The Exorcist's Bestiary

I was taught that Christians could not host demons because the Holy Spirit was indwelling. Your thoughts?

Great question! I’ll address that in a longer post at some point as I know it’s a popular question, but I argue that exorcism is for Christians only. You don’t want to kick something out of someone who doesn’t have the Holy Spirit. That’s not gonna work out well for them, given what Jesus said about demons returning with more demons. 

People often say that the Holy Spirit and demons can’t be in the same place and have a passage or two to try to back it up. Yet we believe Christians can sin and have the Holy Spirit. By this logic, shouldn’t the Holy Spirit not be able to be in us because we sin? The people who are most stringent on saying it’s impossible to have a demon and be a Christian have never cast out a demon. Those who cast out demons a lot are generally all on the same page and agree that deliverance is primarily for Christians. 

I’ve seen a few lifelong Christians be set free just to share their story and have other Christians tell them they were never saved. It’s incredibly demeaning and messes with the freed person’s head. It’s one of those hurtful theologies I try to stop people from wielding.