Is the world overrun with demons? Is demonic activity, as we are told, the cause for virtually every problem a Christian will encounter? Whether it be emotional problems, addictions, physical illness, or marital unfaithfulness–are these all caused by demonic activity? This is the teaching of the popular “Spiritual Warfare” movement. Spiritual warfare teachers, who once occupied the extremist fringe, are now held up as the new evangelical spiritual leaders. Never before has there been a time of such spiritual misinformation as the present. Unwisely, many Christians are running, without discernment, to “spiritual warfare” gurus in search of spiritual freedom from demonic dominance.
The modern message of spiritual warfare is as unsettling as it is unbiblical. Believers are cautioned that they can be possessed by demons. Our homes, our neighborhoods, and our parks are also possessed by demons. The only protection against this infernal onslaught are the questionable and unproven spiritual warfare techniques. Sadly, these elaborate steps to spiritual freedom are more rooted in alleged demonic experience than in the bedrock of Holy Scripture.
However, true spiritual battle is not new to the Christian. The Church has known for thousands of years that she has been called to battle. Knowing well that true spiritual warfare with Satan and his forces is as fierce and brutal as any earthly conflict, men of God have exposed Satan’s deceptive methods, thereby helping believers to grow spiritually. The approach of these past soldiers in the fight has been thoroughly biblical. Books such as Pilgrim’s Progress and The Holy War by John Bunyan and William Gurnall’s The Christian in Complete Armour have helped Christians for centuries.
Early dispensational writers were equally helpful in carefully setting forth a complete and systematic treatment concerning Satan and his attacks on the Christian. Classic dispensational works, such as L. S. Chafer’s Satan: His Motives and Methods and F. C. Jenning’s Satan: His Person, Work, Place and Destiny, have studiously avoided the sensational casting out of demons from believers, while providing Christians with sound doctrinal teaching.
It should then come as no surprise to us to discover that the Bible does not teach the modem techniques of expelling demons from believers. There is never a mention of shouting at demons, or of tying them to a chair with the invisible three-fold cord of Ecclesiastes 4:12 (Bob Larson, In the Name of Satan, Thomas Nelson, 1996, p. 175). The New Testament teaches that a Christian is not to initiate spiritual attacks against the kingdom of Satan, but to resist the devil (Jas. 4:7).
But what of the casting out of demons in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, He bound the strong man and plundered his kingdom, and the finality of His triumph was demonstrated at the cross of Calvary (Mt. 12:29). However, was the Church ever commissioned to deal with Satan in the same way as our Lord? If so, why is there no teaching after the cross exhorting us to engage in deliverance ministries? Why are the epistles of the New Testament silent concerning casting out demons? Is it not because the victory has already been won? This does not mean we will not do battle with the devil or demons. For as the reformer Martin Luther has well said, “Do you not know that the prince of this world (Satan) has been judged? He is no lord, no prince any more. You have a different, a stronger Lord, Christ, who has overcome and bound him. Therefore, let the prince and god of this world look sour, bare his teeth, make great noise, threaten…he can do no more than a bad dog on a chain…” (Luther, by Edward Plass, Concordia, 1959, p. 291).
The Christian is to do battle in this age by putting on the “full armor of God” (Eph. 6:11). And the enemy is put to flight when the Christian stands in full reliance on God and the power of His might, battle-ready with the weapons of our warfare. These weapons are mighty through God to the “pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). The Lord desires that we not only effectively use these spiritual weapons, but also that we stand in faith upon the One who has overcome the enemy forever.