There's an account in the gospels where Jesus goes to Peter's house. Peter's mother is sick, and Jesus heals her. Then we read this:
When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick. (Matthew 8:16)
They brought to him many who were demon-possessed, and he cast out the spirits with a word.
This is not an antiquated, pre-scientific, outmoded way of thinking. It is not human reason, but divine revelation, that helps us know these things are so, and they are still happening today, and they are far more common than most of us realize.
There are four books in the Bible that describe the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. These are called the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In the gospels, one of the most frequent things Jesus did was to cast out evil spirits from people who are described as demon-possessed. There are over one hundred examples of this just in the gospels.
Now this verse was originally written in Greek. There is a Greek word that has been translated demon-possessed. That is not a great translation of the Greek word, and many Bible experts are moving away from that term.
The word is simply daimon-izomai. The first part does mean demon, an evil spirit. But the second part does not mean possessed. The word simply means demonized. Every time I see demon-possessed in my Bible, I simply, in my mind, make it demonized.
I have been asked many times if a Christian can be demon-possessed. My answer is no, never, absolutely not... because to possess means to own, and every believer in Jesus Christ has been bought with a price, with the precious blood of Christ. If you are a Christian, you belong to God. He owns you. So no, a true child of God can never be possessed by evil spirits.
But that doesn't tell the whole story.
Because being demonized is a spectrum from very mild to very intense, and we can all be on it.
Scripture is very clear that demons are on the prowl for Christians today.
So we are warned...