Can a demon control a believer?

The Greek [size=15:37ff30ea15]daimonizomai[/size:37ff30ea15] means "to be demonized," emphasizing control rather than "possession", implying ownership.

To have a demon, might rather emphasizes residency within a person. Demonic control involves a demon residing in a person and exercising direct control over that person with a certain degree of derangement of the mind and/or physical upset of the body. (Matthew 12:43-45)

Applying the concept of "control from within," I believe a believer can be controlled from within by a demon.

We see this first with Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5:1-4. When Peter asked, "Why has Satan filled your heart?" he used the same Greek word that Paul used to speak of being filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). To be "filled" with the Spirit means to be controlled by the Holy Spirit; to be filled with Satan means to be controlled by Satan.

The Bible does teach that a believer can be controlled by a demon from within. This is seen again when Paul said, "Don't give a place to the de_vil" (Eph. 4:27), using a Greek word [size=15:37ff30ea15]topos[/size:37ff30ea15] which can be translated "beachhead." The beachhead refers to a piece of land used militarily as an area of control inside enemy territory. A believer can be controlled through a beachhead within, i.e., a demon.

The distinction between believers and unbelievers is not that a believer cannot be controlled and an unbeliever can be controlled. Rather, the difference is a matter of the degree of the control: An unbeliever can be totally controlled, but a believer can only be partially, and never fully, controlled.




[Edited on 4-7-2004 by Wintermute]

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greatness of his misery by the greatness of the remedy which he required.
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