Can a Christian Have a Demon?

By Mark Sandford

Most persons who object to this idea say that since we are Christ's possession, we cannot possibly be “demon-possessed.” First of all, it needs to be understood that the word, "possessed" and the phrase, “demon-possessed,” are never found in the Greek New Testament. The Greek uses the verbiage, "to have" a demon, “to be in” a demon, or to be “demonized” (Greek: daimonidzomai). Wherever English translations of the Bible say "possessed" or “demon possessed,” they are mistranslating one of these three terms.

Actually, total possession is very rare, even in the Bible. The man with “Legion” is a notable standout. And note that it took a whole legion of demons to possess him. A Roman legion had upwards of 6,000 soldiers. Why so many demons? Because no demon is capable of complete control over every aspect of a person. Rather, each demon specializes in a particular aspect. For instance, there is the case of the woman who was crippled by a demon for eighteen years (Luke 13:11). The demon afflicted her body, but her mind remained sane. Or there is the slave girl who told fortunes through the power demons (Acts 16:16), but remained in good health physically. These persons were not completely possessed, but were affected in some compartment of the self.

There are numerous examples in Scripture of Christians who were demonized to varying degrees in a compartment of their self. For instance, look at 2 Timothy 2:26 (NIV): “The Devil . . . has taken [Christians who believed a false teaching] captive to do his will.” He did not take them captive in every way — he did not “possess” every aspect of them. They were merely believing and acting upon the particular false teachings in question.

Demons gain access through sin. For instance, In Ephesians 4:26-27, St. Paul warned that if the Ephesians allowed the sun to go down on their anger, they would give the devil a foothold. “Foothold,” in the Greek, is topos, meaning “place.” This was not a transitory effect. It was a semi-permanent place of residence. We get our word "topography" from topos. If we let the sun go down on our anger, a demon can find a dwelling place on the "topography" of our lives.

Weighty sins can give place to demons. There are Christians who "abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirit and things taught by demons" (1 Timothy 4:1, NIV). When a church member cohabited with his father's wife, Paul said, "I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (1 Corinthians 5:5). St. Paul handed Hymenaeus and Alexander over to Satan so they would be taught not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:20).

Less weighty sins can also attract demons if they are practiced over time. For instance, mere passivity can invite demons, for we are warned: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you" (James 4:7).

Some believers base their objection to the idea that a Christian can have a demon on the fact that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). How, they ask, can a demon be in a holy place, much less God's temple? Because the Bible says it can. In Matthew 24:15, Jesus said that the “abomination of desolation” will stand in the holy of holies in the Jewish temple. Satan was in Eden, God's holy garden, where he tempted Adam and Eve. And He even approached God in the holiest of all places, heaven (Job 1:6).

Another objection to the idea that a Christian can have a demon is that God and a demon cannot inhabit the same space. But the Bible says: "Where can I go from Your spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there" (Psalm 139:7, NAS). "Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jeremiah 23:24, NIV). In Ephesians 4:10, St. Paul says that God “fills all things.” God is in every place, no matter what evil has infected it. To say that God can’t be where a demon is, is to say that God is not omnipresent (everywhere at once).

But is there a specific example in Scripture of a Christian being not only influenced by a demon, but also inhabited? The one possible example is found in Acts 5:3, where Ananias lied about the amount for which he sold his land to donate to the apostles. Peter asked him, “Why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?” (NIV). In the Greek, the word, filled, pleroo, can mean being "filled" with the Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18), but it most often means to pour something into something else, like wine into a glass. So, in Acts 5:3, was Ananias filled with Satan himself, or did Satan fill him with the intent to lie as one pours wine into a glass? A Greek scholar has explained to me that if pleroo was a passive verb, it would mean that the subject, Satan, was the object of the action (he placed himself inside of Ananias). But since it is an active verb, Satan was acting upon the direct object (Ananias), filling him with the intent to lie.

If this is true, does it mean that while a Christian can be influenced by a demon, he. cannot be inhabited? Not necessarily. Where a specific example of something can't be found, Christian scholars have always considered whether it is in line with Scriptural principles. For instance, when the first Sunday Schools were established in the late 1700's and early 1800's, one objection that some raised is that there is no example of it in Scripture. They lost the argument because the principles of Scripture were that children should be taught the Bible, and church is a place where this is done for adults, so why not for children?

So, do Scriptural principles support the idea that a Christian can be inhabited? It would seem so. As we have seen, demons can influence us through sin, and they can be in holy places. Furthermore, in some cases, demons have manifested in ways that suggested they were inside the Christians they influenced. And many church leaders throughout the centuries have believed that a Christian can be inhabited. I tend to agree, at least with regard to some of the more extreme cases.

However, since the biblical support for this idea is not more explicit than it is, it might be wise not to make a doctrine out of it. We should focus on what the Bible focuses on. It doesn't focus on where a demon is. Rather, it focuses on how it influences a believer, the need to repent of the sin that has attracted it, and the need to command it to leave. In the end, whether a demon has influenced a person from inside or outside, and whether it is cast out of or off of a person, the effect is still the same. The afflicted person is freed of its influence.

Back to the question: "Can a Christian be possessed?" We have seen that serious sins or less serious sins engaged in consistently may provide a demon with a sphere of influence in our lives and even some measure of temporary control. But does that constitute full possession? Not at all. According to 1 Corinthians 6:20, "You were bought for a price." It is God who "possesses" us.

And what a blessed "possession" this is, which, paradoxically, sets us free! In light of the verses reviewed in this article, although it is clear that a Christian can indeed have a demon, it is also clear that a demon cannot have a Christian.

[Note: for more, see the article on this website: "Can Demons Influence Christians? What Saints Have Said."]