A Free and Fearless Temple

Ready for this? There is not one example in the Bible of a demon called lust, or perversion, or immorality. However, in Galatians 5 what we normally attribute to demonic influence are called “works of the flesh”. The word for works is “Ergon” meaning anything accomplished by hand or mind.

As a matter of fact, one of the few named ungodly “spirits” that is in the Bible is fear. 2 Timothy 1:7 “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” How does it get dealt with? 1 John 4:8 “Perfect love casts out fear.”

Love Casts Out All Fear

Every now and then someone once again brings up the possibility that a believer in Jesus can have a demon. So then we’ll have Christians wondering if they do, and that invites partnership with a spirit of fear, which isn’t from God. So the very teaching designed to educate the believer telling them that their bad behavior is the devil becomes the very doorway by which a fear gets a foothold in our life. Clever.

But can a believer do evil things? Sure. God tells Cain in Genesis 4, “Sin is crouching at the door. It’s desire is for you but you must master it.” God doesn’t say that sin is in you. (And God doesn’t say that sin is in you because of what your parents did. So much for generational curses.) The door represents a barrier over which we have authority. What’s in your life? Whatever you open the door to. Jesus says in Revelation 3:20 “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and dine with him and he with me.” The reality is that we can have in our life whatever we open the door to, for better or worse.

In Col 3 we are told, “Put to death what is earthly in you.” Then he lists some works of the flesh. He doesn’t say these are all demons. He says these things are just earthly, so kill them off within you. How do we do that? Galatians 5:16 says, “Walk in the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Union is the solution.

If we think that every tendency, temptation, desire, or habit is a demon, then we’ll be getting deliverance over and over and never learn to walk in freedom and the fruit of the Spirit, which includes self control.

So what’s happening when a believer in Jesus is experiencing temptations and gives in? Is it the devil? Well that would be far more convenient to make demons the scapegoat for our issues. But I believe what we’re dealing with most is our “self” out of control, but there’s a solution for that. Paul addresses this in 1 Cor 6.

His Law is Love

He first says in verse 12 that everything is lawful. In other words God’s not going to stop you. The new law is that you’re free (Romans 8). But just because we can do a thing doesn’t mean it’s a good idea. He says not everything is beneficial or profitable, and the next line says, “but I will not be mastered by anything.” Go back to what God said to Cain about sin. “It’s desire is for you but you must master it.” Who is the master here? There is an often ignored fruit of the Spirit called self control that we must give attention to. The Holy Spirit is given to us to teach us how to be free, how to walk in freedom, and how to manage our freedom without being mastered by anything that would bring us into bondage.

Paul goes on to talk about food, immorality, and even prostitution. He then poses a question in verse 19, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” If someone has been fornicating with prostitutes, how could they still be a temple of the Holy Spirit? Paul doesn’t say because of what you did you’re no longer a temple. He’s asking have you forgotten who you are or do you just not know?

The fact that he poses this as a question tells us that these people who have fallen to the most serious cultural taboos either don’t know who they are or they have simply forgotten. They’re living contrary to their identity by either ignorance or careless neglect. Paul never says these believers have opened the door to demons and now need deliverance. We’ve just forgotten our true identity in Christ. Are demons real? Yes. Do we have to be afraid of them? No. We just don’t get to blame our ignorance or neglect on the devil.

In both instances where Paul confronts the devil in a person, it was in someone who was not a believer. The Apostle Paul never implies that a believer can have a demon, even if they’re doing something seriously wrong. Once Paul tells the church in 1 Cor 5 to hand a wicked person over to satan for the destruction of the flesh that their spirit may be saved. (Let that rock your theological boat.) Later in 2 Corinthians Paul tells them to restore him, but mentions nothing about deliverance. There’s no indication that Paul blamed the behavior of the man on anyone other than the man himself. We have made self control a neglected fruit of the Spirit by blaming the devil every time we lose control.

Glorify God!

He finishes the chapter up by saying, “Glorify God in your body.”

Here’s the way we parent, or exercise mastery over the self. Glorify God! The word for Glorify is “Doxazo”. It means to think, praise, extol, magnify, celebrate, honor, adorn with luster and splendor, render excellent, make renowned, and to cause the dignity and worth of God to become manifest. When you see God as glorious, and then realize that you’re made in his image, what does that say about you? Christ in you, the hope of glory, becomes the pervasive identity that brings the deepest pleasure and satisfaction to your spirit, soul, and body that could ever be.

Verse 17 is one of the most beautiful promises in the Bible. “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” (KJV) The word “joined” here is the word “Kollao” which means to glue, cement, or fasten together. Union changes everything. A revelation of union reveals your identity silencing the influence of darkness in your life.

So then as a result of this, Paul says in verse 18, “Flee immorality.” He doesn’t call it a spirit that needs to be cast out but an option that is to be avoided. The fruit of the spirit of self control empowers us to say yes to what is good and no to what is evil. Being a Christian is not a membership to a club. It’s being born and and adopted into a family by the will of God. (John 1:12-13) It’s a revelation of union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, living, moving, and being with and within us to fill the earth with the knowledge of the Glory of the Lord.

Make this your declaration. If I am all in Christ and Christ is all in me, then I have no need to fear for I am a temple of the Holy Spirit. Evil or darkness is not of me for the light of the world is all in all within me. I am one with God, in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, and He did that. Thank you, Jesus.

(For more on the topic of Angels, Demons, and Spiritual Joyfare, go to billvanderbush.com and download the series on the resource page.)

Bill Vanderbush