If you are a Christian, imagine your life is a castle owned by God.
The Spirit is the “King’s room.”
This is the secure heart of the castle where the King resides. The drawbridge is up and the door is locked. No enemy weapon can penetrate this stronghold.
The Soul is the “Courtyard.”
This is the area inside the walls but outside the King’s room. The enemy can shoot flaming arrows over the wall into the courtyard, causing chaos, fear, and smoke in your mind and emotions.
The Body is the “Outer Wall.”
The enemy can batter the walls and chip the stone (physical affliction), but he cannot claim the throne inside the Keep.
Here is the Bible evidence for where they can strike and where they cannot.
1. Can they affect the BODY? (YES)
The Bible shows clearly that demons can cause physical problems. This doesn’t mean every sickness is a demon, but they do have the power to hurt the physical body.
- The “Thorn” (Pain): Paul was filled with the Holy Spirit, but he was physically attacked.
- 2 Corinthians 12:7: “I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
- Disability: Jesus healed a woman who was bent over and couldn’t stand up.
- Luke 13:11: “…a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years.”
- Sensory issues:
- Matthew 9:32-33: “…a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.” (When the demon left, he was healed).
2. Can they affect the SOUL/MIND? (YES)
This is their favorite target. They can’t steal your soul, but they can try to cause havoc with fear, lies, and confusion.
- Blinding the Mind (Thoughts): They try to stop you from understanding truth.
- 2 Corinthians 4:4: “The god of this age (Satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers…”
- Fear (Emotions): They project feelings of terror.
- 2 Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (fearful)…”
- (This implies that the spirit of fear comes from the enemy, not God).
- 2 Timothy 1:7: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (fearful)…”
- Planting Ideas (The Will):
* John 13:2: “The evening meal was in progress, and the devil had already prompted Judas… to betray Jesus.”
* (The devil put a suggestion into Judas’s mind/heart).
3. Can they affect the SPIRIT? (NO - If you are a believer)
This is the crucial difference. If you have accepted Jesus, your spirit is “sealed.” It is like a safe that only God has the combination to.
- The Seal: You are marked as God’s private property.
- Ephesians 1:13: “…When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.”
- The Occupant: A demon cannot live in the same room as the Holy Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19: “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you…?”
- 1 John 4:4: “the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”
- The Protection:
- 1 John 5:18: “We know that anyone born of God (in their spirit) does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.”
The “Straight Talk” (No Verse, just logic):
The Bible never explicitly says “Demons cannot touch the spirit,” but it does say that Light and Darkness cannot exist in the same place (2 Corinthians 6:14). Since the Holy Spirit literally lives inside you, a demon cannot enter that space without overpowering God, which is impossible.
Summary:
- Body: Demons can attack the outer wall (Sickness/Pain).
- Soul: Demons can shoot flaming arrows over the wall (Anxiety/Temptation).
- Spirit: OFF LIMITS.