Welcome to Ask Me Anything where Pastor J.D. gives quick answers to some of your toughest theological, ethical, and leadership questions.

Thank you so much to all of you who have sent us questions since this season began.

We probably won't get to all of them, but I promise we'll get to as many as we possibly can.

And so for today, J.D., the question is, can a Christian be possessed by a demon?

And if not, can demons influence us?

Well, the answer to that first question, can a Christian be possessed by a demon?

I guess it depends on what you mean by demon possessed.

The word demon possessed, this is a common misconception.

The word demon possess is not actually, it's never used in the Greek language that I know of.

And it's not in the Bible.

People think that that's a biblical terminology. The word that is used in the Bible is the word

demonized, which actually broadens it a little bit. So if you mean, if you mean, can a demon so overtake a Christian so that they have

no will left and no ability really to choose right from wrong anymore, the answer is definitely no for

the Christian. I mean, for multiple reasons, Romans guarantees us that in Christ, no sin or evil power

can ever have ultimate dominion over us. And so even what we see with Judas, because that is

kind of what we think of as demon possession, where Satan enters his heart and takes him over.

Yes, I don't think that can happen to a Christian. But if by demonized, the word demonize, you mean, can a

demon influence or control us or afflict us? The scripture, I think, indicates yes, even for the believer.

But his entry, his entry into our lives is because we allow him to come by saying no to him in some area.

Or we allow ourselves to be influenced by listening to the lies that he whispers into our hearts.

Let me start where I always start with questions like this. It's with C.S. Lewis's famous

statement. He said humanity always falls into two what he called equal and opposite errors

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