Mark Corbett
Active Member
In this life, we cannot completely avoid temptation from the Devil and his demons, nor will we be free from their opposition to our efforts to share God’s love and truth. Even Jesus was tempted (but never gave in!), and even He faced opposition from the Devil. Temptation and opposition through others should be the extent of the Devil’s influence in the life of a Christian. Tragically, this is often not the case. We often give the Devil a place in our lives which he should not have.
Paul wrote Ephesians to Christians. After describing our glorious salvation in the opening chapters, in chapter four Paul begins to urge us to live a life which reflects such a great salvation:
NIV Ephesians 4:1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Paul explains the importance of unity among Christians, then he moves on to explain why it is so important to “no longer live as the Gentiles do” (Ephesians 4:17). As part of Paul’s efforts to encourage us to live a godly life, he includes this warning:
NIV Ephesians 4:26-27 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.
While we don’t want sin in our lives for even a moment, the damage of sin grows when we let it stay in our lives. This is why Paul warns us not to let the sun go down while we are still angry. Of course, Paul is not saying that it is fine to be angry from sunrise at 5am until sunset at 7pm. The point Paul is making is that once we become aware of sinful anger, we need to confess it, repent, and seek God’s help to get rid of it.
Does this principle apply only to anger? No. In this same section of Ephesians, Paul mentions a number of other sins including greed (Ephesians 4:19), sexual immorality (Ephesians 5:3), obscenity (Ephesians 5:4), and drunkenness (Ephesians 5:18). In fact, Paul uses several broad phrases which cover all types of sin:
“your former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22)
“any kind of impurity” (Ephesians 5:3)
“the fruitless deeds of darkness” (Ephesians 5:11)
What is true of anger is true of sin in general. It is important not to let sin remain in our hearts. Why is this important? There are many reasons, but here I want to focus on the reason Paul gives in Ephesians 4:27. When we allow sin to remain in our lives, we risk giving the devil a foothold.
Giving the Devil a Place in Our lives
What does it mean to give the devil a “foothold”? The Greek word translated “foothold” is topos. This word basically means “a place”. More specifically, this word often refers to an inhabited place. Inhabitation is not always the focus of topos, but major Greek lexicons recognize that inhabitation is often part of the meaning:
Looking at a few verses where the same Greek word topos is will iilustrate the meaning:
ESV Luke 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place (topos) for them in the inn.
People did not give a place in the guest room for Mary and Joseph and baby Jesus. Tragically, many people do give the devil a place in their lives by allowing sin to fester in their hearts.
ESV Revelation 12:7 Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, 8 but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place (topos) for them in heaven.
The devil and his angels no longer have a place to live in heaven. But these demons are not homeless. Billions of people are giving these demons a new place to live by allowing sin to remain in their lives.
Does this Mean a Christian Can be Demon Possessed?
No.
A demon cannot own a Christian. Christians have been purchased for God with the blood of Christ (Revelation 5:9).
Actually, “demon possessed” is an unfortunate translation of the Greek word daimonizomai. Sometimes in English we make a noun into a verb:
terror + ized = to suffer from extreme fear
demon + ized = to suffer from demonic oppression or be influenced by demons
The Greek word daimonizomai is equivalent to the English word “demonized”. They simply took the Greek noun for “demon” and turned it into a verb. The word “possessed” was not used at all. Adding the concept of “possession”, which implies “ownership”, causes confusion. There is no word meaning “possessed” used to describe what demons do to people in the original Greek.
Since demons can’t possess Christians, what does Paul mean when he refers to giving them “a place”? Paul does not stop and explain what the demons will do if we give them “a place”. I’m sure they never do anything good! It seems likely that they might have the following types of effects if we give them “a place” in our lives:
1. They might increase the level and intensity of temptation in a particular area. If we give in, we might end up committing far more serious sins than the sin that originally opened the door to the demonic influence.
2. They might distract us when we are trying to pray, read our Bibles, worship, or serve the Lord.
3. They may cause us to have evil thoughts and dark emotions, including depression, fear, and anger.
4. They might rob us of peaceful rest and peaceful emotions.
5. They might influence us to believe things that are not true.
6. Evil spirits often cause sickness.
7. They might take us captive to do the devil’s will and work through us to harm others (2 Timothy 2:26).
In general, these things are all consistent with the broad description of the devil’s work which Jesus gave to us:
ESV John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Some people get really concerned about whether we should think of the demon as being “in” a person. I don’t care if a demon is “in” someone or if it is more like it is sitting on their shoulder or buzzing around their head like a fly. The point is, we want to guard against evil influence in our lives, and if demons gain “a place”, we want to get rid of them.
I learned the following illustration from others. I think it will help us apply the truths we have been looking at.
Imagine that a friend told you he was having a terrible problem with rats in his kitchen. He would battle them with a broom until he was exhausted each night. He sometimes managed to get rid of them, but then they would be back the next day. He begged for your help.
So, you went over to his house to take a look. And there in the middle of the kitchen floor was a huge, stinking pile of garbage. Apple cores, banana peels, chewed on chicken bones, and more were all piled up and appeared to have been there for some time.
Trying to be gracious, you said, “Friend, I think I see the problem”.
The point of the illustration is simple. Demons are like rats. They are attracted to trash in our lives. If we let anger, greed, lust, or other sins fester in our lives, then we risk attracting the rats and giving them a place in our lives. Sure, we can battle them and drive them out using the powerful Name of Jesus. But if we don’t clean out the trash and replace the trash with good things from God, those rats are likely to come back.
Here’s the Good News! Because of Jesus’ death for our sins, our sins can be forgiven. God is ready to clean sin from your life.
NIV 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Once your sins are forgiven and purified, the devil will no longer have a right to “a place” in your life. With the authority of Christ it will be easier to resist the devil and watch him flee.
Dear brother or sister, how about you? Perhaps you do not have a huge heap of stinking sin garbage in your life, but might you have a banana peel or an old rotten apple core lying around? Might these old stinky sins be giving the devil “a place” in your life and robbing you of some of the joy and power God wants you to experience? If so, I encourage you to stop and pray right now. God’s grace in Christ Jesus is available to you.
As always, you are welcomed and even encouraged to graciously share your thoughts and opinions.
This OP originally appeared as an article on my blog.