Col 3:8-13 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. 9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; 10And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: 11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. 12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; 13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

After Jesus healed a man possessed with a devil, Jesus warned that the devil could return with seven other spirits, making the condition of the man worse than before. (Matthew 12:22-45) The man needed to put his faith in Jesus Christ. He then would have the Holy Spirit in his life. 

In the twenty years that we have had a Christ-centered Friday-night discipleship program that also ministers to the addicted, we have seen many get clean for a short time. Others opted for a secular program such as AA or NA. Because they did the putting off but didn’t do the putting on of the new man in the Lord Jesus Christ, often their condition worsened, even onto death. The putting off from alcohol, drugs, etc. and the negative emotions that lead to addictions is important, but at the same time a person must put on the Lord Jesus Christ, being transformed into His image.

If our life is filled with anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication, and lies; then we open ourselves up to the fiery darts of the devil. But when Christ comes into our life, we become possessors of the divine nature. We are being transformed into His image. We see the results in verses 12 and. 13 above. 



Paul is writing to Christians. We cannot be demon possessed; however, we can be oppressed by the devil. If we are living an ungodly life we open ourselves up to that oppression. As Christians, we must put on the Lord Jesus Christ. As we do we also put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

Ron Cox – HOPE Ministry