how do satan and demons interact?

Man is made up of "spirit and soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). Our "spirit" ("the spirit of man"; 1 Corinthians 2:11) is the portion of our being that has God (or spiritual) consciousness. If we are saved, it is the part the Spirit of God inhabits to control our lives and enable us to live in a spiritual manner (a manner exhibiting godly character). For the unsaved, "the spirit of man" is prey to Satanic control by its potential possession by any number of devilish spirits. The possession of which one(s) is determined by the appeal of, and submission to, the particular spirit, or spirits. 

Two predominant Greek words translate into English as "devils": (1) daimonizomai (Strong's #1139), which means "to be under the power of a demon" (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon)—this speaks more to the action or condition (as in Matthew 4:24; 8:16; 8:28; 8:33; Mark 1:32; and Luke 8:36); and (2) daimonion (Strong's #1140), which speaks more to the "demoniac being" (evidenced by Matthew 7:22; 9:34; 10:8; Mark 1:34; and many others). 

Our human spirit is dominated by a spiritual power: either the Spirit of God or a devilish spirit. Not everyone who is lost is devil-possessed, but everyone who is unsaved possesses the devil. First John 4:4 says, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." In reality, there is only one or the other "he" in everyone. It is determined by "to whom [denoting a personage] ye yield yourselves servants to obey" (Romans 6:16). 

Various Scriptural accounts reveal some individuals yielded themselves to more than one devilish spirit. Luke 8:2 reveals Mary Magdalene "had been healed of evil spirits ... out of whom went seven devils." Thus, "spirits" and "devils" are somewhat interchangeable. The distinction being "devils" may speak more specifically and "spirits" a little more generically, but essentially they are the same. It is apparent from this verse that an individual may "yield yourselves" to more than one devilish spirit. 

Perhaps the most horrendous example is the account of the man recorded in Mark, Chapter 5, and Luke, Chapter 8. When asked his name, he replied, "My name is Legion" (Mark 5:9). A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 soldiers. Luke 8:30 says, "Many devils were entered into him." Those "devils" drowned "about two thousand" swine (Mark 5:13). This startling Scripture reveals an individual can be possessed with multiple, even extremely numerous, spirits. These "spirits" have the power of influence, control, and domination. They do not take up physical space and are not subject to physical measurements. Thus, space or size is not an issue.

Spirits are not designed or desirous merely to occupy or dwell in the air. Their design is to inhabit people. First Timothy 4:1 speaks of those who "depart from the faith" and tells why that occurs—they were "giving heed to seducing spirits." Later, John spoke of "them that seduce you" (1 John 2:26), revealing those "seducing spirits" became seducing people. In 1 John 4:1, the Apostle said to "try the spirits" (plural); later in the verse, he wrote, "Many false prophets are gone out." Those "spirits" picked up bodies.

With the Advent of Christ, the demoniac powers, which had somewhat of a free rein because "the people ...  sat in darkness" (Matthew 4:16), began to lose their position in the lives of the people (Luke 10:18-20). An important part of Christ's public ministry was dealing with "those ... possessed with devils" (Matthew 4:24). When He commissioned the twelve, part of what He provided them with was "power against unclean spirits, to cast them out" (Matthew 10:1). Later, when He commissioned the seventy, they came back rejoicing, saying, "Even the devils are subject unto us" (Luke 10:17). 

In the Great Commission (Mark 16:17), Jesus proclaimed, "In my name shall they cast out devils." This has a perpetual quality to it. It was not only a first-century commission. Acts 5:16 tells of "them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one." Acts 8:7 reads, "For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them." Acts 19:12 says, "The evil spirits went out of them." 
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Perhaps one of the most famous occasions was when the Apostle Paul cast the "spirit of divination" out of the "damsel" (Acts 16:16-18). These verses substantiate the truth that dealing with and casting out spirits was a practice in the morning-time church, and it remains a necessary part of the ministry of the Gospel yet today. It is as valid as any other portion of the Great Commission

From the  September 2023 issue of   The Gospel Trumpeter

Earl R. Borders