Those involved in “deliverance ministries” say it is necessary to bind Satan in the unsaved to give the gospel. “The experienced deliverance minister can compel evil spirits to tell the truth. I do so all the time …. To evangelize the demonized we must learn how to bind demonic activity from the minds of demonized unbelievers” (Ed Murphy, We Are at War, pages 51 and 58). What about Romans 1:16 which says that the gospel is the power of God to those who believe?
Charles Ryrie believes that demons can temporarily have a base of operations within the believer
Ryrie says this should not be called demon possession but the difference is hard to discern. Ryrie is weak on this issue stating “The argument against a believer’s being able to be demon possessed is often based on the fact of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s heart. In other words, since the Spirit indwells the believer, it is impossible for Satan or demons also to indwell and thus possess the believer at the same time. But do not the Spirit and the flesh war within the believer (Gal. 5:16-17)? If it is argued that the old man has been judged (Rom. 6:6), it may also be pointed out that Satan has been judged too (John 12:31). So if Spirit and flesh, the new and old, can be present within the believer at the same time, why cannot the Spirit and Satan (or demons)?” (Basic Theology, 190-191).
The problem is not between the Spirit and the inanimate principle of the old nature dwelling together in the believer but the problem is the Holy Spirit dwelling in a believer with another evil person like a demon. 1 John 4:4 assures us “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” John did not say, “Greater is he who is in you than he that is also in you.”
1. Verses used to argue that believers can be demon possessed: (1 Sam. 16:13-14; Lk. 13:11-16; 1 Cor.5:5; 2 Cor. 12:7; Acts 5:3)
Ryrie makes another mistake by citing Ananias who allowed Satan to fill his heart. “Since there is no reason not to believe that Ananias was a believer, here is a clear statement that Satan did fill the heart of a believer [Acts 5:3]. Nothing is said about demons here, though presumably if Satan filled his heart, demons could have also …. Neither Satan nor demons can permanently indwell a believer nor ultimately have victory over him” (Basic Theology, 191).
One weakness of Ryrie’s argument is to assume that being filled by Satan equals demon possession. To be filled in Scripture means to be controlled as believers who are filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit or the Sadducees who were filled or controlled by anger in Acts 5:17. Dr. Ryrie does not give any Scripture for this view. Ryrie argues against permanent demon possession from 1 John 5:18 and John 20:17.
2. Arguments against believers being demon-possessed
a) None of the verses used to prove believers can be demon-possessed are convincing
b) The Trinity would not share their abode in believers with demons
Christ is in every believer (Col.1:27). The Holy Spirit is in every believer (1 Cor. 6:19-20) as a matter of fact, the entire Trinity is in every believer (John 14:23). How can such conflicting personalities dwell in the same person?
Is There a Gift of Exorcism Today?
Some extremely bizarre and radical behaviors accompany some of today’s so-called exorcisms. A fifty-one-year-old Chicago woman called the police after she had been severely bruised and beaten by her husband and by a Presbyterian minister. Why had they abused her? They said they were trying to rid the woman of evil spirits. In the Los Angeles area, an even more horrifying experience occurred, purportedly in the name of Christianity. A group of preachers allegedly stomped a woman to death as they tried to remove demons from her” (Robert Lightner, Angels, Satan, and Demons, 148).
1. Casting out demons in the life of Christ was part of the temporary sign gift of healing (Mt. 15:21-28; Lk. 9:42; Acts 10:38).
2. Because the temporary sign gifts are ceased, the gift of exorcism is not for today.
Spiritual gifts fall into two areas: Temporary sign gifts and permanent service gifts
Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22 states that the Jews require a sign. There have been three periods in the history of Israel when there have been sign gifts performed because Israel refused to believe God’s messengers and their God-given message:
1. Moses and Joshua (Exodus 4:1-9)
2. Elijah and Elisah (1Kings 17:17-24; 2 Kings 4:18-37)
3. Christ and the Apostles (Matthew 8:1-18; 10:8; 12:22-32; 2 Corinthians 12:12). Just as sign gifts did not follow Moses and Joshua and Elijah and Elisha eras, sign gifts did not follow Christ and the Apostles because, in the last era, the canon of Scripture was completed.
The phrase “that which is perfect is come” in 1 Corinthians 13:10 is a reference to the completion of the canon of Scripture. The context proves that “perfect” means the completion of the canon and not the return of Christ. Paul was regulating the sign gifts in 1 Corinthians 14 until they ceased.
In verse nine Paul said that the sign gifts through which God revealed knowledge were still in effect because revelation was incomplete: “for we know in part and we prophesy in part.” But in verse 10, Paul referred to the completed canon when revelation would no longer be incomplete: “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”
Also, the word “perfect” (Greek teleiov) is a neuter noun. If perfect were referring to Christ the noun would have been masculine.
Teleiov has a wide semantic range in meaning. One of the common meanings of teleiov which fits this context well is “complete” as in Hebrew 5:9. Christ was made complete in His incarnation to be our High Priest after the order of Melchisedec. When the canon was complete, the sign gifts were no longer necessary as a means of revelation.
Now for the explanation of specific sign gifts not operative today
1. The gift of apostleship was foundational for the early church (Eph. 2:20; 2 Cor. 12:12) but not needed today. Through the preaching and writing of the apostles, we have the Scriptures. To be an apostle one had to have seen the resurrected Christ (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor. 9:1) which is no longer possible after the ascension of Christ.
2. The gift of prophecy was a gift of the first century when God was giving revelation which included the mystery of the Church (Eph. 3:5). In 1 Corinthians 13:10 this gift ceased with the canonization of Scripture as explained before.
3. The gift of miracles was performed by the official apostles who witnessed Christ in His resurrection body and that office is no longer in existence as argued earlier. In Mark 16:17-20, after the ascension, the apostles went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with miraculous signs following.” But in Hebrews 2:3-4 the author stated the confirmation of the apostles with the gift of miracles was past.
4. The gift of healing is no longer operative today because this gift also was an apostolic sign gift which has ceased like the other apostolic sign gifts. The apostolic gift of healing included the ability to raise the dead (Acts 9:36-43; 20:6-12). The dead are not being raised today by faith healers who claim to possess the gift of healing. God can still heal when it is His will (James 5:13-16).
5. The gift of tongues. Paul declared that “whether there be tongues, they shall cease.” As argued before the Jews require a sign. God is temporarily no longer dealing with the Jews as a nation according to Romans 13:11-18 and therefore signs are not necessary today. In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul was only regulating the legitimate gift of tongues until that gift ceased with the passing of the official apostles and the canonization of Scripture which church history confirms as happening.
Other reasons the gift of exorcism is not for today
Christ could cast out demons because it was a sign of His messiahship which Matthew recorded in Matthew 8-11 as credentials of the messiah.
Christ proved His messiahship by exercising power over nature (Mt. 8:23; Isa 35:1-2)
over physical maladies (Mt. 8:1-18; Isa 35:5)
casting out demons (Mt. 8:28-34; Isa 53:4).
The apostles could also cast out demons as a sign of their apostleship to the nation of Israel because the Jews require a sign (Mt. 10:6-8). Peter and Paul could also cast out demons because they were apostles (Acts 5:16 and 19:11-12) and the sign gifts had not yet ceased (1 Cor. 13:10). But this sign gift like all sign gifts ceased with the close of the canon.
No one has the gift of exorcism today because nowhere in the Epistles are believers commanded to exorcise demons. Casting out demons was part of the apostolic commission in Mark 16:17-20 which also included speaking in tongues, taking up serpents, drinking deadly poisons, and healing the sick. All of these must be practiced not just one or two of them if a person is an apostle with this apostolic gift. Also as discussed before the writer of Hebrews 2:2-3 considered these confirming signs as past.
When Paul explained how believers could stand against the wiles of the devil in Ephesians 6:10-18, he did not mention exorcism as part of the whole armor of God so we can stand. Demons are cast out by the gospel, not a gift. Paul informed the Colossian believers that because they had experienced the gospel (1:6) they had been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love (1:12-14).
See my post on Cessationism (click to open) for today.