It's been a little while since I've posted here.

Over the last week, there has been some discussion, and some rather heated debate, about the issue of demon possession. Yeah, it's a heavy topic that a lot of people don't like to think about much (I'm probably included in that category) but it's something that is relevant to our church at the moment. One person who has attended our church for a while has received deliverance prayers because it is the opinion of some of our prayer team that this particular person has demons, due to their deep involvement with Hindu spirituality in the past. I don't want to speculate one way or the other whether this person is demon possessed, but I am really wanting to shape my view first from the Bible rather than what I am experiencing or seeing. I believe that the Bible is the standard by which I can interpret the experiental.

Demon possession is mentioned in Scripture. Throughout his ministry on earth, Jesus healed people who were sick and delivered people who were possessed by demons (eg. Mark 5:1-20, Matthew 17:14-23). I'm not sure how common demon possession is, but I can see from the Bible that it is possible for people who aren't Christian. Where I disagree with the guest preacher who visited my church last week, is that I don't believe a Christian can be possessed by demons. By 'Christian' I mean someone who trusts in Jesus' death and resurrection, and therefore has received the Holy Spirit, not just someone who goes to church. Every Christian still struggles with sin, and needs to keep putting the old self to death. Christians can definitely be tempted by the devil, or by demons. I do not believe, though, that a demon can dwell in the same place as the Holy Spirit.

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was symbolised by the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle and later the Temple. When sinful people tried to enter into the presence of God, they died. Evil cannot dwell in the same place as God's holiness. Corinthians 6:19 says that the physical body of a Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit. As the presence of the Lord dwelt within the Tabernacle or the Temple in the Old Testament, the presence of the Lord dwells within Christians through the Holy Spirit.

I'm still thinking about this issue and talking about it with people. Most of the people at church I've talked to tend to agree with me, but a few don't. This is just a quick presentation on what is a really complicated topic.