Thoughts on faith, life, and art.
6. Why God allows demonization.
So far, we have established that the supernatural is a real and present reality, and within that reality, there is a sinister evil—Satan and his demons—who are trying to destroy us. We have discussed what it means to be possessed, and that the term “demonization” more accurately portrays this phenomenon. We have also discussed how demonization can happen to anyone, Christians and non-Christians alike. We learned that in order for one to become demonized, several things have to take place. First, Satan has to be given some sort of legal right to be there, also known as “ground,” such as the “sun going down on your anger” (Ephesians 4:26). There are a few other things that can give “ground,” which we’ll talk about soon. Second, Satan has to be given a commission, and permission to act on that ground. And third, even in that permission, Satan is given very clear parameters on what he can and cannot do to each person. But even after all that research, and getting all those answers, I still had one pressing question. Why would God allow this in the first place, and especially why would he allow the demonization of Christians?
The short answer is—sanctification. Sanctification is the theological term that defines the process of God conforming us to be more and more like Christ. Once we become saved, we begin the journey of sanctification. Sanctification is a whole life process—we do not suddenly become perfect people. And even more important, we never actually become perfect in this life. This is important because it takes the pressure off of us to feel like we need to become something we’re incapable of. Think about the number of pastors who have missed this point, and felt like they couldn’t be honest about one particular sin struggle or another—you know, because they had to be perfect “examples!” When sin isn’t brought into the light, it will continue to grow, and that is why we’ve seen so many church leaders fall. We were never supposed to be elevated in a position of “example,” to begin with. Christ is our example. We strive to be like him, knowing that we’ll never fully achieve that until Christ returns.
Okay, so sanctification is God’s process of molding and shaping us to become more like Jesus. But what does that mean? Let’s talk about how sanctifying marriage is, as an example. Have you ever heard someone say something like, “if you thought you were self-centered now, wait until you get married?” What they mean, is when two broken sinful people become one, there is bound to be a conflict of interest between parties. And thus begins the sanctifying work of learning to die to your own desires, and learning to put another person first. Ideally, a healthy marriage isn’t made by both spouses giving 50/50, you know, meeting in the middle—it’s actually 100/100. It’s both spouses, without compromise, putting the needs of the other first. Not at the expense of their own needs, but at the expense of their own selfish desire that wishes it didn’t have to consider the needs of another person. The apostle Paul said, “those who marry will have worldly troubles” (1 Corinthians 7:28), and anyone who has been married will know that this is true. When two sinners become one, we will have troubles. And in regards to the sanctifying work of this kind of “trouble,” Charles Spurgeon hits right at the heart of it:
“The natural tendency of trouble is not to sanctify, but to induce sin. A man is very apt to become unbelieving under affliction: that is a sin. He is apt to murmur against God under it: that is a sin. He is apt to put forth his hand to some ill way of escaping from his difficulty: and that would be sin.”[1] – Charles Spurgeon
His point is, instead of letting trouble bear us toward sin, we should recognize that God allows trouble in our lives because of its sanctifying work. That is why James says, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). When we are finally perfect and complete, lacking in nothing—we will be fully sanctified. Until then, in this life on earth, we will meet trials of various kinds that will work toward bringing us to that end. And these faith-testing trials are allowed by God, for our good, and for his glory. Spurgeon concludes:
“I suppose that every test must have in it a measure of temptation. The Lord cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any man; but his is to be understood of his end and design. He entices no man to do evil; but yet He [tests] the sincerity and faithfulness of men by placing them where sin comes in their way, and does its best or its worst to ensnare them: His design being that the uprightness of His servants may thus be proved, both to themselves and others. We are not taken out of this world of temptation, but we are kept in it for our good. Because our nature is depraved it makes occasions for sin, both out of our joys and our trials, but by grace we overcome the tendency of nature, and so derive benefit from tribulation.” [2]
So, while God doesn’t tempt us to sin, he does allow trials in our lives, such as when he said to Satan, “have you considered my servant, Job?” He does this because those trials will test our faith, making us perfect and complete, lacking in nothing—it is part of our sanctification process. And even if we do sin, “by unbelieving, murmuring against God, or self-medicating, etc.”—God will use even that in our sanctification process. After all, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good” (Romans 8:28). And how exactly does he use our sin to sanctify us? He does so by allowing us to become demonized. Demonization is such an offense to our spirit, it serves to highlight the fact that something in our lives is out of step with God, and needs to be brought back into repentance. When we are brought into repentance, we not only remove the horrific influence of an unconfessed sin, but also the putrifying presence of the enemy who has taken up a foothold there. And more importantly, we get to address the heart issue that brought about the sin in the first place. In that sense, we end up better than when we first began—which is God’s purpose entirely.
It’s not just a matter of removing the sin. It is a matter of improving on who we were before we fell into that sin—which is the whole point of sanctification. That is also the conclusion of Jon Thompson, who has dealt with hundreds of cases of demonized Christians. He says, “post-conversion demonization is a matter of sanctification, not justification” [3] I love that he made the distinction between sanctification and justification. One is positional, and the other is situational. We, by virtue of being saved, are fully justified—meaning our salvation is not in question simply because of the presence of sin. Our position of justification has been secured. Sanctification, on the other hand, is the working out of that sin. It is the process of being made more like Christ. It’s situational. Therefore, Thompson explains, “You can be in right relationship with God positionally—elected, called, adopted, sealed, seated with Jesus, and sealed unto the day of redemption Ephesians 1—as well as in right community with other believers, under the very Word of God, yet still be inhabited by a demonic being” [4]. And next we’ll talk about how to tell if this is the case.
I like to think of demonization as bowling with bumpers. Because of justification, we’re already headed down the right lane. But when some part of our sin nature rears it’s head, God wants us to address it and repent of it—he doesn’t want us to stay there. If we don’t address it, God allows us to run into the bumper of demonization to bring about our sanctification. We don’t fall off the path into the gutter, but we do experience an uncomfortable jolt as we deal with a hostile supernatural force. And why wouldn’t he allow that? We are usually blind to our little pet sins. Nothing like an uncomfortable visit in the night such as the one I described in my own demonization story to bring us to repentance. And that’s what is so amazing about all of this. We get to have a part in the process as well!
The Apostle Paul said, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13). He didn’t mean, work to be saved—our salvation is already secured. He’s talking about sanctification. He means work on yourself, that your salvation is fruitful. The only way to bear fruit, is to become more like Christ (John 15:4)—ie., sanctification. Scottish theologian, John Murray, quotes this same passage saying, “God works in us and we also work. But the relation is that because God works we work. . . And this working of God is directed to the end of enabling us to will and to do that which is well pleasing to him.” [5] We cannot will and do that which is well pleasing to God without the process of sanctification.
Therefore, among many other things, God allows demonization for the sake of sanctification. He does because it calls attention to something he desires for us to personally address. And in that we get a choice—we can either work it out, or ignore it. We can either repent, and turn that part of our life back to God, or we can be like Saul, and live with demonization until the end of our lives. I believe this is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty” (Matthew 13:23). The good soil is referring to those who are saved, and our level of fruitfulness depends on how we “work out” our salvation. Part of that work is bearing fruit worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8)—and repentance is one of the only ways to get rid of a demon.
There is hope for the demonized. Christ the victor and deliverer stands ready with all authority in heaven and on earth to intervene for the rescue. He wants the believer to grow in his trust and commitment to Him. He seeks to develop the believer’s spiritual life and will even use the presence of the enemy to accomplish this. Demons are invaders, squatters, defeated by Christ and subject to expulsion to the pit. If they are allowed to continue for any length of time in the demonized, it is only for the glory of God and the good of the believer. When the believer’s attitudes and actions are sufficiently developed under the tender but firm hand of the Father, when the Father’s loving child-training has run its course, then the believer will recognize all the good that has been accomplished and profit from the development of holiness in his life (Heb 12:5-11). In the meantime, he needs to recognize that demons are the unwilling catalysts for his growth. He needs also to lay hold on the promise, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. . . . Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (James 4:7-8, 10).[6] - C. Fred Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian
______________________
Charles Spurgeon, The Complete Works of C. H. Spurgeon, Volume 29: Sermons 1698-1756, (Delmarva Publications, 2013), Sermon No. 1704
ibid.
Jon Thompson, Deliverance: A Journey Toward the Unexpected, (Sanctus Church, 2021), page 71.
ibid., page 69.
John Murray, Redemption Accomplished and Applied, (Eerdmans, 1955), page 157.
C. Fred Dickason, Demon Possession and the Christian, (Moody Press, 1987), page 337-38.
(posted 08-11-23)