How Can We Tell If Someone Is Demon Possessed?

Key Verses: Matthew 8:16 When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:

Mark 5:2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.


There was a time when people were all to ready to accuse those who acted differently than they did of being demon-possessed. The Jewish leaders even accused Jesus himself of having a devil, or demon (John 8:48, and others). In medieval times, accusing someone of witchcraft, which was inspired by demons, sometimes a convenient pretext to rid oneself of enemies. In our times, though, most people dispute that there is any such thing as demons at all, and behavior once attributed to them is ascribed to mental illness, perhaps due to a chemical imbalance. If we believe the clear witness of scripture, though, demons are as real as bacteria or viruses or any other causes of human catastrophe.

Just because someone is being influenced by demons doesn't mean they are possessed by them. Demons can influence our thoughts and behavior from the outside, and Christians especially are subject to such attacks. Like their master, Satan, demons can suggest ideas and motives in an attempt to turn us away from God. Christ's temptation in the wilderness is the prime example of this. Also, the Devil can try to influence us through circumstances, or through the actions or words of others, as he did with Job. For those who don't know Christ, he bends his effort to keep them away; for those who do, he tries to destroy their witness or render them powerless. A Christian cannot be demon-possessed, because our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and no demon can live in the presence of God's Spirit. It is possible, though, for a Christian to be so tormented by demons that they can appear to be possessed.

That still leaves the basic question. To be "possessed" by a demon means, literally, to be owned by one. The demon, or demons, control the mind, body, and emotions of the person they inhabit. If they so desire, they can cause the person to indulge in bizarre, self-destructive behavior, like the Gadarene demoniac, or the boy who was often cast into the fire (Mark 9:22). Demon-possessed people have been known to perform prodigious acts of strength, or affect physical objects around them. There is one primary mark of demon possession, though, that never varies: no one who is demon possessed can praise Jesus Christ as Lord. Even many who are not possessed by demons can, and do, curse God, but these can also praise him with a lying voice. Unless it is in a sneering, mocking way, though, no demon-possessed person can give praise to God. If the person uses particularly vile ways of cursing God, they may well be possessed, but that is no guarantee.
It is beyond the scope of this short article to discuss how demons can be cast out, but there are things they cannot endure: the name of Jesus, his shed blood, and anything or anyone that is holy. God gives his children discernment, and one of the things we can discern, or should be able to, is the presence of demons in another human being. There may be evidence in the eyes (often a reddish tint), or in behavior, or in speech. Dealing with such people is dangerous, and no one who is not spiritually qualified should take on a demon directly without specific guidance from the Lord. There are godly people with a particular ministry of deliverance, but all of us can pray, and, if the occasion demands it, fast as well. Some demons, Jesus said, will come out only in response to prayer and fasting. (Mark 9:29).

Demons look for weak spots. They can come into someone's life during a time of emotional or physical weakness or stress, or through a gateway opened by occult practices, such as Ouija boards, horoscopes, or fortune telling. We should never let ourselves be preoccupied by them, but neither should we pretend they don't exist. I firmly believe that some of history's great monsters, like Hitler and Saddam Hussein, were, or are, demon possessed. To deal with our enemy, we must know him.

By: Gary Cavendish

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Copyright 2008 by Gary W. Cavendish. This article may be freely used so long as due credit is given. For more articles, see the author's website at www.onlinechristianstores.biz.

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