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What are demons? (evil spirits, what the Bible says)

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Short answer

Demons are evil spirits, hostile spiritual beings that serve Satan and oppose God and people. The Bible describes them as fallen angels: Satan is 'the dragon… and his angels' cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:9), and the final judgment is prepared for 'the devil and his angels' (Matthew 25:41). What Scripture shows them doing:

The most important fact: they are already beaten. Jesus cast them out with a word, they 'believe, and shudder' (James 2:19), and Christ 'disarmed' the powers at the cross (Colossians 2:15).

Question

What are demons? (evil spirits, what the Bible says about them)

Analysis

What they are and do

Demons appear throughout the Gospels as 'unclean spirits' that torment, isolate, and sometimes physically harm the people they afflict, the man among the tombs whose demons Jesus sends into a herd of pigs (Mark 5:1–Mark 5:13), and 'many who were demon-possessed' brought to Jesus and healed with a word (BSB, Matthew 8:16). Beyond individual affliction, the New Testament links demons to spiritual deception, 'deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons' that lead people from the faith (BSB, 1 Timothy 4:1), and to the spiritual reality behind idolatry (1 Corinthians 10:20). Paul says the Christian's real struggle is 'not against flesh and blood, but against… the spiritual forces of evil' (Ephesians 6:12).

Jesus' authority, and the believer's confidence

Every demonic encounter in the Gospels ends the same way: Jesus wins, instantly. Casting out demons was a sign that 'the kingdom of God has come upon you' (Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20), and when His followers reported that even the demons submitted, Jesus said He 'saw Satan fall like lightning' (Luke 10:17; Luke 10:18). For believers the tone is therefore confidence, not fear: 'greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world' (BSB, 1 John 4:4); the response is to 'resist the devil, and he will flee' (James 4:7) and to stand in God's armor (Ephesians 6:11). Demons are real and hostile, but they are defeated creatures, not powers to be obsessed over or feared.

Sources, trace every one

Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.

  • Revelation 12:9bsb

    And the great dragon was hurled down — that ancient serpent called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

  • Matthew 25:41bsb

    Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

  • Mark 5:8bsb

    For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!”

  • Mark 5:13bsb

    He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.

  • Matthew 8:16bsb

    When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Jesus, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.

  • Luke 8:2bsb

    as well as some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,

  • 1 Timothy 4:1bsb

    Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

  • 1 Corinthians 10:20bsb

    No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.

  • James 2:19bsb

    You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

  • Colossians 2:15bsb

    And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

  • Mark 5:1bsb

    On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes.

  • Ephesians 6:12bsb

    For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

  • Matthew 12:28bsb

    But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

  • Luke 11:20bsb

    But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

  • Luke 10:17bsb

    The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name.”

  • Luke 10:18bsb

    So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

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What are demons? (evil spirits — what the Bible says) · Bubble Bible