The Triumphant Churchobsessed, or possessed by the devil, they are
"demonized." So in its broadest sense, the word
"demonized" means to be affected by the works of the
devil.
Our thinking is not clear along this line many times
because our terms and their meanings aren't clear. For
example, if someone asks, "Can a Christian be
possessed by a devil?" the question the person may be
trying to ask is, "Can a Christian be demonized?" In
other words, Can a Christian be oppressed or obsessed
or influenced by or yielded to evil spirits?
Expressed that way, the answer is yes. A Christian
can be "demonized" by evil spirits. But, no, a Christian
cannot be fully possessed spirit, soul, and body by evil
spirits. Certainly the devil could eventually possess any
part of a person who continually yields to him and gives
him more and more access. I'll show you how that
applies to a Christian later.
Sometimes even within full possession, there can be
degrees of possession. In other words, one can be more
fully or less fully controlled by the devil. A person is
partially possessed if only his mind or soul is possessed
by an evil spirit. And even in partial possession the
mind or soul, there are degrees of possession. One can
be more or less possessed and controlled by the devil. In
other words one could be more or less in control of his
own faculties.
Let's look at a biblical account of full or total demon
possession. The madman of Gadara was possessed by a
demon—spirit, soul and body. When Jesus appeared to
me in the 1952 vision, He talked to me at great length
about this case of demon possession He encountered
when He was on the earth.