Bind Satan, Bind Demons, Satan, Demons

Do believers have authority or power over Satan and the demons? Can Christians bind Satan and his demons?

Greater is He

I have heard of “Deliverance Ministries” where their job is to deliver believers from demons or even from Satan himself, but is this necessary? No, because believers can never be possessed by a demon or Satan. The Holy Spirit is God and He lives within every believer, so do you really believe that God the Holy Spirit would allow Satan or a demon to live in the same tabernacle?! No way. The Apostle John said that “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Of course, the “he” is God Himself and it’s also Jesus abiding in us as well as the Father, so it’s not possible that God would allow or permit a demon to live in the same dwelling (our bodies) where He is present. God is greater than “he (Satan) who is in the world,” and it’s not even close. It’s no contest because He is God, so deliverance ministries are no more biblical than Satan was in misquoting Scripture to Jesus in the wilderness, and are just a waste to time and money.

Binding Satan

I cannot count the number of times that believers have said, “I bind you Satan in the name of Jesus…” when in reality, they have no such authority. Others have said, “I am binding ever demonic spirit and Satan himself in this city and he is now disarmed as I declare and decree by my authority of the word.” Sadly, people actually think they can bind Satan or his demons, forgetting that their power is infinitely beyond ours. We have God’s Sprit and can resist the Devil and never be possessed, but we can be influenced by the enemy, so we have no control over Satan or his demons and have no such biblical authority to bind Satan or demons. It’s not found or taught in Scripture. The Devil is God’s Devil, and God has him on His sovereign leash, allowing him to do evil, but only so much, but even that is for ultimate good (Gen 50:20; John 3:16). Satan once asked God for permission to sift Peter like wheat (Luke 22:31), but notice that Satan had to ask for permission first, as he had to with Job (Job 1:11-12). Satan or the demons cannot do anything to us without God’s approval, but even those bad things that are attributed to him will work out for our very best (Rom 8:28).

All Authority

Just prior to Jesus’ ascension back to heaven, “Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18), but He was speaking to the apostles and has never given mankind all authority to believers. Besides, it doesn’t say He gave them all authority. Probably because that would turn out badly, but Jesus Himself has “all authority,” not we, and His authority extends into the dark spiritual kingdom of Satan. Some people use Luke 10:19 as proof that they have all authority, even over Satan and his minions. Jesus was speaking to a special group of evangelists He had called for a mission, and to these 72 he said, “I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you” (Luke 10:19). This does not say that everyone who believes will have the same “authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy.” Only these 72 men were given that authority by Jesus Who has all authority.

No Authority

We don’t see the New Testament Christians being taught to bind Satan or his demons. What we do read is Jesus telling the apostles the following “signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover” (Mark 16:17-18). These signs did follow the apostles, but these signs didn’t follow after other believers in the church. The Apostle Paul accidentally (not on purpose, for those snake handling churches!) picked up a snake and he was bitten, but was not hurt, so these signs were fulfilled for them in their missions. They are not the signs that are supposed to follow believers in the New Testament churches. There is no evidence of that. The Apostles were told that these signs would follow them, but even then, it was by the power of God and not by the power the apostles had.

Rebuking the Devil

When Michael the Archangel and Satan contended for the body of Moses, it wasn’t the powerful Michael who bound or rebuked the Devil. It was God Who did. The Scripture I refer to is in Jude 1:9 and says, “when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” In the wilderness, Jesus rebuked Satan 3 times by using the Word of God in context, after Satan had taken the texts out of context to create a false pretext from Scripture. Satan’s ministers are still doing that today. There is only One Who can rebuke or bind Satan, and it’s not us. Zechariah records a time when “the LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, O Satan! The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you! Is not this a brand plucked from the fire” (Zech 3:2)? Jesus is God and the Lord rebuked the demons more than once. On one occasion, “Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again” (Mark 9:25). Since Jesus is God, He can also rebuke Satan, but there is no record of any human being ever binding or rebuking a demon or Satan, not to mention either of the two archangels (Michael and Gabriel).

Conclusion

We have no biblical authority to speak to Satan and declare to him, “I bind you Satan and your demons.” We cannot “deliver” Christians from demons because they’ve already been delivered from the power of Satan by Jesus’ blood. Only God has such authority to bind Satan, and he will someday. The Apostle John recorded a future event where an angel from heaven came “and he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4). Later, “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev 20:10). I see no way for any human being to do such a thing as bind Satan or his demons, or to rebuke them or claim authority over them…the only One Who qualifies for such a thing is God and God alone.

Here is some related reading for you: 5 Prayers For Protection Against Satanic Attacks

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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