Is Satan a real figure or not?

The fight Job and Jesus had with some sinister figure clearly show that there is some entity that opposes God's people and purpose. His name is Satan.

Job's situation became a picture prophesy of the Lord Jesus Christ. We sense that Satan not only asked to tempt Adam and Job but also Jesus, God's son. God the Father gave permission for him to tempt them.

Is the devil and Satan the same?

The word 'devil' is found 32 times only in the NT. 'Satan' is used 47 times in both OT and NT.

'Devil' comes from the Greek compound word meaning 'send over' or 'slander.' The English word 'diabolical' comes from the Greek word for the devil.

'Satan' comes from the Hebrew word 'adversary' which which is pronounced 'satan'. The Greek sometimes transliterates this Hebrew word into Greek.

Who is the serpent then?

Revelation 12:9 does us a great service by identifying the great dragon, the serpent of old, Satan and the devil as all being the same person.

He is further said to be the one 'who deceives the whole world.' He and his angels were thrown down to the earth together. This verse helps us piece together many scriptures about the origin and purpose of Satan. Here are two truths.

(1) Satan and what we now call demons are formerly 'good' angels. They are now 'bad' angels. (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-19; Jude 6)

(2) Satan was actually the one that tempted Eve in the form of a beautiful serpent. He plotted and temporarily succeeded in capturing mankind and what was under man's control.

"Which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all." (Ephesians 1:20-23)

Does Satan have a diabolical scheme?

What did the devil steal (John 10:10)? He stole man's inheritance - the earth. Think of the analogy of a driver. He who controls the driver controls the car. By controlling Adam, Satan effectively got control of the earth.

Jesus has come to foil the evil one's plan. Jesus did this by becoming the righteous man who would listen to the Father despite the temptations of the devil. Jesus as the second Adam won back control of the earth and at the same time by conquering death, liberated man from Satan's tyranny. Now everything belongs to Christ.

How did Christ defeat the devil?

When Christ died on the cross, He defeated the evil one. Satan thought he was doing away with Christ, but he was blind to a special truth hidden in the scriptures (Proverbs 10:16). A wholly righteous man might be killed but cannot be kept by the power of death. Jesus the righteous One came alive again. This is the power of the resurrection. Christ came alive and brought many with Him!

Satan's defeat is now before his eyes and yet he denies it. His sentence is passed and written in the scriptures (Isaiah 14:15; Revelation 20:10). Only God's greater plan to save more people holds back Christ's return and the great Judgment Day.

How does Satan get his work done?

Satan's purpose for Christians and non-Christians is different. Therefore his work or schemes against them are different. But remember his underlying method of deception is the same.

Satan's schemes against Unbelievers

All non-Christians are blinded by Satan, whether it be child, modern or distant tribal person. They walk in darkness. Not one unbeliever is an exception to this. Death like a deadly cancer has been passed on through the whole human race.

Satan's method is to keep unbelievers in darkness away from the light of the Gospel. That is the only way to lose his control over them.

Satan's schemes against Believers

"Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." (Ephesians 6:11)

Can Satan possess a believer in Christ?

This whole question is wrong. English translations have perpetuated this problem by translating 'demonized' by the word possessed. We should instead realize that Christians can and are affected by the devil. Sometimes this influence is of such degree that Christians allow strong demonic thoughts and behavior to control their lives.

Most every time the word Greek word 'demonized' (daimonizomai) is used, it is translated 'demon-possessed.'

We suggest 'demonized,' 'demoniacs,' or 'influenced by demons' would be better translations. Why is this so important? The clear and accurate defining of the problem lead to helpful solutions. See Demon Possession for more discussion.

Is there help for these 'demonized' believers?

If the believer wants help, there is help. The evil one's influence can only be so great that the believer allows him control. Saul's jealousy and rebellion led to problems with demons. Pride, bitterness and sexual sins are a few other examples by which believers allow demonic influence into their lives.

A demon's power on a believer is only so strong as they tolerate sin in their lives. As he sincerely repents from his sins, the demons will lose their foothold and be driven away. Ants go where there are crumbs. Eliminate the crumbs, and the ants go away.

What are 'strongholds'?

Strongholds are any areas of unrepentant sin in a believer's life in which he has lost hope for freedom. In other words he no longer believes that he can overcome that sin. Anytime you hear someone say, "Oh, everyone does it," a stronghold is revealed. It starts by a believer who struggles with sin. He knows it is wrong. He doesn't just fall into it. He first fights it.

At some point, though, he begins to believe he can't change his circumstances. So he accepts it as 'normal' by accepting a lie about it. This sin then, founded on a lie, becomes a 'permanent' footing for the evil one to wage war on the believer. This believer then just tolerates it as inevitable. He often changes his theology, habits and behavior to match his faulty conclusion that he can't escape that sin. His life becomes an absolute mess.

How does he break out of this stronghold?

There are two powerful weapons for fighting demonic influence. They must be used together.

(1) Hate for sin. For a while a believer can 'enjoy' his sin. That is, he can avoid paying attention to the consequences for his sin. But his faithful Father will increase its pain until he is broken and will again seek release. This willingness to change is powerless without an accompanying hope.

(2) Hope. God is quite able to send hope to the convicted sinner. Hope breaks through past failures and again brings the possibility for God to help him change.

How does it work? Pride keeps light from the soul. When a believer humbles himself, then light again can enter. Lies can only exist in the darkness.

Once the light breaks into the darkness, the lies are exposed and lose their power. The light consists of God's promises in His Word. The believer of course needs to respond to this light or he will fall into worse sin. This is the reason it is important for other believers to be praying for him.

Two keys for deliverance: Repent and believe.

1) Destroy our wrong living by repentance and confession
2) Capturing our thoughts by the truth of God's Word

What if he doesn't want to repent?

We need to patiently wait, fast and pray for those who are still obstinate. When appropriate, tell them applicable scriptures. We are waiting for the eternal God to move in his heart and bring him to a point of repentance.

Even if the evil spirit was cast from him, if he is not repentant, then the evil spirit would come back and find home again in his old stomping grounds making things worse than before (Luke 11:24-26).

How do we help unbelievers from demons?

Here are a few guidelines to begin understanding this issue.

Don't look for them; let them find you.

When we see Jesus casting out evil spirits, we should first of all recognize that people were coming to Him. Jesus did not go look for them. The Father drew them to Jesus.

The demonized people that met up with Jesus were ready and desirous to get rid of their sin and oppressive evil spirits. They did not always understand why they acted the way they did. When they came in Jesus' presence, a light dissolved their darkness, and they found hope. The body of Christ, ought to pray that the same penetrating light of Christ would shine on those confused by demons.

Be cleansed and ready.

Without a clean conscience, we are not ready for a fight. You can repent on the spot and confess your sins if any are made known to you. Ask the blood of Christ to cover you, your family and concerns. Remember, you have everything you need to fight the evil one, but you might need time. Jesus once said that 'this kind' only comes out by fasting and prayer. It takes time to fast and prayer. The issue is not authority as much as preparation. Let your pastor know what is going on.

Share the Gospel and let them believe.

They are in Satan's bondage. First lead them into God's presence before dealing with the demons. First bind the evil spirits from using bodily manifestations to distract the person from hearing the Gospel. Command the evil spirit to stay quiet and not harm or distract the person.

"When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order.' Then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." (Luke 11:24-26)

"And the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." (Luke 10:17)

"And when He had come out onto the land, He was met by a certain man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs." (Luke 8:27) {Note the Greek literally says 'had demons.'}


"But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." (Matthew 17:21)

Please remember that the Lord oversees any ministry to others. These are just some observations and not complete for every situation. Think of it as a starter kit.

Casting the evil spirit out.

There is usually no need for big demonic confrontations. When a person comes to Christ, great things are happening in the spirit world. We just can't see them. When a sinner repents and confesses their sins, they often feel a great release. This is because they are released from the oppressive cloud of darkness.

In some cases though, the evil spirit(s) has really dominated a person's life. See the box above for a few guidelines. Remember the steps of self-preparation above.

Disciple them and lead them from paths of sin.

Don't confront the spirits unless they confront you or there are irregular problems in the new Christian's life. Disciple the person into the paths of holiness and the evil spirits will leave. Sometimes because of a distressful past, more time has to be given to leading the new disciple to understand how he is bitter and needs to forgive others as Christ has forgiven them. Train them that whenever some past offense or sin comes up, they are to confess, make restitution and ask for forgiveness. This will bring total cleansing.