Demonization and the Life
of the Believer
Practical Deliverance for a Life of
Holiness
Demonization of Christians
“All victory begins with the name
of Jesus on our lips, but it is not
finished until the character of
Jesus is in our hearts”
 Francis
Frangipane
 John
Wesley’s concept of
Sanctification.
 Lifestyle of “ongoing
deliverance” where God gains
more influence over our lives
and “the world the flesh and the
devil” lose influence.
What Can Demons Do to
Saints?
 External
influence - yes
 But what about Internal
influence?
 Questions this raises:
 How
can demons be there if
Christ and the Holy Spirit are
there?
 Doesn’t talk of internal control
imply possession of some sort?
 The
term “demon possession”
 Gk. verb daimonizomai in KJV
translated “demon possessed”
 daimon = demon
 Daimonizomai = demonize
 Essential meaning: “to
subject to demonic influence”
 Demonize
is compatible with
varying degrees of control
 Can be used to refer to Christians
 How
can demons inhabit someone
if Christ inhabits him or her?
 The fallacy of this kind of thinking.
Based upon an understanding of
space not applicable to the spirit
realm.
 Similar
problem with the meaning
of “spirit-filled”
 Scripture does teach there are
degrees of yieldedness to the
control of the Holy Spirit
 According
to Fred Dickason’s
exhaustive study we can’t say
conclusively that scripture teaches
that a Christian may or may not be
demonized.
 Leaves us some freedom to let
reason & experience guide us
 “The
possible demonization of true
Christians is the single most
controversial area in spiritual
warfare today.”--Ed Murphy
 Most exhaustive study - Fred
Dickason, Demon Possession and
the Christian
 Demon possession - NO
 Because possession implies
ownership
“I have encountered from 1974-1987
at least 400 cases of those who
were genuine Christians who were
also demonized. I would not claim
infallible judgement, but I know the
marks of a Christian and the marks
of a demonized person. I might
have been wrong in a case or so,
but I cannot conceive that I would
be wrong in more than 400 cases”-Fred Dickason
 Conversion
transfers us “from the
kingdom of darkness to the
kingdom of light”
 At conversion, “There is an
invasion of the Holy Spirit that
breaks most of us free from direct
internal demonic attachment” (Tom
White)
 Extra-biblical (can’t cite explicit
scriptures to substantiate)
 But not anti-biblical
Major Causes of Demonization
 Demons
do not have automatic
access to human beings
 Conditions must be met to give them
a legal right to be there
 “doorways or pathways” “sin handles”
“airplane runway” “ground”
 “Demons
cannot live in a person
unless two conditions exist: (1)
they must have discovered and
‘entry point,’ an emotional or
spiritual weakness through
which they can enter, and (2)
they must have a ‘legal right,’ a
right that accords with the laws
of the spiritual universe, allowing
them to be there”
--Charles Kraft
1. Persistent Sin
“Be angry but do not sin: do not let the
sun go down on your anger, and do not
make room for the devil”(Eph 4:27)
 Sins that are especially prone to open
doorways:
 involvement in occult practices
 idolatry
 bitterness and hatred
 persistent sexual sin or fleshly
indulgence
 The sins of the flesh (Gal 5:19)

The Continuum of Sin (Ed Murphy)
Thought
Choice
Habit
Loss of Control
Bondage
Demonization
Almost Total
Control
2. The Victimizing Sins of
Others
Two helpful books:
 Charles Kraft, Deep Wounds, Deep
Healing
 Mark Johnson, Spiritual Warfare for
the Wounded
These victimizing sins of others cause us
trauma. Basically trauma can be broken
down into two types:
 A. Type A Trauma



The bad things that happen to us.
B. Type B Trauma

The good things that didn’t happen to us.
Four Kinds of Abuse: Sexual, Physical,
Psychological, Religious
 Not the wounds themselves, but our
reactions (shame, anger, rage, bitterness)
and the lies we believe as a result

 According
to Charles Kraft,
Wounds and reactions/lies are like
garbage. Garbage often attract
rats (demons).
 Real problem is the garbage so the
garbage, not the rats, is the focus
of ministry.
 Not all woundedness has a
demonic component to it.
3. Generational Sin

The Sins of the fathers.

I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a
thousand generations of those who love me and keep
my commandments (Exodus 20:5-6)
Our fathers sinned and are no more, and we bear their
punishment. (Lamentations 5:7)


“The Lord is slow to anger…yet he does not
leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the
children for the sin of the fathers to the third and
fourth generation (Num 14:8)
Confessing the Sins of the
Ancestors
 Daniel 9:4-19
 Nehemiah
1:6-7
 Ezra 9:5-15
 Lev 26:40:“But if they will confess their
sins and the sins of their fathers…then I
will remember my covenant with
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will
remember the land.”

See Jim Goll, Father, Forgive Us!
Russ Parker, Healing Wounded History
Craig Hill, The Ancient Paths
Wasn’t that superseded acc. to
Ezekiel 18:1-20?
 “The
person who sins shall die. A child
shall not suffer for the iniquity of a
parent, nor a parent suffer for the
iniquity of a child; the righteousness of
the righteous shall be his own, and the
wickedness of the wicked shall be his
own.”(Ez 18:20)
 Distinction between guilt for sin and
consequences of sin (Ez 18:19-20)
A Corrective but not a Denial of the Consequences of Generational Sin
 Scripture
supports “the law of
hereditary tendencies and
punishments that fall not on the
original offenders, but on their
children, and the law of individual
responsibility” --E.H. Plumtre
 Jn 9:2--Who sinned, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?
The Nature of Demonization which
is the Result of Generational Sin
 Not
necessarily a direct demonic
transference, but propensities,
weaknesses, greater potential for
open doorways.
 “Spiritual
dedications and
commitments made by our parents
and ancestors have a direct impact
on us. Demonic spirits associated
with these past vows will claim their
rights on the next generation.
Similarly, evil spirits will seek to
exploit the familial patterns of sinful
behavior in the succeeding
generations.
“If there is, for example, a pattern of
sexual sin or marital unfaithfulness in
the family of a new Christian, this will
likely be an issue he or she will struggle
with. This may, in part, be explained by
genetic predispositions as well as by a
set of poor examples, but there is
probably also a spiritual, supernatural
aspect to it. This is an area where
Satan will strike by powerfully tempting
the individual working in concert with
the sinful inclination already there”
--Clinton Arnold
“I have frequently found inherited
spirits in people whose parents or
grandparents, or both were
involved in witchcraft or occult
organizations such as Satanism,
Freemasonry, Mormonism,
Christian Science and the like.
Such generational spirits tend to
cause similar emotional problems,
sins, illnesses and compulsions
from generation to generation in the
family.”--Charles Kraft
The Cross and Ancestral Sin
 “You
know that you were ransomed from
the futile ways inherited from your
ancestors, not with perishable things like
silver or gold, but with the precious blood
of Christ, like that of a lamb without
defect or blemish.”(1 Pet 1:18-19)
 “Christ redeemed us from the curse of
the law by becoming a curse for us, for it
is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is
hung on a tree.’”(Gal 3:13)
Additional Avenues
 Soul
Ties.
 Accidents.
Results of Demonization
 Harassment. Much the same as a hornet
flies around a person’s head, annoying and
distracting him, so it can be with this level of
demonization. The demon does not keep the
person away from his or her appointed
course, but does seek to bother and
discourage him/her.
Results of Demonization
 Oppression.
This level of demonic
activity is much like a fog that settles in
upon a person. The individual finds it
more difficult to stay on track, and often
battles varying levels of emotional and
spiritual oppression.
It can be more
difficult for a person to keep focused on
what is true and right.
Results of Demonization
 Affliction. Jesus often cast-out demons when
people suffered from physical sickness. At this
level of activity, demons seek to bring
emotional, spiritual, and physical suffering to a
person in an effort to defeat and demoralize
them.
Results of Demonization
 Bondage. The demon spirit is exercising
a certain level of control in an area of a
person’s life. This demonization is
possible because of personal choices that
give room for this type of bondage.
Despite personal efforts to move beyond
the problem of sinful behavior, the
individual finds it difficult to resist, and
repeatedly fails to find freedom

And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public spectacle of
them, triumphing over them by the cross.
(Colossians 2:15).
“There is no such thing as
deliverance for immaturity.”
– David Seamands.
Two Approaches to Deliverance
Ministry
 Neil
Anderson - a truth encounter
model. Steps to Freedom in Christ.
Deal with the individual not the
demons.
 Charles Kraft - a power encounter
model. Deal with the individual
and the demons.
Charles Kraft On
Deliverance
A Power-Encounter Approach
Getting Rid of Demons
1. Deal with the Garbage First
--persistent sin issues
--emotional wounds
2. Exercise Discernment
--Discernment is both ‘Natural’ and
‘Supernatural’
--Look for Behavioral Clues and Overt
Manifestations of Demonization
Behavioral Clues that there
may be Demonization
Compulsive Behavior
 Disturbing Dreams
 Strong Urge toward suicide or murder
 Strong self-rejection
 Involvement in homosexuality
 Involvement in the occult
 Serious generational dysfunction
 Paralyzed or Passive Will
 Pain that moves around in the body

Common Outward
Manifestations
 Lightheadedness,
feeling sick, or
like about to throw up
 Stiffness or shaking of body
 Headache or pain somewhere else
in body
 Unusual sleepiness
Common Outward
Manifestations
 Strong
desire to strike the counselor
 Strong desire to run from the session
Less Common Manifestations
(Usually Indicating More Severe
Demonization)
Violent shaking
 Violent behavior
 Facial and/or body contortion
 Screaming, swearing
 Speaking with another voice
 Throwing up
 Eyes glazed, squinted or rolled back
 Acting out (e.g. trying to seduce
counselor)

3. Conducting the Deliverance
Session
 Bathe
the session in Prayer (and
fasting)
 Work in Teams if possible
 Begin by taking authority, claiming
protection, and forbidding outside
help or violence.
 Remember the Person being
ministered to.
4. Challenge the Demons
A Guess and Challenge Approach
 Ask permission to test the possibility of a
demon’s presence
 Challenge one demon by name, if
possible.
 Getting information from demons
 Discover the hierarchy of demons within
the person
 Break off any grip demons may have
through ancestral sin or curses

5. Expel the Demons
 Take
authority and Command it to
Leave
 If it refuses, command it to tell you
what right/grounds it has to stay
 Be forceful, authoritative but
Patient
 How demons come out
 person
will usually know when they
leave
 often leave through the mouth,
sometimes through other orifices
 other signals such as flinch of body
5. Expel the Demons (contd)
 When
demons won’t leave
 Forbidding demons to return and
sealing persons with the Holy Spirit
6. Instruct the person
concerning Follow-up
Ten Keys To Staying Free
1. The lordship of Jesus Christ
must be central in your life.
First establish lordship by exercising your God given
right of free will to be obedient and stop sinning. No
demon can force you to sin. Jesus must be lord of
our minds. He must be lord of our emotions, how we
react. He must be lord of our will and the decisions
we make. He must be lord of our sexuality our
bodies. The most important decision we make in
staying free is this one. If you haven’t won this battle,
you will never stay free. The enemy will always find
an area where Jesus is not lord of you life and he
will exploit it.
2. Be continuously being filled with
the Holy Spirit.
Note Jesus saying he knew someone had
touched Him because power had gone out
of Him. When we minister, The power of
the Holy Spirit goes out of us to
accomplish God’s purposes. We must
come back to God for the continued
infilling of the Spirit of God. Being
baptized in the Holy Spirit is when the
doors were opened so that the river could
flow.
3. Read the Word of God daily and
let it minister to you.
You cannot use what you haven’t taken in. If
you get it in, the Holy Spirit will get it out of
you when necessary.
4. Wear the Armor of God at all
times.
It is our provision for us to avoid the fire
darts of satan.
5. Be on your guard against the
enemy’s counter attacks.
This is a basic fact of warfare. If you take
ground, the enemy will counter attack. Be
alert and watch for them. The best
defense here is to keep doing what God
has told you to do. When you are doing
what God is telling you to do, you cannot
do what the enemy is telling you to do
6. Be in good fellowship with others
One temptation of the enemy is to
convince us that we’re such a good
Christian that we don’t need fellowship.
We all need to have people speaking into
our lives and bring correction as well as
encouragement. If a Christian is not
willing to accept correction, they cannot
receive direction.
7. Allow the Holy Spirit to produce
the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.
Note that fruit grows slowly. We must give
people space and have patience with
ourselves and others while it is being
produced.
8. Walk continuously in forgiveness.
You will have many opportunities to forgive.
The more free you get the more you will
need to forgive because the enemy will put
people in our way to trip us up in this area.
9. Praise God in all circumstances.
Not praise God for the things that go
wrong, but praise Him in the midst of bad
circumstances because He still loves us in
a world that we sold out to the enemy.
Praise Him for who He is because those
things that the enemy intended for harm,
He can turn to good.
10. Keep the right company.
Not only break soul ties with people we
used to know, but sometimes also with
people we now know.
Helpful Books on Deliverance
Francis MacNutt, Deliverance from Evil
Spirits (Chosen Books)
 Charles Kraft, Defeating Dark Angels
(Servant Publications)
 Doris Wagner, How to Cast Out
Demons (Renew Books)
 Noel & Phyl Gibson, Evicting Demonic
Intruders (Renew Books)
 Peter Horrobin, Healing Through
Deliverance 2 (Renew Books)
