There seems to be much confusion about demons, spirits, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We can thank several sources for this confusion.

Television shows and movies aggressively promote not only the fear of demons and spirits, but our helplessness against them. These are demonic lies from an industry which has been controlled by demonic minds. We are looking for changes in this area. Praise God !

I have had intimate knowledge of demons and spirits since I was 4 years old. I was on a first name basis with many and have seen them and their world for over 52 years. I know who these guys are and it is my life's ambition to reveal them to the world so that people can finally get free of their stranglehold. I have had indepth, up close and personal education in the spiritual realm.

Lucifer has 2 very powerful weapons in his armament…fear and ignorance.

His goal in his war against God's people is to stop the sons of God from being made manifest. Simply put, he plans to prolong his own capture.

Romans 8:22-25 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (NKJ)

2 Corinthians 2:10-11 Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices. (NKJ)

Ephesians 4:17-19 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (NKJ)

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (NKJ)

What is the difference between a demon and a spirit? Some suggest that demons are dead mankind who reside in hell and come back to harass us from time to time, when in fact spirits are fallen angels. Others say that demons are the people before Adam who died in the first extinction of mankind by God. However, that is not what the bible says.

There is no evidence that there ever was a God-created population before Adam and Eve. That is pure mythology. There is no scriptural evidence of a pre-Adamic race of man that was so evil it was destroyed. The Bible does say that there was a civilization that was destroyed before Adam.

This was Lucifer's manipulated civilization, not a fallen mankind (See the book Ask For The Ancient Paths for further information www.aftapm.com ) . The Bible is very clear that there was a civilization before Adam, covering it in several scriptures.

The Bible also says that a person who has died and goes to hell cannot come back. If this were possible, surely the rich man (Luke 16:23-31) would have come back to testify to his family, but he was not allowed his request. The dead do not come back to this earth until after New Jerusalem comes down. There have been testimonies of the dead being raised, but you will notice that in every case they were raised up in their own bodies, not as a spirit or demon.

But what does the Bible say?

Demon: from Greek daimonion meaning a spirit, a being inferior to God, superior to men; from the root word daimon meaning an inferior deity, whether good or bad. ((Only used in the New Testament) both used interchangeably in the New Testament)

Spirit: from the Hebrew word ruwach meaning wind; by resemblance breath, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions), vain, an empty thing; from the root work ruwach meaning to blow.

Spirit: from the Greek word pneuma meaning a current of air, breath, superhuman, an angel, demon; from the root word pneuma meaning a movement of air, a spirit, that is, a simple essence, devoid of all or at least all grosser matter, and possessed of the power of knowing, desiring, deciding, and acting, a spirit higher than man but lower than God, that is, an angel.

Demons and spirits are the same thing, interchangeable words and definitely the same thing. There is no difference. Let me repeat, there is no difference between them.

Now, let's look at the meaning of some more words Paul used.

Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. (NKJ)

The actual meanings of the words he used are as follows (from Strong's

Concordance):

1. Principalities: beginning, the first person in a series, the leader
2. Power: Power of choice, liberty of doing what one pleases, physical & mental power, authority, government
3. Rulers: Lord of the world, prince of this age, the devil and hisdemons
4. Of the darkness: darkened eye sight or blindness, ignorance respecting divine things and human responsibility, people in whom darkness becomes visible and holds sway
5. Of this age: period of time
6. Spiritual Wickedness: all spirit lower than God, depravity andmalice
7. Heavenly: all heavens

Let's look at a more simple translation of this verse in more contemporary English?

For we do not wrestle against man and the seat of life, but against the leader from the beginning, against the authority that has the liberty to do what he pleases with mental and physical power, against the lord of the world, the prince of those ignorant respecting divine things and human responsibility in their blindness of this age, against all those lower than God who practice depravity and malice in all the heavens.

Who are the leaders? The demons that came into this earthly realm in the very beginning. The Bible gives us some vital clues.

The very first spirit or demon that entered the earthly realm was Lucifer.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" (NKJ)

The word serpent is from the Hebrew word nachash meaning snake; it comes from the root word nachash meaning to hiss, whisper a magic spell, prognosticate, practice divination, observe signs, learn by experience, practice fortune telling and take as an omen.

Was it a real serpent? Hard to say. The word also stands for image of a snake. I suggest that Lucifer gave the appearance of a snake that spoke to Eve in whispers to cause separation between her and God. This is Lucifer's primary weapon. He takes truth and twists it just enough to cause us to fall – to place ourselves under the curse of death.

From that first encounter we can see other spirits coming into the bodies of Adam, Eve and Cain. Fear was the first. Shame, coveting, jealousy, murder….all from that one opened door of “I know better than God”.

Now Paul tells us that we are wrestling against spirits who entered from the very beginning. They came here with a purpose. This false belief and teaching that spirits just wander about not knowing what to do unless they can possess a human body and manifest their particular sin, is complete error. They are a formidable army with a plan and a highly successful method of achieving that plan.

It is not in their best interest for the sons of God to be made manifest. That would be the end of their reign. When this happens judgment comes and they are relocated from hell to the Lake of Fire; a far more unpleasant and final place marking the end of their rebellion.

Paul is describing the nature of demons, fallen angels who were at one time greater than man but who fell and lost that place. Paul is describing a fallen enemy who is subject to God and ultimately subject to us by the power of God we have been given. Power given as the children of God, the bride of Christ, the sons of God. Power given because we are saved by Jesus because he shed His blood for us. No matter which criteria you like, we have the authority of the Most High God in this matter over the fallen enemy.

Want more proof? We have more power than God over our own lives and final destination. How can I say this? He has given us free will. We can actually say “NO” to the God who created us, “NO” to the God who died to save us, and “NO” to the Holy Spirit who desires to teach and comfort us. We can basically say “NO” and God will not override our will, so in this way, He has given us sovereign power. Now why do I say that? We have ultimate power over ourselves because He has given us that freedom of choice, then it follows that we have the same ultimate power to choose to keep or remove each and every spirit residing inside of the body that we control. God has given us that power.

Can Christians have spirits? Read Romans 7 where Paul confesses that he still had the man of sin dwelling within him even though he was given the most revelation and insight of all the apostles. So what is he telling us? We need to put off corruptibility and put on incorruptibility. Jesus taught us how to do that. He came to the people of God to teach them, to deliver them, to free them, and heal them. Let me repeat that. Jesus came to the people of God to free them.

We are the people of God and we need to be taught, delivered, freed and healed.

Personally, you have authority over yourself, and that means your authority overrides any spirit residing in you. We need to get rid of them in the name of Jesus and cast them to the pit where they will be trapped for 1000 years. We need to get rid of every demon, spirit, power, principality, ruler of darkness of this age (ignorance), and spiritual host of wickedness in our minds (heavenly place). As we get rid of the demons that are obvious (fear, anger, pride…) we can then begin to remove the ones that have been in us the longest. The ones that have been in our generational line the longest. We begin with the little ones, going deeper and deeper until there is none left and we are totally free, putting on incorruptibility. It's neither instant nor a one time effort, but daily awareness till we are clean. Remember it is a process. It took us 6000 years to get into this mess, it will not be over in 10 minutes.

Does that mean you have authority over those spirits (some call them principalities) over cities, countries and continents? Consider that Gabriel had to ask for help from Michael when he had to deal with the Prince of Persia just to deliver a message. Consider your steps wisely.

If you do not have clean hands there are open doors to the enemy. If you have not taken care of that which is inside of you, you DO NOT have authority over others, people or spirit. And if God has not told you personally, specifically to combat a spirit over a city or even a house, you have no authority at all. In fact, you have no authority over anyone else except your own children under the age of accountability. You have no authority over your spouse, a sibling, a parent or anyone else.

Take the mote out of your own eye before going after anything else.