But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. Matthew 12:28 (NLT) 

In order to fulfill the Great Commission, disciples need ministry skills. Disciple making churches believe that the five-fold ministry (apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher – Ephesians 4:11-12) exists to equip and launch the rest of the church into ministry, which includes competency in sharing the gospel, praying for people, and casting out demons. This article addresses the latter.

Although the Bible does not give us conclusive information on the origin and identity of demons, it makes it abundantly clear that they exist and pose a very real danger.

Any serious Bible-believing disciple must come to terms with his or her responsibility to address the oppression some people experience from demons.

Materialists usually dismiss the supernatural out of hand. Even those who profess to believe the Bible may find it difficult to swallow that many people have demons. In Jesus’ day their were no asylums for those suffering various forms of insanity or other forms of torment. They had to be cared for by family or were simply abandoned, as in the case of the Gadarene demoniac. (Mark 5:1-20) Today we hide and medicate the most severely demonized. The less severely demonized probably don’t even know what their problem is.

Demon oppression is misunderstood, thanks to how it is presented in the movies, lack of proper teaching, and our general fear and avoidance of the supernatural.

Many conceive of demon oppression as “being possessed,” which is unfortunately how some versions of the Bible translate the Greek word daimonizomai. To be completely accurate, we should say people are “demonized,” not possessed. Possession infers ownership; whereas, demonization communicates the idea of being oppressed, which can take place at various levels. Using the false notion of “possession,” some argue that it is not possible for a Christian to have a demon, since we are owned or “possessed” by God’s Spirit. When we properly translate the word as demonized, we see that believers can be demon oppressed, and, in fact, many are. (If you wish to read more about this, click here.)

Once we believe people can be and are demon oppressed, the next need is for us to be able to discern the presence of demons when we encounter them.

There are three basic approaches to this. The first is to dismiss the possibility of demonization and never address it. The second is to over emphasize the demonization factor and assume they are behind most every sin, sickness, and bondage issue. As you may have guessed, I employ a third approach that never assumes that demonization is the problem, unless it is blatantly obvious. Thankfully, one of the gifts of the Spirit is discerning of spirits, which enables us to detect the presence of demonic spirits.

Rather than demonization being the first thing to look for, I have found that most bondage issues stem from the “flesh,” which resides in every person, even those who follow Christ.

Until we are resurrected, we will deal with this “anti-God” residue in our lives. (Galatians 5:16-17) Until we learn how to walk in the freedom Christ purchased for us, we will experience bondage. (Romans 6:14)

Unconfessed sin is another primary source of oppression, especially when it is bitterness or past involvement in the occult.

Jesus warned us that people who refuse to forgive will be turned over by God to “tormentors.” (Matthew 18:33-35) These are likely demon spirits, but the quick way to be set free from them is to repent of holding offenses. (You can read more about this by clicking here. To learn more about how occult involvement opens doors to demon oppression, click here.)

Another source of oppression and bondage is what some people call generational sins. These are sins that one can see being passed down family lines. One generation after another gets impacted by the consequences of sins committed by family members who lived before them. This is especially true when the successive generations get involved in the same sins. Although, demonization can be associated with generational devastation, the problem should first be addressed as its own issue. I have written extensively on this subject in my series on “Wonderful Counseling.” If you are interested in learning more, click here. Two other frequent sources of bondage are lies people believe and unhealed traumatic pain. Once again, you can read what I have written about his in my “Wonderful Counseling” series.

When we address these previously listed roots of oppression, we sometimes find that demons have attached themselves in areas where we have practiced sin, held on to bitterness, been involved in the occult, believed lies, experienced traumatic pain, or been victims of generational devastation handed down to us.

Demons are equal opportunity oppressors and will use any open door, whether it seems “fair” or not.

Something as seemingly innocuous as kids playing with a Ouija Board can open the door, not to mention something so horrible as adults sexually abusing children. Having sex with demonized people is another door opener. (Click here to read more.)

Diagnosing the presence of demons is the most challenging part of liberating people from them.

We do not want to misdiagnose the source of bondage. If we try to cast out “the flesh,” we will fail, leaving the person to whom we minister discouraged and confused. Conversely, if a demon is the problem, we must address it as such, or the person will not be set free.

The key to liberation is the authority of the risen Christ.

When Jesus rose again, he completely defeated demonic powers. He has given us authority to speak in his name. When we command demons to leave, they must obey. The Holy Spirit will see to it. He is the power behind Christ’s authority. You can read more about the details of casting out demons, by clicking here.

Of all the ways people get into bondage, probably the easiest to deal with is demonization, IF we first deal with the other areas.

This is why I advocate for a broad spectrum approach to setting people free from bondage in my Wonderful Counseling series. If we fail to shut the door to oppression by first dealing with unconfessed sin, bitterness, past occult involvement, unhealed traumatic pain, lies people believe, and generational devastation, we may cast demons out the front door, only to see them reenter through the back. Demons need a “hook” in people. Looking for the hook and closing the door is the challenge. Once that is discerned and handled, we simply command demons to leave in Christ’s name and authority, and they must.