Can a Christian be possessed? Yes! A Christian can be possessed because only a Christian can be delivered. The deliverance ministry benefits only those who have made Jesus Savior and Lord. The unsaved cannot be delivered, or if they are they end up seven times worse afterwards since they do not have the power of the Holy Spirit to stay delivered. Many come to saving faith in Jesus Christ possessed because of previous involvement in the occult, sexual sins, sins of inheritance or as a result of specific unrepented sins. Some Christians become possessed because later they get involved in these kind of sins.  The Bible is plain in Galatians 6:7-8,

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life."

While many people’s theology teaches a Christian cannot be possessed, nothing in the Bible teaches that a Christian cannot be possessed. Possession is the result of sin, but not just any sin, but sin that a person commits that is deliberate and ongoing and without the intent to repent. Ecclesiastes 10:8 states "He who digs a pit will fall into it; and whoever breaks a hedge, a serpent will bite him." When we sin, that is a doorway first to oppression. When we sin we give Satan legal access to ourselves. We only have authority over Satan when we are in submission to the Lord. James 4:7 states "Submit therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James wrote this to Christians, not non-believers. When we sin and do not immediately confess and repent of it, unclean spirits related attach themselves to us to keep us in bondage to that sin. That is why even though we confess and repent of our sins and God forgives us, afterwards we often times still feel attached to and prone to that sin. Paul expressed this frustration in Romans 7:18-19,

"For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish."

We have to go further than just confessing and repenting of our sins, we have to ask the Lord to then also cleanse us from the sin and all unclean spirits related. If we do not, we will find ourselves repeating the sin with seemingly no power to say no. That is because it is now the demonic influences which are causing us to sin. So after we confess our sins we also need to in the name and the blood of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to bind the unclean spirits related and command them to leave.

Next, as described in this article, you need to also anoint your house and place of work. Next, pray for the covering of Jesus’ blood (Revelation 12:11), the surrounding and protection of His mighty warrior angels (Psalm 34:7); and the overshadowing power and protection of the Holy Spirit (2 Thess 3:3).

"And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death." (Revelation 12:11)

"The angel of Yehovah encamps around those who fear Him, and rescues them." (Psalm 37:7)

"But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one." (2 Thess 3:3)

This is how we deal with demonic oppression. It is never just simply an issue of confessing our known sins, that is the first step. We then do need to take authority over the unclean spirits related or we will find ourselves continuing in that sin whether we want to or not. Only after binding the unclean spirits and commanding them to leave will we then find release from the propensity to sin. We all have a disposition to certain kinds of sins. It is these sins we usually have the greatest battle with once we have given into them. What I have described here is what Christians mostly battle with which is oppression of unclean spirits from the outside, not possession.

While most Christians are not possessed, they can become possessed and this comes about through repetitious unrepented sin; sin we do deliberately, wantonly without any intention of repenting. Eventually that then opens a hole in the wall of our protection and demons enter in. This is why it is so important when we fall to temptation to immediately confess it and get on our knees and ask for the Lord to cleanse us of that sin and to seal that doorway in His blood. We then need to ask Him for Holy Spirit grace, strength and power to say no to this sin and temptation when it comes (Eph 6:10, 2 Thess 3:3). This is why it is so important that we stay close to the Lord through reading the Word and prayer and daily seek His power to stay close to Him and away from those things which tempt us. Jesus said in Matthew 26:41 "Keep watching and praying, that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

The Bible tells us that Satan prowls about waiting for that opening in our protection.

1 Peter 5:8-10 "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you."

The solution is to stay clean of sin and to immediately confess and repent of your sin when committed and to stay close to the Lord by daily spending time with Him by reading His Word (1 Peter 1:22-23) and through prayer (Matt 26:41) and through avoiding temptation (Romans 13:14). In the Article titled The Nature of the Flesh I explain how to avoid temptation and keep the flesh from sinning.  We also need to daily put on the full armor of God to protect us from demonic attack and is why God has provided this armor listed in Ephesians 6:10-18. It is a literal armor which covers and protects our human spirit. Only as we are submitted to the Lord and walk in obedience to Him do we have His protection and power and authority over Satan.

If a Christian is possessed, how does she or he get unpossessed? That is the discussion of our next Article titled How to Deliver from Demon Possession.

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