Your Questions for the Pastor and His Responses
August Q1.
Can a Christian be possessed by demons?
Answer August Q1. In regards to your question "Can a Christian who is filled with the Holy Spirit be possessed with demons?" the answer is an absolute
NO!
- Firstly, there is no evidence in scripture that a Christian has ever been possessed by demons and needed to be delivered.
- Secondly, every case of demon possession found in scripture is a case of an individual who did not have a relationship with Christ.
- Thirdly, the scripture clearly states that light has no communion with darkness; no accord with Christ and Belial (2 Corinthians 6: 14-16).
To be possessed is to be occupied fully by a demonic entity. To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to have the seed of God, the power of God and the anointing of God in you. Demons and the Holy Spirit cannot exist in the same vessel at the same time.
If it was possible for a Spirit filled believer to be possessed it means that the demons would have to bind the Spirit of God. Is this possible? Here is what the scripture says:
"How can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his
goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he
will plunder his house." Matthew 12:29 (NKJV)
How do we know that the Spirit of God in the believer is greater than demons or Satan himself? The answer is in 1 John 4:4. This verse tells us that the Holy Spirit in us is greater than "he" (Satan) who is in the world.
To suggest that a Spirit filled Christian can be possessed is to say that the Spirit of God can be overcome by demons; this is nothing short of blasphemy. Those who teach this are ignorant of the teaching and theology of scriptures.
Many who believe that Christians can be possessed have mistaken mental illness for demon possession.
There are many forms of mental illnesses that can cause people to act and behave as if they were controlled by some entity from within. Some of these individuals may say things as if someone else is speaking from inside them and so on. Christians are not immune from these forms of illnesses. Many conditions can trigger mental illness. However, this is a topic for another time. Hope this answers your question.
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May Q2. Would plastic surgery help a Christian to improve his/her self-esteem?
Answer May Q2. In answering this question about plastic surgery, it is important that we begin with an understanding of what self-esteem is and how it is affected. Your self-esteem is your overall self-evaluation or sense of worth. It is generally how you feel about yourself. How a person feels about himself or herself results from the opinion he or she has in the mind about the self. Consequently, as our opinion of ourselves changes so does our self-esteem. In this case, a person’s self-esteem may be contingent on factors such as performance (
how well he or she does on a task), physical characteristics (
how one looks when compared to others), or feelings of affiliation (
one’s perception of being loved and accepted by others).
Based on the above discussion about the nature of self-esteem, there is no doubt that plastic surgery can help a Christian improve self-esteem. This is because human beings have a fundamental need to feel good about themselves and affiliated with others, and will at times go to great lengths to enhance themselves to achieve this end. But are such choices always incompatible with being a Christian? Are their limits to such choices? While the Scriptures do not speak directly to the enhancement of oneself through plastic surgery, they do offer sound principles by which the Christian can make appropriate life choices in a broken world.
The motive behind why one does something is always a primary factor and a premise on which the action is judged appropriate or inappropriate. For example, there may be cases in which an obvious abnormality, which is a birth defect or the result of an accident, causes someone to feel very uncomfortable with himself. Employing medical technology to make adjustments to such abnormalities so that one can feel good about oneself should be considered acceptable for anyone.
On the other hand, when the motive for using plastic surgery is merely to enhance one’s physical features in order to get approval from others, to fill an emotional void or to seek attention and be accepted by others, the problem goes much deeper than self-esteem and borders on self-identity. The question that needs to be answered in these cases is, “Is this Christian person applying the correct medication to what is really bothering him/her?
While plastic surgery can improve self-esteem in many ways for a Christian, the motive for using it determines its appropriateness. Plastic surgery, while beneficial, can lead to a false sense of worth. Furthermore, while self-esteem can be enhanced by external means, these only present temporary boosts. Our true feeling of worth comes not from what people thinks about us but from Christ who we aspire to be like.
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May Q1. Evolution has become the accepted theory of origins amongst most scientists, educators, and policy makers, and it is now being taught as a science through all levels of academia - from grade school to university.
I would like to know if there are any major unproven assumptions in the evolution position that Christians can refute using both scientific and biblical information. If so, what are these assumptions?
Answer May Q1.
Absolutely! Although there is no doubt that the theory of evolution has taken over our science classrooms. Scientists, educators, policy makers, and many laypersons are willing to believe that they've evolved through a long series of evolutionary accidents to become who they are now, rather than believing that they are products of design, from the hand of an intelligent Creator.
The evolutionist’s position of origins contains many unproven assumptions. I will further elaborate on two:
Unproven Assumption #1:
Similarity between characteristics of organisms is evidence of shared ancestry between observed organisms.
- The evolutionist believes that because some organisms including humans have body parts that share similar characteristics such as vertebrate forelimbs, which are alike in the structure and positioning of bony elements (like fingers), patterns of nerves, blood vessels, and muscles that develop inside them, this is evidence of common ancestry. This is nothing more than a gigantic leap of faith. There is absolutely no evidence in the fossil record that can be used to document proposed common ancestries between organisms. In fact, the fossil record is static and only reveals discrete and separate forms of life.
- When a person who believes that God created all things observed evidence of similarity (what evolutionists called homologies) among species, he or she is not moved to conclude that they all evolved from one common biological ancestor and thus share one evolutionary history. Rather, this is seen as evidence of the mind of an intelligent Creator or Designer who created all organisms according to their specific kind from one substance to live in the same material world, and gave them familiar characteristics by which they can act upon and live in their particular domain in the same physical environment.
To see such similarity as an evolutionary accident is rather ridiculous and laughable. Instead of seeing homology or similarity among species as evidence of a common biological and evolutionary ancestry, why not see it as the work of an Intelligent Designer who created common biological elements among some species?
Unproven Assumption #2:
Structural complexity in organisms (including humans) is evidence of the level of adaptation through which the particular species have evolved.
- There is no clear evidence either in modern life forms or in the fossil record that suggest that any organism was not most favourable adapted to its environment. Furthermore, fossil record cannot directly reveal the level of adaptation of an organism to its environment.
- The scripture is most unique in informing us that the various kinds of organisms on the earth were brought into being by intelligent design. The scripture is also clear that at their creation each was created to fit with its' particular environment (birds to the air, fish to the sea, animals to the earth, etc.) and to produce after its own kind, suggesting at least some existing levels of complexity. This is clear and uncomplicated information about the origins of the species and their structural complexity for fitting with their particular environment.
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