
Having seen that Christians may be attacked and oppressed by demons, and how we may be delivered from it (cf. Demon Possession & Exorcism), another question arises: Can a Christian be demon-possessed? This is answered in the following excerpt:
Frederick S. Leahy
Satan Cast Out: A Study in Biblical Demonology
pp. 95-96
In the light of Scripture we are compelled to reject the view that the Holy Spirit and an evil spirit can co-exist in the same person. Attempts to prove the contrary on the basis of observations are valueless. Human judgment is always fallible and must never be given priority over the teaching of the Word of God. When missionaries provide “examples” of “believers” being possessed, two questions immediately arise: Were the victims regenerate? Were they actually possessed?
Passages of Scripture sometimes used to support this view prove no such thing. There is no reason to believe that the person “delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved” (1 Cor. 5:5) was demon-possessed. This is also true of 1 Timothy 1:20 which refers to those “delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.” Those discussed in 2 Timothy 2:26 and said to be “taken captive” by the devil “at his will,” are not believers at all.
The Biblical doctrines of regeneration and the permanent indwelling of the believer by the Holy Spirit make demon-possession of a believer utterly impossible. We are not asking if a professing Christian can be demon-possessed, but if a regenerate person can be possessed. The answer to this question is firmly in the negative.
The man in Christ is “born again” (Jn. 3:5); He is a “new creation” in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17). He is part of the body of Christ (Eph. 1:23). He is sealed by the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30). He is permanently indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8.9). He is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19). The evil principalities and powers cannot separate him from the love of God which sin Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:58, 39). The One who is in him is greater than the one who is in the world (1 Jn. 4:4). Such a person cannot be indwelt by a demon. The Holy Spirit and an evil spirit cannot be joint occupants of the same heart. “What concord hath Christ with Belial?… And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God…” (2 Cor. 6:15-16). The term naos, translated “temple” in this passage, was used of the innermost sanctuary of the temple where the Divine presence was manifested. Paul places Christ and Satan, idols and the temple of God, in juxtaposition, as deadly antagonists. The antithesis is radical and absolute, as great as that between light and darkness (v. 14). Believers are “in Christ,” and Christ is “in” them (2 Cor. 5:17, Eph. 3:17, Col. 1:27). It is altogether impossible for those who are “Christ’s” (1 Cor. 3:23) to be Satan’s. “We are the Lord’s,” and we can belong to none other.
The Christian cannot be demon-possessed. Such a notion contradicts everything which the New Testament has to say concerning the nature of the new birth and the standing of the child of God. “It is impossible,” says Martin Luther, “for Jesus Christ and the devil ever to remain under the same roof. The one must yield to the other—the devil to Christ.” [1]
[1] Martin Luther, Table Talk, Of Jesus Christ (1566), CXC.
