Can a Christian be tormented by demons?
Scripture never says a demon can dwell in someone the Spirit of God indwells, but it is clear that believers can be attacked from outside: tempted, accused, harassed, and hindered. The difference is the one Jesus drew: possession is being seized by a power that rules you, while the Christian is ruled by the Spirit and stands against the enemy with armor and the name of Christ. The battle is real; the victory is already decisive.
This question arose from studying Are demons real and active today? and Who is Satan, and what does he do?.
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What the Scripture says
Scripture's possessed are outside Christ; His word frees them
The demonized man of the Gadarenes lived among the tombs, wore no clothes, and was driven by demons into the desert; at Jesus' word, 'Legion' left him, and the city found him 'sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind.' They saw the power of the demons in his bondage and the greater power of the Son of God in his freedom. Where Jesus is Lord, demons do not own the house.
When Jesus stepped ashore, a certain man out of the city who had demons for a long time met him. He wore no clothes, and didn’t live in a house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, “What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” For Jesus was commanding the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For the unclean spirit had often seized the man. He was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters. Breaking the bands apart, he was driven by the demon into the desert.
People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
“Return to your house, and declare what great things God has done for you.” He went his way, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Believers are the temple of the Spirit, and greater is He in us
Paul makes the boundary a matter of residence: 'You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you,' and he asks, 'Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit... which you have from God?' John's word for the whole church is decisive: 'You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.' A spirit of darkness cannot share the temple the Spirit of God has claimed; that is not a promise of comfort but a fact of ownership.
But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own,
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
Don’t you know that you are a temple of God, and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
But they can attack from outside: tempt, accuse, hinder
The same New Testament that promises the Spirit's residence warns that 'our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers... against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places,' and Peter pictures the devil as a roaring lion walking about, 'seeking whom he may devour.' Even Paul had 'a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me.' The believer's battle is real; the question is not whether the enemy attacks, but whether he rules.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, that I should not be exalted excessively.
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The response: resist in faith, with the armor, not in raw power
James gives the two-part move: submit to God, and 'resist the devil, and he will flee from you.' Peter links resistance to faith: 'Withstand him steadfast in your faith,' knowing the same sufferings are shared across the world. Paul's armor is the counter-terror: truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God, with all prayer. Jude adds the humility of Michael the archangel, who dared not bring an abusive condemnation against the devil but said, 'May the Lord rebuke you!' We do not fight the enemy in our own authority; we fight in the name and word of the One who has already defeated him.
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
Therefore put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;
But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”
with all prayer and requests, praying at all times in the Spirit, and being watchful to this end in all perseverance and requests for all the saints:
The victory is Christ's, and it is finished
The cross was the defeat: through death He brought to nothing 'him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,' and having stripped the principalities and the powers, He 'made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.' John's reason for the incarnation is blunt: 'To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil.' So the believer's posture is not foreboding but perseverance: stand, pray, resist, and rest in the One whose resurrection is the final word. The devils had their hour; it ended at the cross and the empty tomb.
Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me for his heavenly Kingdom; to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
As you read, you may wonder…
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Verses to meditate on
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.
For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Be subject therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.
having stripped the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
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