David, the early years - Part 2
The Spirit of the Lord and an evil spirit
4th November 2011
This verse follows on from last week's passage. Although it doesn't refer to David, it has an important bearing on his story, and is important in its own right:
1 Samuel 16v14
Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.
As Christians, we don't like to think about these things.
Firstly, Can the Spirit of the Lord really depart from a person? This verse says "yes". But to believe that the Holy Spirit can depart from a Christian is to believe that a Christian can cease to be a Christian. That is, we can lose our salvation.
Romans 8v9b
if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
The question of whether a Christian can truly lose his salvation has divided Christian thinkers for hundreds of years. Those called "Calvinists" say no, and those called "Armenians" say yes. And there are various New Testament scriptures that appear to support either view. Who am I to argue with half the church? But my own belief, for what it's worth, is that God succeeds in all that He does, that if he intends to save someone, then he will, and that God will protect those whom he has saved, so that they will always be saved. That is, I hold to the Calvinist doctrine of "The Perseverance of the Saints", otherwise known as "once saved always saved". Thus, for me, a Christian will always have the Holy Spirit within him, but this was not true for people in the Old Testament.
Secondly, can an evil spirit be from the Lord? Again, this verse says "yes". Of course, in the final analysis, everything is from the Lord. He is the author and sustainer of all the universe, and nothing can happen that's outside His plan. He is what some theologians call the "first cause" of everything that happens. This also makes many Christians uncomfortable, but I am unable to believe in a God who is not in complete control.
The idea that an evil spirit couldn't be from the Lord is contradicted by this scripture, and so is untrue. It seems to me to be a special case of the idea that God only ever wants to bless us, and never wants to punish us, that a God of love cannot also be a God of judgment. That idea is very attractive but is, of course, totally contrary to scripture.
My favourite answer to the question "Can a Christian have a demon?" is "A Christian can have anything he wants". But a more helpful answer might be that "having a demon" can mean various different things. We all "have" demons, in the sense that our enemy will send his agents to seek to distract and disable us from God's mission. Few of us are "possessed" by a demon, in the sense that a demon can force us to do anything. And many of us live in the spectrum between these extremes.
I think the level of demonic activity in our lives varies over time, and can be affected by many different things. Deliberate sin is a choosing of the dark side, and a choosing to dishonour God, and surely that will affect our spiritual state. It also seems likely that an event that brings significant trauma or fear can also open us up to unhelpful influences. And, of course, participating in occult practices is an invitation to demons.
So, to summarise, some of what happened to Saul cannot happen to a Christian but, on the other hand, Saul's fall from God's anointed king over Israel to demonised wretch should at least cue us to stop and think about whether we are falling into the sin, characterised by Saul's life, of trying to achieve good ends by ungodly means. To repeat a scripture that I quoted two weeks ago:
1 Samuel 15v22-23
... Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the
voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.