Spiritual Warfare · Life in Holiness

What does an unclean spirit do?

5 min read, approximately

“When an unclean spirit leaves a person, it goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none. Then it says: I will return to the house I left. When it arrives, it finds the house empty, swept, and decorated. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits worse than itself, and they enter and live there; the person’s final condition becomes worse than the first. So it will also be with this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:43-45)

The word spirit comes from the Latin spiritus, meaning breath or breathing

“Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7)

To understand this, let us look at what we are made of

The Word teaches us that all of us are composed of:

\1. A body

“For we know that if the earthly house in which we dwell is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made by hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1)

\2. A soul

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all my being bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits.” (Psalms 103:1-2)

“May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole being, spirit, soul, and body, be kept blameless for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thessalonians 5:23)

\3. A spirit

“The human soul is the Lord’s lamp, searching the secrets of the inward parts.” (Proverbs 20:27)

In summary, through the body we make contact with the physical world; the soul is our personality; and the spirit is our inner being. A body without a spirit has no life, and the spirit guides the body through the soul.

Returning to the context

God’s Word makes clear that unclean spirits also exist…

“In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit, who cried out: Ah! What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are: the Holy One of God. Jesus rebuked it, saying: Be silent and come out of him. The unclean spirit convulsed him, cried out loudly, and came out of him.” (Mark 1:23-26)

We now know that the spirit God gave us guides the body toward good through the soul. An unclean spirit does the opposite: it guides it toward evil. Matthew 12:43-45

An unclean spirit holds us captive, but Jesus came to set us free

“For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” (2 Corinthians 3:17)

“If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:6-7)

If we desire it, Jesus Christ cleanses us from all wickedness. The unclean spirit is cast out of our lives, because Christ now rules within us (Galatians 2:20) and the Holy Spirit dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16)

“Moreover, brothers and sisters, I declare to you the gospel I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand. Through it you are also saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2)

But if we do not hold firmly to the Word, we are wasting our time:

“Like a dog returning to its vomit, so is a fool who repeats their folly.” (Proverbs 26:11)

All we achieve by moving from one foolish act to another is to invite the unclean spirit back, and:

“Then he saith, I will return into my house whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man becometh worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this evil generation.” (Matthew 12:44-45 ASV)

So:

“… What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between God’s temple and idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. “ (2 Corinthians 6:15-18)

Is it worth letting an unclean spirit govern us? Is it worth being a temple of uncleanness? What do we choose: the Holy Spirit or unclean spirits, with 7 worse ones arriving?

“Therefore, if the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.” (John 8:36)

_**Remember to stop by the Songbook

May God continue to bless you, and may you continue to have an excellent day in Christ Jesus!