Distinguishing the Difference Between Oppression, Obsession,
and Possessionwill come in and can eventually possess his body or soul
if given free access to them over a period of time.
However, in the case of a Christian, a demon cannot
inhabit his spirit unless the believer meets the
conditions stated in Hebrews 10:26,27 and Hebrews 6:4-
- I'll talk about these passages in greater detail later.
For now I'll simply say that the majority of
Christians never reach a level of spiritual maturity
which would put them in a position to commit the sin
unto death. The sin unto death can only be committed
by a mature Christian by willfully denying Christ with
deliberate forethought (1 John 5:16). So Christians
don't need to be preoccupied with wondering whether or
not they are possessed by the devil in their spirit. If
they are concerned that they might be, it's a sure sign
they aren't! However, Christians can open a door to the
devil in other areas of their lives.
I'll give an example that shows how a Christian can
unknowingly open a door to the devil. Many years ago I
read about Dr. Lilian Yeomans who was a medical
doctor in a large New York City hospital. She became
hopelessly addicted to drugs and was given up to die by
medical science. Then someone told her about divine
healing, and she was saved and healed by the power of
God and spent the rest of her life teaching about divine
healing.
Near the end of World War II, Dr. Yeomans became
desperately ill to the point of death, even though she
had taught and ministered on divine healing for more
than forty years. At that time, she was probably about
eighty years old.
Later I read that Dr. Yeomans had been healed. In
an article she wrote, she explained how she had gotten