cf. 3:18). It is in the Sanctification process that we, by God's grace, reveal our union with Christ. This progressive Sanctification is defined by Anthony Hoekema as "that work of God by which the Holy Spirit progressively renews the life of the believer and enables him or her to live to the praise of God." [27]

Yet these spiritual warfare advocates do not teach this particular aspect of our union with Christ in this way. Rather they teach that the believer's victory over Satan is primarily up to the believer himself. [28] This is clearly unbiblical in light of this doctrine. God has promised to preserve us in union with Christ - not just to the day of salvation but through the day of salvation. Paul explains this preservation of God in Romans 8:26-39. Satan cannot even bring a charge against God's elect (v. 33), much less indwell and enslave us ("Or what harmony has Christ with Belial?" [2 Cor. 6:15]). We are conquerors through Christ (v. 37), not slaves of Satan. "He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?" (v. 32).

The Indwelling Holy Spirit 

This teaching, that believers can be indwelt and enslaved by demons, despises the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. It teaches that demons which inhabit a person do not leave when he becomes a Christian, and that a Christian can be enslaved or controlled by demons by habitually choosing to sin. [29] The result of this would be that a true Christian, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, is also inhabited (indwelt, controlled, enslaved) by Satan. (This, of course, would explain why so many people who have "responded" to a Gospel presentation are not walking in the Spirit or being controlled by the Spirit.) [30]

Frankly, this teaching is unbiblical and irreverent. The Bible does not teach this doctrine anywhere, nor does it give any example of a born-again believer being demon-controlled or exorcised of a demon. However, the Bible does teach that "the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (2 Cor. 3:17). The Holy Spirit would not allow a believer to be enslaved by a demon. The indwelling Holy Spirit is transforming us from glory to glory (2 Cor. 3: 18). Therefore believers must be becoming more like Christ. Ezekiel 36:27 says, "And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances" (emphasis mine). Anyone who has the Spirit of Christ is in the Spirit (Rom. 8:9), has his mind set on the things of the Spirit (Rom. 8:6), and is being led by the Spirit (Rom. 8:14).

Can Satan tempt and deceive a Christian? Can Satan influence a Christian to sin? The answer to these questions is, of course, yes. However, this does not mean that Satan has the right or power to inhabit a believer, as if the already indwelling Holy Spirit has no right or power in the life of the believer. The Bible teaches that the believer is the temple of the Holy Spirit. How can a Christian be both the temple of Satan and the temple of the Holy Spirit? Or as Paul asked in 2 Corinthians 6:15-16: "Or what harmony has Christ with Belial? ... 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.'"

The Sufficiency of Scripture 

This teaching denies the sufficiency of Scripture. There are four main reasons for this statement. First, although the proponents attempt to support their theory with Scripture, the basic premise - that Christians can be controlled, inhabited, enslaved, etc., by demons - is not supportable from a plain didactic passage. Thus this teaching must be impressed upon Scripture, for Scripture clearly does not teach it. This is done through relating personal experiences and then drawing logical conclusions from them. (Actually their use of Scripture is very haphazard, involving fanciful exegesis, the use of Scripture out of context, and much eisegesis.) In this way, Scripture is not the authority for this teaching, rather personal experience is.

Fred Dickason demonstrates this approach in his book, Demon Possession and the Christian (see review this issue). After his feeling that he has exhausted Scripture and theology without being able to find conclusive evidence for either argument, he turns to experience and reason, using clinical guidelines and case studies. From these he draws the conclusion that Christians can be demonized. [31] Of course, this is not a hermeneutically sound procedure for discovering theological truth. In resorting to this methodology to prove his point, he has, as Lloyd-Jones would say, "capitulated to phenomena." He has allowed phenomena to determine his doctrine (as have all those who advocate that Christians can be controlled by demons). This is a serious error. Rather, "The Christian should seek to interpret the facts in light of the teaching of Scripture. He must not allow phenomena to determine his belief." [32] "Our standard for belief and practice is the Word of God alone. We cannot substitute any observed phenomena, and our interpretation of them, for this divinely given rule." [33] B.B. Warfield puts it succinctly: "The real question, in a word, is not a new question but the perennial old question, whether the basis of our doctrine is to be what the Bible teaches, or what men teach." [34]

Second, advocates of this teaching admit that Scripture is not clear on this subject, and that there is a great deal they don't understand about what they are doing. However, their approach is not to search the Scriptures for truth, but "to keep trying different methods to see what works, and if it works, it's true." [35] Thus experience has become the mother of truth. Frederick Leahy rightly concludes that if we accept the fact that it has happened as the norm for truth, then we must accommodate the real experiences of the Christian Scientist, the Spiritist, or even the Hindu. [36] Yet Psalm 119:160 says, ''The sum of Thy word is truth, and every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting." John 17:17 says, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth." The Word of God is true, not what works. If the Bible does not teach it as truth, then we must not.

Third, according to this teaching, methods for exorcism or deliverance must be done in a particular way or it will not work. The methods are not based on any teaching on the subject from Scripture. The methods are said to work because certain words (such as "Jesus'') are used in a certain way. [37] This is clearly not biblical. As a matter of fact, it may be a breach of the third commandment, "You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:7, NIV). It is important to remember that the Law was given by God to an idolatrous people who had been living, and were going to live, among idolatrous people. The word "misuse" or "take in vain" means specifically lie, falsehood, vanity, or emptiness, and is used in several Old Testament passages to relate to idolatry, i.e., the useless, vain, evil lie of idols and idolatry. In the Law it is used as a misusing of the Name in a false, wrong, profane way. Idolatrous religions, both then and now, use particular words and special names (called power names) to get the gods to do their bidding. These were used in word formulas, incantations, and rituals, and still are today among animistic religions such as Hinduism and its sects. (The Hari Krishna will chant the name of their lord over and over in order to be cleansed and enlightened.) Spiritual warfare practitioners who insist that the name of Jesus must be spoken out loud in order for deliverance to take place may be in danger of using the name of Jesus in a vain, wrong, and profane way as a power word or a magic word. (The sons of Sceva, in Acts 19, did the same thing and were attacked by the demons.) This is a serious error given the majestic holiness of His Name, "the name which is above every name," and at the mention of that name "every knee should bow ... and, that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).

Finally, the advocates of these methods state that their model is Christ's ministry. [38] They believe that according to Matthew 28:18 Christians have been given the authority of Christ and, therefore, can do as Christ did. [39] There are many very serious ramifications to such a statement which cannot be dealt with in this brief paper. However, it is important to say that this interpretation of this passage is erroneous. Jesus did not give anyone His authority in that passage or in any other passage. We work as His servants, under His authority, according to His will. Also, using Christ's ministry as the model is an improper use of Scripture. Christ's examples of working miracles is not our body of doctrine or truth. We are to take the whole counsel of God, the Bible, as our only rule for faith and practice. We must not use Scripture out of context, ignore passages, or read into other passages what we want them to say.

It should be obvious from the above discussion that spiritual warfare advocates do not consider Scripture, as a body of doctrine, sufficient for spiritual warfare teaching, nor is it considered by them as authoritative for practice. Yet since the canon was closed, orthodox Christianity has stood firmly on sola scriptura, the belief that Scripture alone is the authoritative source of truth and knowledge. Thus we must affirm that Scripture, not experience, is the sole norm, the ultimate authority for faith and life.

The Responsibility of the Believer 

This erroneous spiritual warfare teaching disavows the responsibility of the believer to put to death the deeds of the flesh and to walk in obedience to Christ. It states that a Christian can have, for example, a "spirit of lust" or a "spirit of depression," which must be exorcised or cast out by another party or even a team of people. Advocates claim that a Christian can give in to a particular sin to the point that Satan can enslave the person. They say that in this case confession and repentance no longer work. [40] Therefore it would seem that the believer is no longer responsible for his state. He is helplessly enslaved, somehow the indwelling Holy Spirit is neutralized, and the demon is in control.

This teaching is in error mainly for two reasons. First, there is absolutely no scriptural support for it. Second, the Bible tells Christians what to do when they sin, regardless of how bad the sin is or how frequently it occurs, and that is to confess and repent (1 John 1:9). There is no indication that God will not forgive or is unable to forgive and restore the relationship. The Bible teaches believers to persevere and to not give themselves over to demonic control (1 John 3:8-10), and that God will preserve His own, keeping them from the Evil One (1 John 5:18).

A Proper Perspective 

In conclusion, it is important to state adamantly that a Christian cannot be inhabited, indwelt, enslaved, or in any such way be controlled by a demon or any other satanic being. This is clearly an impossibility for a regenerate person. To think otherwise degrades the character of God the Father. He is the sovereign Lord, the sanctifier and protector of His own. It is against His character to allow Satan to enslave His children. To think otherwise demeans the effects of Christ's Atonement. Christ has accomplished not only our Salvation and our Glorification but also our Sanctification. To think otherwise despises the power of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. We are indwelt by the Holy Spirit who is transforming us to become more like Christ. To think otherwise denies the sufficiency of Scripture. Scripture clearly does not teach this theory, and therefore to use Scripture to do so is a misuse of God's holy Word. Finally, to think otherwise disavows the responsibility of the believer. When we sin we are not to seek deliverance from evil spirits but to confess and repent of our sin. Believers are responsible to walk by the Spirit and not carry out the deeds of the flesh.

There is no reason for a Christian to live in uncertainty and in fear of demons and evil spirits lurking in dark places, waiting to inhabit and enslave them when they sin. As Frederick Leahy says:

The Christian is secure because he is indwelt by the victorious Saviour. He is free from the power and jurisdiction of Satan ... In that sense the Christian is for ever beyond the reach of the Evil One .... The unbelieving world is in Satan's embrace, but the Christian is in the arms of the Saviour .... The Christian is begotten by God: the Evil One cannot lay hold of him. [41] 

Therefore the recent teachings on spiritual warfare and deliverance ministries regarding the believer are aberrant, without proper biblical support, and should be avoided. Edward Gross' recommendation should be listened to carefully by anyone involved in deliverance ministries: "that no one inhabited by a demon be accepted as a born-again Christian." [42] Anyone indwelt by a demon needs the Gospel, not exorcism. For it is the Gospel that "is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Anything else is temporary and possibly harmful.

For the believer, Satan is a defeated enemy. Of course we must still live with the sin nature and the resulting battle which Paul describes in Romans 7:14-25. (This passage is neither the example of a demonized Christian nor of a defeated, carnal Christian, but it is the description of the struggle and cry of a normal Christian who loves his Lord and is committed to living for Him.) It is through this sin nature that Satan tries to influence us by temptation and deception. But the Lord has given us all that we need to be strong in the strength of His might and to stand firm against the schemes of the Devil. He has given us the full armor of God (Eph. 6:14-17). Let us put on the full armor of God and resist the evil one. [43] We are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. His victorious army against whom the very gates of hell cannot prevail. And in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Christ who loved us (Rom. 8:37).

Endnotes 

1. Ed Murphy, "We Are At War." in Wrestling with Dark Angels. eds. C. Peter Wagner and F. Douglas Pennoyer (Turnbridge Wells. England: Monarch Publications, 1990), 71. See also Thomas B. White, The Believer's Guide to Spiritual Warfare, 45-46. 
2. Thomas B. White, The Believer's Guide to Spiritual Warfare (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Vine Books, 1990),43. See also Unger, What Demons Can Do to Saints, and Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian, and Wimber, Power Healing. However, older works, such as Jessie Penn Lewis. War on the Saints, speak of Christians being possessed by demons. Also Merrill Unger, on page 184 of his book, describes the incestuous believer at Corinth as possessed. 
3. John Wimber and Kevin Springer, Power Healing (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1986), 129. 
4. Merrill Unger, Demons in the World Today (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1970), 184. 
5. Murphy, 73. 
6. Ibid., 75. 
7. Unger, 186. 
8. Unger, 185. 
9. Gary D. Kinnaman. Overcoming the Dominion of Darkness (Old Tappan. New Jersey: Chosen Books, 1990), 174. See also White, Believer's Guide, 46. 
10. Unger, 186. 
11. "The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit" is the name coined by Peter Wagner for what is also called the Signs and Wonders movement. (The name reveals its emphasis.) According to Wagner the first wave was the Pentecostal movement, the second wave was the charismatic movement, and now the third wave is the Signs and Wonders movement. Third-wavers do not consider themselves charismatics, but evangelicals. However, non-charismatic evangelical observers of the Third Wave see the movement as a part of the charismatic movement. (E.g. see John MacArthur's chapter, "What Is Behind the 'Third Wave?'" in Charismatic Chaos.) 
12. Also certain writers such as John Wimber, Ed Murphy, Thomas White and Neil Anderson believe that Christians can be severely demonized through an experience prior to their conversion such as inheriting a demon from ancestors, abuse as a child, or unknown involvement in the occult through parents. They support demonization through ancestors with Exodus 20:5 and 34:7 saying that the sins of the father are visited upon the children. However, they seem to have overlooked the promise of God to His own from Jeremiah 31:29-30 and Ezekiel 18 which explains that each one will be held responsible for his own sins. Also they forget that for a regenerate person new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17). 
13. Murphy. Wrestling, 72. 
14. Wimber and Springer, Power Healing, 137. 
15. Wimber, Power Evangelism, 94, and Kinnaman, 162-67. See also examples in White, 60-61.
16. See examples in White, 61, 75f., 116, 119-20, 125. 
17. See examples in White, 78, 116. 
18. Evelyn Christenson, Battling the Prince of Darkness (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1990),94. See also examples in White, 116, 120, 125. 
19. Ibid. 
20. See example in White, 128. Another example of this comes from one of my colleagues. While he was a student at Dallas Theological Seminary, Jack Deere was still teaching there. Deere told his class that he and others had spent all night exorcising a demon from a woman. The demon finally came out through the woman's ankle. 
21. John Wimber, "Power Evangelism" in Wrestling, 29. It is important to understand that the believer does have authority in Christ because of his union with Christ, but he does not have the authority of Christ, as if Christ has given up His authority to the believer. 
22. The above names of God and their descriptions were taken from Nathan Stone's little gem, The Names of God. 
23. Advocates would deny this, but their teaching clearly and logically leads to this conclusion. I personally attended a lecture given by a practitioner who taught exactly this. See White, 45-46; Murphy, Wrestling, 73-75; Wimber, Power Healing, 12-30; Unger, 116-17. 
24. John Murray, Redemption: Accomplished and Applied (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1955), 161. 
25. Ibid., 162. 
26. Ibid., 163. 
27. Anthony A. Hoekema, Saved By Grace (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 62. 
28. Wimber, Power Healing, 117, 128f. 
29. Murphy, Wrestling, 72, 77. On page 72 of his essay, Ed Murphy explains how a demon can cohabit a believer's body with the Holy Spirit. His basic argument is that the of Believers Holy Spirit does not prevent demons inhabiting the bodies of believers, just as He does not prevent them from sinning. He also explains that the Holy Spirit is not contaminated by the demons, nor is He afraid of them. See also White, 46. 
30. Yet Murphy, Wrestling, p. 77, says that even some Spirit filled Christians are suffering from demonization. 
31. Fred Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian (Chicago: Moody Press, 1987), 127, 147f., 340. 
32. Frederick Leahy, Satan Cast Out (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1975), 166. 
33. Ibid., 171. 
34. B.B. Warfield, The Inspiration and Authority of the Bible (Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1948), 226. 
35. This is a direct quote taken from a spiritual warfare lecture which I heard recently. 
36. Leahy, 138. 
37. For example see Christenson, 94, 98. A spiritual warfare practitioner explained to me that if deliverance were to take place, Satan must be spoken to audibly, and that any commands given to him or his demons must be accompanied with "in the name of Jesus" or "in Jesus' name." Because of this particular error in some deliverance ministries, some critiques have labeled it "Christian animism" or "Christian witchcraft." Let me say that not all deliverance ministry practitioners use the name of Jesus in this way, and probably very few, if any, of those that do realize what they are doing. An interesting note related to this is, that Tom White, The Believer's Guide, p. 65, suggests that believers take communion as a way to receive power when trying to rid oneself of demonic infiltration. 
38. Bill Hull in his chapter in Power Religion states that trying to apply working models can be dangerous. He gives three limitations to working models: You can't transfer the context, the personality and gifts, or the spirituality. With this in mind, to try to use Jesus' ministry of miracles as a working model moves from the difficult to the ridiculous, and possibly to the arrogant. 
39. See n. 20. 
40. Wimber, Healing, 12lf. See also Murphy, Wrestling, 74. Recently a practitioner told me that a Christian could become so infested with demons that confession and repentance no longer worked, but that it required a team to deliver a person. 
41. Leahy, 175. 
42. Edward Gross, Miracles, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1990), 167. 
43. For the Christian who is searching for sound teaching on spiritual warfare and the armor of God, I highly recommend William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, as well as Thomas Brooks, Precious Remedies Against Satan's Devices, both from the Banner of Truth Trust. 

Author 

Dr. Tom Austin is a missionary with Mission to the World (PCA) and serves as a professor at Nairobi International School of Theology.