Austin Bible Church
Satan is the ruler of the world around us. Satan’s strategy and policy as the ruler of this world is to control believers. Matt. 4:8-9; Luke 4:5-6; John 12:31; John 16:11; 2 Cor. 4:4. See category on Angelic Conflict, Satan’s Strategies.
“Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."” (Matthew 4:8-9, NASB)
“And he led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.” (Luke 4:5-6, NASB)
“"Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.” (John 12:31, NASB)
“and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:11, NASB)
“in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4, NASB)
Satan exploits believers through their own arrogance. This is how controls the human race. Satan was the first of God's creatures to use his free will to sin against God in arrogance. Arrogance was Satan’s original sin. In Ephesians 2:2, “sons of disobedience” refer to believers who are out of fellowship and living in carnality in the world system of Satan.
“in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2, NASB)
Spirituality and carnality are absolutes in the Christian life. The believer is either 100% filled and controlled by the Holy Spirit and living in the spiritual life, or they are 100% living in the world system and in a state of carnality where their old sin nature controls their soul.
The world system of Satan emphasizes self-centered arrogance – the preoccupation with self. This is followed by antagonism and intolerance toward God and the plan of God. This antagonism and intolerance extends to all other believers, especially those growing spiritually.
Satan’s primary targets are believers and the Word of God. If the believer stays in carnality long enough, they go from being negative to Bible doctrine to being antagonistic toward Bible doctrine and those positive to the consistent intake of Bible doctrine. While in carnality, the believer emphasizes human viewpoint over divine viewpoint.
While in carnality, the believer is arrogant, preoccupied with themselves and has no time for God or Bible doctrine. If in carnality long enough, the believer gains animosity and antagonism toward God, the Word of God, and God's plan for their lives. See category on Reversionism.
The World System’s Influence on the Unbeliever
Satan also exploits mankind with deceitful propaganda and indoctrination that promotes antagonism toward anything related to God, especially the grace of God.
Demon Influence of Unbelievers
The unbeliever’s life is defined as one without God. All unbelievers are influenced, to some degree, by the world system that surrounds them. The unbeliever excludes God from their thinking. The unbeliever’s thinking, motivation, decisions, and actions are directly involved in Satan’s world system. Demon influence is the doctrine of demons accumulating in the soul of the unbeliever through human viewpoint thinking.
However, the unbeliever has a means of protection available to them against Satan’s system. This means of protection starts with their volition and how they use it in relation to authority orientation, the rule of law, and the laws of divine establishment. These protections are provided by God for the entire human race and are instituted to protect the human race from self-destruction. The laws of divine establishment are the only system of truth that an unbeliever can understand. See category on the Laws of Divine Establishment.
The easiest way for the unbeliever to live in the world system is to be negative to divinely delegated systems of governance and authority that are found in the laws of divine establishment. Self-centered arrogance results in authority disorientation and living in Satan’s world system.
Demon Possession of Unbelievers
Demon possession is defined as demon invasion into the body of an unbeliever by one or more demons. Fallen angels or demons can possess the body of unbelievers only. Demons possess so much energy that when they indwell a human being, all sorts of neurotic and psychotic behavior are manifest. This doesn’t mean the demons themselves are erratic, but their influence on the body is erratic.
Because the body of every Church Age believer is indwelt by all three members of the Trinity, no demon can indwell the body of a believer. Demon possession is generally related to religion, the phallic cult, and the emotional revolt of the soul.
The World System Influence on the Believer
The believer in fellowship with God is filled with the Holy Spirit and walking in the Spirit. Eph. 5:18; Gal. 5:16.
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,” (Ephesians 5:18, NASB)
“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16, NASB)
When the believer sins and is out of fellowship (carnality), they grieve and quench the Holy Spirit until they confess their sins to God the Father and regain the filling of the Holy Spirit. The carnal believer becomes unstable if they stay in carnality long enough. Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.” (Ephesians 4:30, NASB)
“Do not quench the Spirit;” (1 Thessalonians 5:19, NASB)
The carnal believer’s thinking is called human viewpoint thinking because there is no function of the filling of the Holy Spirit and therefore no possible application of Bible doctrine. Everything the carnal believer thinks or does is unacceptable to God and is called “wood, hay, and straw” and will be removed by fire at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 1 Cor. 3:11-16. See category on Divine Viewpoint vs. Human Viewpoint.
“For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each man's work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work. If any man's work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:11-16, NASB)
The believer is commanded to avoid influence of and involvement in the world system. 1 Tim. 4:1-2; Eph. 4:27.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron,” (1 Timothy 4:1-2, NASB)
“and do not give the devil an opportunity.” (Ephesians 4:27, NASB)
The believer who gets into the world system through sin remains there to produce human good and evil. They give the devil opportunity the longer they remain in carnality. The believer’s only way back to spirituality and the filling of the Holy Spirit in through confession of sins to God the Father using 1 John 1:9.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
The believer living in carnality for an extended period of time becomes heavily influenced by the world system surrounding them. Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 3:3.
“because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,” (Romans 8:7, NASB)
“for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1 Corinthians 3:3, NASB)
Such believers become enemies of the Cross, enemies of God, even haters of God. Phil. 3:18; James 4:4; John 15:23.
“For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ,” (Philippians 3:18, NASB)
“You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4, NASB)
“"He who hates Me hates My Father also.” (John 15:23, NASB)
Carnal believers become double minded and opposers of Jesus Christ or antichrists. James 4:8; 1 John 2:18; 1 John 2:22; 1 John 4:3; 2 John 1:7.
“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8, NASB)
“Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.” (1 John 2:18, NASB)
“Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.” (1 John 2:22, NASB)
“and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.” (1 John 4:3, NASB)
“For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” (2 John 1:7, NASB)
Demon Influence of Believers
All Church Age believers’ bodies are indwelt by all three members of the Godhead. Therefore, a believer cannot be demon possessed. However, the believer’s soul can be influenced by demons and demonic doctrine. When the believer remains in carnality for a prolonged period, they absorb the thinking of the world system around them. This is from the vacuum in their soul that pulls in this demonic thinking. Demon invasion of thought affects self-consciousness, volition, and mental attitude. 1 Tim. 4:1. See category on Soul Vacuum.
“But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1 Timothy 4:1, NASB)
In Ephesians 4:17, “futility” is ματαιότης (mataiotēs) in the Greek and means devoid of truth, depravity, futility. With the soul empty of any truth and not functioning spiritual life in carnality, a vacuum pulls in anything to fill the void – Satanic thinking, the doctrines of demons. Their soul also becomes darkened and calloused toward Bible doctrine and is called scar tissue. Eph. 4:18-19. See category on Scar Tissue of the Soul.
“So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind,” (Ephesians 4:17, NASB)
“being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” (Ephesians 4:18-19, NASB)
The world system continues to influence the believer when they live and function in carnality which they enter through personal sin. The longer the believer’s residence in this condition, the more influence the word system exerts on their thinking and resultant behavior.
Demon influence results from the believer’s soul being filled with the thinking of Satan’s world system. The believer becomes vulnerable to the influence of demonic or false doctrine in their souls as this false doctrine accumulates through continual carnality and involvement in the world system. In this condition, the believer’s thinking and emotions become controlled by their living life in Satan’s world system. 1 Peter 5:8-9.
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.” (1 Peter 5:8-9, NASB)
The believer has limited protection while out of fellowship through adherence to the laws of divine establishment. The believer’s protection is unlimited when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. As they grow spiritually, the influence of the world system is systematically diminished as their thinking is renewed. Rom. 12:2.
“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2, NASB)