A few years back, I was trying to change my two-year-old’s diaper.

It should’ve taken thirty seconds.

Instead, it turned into a full-on wrestling match: arms flailing, legs kicking, that toddler twist maneuver that makes you question if they’ve secretly been taking jiu-jitsu lessons behind your back.

Right in the middle of it, I heard God speak.

I blinked. “Who?”

That caught me off guard. “What do you mean?”

And just like that, I saw them clearly:

Not as horror movie villains or horned cartoon devils…
Instead, think tantruming toddlers with good PR agents
All noise. All bluff. All bark, no bite.

They throw fits to mask their powerlessness.
And the only power they gain… is the power you hand over.

That’s not the picture most of us have been given.

There’s a reason Paul told us in Ephesians 6:12 that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and spiritual forces of evil.”

Your real enemy isn’t your boss, your ex, or even yourself.

It’s the powers you can’t see.

Every bit of brokenness in this world—every instance of death, fear, pain, or confusion—traces back to sin.

And sin? It’s not just a moral failing.
It’s a legal foothold.
A tactical opening.
A crack in the door demons can slither through.

And here’s the twist:

They want to use your authority to do it.

Demons don’t destroy with brute force. They destroy by deception.

They feed off ignorance, passivity, and misused authority.
They whisper. They distort. They bait.
And if you bite, they borrow your voice to deepen the damage.

They know the weight you carry in the spirit.
What they’re banking on… is that you don’t.

Every word you speak, especially in fear, shame, or gossip, does something.
It either releases Heaven’s truth…
Or fuels Hell’s agenda.

Demons thrive wherever this is forgotten.

They can’t create power.
So they hijack yours.

Think of your life like a house, and your spiritual authority like a lease agreement signed by God.

Demons can’t break in on their own.
They bluff, they lie, they hope to trick you into inviting them in.
And eventually? That you’ll hand over the keys.

The contract was never with them.

They have no legal right to your house.

And you have every right to kick them out.

Before we dive into what demons are, we need to clear up what they’re not.

And spoiler: most of what you’ve been told is more Hollywood than Bible.

Fallen angels and demons are not the same thing.

Angels, whether holy or fallen, retain their form and structure.
Demons, on the other hand, are described in Scripture as “unclean spirits.”
Jesus wasn’t noted as casting out fallen angels.
He cast out unclean spirits (see Luke 8:27–33).

Different job. Different category.

Demons are not omniscient, omnipresent, or divine.
They’re limited. Local. Assigned.

Some are more active than others.
Some stick to regions or bloodlines.
None of them act outside of a structure,
and none of them run the show.

This isn’t Star Wars. There’s no cosmic balance of good and evil.
There’s only one victorious King,
and a defeated enemy still bluffing his way back to relevance.

God is Creator.
Everything else: angels, demons, planets, people, and all else
are created things.

And demons?

They’re just corrupted leftovers from a much darker history.

If demons aren’t fallen angels, ghosts, or fantasy villains…
what are they?

In the Gospels, Jesus calls them “unclean spirits” (Luke 8:27–33).
But where did they come from?

Genesis 6 gives us a clue:

“The sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose…The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.” – Genesis 6:2,4

This odd-sounding passage refers to rebellious divine beings, called “sons of God” in Hebrew,
who left their assigned place (see Jude 6) and fathered hybrid children with human women.
These offspring were called the Nephilim: violent giants who corrupted the earth.

When God judged the world with the flood, their bodies died…
but their half-human, half-angelic spirits didn’t fully belong to heaven or earth.
They became disembodied entities, what we now call demons.

(Note: Since this hints at the idea, the soul is not the same as the spirit, biblically speaking. I unpack this further here for the curious: ☘️ We Are Three: The 3-Part Biblical View of Humanity)

This view isn’t new or speculative.
It was the dominant Jewish understanding in Jesus’ day familiar to Him, his apostles, and everyday people from texts like Enoch’s Book of the Watchers, Jubilees, and The Book of the Giants.

When Jesus cast out “unclean spirits,”
He was speaking in terms His audience already understood.

(If you’re curious how this all connects—the Watchers, the Nephilim, Noah’s flood, and the rise of demons—I break it down in 🌌 Unveiling the Divine Realm. It’s a deep dive into the spiritual backstory most Christians were never taught.)

Demons hate you.
Not because of what you’ve done,
but because of who you are.

You are made in God’s image.
You are loved by the very Father who judged them.
You have a body they lost.
Access to spiritual authority they crave.

They’re spiritually homeless parasites
who see your body as real estate,
and your God-given authority as a power source to exploit.

It sounds ridiculous,
But spiritually? It holds up.

Demons don’t just lurk in shadows.
They build cases.

Not because they’re powerful—
but because they know God is just.
And justice means even their accusations get heard.

They’re stuck under the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
No grace. No second chances.
But you?
You’re covered by the blood of Jesus.

So what’s their play?
To trick you into stepping out from under it.

How?
By baiting you into rebellion…
or worse—into legalism.
The second you lean on self-righteousness over grace,
you put yourself back under the law.

And under the law?
“All who rely on works of the law are under a curse…” (Galatians 3:10).
Translation: “they’ve got you right where they want you.”

Their accusations can’t touch someone covered by grace.
If they can get you to ignore Holy Spirit,
refuse to repent,
trust your own righteousness—
they’ll argue you’ve given them legal ground.

And technically… they’re right.

That’s the whole play: deception, accusation, and fear.
They don’t win by force.
They win when you forget who you are.

Here’s the bottom line: 

Demons don’t listen to you because you’re impressive.
They listen because of who’s in you.

You don’t cast out darkness by praying louder, sounding holier, or racking up more ministry hours.
You cast them out because Jesus already won.
And if you’re in Him, so have you.

You’re not who you used to be. The old you, the one they had access to, died in Christ.

You’re not defending your old life under the law. You’re living a new one, anchored in Christ and sealed by His covenant.

No condemnation.
No open doors.
No agreement with the lies.

Accusations and bluffs only work when you forget the truth:
You’ve already been given the keys to the kingdom.

You don’t need more strength. You just need to stop surrendering what’s already yours and stand confidently with the authority of your Father, the King.

Demons aren’t strong. They’re manipulative.
They bluff, accuse, and hope you forget who you are.
But you? You’re wielding the authority of the Kingdom.

You’re not fighting to take ground.
You’re enforcing what’s already yours.

Until next time,
Addison

PS: Next week, we’re tackling a question most believers don’t even know to ask:
“Can a Christian be possessed?!”
(The answer is probably not what you think.)
See you then!