Misconception #1: Demons were
active when Christ was on earth, but their activity has subsided. “Christians
who hold this view are not embracing the whole counsel of God in light of what
His Word says, nor are they facing reality. The New Testament clearly states
that believers will wrestle ‘against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness
in the heavenly places’ (Ephesians 6:12). Paul goes on to itemize the pieces of
spiritual armor that we are to put on in order to defend ourselves against ‘the
flaming missiles of the evil one’ (verses 13-17). In 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Paul
again specifies that believers are engaged in a spiritual battle against forces
which stand against the knowledge of God. If dark spiritual powers are no
longer attacking believers, why would Paul alert us to them and insist that we
arm ourselves against them? Surely the armor of God is for the believer, not
the unbeliever. The powers and forces that Paul wrote about in the first
century are still evident at the dawn of the twenty-first century. We still have
the usual cults and occultic practices, but witness the rise of the New Age
movement. There is nothing new about the New Age of course. People are
practicing the same old spiritism mentioned in the Old Testament. All they have
done is change terms from medium to channeler, and from demon to spirit
guide.” (19)
Misconception #2: What the early
church called demonic activity we now understand to be mental illness. “Such
statements undermine the credibility of Scripture. Divine revelation is
infallible… We should not be surprised when secular psychologists limited to a
natural worldview attempt to offer natural explanations for mental problems.
Their worldview does not include God or the god of this world. Even many
Christians who vociferously reject the scientific community’s explanation for
the origin of the species naively accept the secular psychologist’s explanation
of mental illness. Research based on the scientific method of investigation of
human spiritual problems is not wrong; it’s just incomplete. It ignores the
influence of the spiritual world, because neither God nor the devil submit to
our methods of investigation.” (19-20)
Misconception #3: Some problems
are psychological and some are spiritual. “The Bible presents the unseen
spiritual world just as real as the natural world which we see with our eyes,
‘for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal’ (2 Corinthians 4:18). Nor does the Bible refer to any time when it
is safe to take off the armor of God. As long as we are living on planet earth,
the possibility of being tempted, accused, or deceived is continuous. If we can
accept that reasoning, we will stop polarizing toward medical answers only, or
psychological answers only, or spiritual answers only.” (21)
Misconception #4: Christians
cannot be affected by demons. “Some evangelicals believe that Christians
cannot be affected or influenced by demons. Even the suggestion that demonic
influence can be part of the problem prompts the hasty disclaimer, ‘Impossible!
I’m a Christian!’ Such thinking removes the church from the position of having
an adequate answer and helping those who are under attack, and it leaves such
people without hope, because we are the only ones who can help them. Nothing
has done greater damage to diagnosing spiritual problems than this untruth. If
Satan can’t touch the church, why are we instructed to put on the armor of God,
to resist the devil, to stand firm, and to be alert? If we aren’t susceptible
to being wounded or trapped by Satan, why does Paul describe our relationship
to the powers of darkness as a wrestling match? Those who deny the enemy’s
potential for destruction are the most vulnerable to it.” (21-22)
Misconception #5: Demonic
influence is only evident in extreme or violent behavior and gross sin. “I
labored under this kind of thinking for years when I was a pastor and therefore
missed the subtle deceptions that rendered many Christians fruitless. Although
there are some cases today like the wild demoniac called ‘Legion’ in Luke 8,
most deceived Christians lead relatively normal lives while experiencing
personal and interpersonal problems for which no cause or solution has been
found. Since they relegate satanic involvement only to the cases of mass
murderers or violent sex criminals, these ordinary problem-plagued individuals
wonder what’s wrong with them and why they can’t just ‘do better.’ Satan’s
first and foremost strategy is deception. Paul warned: ‘Satan disguises himself
as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also
disguise themselves as servants of righteousness’ (2 Corinthians 11:14,15). It
is not the few raving demoniacs who are causing the church to be ineffective,
but Satan’s subtle deception and intrusion into the lives of ‘normal’
believers.” (22-23)
Misconception #6: Freedom from
spiritual bondage is the result of a power encounter with demonic forces. “Freedom
from spiritual conflicts and bondage is not a power encounter; it’s a truth
encounter. Satan is a deceiver, and he will work undercover at all costs. But
the truth of God’s Word exposes him and his lie. His demons are like
cockroaches that scurry for the shadows when the light comes on. Satan’s power
is in the lie, and when his lie is exposed by the truth, his plans are
foiled.” (23)
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