Jesus said, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders
through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it
says, ‘I will return to my house from
which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it
goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and
live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”
—Luke 11:24-26 (NRSV)
The principles that Jesus
discusses above can be applied to the breaking of any habit, besides the
exorcism of unclean spirits, many of which may have inhabited us—whether by
addiction, mental illness, or some other spiritual possession, etc.
The issue of unclean spirits is
ever pertinent, and the fact that Jesus devotes teaching about it shows us that
the spiritual life is critically urgent in every person’s life. We cannot experience true life
without moving forward by progressing in growth. The moment that we get
satisfied about where we are at—when pride enters us—is the moment we begin to
backslide.
Wherever God does a work of
sanctification in us—purging us of an addiction, for example—we must replace the voided negative energy with something
positive, or that negative energy may ultimately return sevenfold stronger. (In
practical worldly terms, think of times when we have attempted to give up
smoking, drinking or tried to keep weight off, only to recommence the old bad
habits when our resolve came undone.)
Our task is to fill the voided spiritual
space with the Spirit of God.
No Neutral Ground in the Spiritual Life
True spirituality in the name of
Jesus Christ is a black-and-white reality.
We either grow forward with
zealous vigour and sustained pace or we slink backwards—usually ever so
slightly—into an oblivion of compromise or worldliness. This might sound
unreasonably harsh and polar dichotomous. Surely we can get away with a
pleasant spiritual journey? But the more we read the Gospels, the more we
experience the pick-up-your-cross-and-follow-me Jesus.
Jesus calls us to a full
submission, with no neutrality in our hearts.
This is always a tough call.
Whenever we underestimate such a call we delude ourselves. Picking up our
crosses and walking in obedience is no harder thing. But the moment we truly live
by faith, life is hence ours. With the negative life removed, and with our
inner houses sorted, we then have the critical ‘obedience’ task of filling our houses with Spirit-anointed spiritual
disciplines that will keep those unclean spirits out.
***
There is no neutral ground in the
spiritual life. We either go forwards or backwards. We obey Jesus
wholeheartedly or not at all.
© 2012 S. J. Wickham.
2 comments:
Christians cannot be demon-possessed nor have an evil spirit living in them. Possession implies ownership, and Christians are not owned by the devil. A pseudo-Christian (false Christian) can be demon possessed because he is already captured by Satan (2 Tim. 2:26). The true Christian has been bought with a price, the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23). Also, a demon cannot dwell in the house of the Lord because of the surpassing greatness of God's glory and purity. As Christians, we are the house of God (Heb. 10:21; 1 Tim. 3:15) when we are indwelt by God when we receive Christ (John 14:23). Furthermore, the Bible says "Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world," (1 John 4:4). So, it would make no sense to affirm that demonic presence could actually inhabit a person who is also indwelt by God.
You make some very good points, but I think they're off point for this particular discussion. Do you not have issues with spiritual warfare? Do you not have problems obeying God at times? Do you not struggle with sin? That was the real point of the article (Luke 11:28).
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