Can a Christian Be Demon Possessed?

Christian writers have taken both sides of this issue. The disagreement in part derives from semantics, but that is not to imply that the debate lacks substance. The semantic problem derives from English translations of the Greek lemmas in passages describing demonized individuals. Words like “possess” and “possession” denote ownership.

A close reading of the New Testament ought to make it clear that a member of the body of Christ cannot be owned by Satan or demons. The body of Christ, the church, has been “obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). The Spirit (Rom 8:9–11, 16–17) and Christ (Col 1:27) dwell within those who believe. Those who are “in Christ” have a new identity as members of the family of God (Gal 3:26). Believers have been “delivered… from the domain of darkness and transferred … to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col 1:13). We are God’s inheritance (Eph 1:18). The idea that believers described in these ways can be subsequently owned by lesser demonic powers is incoherent. Arnold’s observations are significant in this regard:

• The word possession never even appears in the Bible in the passages where Jesus or the apostles cast evil spirits out of an individual. The expression demon-possessed or demon possession does occur in some English translations of the Greek text, but there is never a Greek word for “possession” that stands behind it. “Demon possession” is always the translation of a single Greek word, daimonizomai. Words for ownership or possession (e.g., huparchō, echō, katechō, ktaomai, or peripoieō) are absent in the original text. … The expression “he has a demon” (echei daimonion) does appear in the Gospels (e.g., Luke 4:33; 8:27), but the inverse, “a demon has him,” never occurs.

The point Arnold makes is significant. No Greek word for “possession” or “ownership” appears in passages to clarify or define the activity described by daimonizomai. It is English semantics, not the Greek lemma, which have led to the controversy over whether Christians can be possessed by demons.

If “ownership” is not a workable understanding of the Greek lemma daimonizomai, how should it be translated and understood? Some translators who have detected the problem caused by English semantics related to words like “possess” have opted for renderings such as “tormented” or “troubled” (i.e., by demons). While these choices may help, there are other Greek lemmas that have these meanings, and so the choices are interpretive. The best alternative seems to be simply to transliterate daimonizomai as “demonize.” This choice avoids misconceptions (and related theological inconsistencies) that arise from English “possession” semantics.

This decision of course begs an obvious question: Does the New Testament help us understand how a Christian might be “demonized” while not being owned by Satan or an evil spirit? Arnold asks the same question in other ways:

• We might ask, “Can Christians come under a high degree of influence by a demonic spirit?” or, “Is it possible for Christians to yield control of their bodies to a demonic spirit in the same way that they yield to the power of sin?”

The answer to the question, however worded, is “yes.” On this the New Testament is clear, as several passages employ language that suggests Christians can fall under the influence of Satan and evil spirits. Paul warned Timothy about certain teachers in this regard: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). That those doing so were “departing from the faith” indicates that those Paul had in view were professing believers. For sure, these false teachers did not see what they were doing as out of step with the faith. Paul linked this behavior with the latter days as the Spirit had revealed to the prophets. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul’s language was even more foreboding, instructing Timothy to gently correct such opponents so they might “escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Tim 2:26). The idea that believers could be captured by Satan and made servants of his will certainly fits the notion of demonization, though it lacks the bizarre physical torment of episodes in the Gospels.

Less dramatic but equally dangerous are New Testament warnings about “[giving] opportunity to the devil” (Eph 4:27) and habitual, unrepentant sin (“Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil”; 1 John 3:8). While the sinful impulse that gives rise to temptation resides in the flesh (Jas 1:14–15; Rom 7:18–24), the devil is nevertheless called the tempter (1 Thess 3:5). Yielding to temptation enslaves the believer (Rom 6:6, 12–14; 8:3–8), and so such a lifestyle can rightly be construed as a kind of demonization. Aside from enslavement to sin, Satan seeks to control believers by other means, whether mental, emotional, or physical. For example, the context for Peter’s familiar portrayal of Satan as a devouring lion is persecution and suffering:

• Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Pet 5:8–9)

Paul’s equally memorable statement that a “messenger of Satan” was given to him “in the flesh” (2 Cor 12:7) also links suffering with demonization. The overarching point is that, while Christians cannot be owned by Satan—an idea that derives from the unfortunate “possession” language— they can be demonized. Demonization can take various forms: persecution, harassment, being captivated by false teaching, and enslavement to sin.  

Source: Demons: What the Bible Really Says About the Powers of Darkness – Michael S. Heisler