Defeating Dark Angels: Breaking Demonic Oppression in the Believer's Life

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To further support the believers’ authority in Christ even over the angelic realm, in 1 Corinthians 6:3, Paul said that one day believers will judge angels (1 Cor 6:3).

Fr. Fortea says that “When tempted, prayer is our greatest weapon, a weapon as powerful as the greatest army or wealth. The demons know the power of prayer and fear it.”You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross. (Colossian 2:13–15, New Living Translation, emphasis added) So, while the Bible confirms the truth that demons can afflict humanity, it also speaks to the fact that Christians have authority and power over demons and need not be defeated by them. The proper mindset for victory is to be Christ-centered, which is something spelled out well by A. W. Tozer in his book Born After Midnight: This power he exercised in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms far above every 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 God put all things under Christ’s feet, and he gave him to the church as head over all things… and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus

This fact leads to a number of important truths that Christians should always keep at the forefront of their minds when the subject of demonization comes up. First, believers should understand Christ's position and His victory over the enemy. Scripture says, "He disarmed the rulers and authorities [demons] and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him" (Colossians 2:15), and "what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 1:19–21). Demons are essentially fallen angels. Apparently, one third of the angels joined Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven and that old dragon, the Devil, took with him a third of the angels with him. These angels became demons while Lucifer became Satan (Rev 12:4). That sealed Satan and the demon’s fate as we read in Revelation 20:10 where “ the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” It appears that some demons grew so despicable that they had to be restrained , and still are as Jude writes that “ the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 1:6). The Apostle Peter wrote something similar by writing that “ God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment” (2nd Pet 2:4) so both Jude and Peter tell us that some demons aren’t even allowed to be free. Perhaps they are so evil and dangerous that God had to restrain them in chains of darkness. By the way, this is also the fate of “ the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Rev 21:8) although not exactly the same level of punishment as Satan will have. One thing we do know; demons have been known to oppress people and some even possess people, but can a Christian be oppressed by a demon? Old emotional wounds from the past are resurfaced. You believed you had dealt with that area of pain in your life, only to find out it is cropping up again in your life. The truth is this: you can. And Father José Antonio Fortea, a world-renowned Roman Catholic exorcist and author of "Summa Daemoniaca," is here to show you how you can protect yourself from these invisible entities. Oppression can take on the form of an illness, alter a person’s relationships in the form of peculiar and divisive or toxic patterns, or invade other areas of one’s life, such as jobs or finances. There is no manifestation of a demon in the form of the spirit taking over a person’s body or changing his/her voice, involuntary behaviors, or extraordinary strength. Rather, spiritual oppression influences part of a person’s life in perhaps strange patterns of misfortune, unexplained diseases, or repeated severed relationships.The demons do what they are told because they fear the punishment from higher-level fallen angels, particularly Satan. Ultimately God will punish them all individually in the lake of fire, but that comes at the final judgment. The Bible tells the story of the world’s creation, humanity’s fall and God’s plan to reconcile the world to Himself through the death and resurrection of Jesus. It goes on to explain the church’s responsibility to go into the whole world and make disciples (Matthew 28:19–20). The important thing is to focus on human free will and our relationship with God. The demons are not central players here; we give them sway in the world only through our choices. Their job is to tempt us, but we make the decisions to follow those promptings. So, in a sense, they are behind all the evil, but it is we who allow evil to manifest. If a spiritual life is your shield, prayer is most decidedly your sword. Don’t be afraid to wield it.