Engaging
the spirits:
An Adventist's Perspective on Fighting Spiritual
Battles
by
Yvon Caza
|
|
Chapter 6: Summary and Conclusion
The Scriptures teachthat Satan and his demonic allies are not coequal with God. He
is a created being who has rebelled and can tempt—but not force. The main concern
of the Bible is not with the devil but with God and the gospel of His grace. Satan and the
demonic forces have been overcome by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Christ. The New Testament never allows complete pessimism. In the end Satan and his angels
will be completely overcome. In fact, Jesus came into the world to "destroy the works
of the devil" (1 John 3:8). The cross was a decisive victory over Satan and
Satan’s host (Col. 2:15). This victory insured that countless numbers would be
delivered from the dominion of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of Christ (Col.
1:13).
Today, people continue to concretize their fears. They want a scapegoat
to deliver them from responsibility. Satan is a created, rebellious and tempting evil
power active in the universe, but his powerful existence does not exclude a person from
responsibility. Satan and the demonic forces cannot dominate or possess us except by our
own consent. Believers will not be tempted beyond our power of resistance111
(1 Cor. 10:13). The power of Satan is limited. He acts within the limits set by divine
sovereignty. The believer has God’s armor—the biblical gospel, integrity, peace
through Christ, faith in Christ, prayer—as spiritual security (Eph. 6:11-18).
The recent fascination with Satan and demons is in reaction to an
earlier disbelief. Christians should beware of excessive gullibility as well as extreme
oversimplification. Knowledge about Satan and evil angels alerts Christians to the danger
and subtlety of satanic temptation. We should not become too absorbed in satanic forces.112 Satan and demonic forces are active, but they are limited. We must
remember that the main thrust of Christianity is on the availability of God’s power
and love in Jesus Christ and the Spirit.113
Every human being has the inalienable right to a free moral choice, even those
possessed and/or controlled by demons. Spiritual evil forces cannot force a Christian to
sin, nor can they defile or contaminate one’s soul. There is no evidence or precedent
in Scripture to portray moral evil [our sinning] in whole or in part as a demonization of
inhabiting spirits that need to be cast out, rebuked and bound. Repeatedly the Bible and
the Spirit of Prophecy emphasize individual responsibility for sin and the need to repent
and seek God’s forgiveness and power to overcome that sin, or else death will ensue.
God is sovereign and omnipotent. The Scriptures provide examples when God
permitted Satan to afflict believers externally with adversity. Since God’s
sovereignty controls every situation to accomplish His purposes, He causes all such
adversity to work for the believer’s good.
Geographical binding of evil spirits is unscriptural.
Inheriting demons from our ancestors is unscriptural.
The remedy for previous occult involvement of believers and those who seek to become
believers is conversion, and not any casting out of the evil spirits. The latter is
unscriptural.
We should focus on ministering to the demon-harassed by the preaching of the gospel and
all that that entails.
About the Author: Yvon Caza is a lay
worker in central Alberta, Canada. His interest in this subject developed when family and
fellow church members shared with him popular writings on spiritual warfare. As a result
of sharing an interest in this subject on SDANet, he was alerted to some theological
pitfalls. This led him to further research the subject and to the writing of this
paper.
|
