But light cannot dwell with darkness!
This is perhaps the single most common argument against the idea of a Christian being capable of having an unclean spirit that needs to be driven out. The truth is, if a Christian could not have a demon, then that would mean either a person with demons could not come to Jesus, or once they accept Jesus, all their demons go away. If that was the way things worked, then what is the point in casting out demons? It would be kind of pointless if you ask me. Yet what did Jesus tell His disciples before He ascended to be with the Father?
Mark 16:15,17, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature… And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils…”
Satan’s goal here is to write off the ministry of deliverance, and keep us from driving out his demons from God’s children! Satan wants us to think that there are no demons present in the life of a believer, so that we will sit back and do nothing about it… yet countless Christian men and women today are in bondage and torment as a result!
The piece to this puzzle lies in the difference between the soul and the spirit of a man. We are composed of 3 parts; a body, a soul and a spirit. The spirit of a man is born again and made new the moment we accept Jesus:
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
If this was true for our souls, then how come do so many believers carry dirt from their past into their new lives with Christ? How come are so many still in bondage to porn, lust, addictions, and so fourth? The truth is, the above verse is referring to our spirits, which are made new. However, there’s another part of us that needs to be cleaned up, that is our soul. Our soul consist of our mind, will and emotions. When a person accepts Jesus, they can carry over a wealth of garbage from their past into their new Christian life because their souls have not been transformed yet. There is more information on this subject in the teaching entitled, “The Soul Versus the Spirit”
The Apostle Paul, who wrote the largest percentage of the NT admitted while he was writing that “There is evil present in me!” (see Romans 7:21) Is evil not darkness? Can a Christian be in bondage to porn? Lust? Are not those things darkness in a person’s soul? Satan works hard to promote the concept that light cannot dwell with darkness, so that God’s people will keep off the demon’s backs. If we believe that we cannot have unclean spirits, then we won’t search for them in our lives and cast them out. What the light/darkness issue all boils down to is that there is a difference between our souls and our spirits. Our souls consists of our minds, wills and emotions. Our spirits become new the moment we accept Christ (no demons there!), but our souls can carry over a wealth of bondage from our non-Christian lives, including bondage to porn, sex, drinking, unclean thoughts, desires, lusts, and so fourth. Those things are all darkness and evil, just as unclean spirits are, which are also carried over into our Christian lives. Nobody is perfect from the moment they accept Christ! Our minds are to be renewed as God’s Word tells us, giving us a clean indication that our souls are not born again, even though our spirits are. I have more to say about the light dwelling with darkness subject in my free e-book, which you can find on the MinisteringDeliverance.com web site.