Name: Patricia
Question: There are many preachers today who are laying hands on people and “casting out devils” who are from God, but there are some who have apostatized and gone under the Vatican and are still “casting out devils”. So, is God still doing this through them or if Satan puts sickness and devils in people can’t he take them off and make it look like they are doing miracles, but they are not from God. Because Jesus said, If I cast them out by Beelzebub, then WHO do you cast them out by.
Answer: Thanks for the question Patrica.
I don’t know who you are referring too, and even if I did, only God knows someone’s heart.
As for Satan, let’s see what Jesus said.
Mar 3:23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
This seems to be an impossibility.
Why?
Mar 3:24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Mar 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
If Satan undermined his kingdom, then it will not stand.
Mar 3:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
There you have it.
Satan cannot rise against himself without destroying himself. So Satan cannot cast out evil spirits.
To be clear, Jesus did not say “who do you cast them out by.”
Let’s read the verse together.
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.
Their children did, or probably better said, their disciples.
So some people within that religious community apparently did cast out evil spirits, just not the people Jesus was addressing.
With respect to the statement Jesus made in the last verse, He was showing them how absurd their argument was. They proposed that Jesus was casting out evil spirits by Beelzebub which cannot be true, so He wanted to know how their “children” cast them out. Jesus had already proved, it couldn’t be the devil casting them out. Therefore, in both cases, it was “by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons,” (Matthew 12:28).
It’s important to remember, not all of the religious community was corrupt, there were good men. Paul was a Pharisee before his conversion. So we know he was not an evil man, just a confused one for a time.
Note: The reader had a follow up question…
Paraphrased: Can Satan get into and/or use ministers to make it appear they are from God by healing someone’s sickness. In essence, to make people believe in a false preacher.
My answer was simple, I cannot think of a single verse in the Bible where this ever happened. Satan always performs evil, never good.