WHAT IS A SPIRIT?
A spirit is a being with intelligence and personality but not a physical body.
“…A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as you see me have.”
(Luke 24:39)
“God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (St. John 4:24)
Christians need to understand that there are millions of non-corporeal – not possessing a physical body – beings in the world and in the universe, and they are no less real than any physical being. The Bible speaks of the natural man who cannot see or understand anything in the spirit realm. His own spirit is dead because of his sin. (I Corinthians 2:14) In his spiritual blindness, man will try to explain any supernatural (non-physical) occurrence in fleshly or carnal terms. He will try to explain things as “extra- sensory perception,” “psychic powers,” “aliens from outer space” or whatever he can imagine. All of these can be understood if we realize that the Bible is right and plainly talks about angels, demons and other occupants of the very real spirit world.
God created a large number of spirit beings long before He created the earth. They are called angels. The word means “messenger; a spirit being subordinate to God,” and is used in the Bible to describe these spirit messengers or pastors. (Revelation 2-3) One-third of the mighty host of angels in heaven rebelled against God and followed the archangel Lucifer. They were cast down to the earth and he is now called Satan, or the devil.
Many Bible scholars believe that long before the days of Adam and Eve, God had on the earth a race of beings that became rebellious and wicked along with Satan and his angels. After, the “Earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” (Genesis 1:2)
These now disembodied spirits were able to move about in the earth to create mischief and even inhabit the minds of rebellious humans. They are called “demons” or “evil spirits” in the Bible, and will eventually be cast into hell with Satan and his angels, along with those humans who are not in right relationship with God. There are many accounts of demon activity in the Bible and demons are still active today. Be sure to note that God has a mighty host of angels who defend the saints in spiritual conflict as they pray.
Evil spirits often imitate dead people and fuel the superstitions of ghosts, reincarnation and witchcraft. We know from the Bible that the spirits of dead humans are not allowed to roam around the earth after leaving their bodies. They must either go to heaven – born again – saints, or to hell – those who are lost. (Luke 16:19-31)
Only God is omnipresent. The Holy Spirit can live in a billion believers and speak in ten thousand churches at the same moment. But Satan cannot be in more than one place at a time. He is a created being. He is called the “god” of this world because he was cast out of heaven onto the earth and given authority over the earth (for a limited time) when Adam sinned. He is an angel, not God. Every evil being is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ and must leave at the command of any true child of God who speaks in Jesus’ name. (St. Mark 16:17)
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