This morning, after reading my three-part series entitled "Demonic
Possession And Sickness: A Biblical Perspective", a certain woman -- the
wife of a pastor in the USA -- wrote to me with a few questions regarding
the series, and some experiences she had had in her personal life. Her main
question concerned whether or not a Christian can become possessed by the
Devil.

In responding to her, I informed her that I would have to agree with your
husband, and do not believe that a Christian who is truly saved and filled
with the Holy Spirt, can be possessed by Satan, or by any of his demons. I
believe that once we belong to the Lord, that's it; it's settled; and the
Lord is not about to surrender us back to Satan. As the Apostle Paul wrote
to Timothy:

"Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, THE
LORD KNOWETH THEM THAT ARE HIS. And, Let every one that nameth the name of
Christ depart from iniquity."
2 Timothy 2:19, KJV

Once we are washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and have been sealed with the
Spirit of Promise, i.e., the Holy Spirit, it is a done deal. We have been
adopted into the Family of God, as per the teachings of Jesus and the
Apostle Paul. The Purchase Price -- Jesus' Blood -- has been paid in full,
and God is not about to surrender us to that Demon of Darkness. We are God's
possessions forever.

While I do not believe that saved Christians can be possessed, I do believe
that God may allow Satan to buffet us in order to teach us a lesson when we
are particularly disobedient; but actually being possessed by a demon after
Salvation has occurred? I don't think so, and I can think of no Scriptural
precedent for such a thing having ever occurred.

I am reminded of the incident between the Lord and Peter, when Peter rebuked
the Lord, because Jesus prophesied of His coming Death on the Cross. As you
will recall, Peter didn't like hearing about Jesus' coming Crucifixion.
After all, he and the other Apostles and Disciples wanted Jesus to remain
with them forever. So what did Peter say to Jesus? He said "Be it far from
thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee."

Here was the great Apostle Peter making one of his infamous fumbles. Of
course, as you may know, Jesus strongly rebuked Peter by saying "Get thee
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men.".

Obviously, poor Peter was still rather short-sighted at that time. He didn't
yet fully understand God's Plan of Salvation through Christ. Later on, he
would even deny knowing the Lord three times. However, ultimately, after
being filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Peter became a
powerhouse of a witness, and a pillar of the First Century Church in
Jerusalem. Please consider reading my article entitled "Peter: Faith Tried
In The Fire" if you care to learn more about Peter's miraculous
transformation from being a bumbling coward to a powerful witness of the
Spirit.

Now, Peter obviously believed that Jesus was the Messiah. In fact, as you
may recall, he was one of the first of the Apostles to recognize Jesus as
such, for which Jesus commended him by saying "Blessed art thou, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father
which is in heaven."

In spite of this blessing, nevertheless, on that occasion, Jesus said to him
"Get thee behind me, Satan". So what was going on there? Was Peter actually
possessed by Satan?

I don't think so. If anything, I would say that perhaps Peter was
momentarily oppressed; or perhaps because of his own selfish desire to have
Jesus remain with them, he temporarily became a tool of Satan by leaning to
his own understanding; so much so that Satan spoke to Peter's mind, and the
harmful words came blurting right out of Peter's mouth, to Peter's own
embarrassment. As we learn in the Scriptures -- particularly in the Epistles
-- and as I point out in several of my articles, our human mind is the real
battleground. Battles are won and fought there. Doubts are sown there.

In Peter's case, as Jesus would later say, Satan was really trying to sift
Peter like wheat, because he -- Satan -- obviously understood how important
Peter was to the Lord's Work. In the Gospels we read:

"And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren."
Luke 22:31-32, KJV

Another way to interpret the event is not that Jesus was actually calling
Peter "Satan", or even suggesting that Peter was possessed by or oppressed
by Satan. You see, in the original Hebrew and Greek, the word "satan" or
"satanas" actually means "adversary". So it could be
that Jesus was simply
calling Peter his adversary, because Peter did not yet fully understand the
things of the Spirit, or the importance of Jesus' Mission on Earth. If Peter
had fully understood, obviously, he would not have made the comment that he
did.

We also have the example of the Apostle Paul -- the great Apostle to the
Gentiles -- who, according to the Book of Acts and Paul's own words, started
out by condoning the persecution and murder of Christians. As a Pharisee,
Paul had a lot of zeal, but it was terribly misguided zeal; at least at
first. In spite of his importance to the Lord's Work, Paul too was attacked
and oppressed by Satan, which resulted in certain health problems for Paul.
Thus, in his Epistle, Paul tells us:

"For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say
the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that
which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be
exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was
given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest
I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord
thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in
reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's
sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
2 Corinthians 12:6-10, KJV

So there we have two clear examples where great men of God were outwardly
attacked by Satan, or at least by his demonic minions.

My point is, if it could happen to them, surely it can happen to saved
Christians today as well. Perhaps we cannot be outright possessed by demonic
forces, but we can be oppressed by them if we are not careful. As this woman
mentioned to me -- and I fully agree with her -- if we still have some
serious sins in our lives after Salvation, the Lord may just allow Satan to
buffet us until we repent, and get our lives in order. Didn't He do the same
thing with the Patriarch Job? Job obviously loved God, but he was very
self-righteous about his faith in the Lord; so God had to teach Job a
lesson, and humble him, by letting Satan touch him with all kinds of
personal calamities.

I believe that this is also what Jesus meant when on a few occasions in the
Gospels, He stated that a worse thing would befall certain people, if they
fell back into their old sins. I believe that He was referring to some form
of physical torment -- such as sickness -- brought on by Satanic/demonic
oppression.

On the other hand, can unsaved people be actually possessed by demons? Most
definitely. Just read the Gospels and the Book of Acts. There are a number
of incidents where some people were totally possessed by demonic forces.
However, the good news is that Jesus can cast out demons; and even today, if
a person repents of their sins, and comes to Christ, they too can be freed
from the shackles of demonic darkness which bind them; for as Jesus said:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty them that are bruised,"
Luke 4:18, KJV

So if you have been bruised by Satan, call upon the Lord today, and He will
set you free; for as He said:

"And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free . . . If the
Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed."
John 8:32, 36, KJV



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