Spiritual Oppression: The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 1

October 13, 2022

Spiritual Oppression: The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 1

What is spiritual oppression?

Spiritual oppression is when the devil and his demons gain a foot hold or “place” in your life because of legal doors that have been opened up knowingly or unknowingly. There are several ways that the enemy can establish demonic strongholds and he will do what it takes to ensure your demise. He uses demonic spirits to try to temp you, influence you, and persuade you in every area of your life to get you to come into agreement with their wicked schemes. They know that once you engage in the iniquity that they are enticing you with, they have legal rights to oppress you and they most definitely will, Psalm 94:20.

Satan is not a made up fictional character like people make him out to be, he is very real and very powerful and within your own strength there is no way that you can overcome him. One thing we need to realize is that because of the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, he is a defeated foe. The Lord disarmed and triumphed over the devil and all evil spirits making a public spectacle of them openly, Colossians 2:14-15. The power in Jesus’ Name gives you the authority to bind the demonic attacks of the enemy and live a life free from the chains that he will attempt to put you in.

Spiritual oppression isn’t something to take lightly. The enemy doesn’t come into your life to play games, he is there to steal, kill, and destroy you and that is what he will do if you let him! I fell victim to the devil’s schemes and opened up so many doors in my life and the enemy took full advantage. I was a victim of demonic oppression mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically and I really didn’t know if I was going to make it through, but God!

I had no knowledge of the spiritual realm let alone the demonic forces that operate in that kingdom. The Word of God tells us that we are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6. That is why it is so vital that you get into your Bible, read it, study it, and apply it so that as you walk this Christian life, you can gain the knowledge needed to prevent the enemy from establishing demonic strongholds meant to keep you bound.

You are in a spiritual battle whether you want to believe it or not. That is why the Apostle Paul tells us “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.” There is a kingdom of darkness (Satan’s kingdom) and a kingdom of light (God’s Kingdom) battling daily for your soul. God’s kingdom promises us life eternally with Jesus Christ (John 3:36) while the other one promises us eternal hell in the lake of fire, Revelation 20:15.

There are many doors that can be opened to the demonic realm that allow evil spiritual forces to develop demonic oppression over you that can be very hard to break. The spiritual realm is governed by spiritual laws established by the Lord that both kingdoms (the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness) have to abide by, 1 John 3:4. We have to make sure that we don’t become susceptible to the devil’s devices and the way that we do that is by knowing what they are and staying clear from them. Below I am listing some of the doors that we can open up that can give the enemy legal access into our lives.

Willful Sin

The fact of the matter is that we are all imperfect people serving a perfect God. Romans 3:23 states “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The difference is that when you become a believer of the Lord Jesus Christ, you receive the free gift of the Holy Spirit that dwells inside of you, John 14:17. He is your Helper that will guide you into all Truth, John 16:13. The Spirit of God will steer you in the right direction when you are veering off track pertaining to how the Word of God says one should live their lives.

Remember 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” That means that you do not have to be a salve to sin but have the ability through Christ and what He did for us on the cross to live a life free from captivity at the hand of the enemy. It will mean you taking a step back and being honest with yourself; are you engaging in things that are going to have eternal repercussions? If so, ask yourself is it really worth it?

The Lord explains in Mark 8:36, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” You could be rich, have the biggest house, the most clothes, and everything that you could ever want, but when you leave this Earth you don’t get to take those things with you. Your soul is eternal and the fact is that you are the only one that can make the choice of where it will end up when you take your last breath. That is truly how serious it is! I am listing some of the most common willful sins that can be open doors that will allow the devil and his minions to come into your life and cause chaos.

Some examples of willful sin:

Adultery-

Matthew 5:27-28 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

Fornication-

Galatians 5:19 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality.”

Idolatry-

Revelations 21:8 “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Murder-

Romans 1:29 “They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips.”

Sorcery-

Galatians 5:20-21 “idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Drunkenness-

Romans 13:12-13 “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.”

These are just some of the sins committed that can open doors for the enemy to come in and wreak havoc in our lives. The reason why it is so critical that we try to remain obedient to the Lord’s Word is because it keeps us free from the demonic oppression that the devil wants to put us in. Remember, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 6:23. The more that we engage in willful sin the more we become a slave to that sin, John 8:34.

How the kingdom of darkness operates is they tempt or entice us to break the Lord’s spiritual rules and regulations by committing some form of sin. What that does is gives them the legal right to come into our lives in the hopes of developing strongholds through your transgressions. The demonic spirits will continue to tempt you to commit that certain iniquity, like adultery for instance, so much so that you become a slave to it, John 8:34. Once that happens it is very difficult for you to stop participating in that particular sin even when you want to.

Sins of the heart

When people think of sin, they often only limit it to the ones that are an act of doing something like: fornication, adultery, drinking, stealing, or doing drugs. That is so far from the truth, there are sins committed in your heart that are just as bad. We have to remember that sin is sin regardless of what the transgression is. Jeremiah 17:9 lays it out perfectly when the prophet writes, “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?” The Word of God really cannot get any clearer than that. Our hearts are extremely deceiving because a lot of us make most of our decisions based off of our emotions.

It is a dangerous thing when you allow the enemy to get inside your heart and corrupt it. He will easily turn that distaste into animosity which will lead to bitterness and then hate. Once the devil creates these foot holds in your life, he can alter the way that you begin to think about everything. That is why God’s Word lets us know that we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, Romans 12:2. When you allow the Lord’s Word to cleanse you in every area of your life you will see significant changes in the way that you think.

Below I am listing some of the sins that we tend to commit in our hearts:

Pride-

Mark 7:21-22 “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, and evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.”

Jealousy-

2 Corinthians 12:20 “For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults.”

Hatred-

Titus 3:3 “For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.”

Anger-

Ephesians 4:26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.”

Bitterness-

Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”

Lust-

1 Peter 4:3 “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.”

These are just some of the many sins committed within our hearts. As the body of Christ we have to be willing to transform the way that we live and the manner in which we think. The way that we do that is by reading, studying, and abiding by the undiluted Word of the living God. Demonic activity and demonic influence is real and they have powerful methods that they use that allow the enemy access into your life. Whether you believe it or not, sinful actions are one of the ways that you will give Satan legal right to infiltrate your space.

There is every type of evil spirit that you can think of ready to cause emotional problems, physical ailments, spiritual atrophy, and mental issues in a person’s life because of the demonic strongholds that they allowed the enemy to establish. Our Heavenly Father allowed His only Son to be put on a cross to die for every one of our sins so that we could have a chance at eternal life, John 3:16. There is divine power in the blood of Jesus and the Name of Jesus.

You can overcome the devil and the forces of darkness by activating the authority that Jesus died for us to have, Luke 10:19. The number one thing that you must first do in order to get set free from being a victim of demonic oppression is to make sure that you are allowing Jesus Christ into your heart as your Lord and Savior. The second thing that you need to do is repent. Turn away from all sin and everything that even remotely resembles the enemy, Acts 3:19. As you walk in unison with the Holy Spirit, He will give you the strength that you need to overcome the bondage of sin, Galatians 5:16.

The Lord tells us in His Word that we are to submit to Him and resist the devil, James 4:7. The more of the Bible that we allow into our hearts and minds, the easier it will become to follow what the Lord’s will is for our lives. The Holy Spirit will bring the Scriptures that you have stored in your heart to remembrance when you need them the most. God in His mercy and grace completely set me free from the chains and the shackles that the devil had me in and He can do the same thing for you! Trust, Have Faith, and Believe!

I am linking other blogs pertaining to this topic below:

Spiritual Warfare Scriptures: Facing Life’s Battles-Part 1

Spiritual Warfare Scriptures: Facing Life’s Battles-Part 2

Spiritual Warfare Scriptures: Facing Life’s Battles-Part 3

Spiritual Warfare Scriptures: Facing Life’s Battles-Part 4

Spiritual Warfare Scriptures: Facing Life’s Battles-Part 5

The Armor of God

The Power of Your Tongue!

The Importance of Forgiveness!

What does it mean to walk by Faith and not by Sight?

7 Steps to Fighting Spiritual Oppression-Real Talk!

Why Is the Cross of Christ so Significant?