Victory over demons

Christ is Victor

In much of contemporary charismatic demonology we often come across a learned helplessness which results from focusing so much on the power of the demons who may be trying to influence us that people feel they are unable to resist them. Instead of feeling part of the victorious procession of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14) they feel victimized by the devil and anything he may have done to them in the past or still may be doing in their lives, Whether this is a case of trying to shift responsibility for past and present sins to the devil 'who made them do it' since they were 'helpless victims' or whether it is confusion caused by false teachers who put themselves forward as deliverance experts, this approach is not in agreement with the word of God. We are exhorted by the true apostles in the New Testament to focus on the far superior power of Christ who has already defeated and disarmed all of the demons. Christ is the truth by which we ought to live. Not just any Christ as he may be presented by some, but Christ as revealed in Holy Scripture in the writings of the apostles and prophets. Our faith should be build on Christ and His teachings as a strong foundation as laid by the apostles and prophets. We should not allow anyone, no matter how impressive his or her credentials, to lead us astray from simple trust in our victorious Lord. Christ is victorious over the powers and He has disarmed them (Colossians 2:15). The well-known church father St. Augustine understood this well when he described the demons as dangerous but limited in power: They are like fierce barking dogs already put on a chain. As long as we do not deliberately go to them they cannot bite. So why be intimidated by their barking? Lets trust in the One who lives within us and who has all power in Heaven and Earth. He should be our focus for in Him we find all the strength we need to resist even the prince of demons, the devil himself (Matthew 28:18, Eph. 6:10, James 4:17-18).