Rebuking the Devil

Should Christians be casting out demons today? And when is this the appropriate reaction? In this, there seems to be two extremes. One is to see demons behind very sickness, calamity, or sin. The other is to ignore any idea of demonic influence altogether and act as if they have no relevance to us today. Jesus and His disciples did cast out demons (Matthew 8:28-32; Acts 16:16-18; 19:11-17). There is no Scriptural basis for saying this has been done away with. But there is also no basis for saying that the key to dealing with every sin or every disease is to cast out the demon. Even in diseases, demonization is put as one member of a long list of the things Jesus cured (Matthew 4:23-25; 10:1; Luke 7:21). Nor is casting out demons ever put forth as the standard way to deal with sin. Now I believe there are cases where Christians may be called to confront demonic powers in the power of Christ. But we must be careful of making this a one-size-fits-all way of dealing with every situation and every problem.