"Christians can't have demons, so if I'm struggling this way I'm not really saved."
How it sounds in your head: The theology says believers can't be possessed or oppressed, but I'm clearly under spiritual attack. That must mean I'm not actually saved, never was. I'm fooling everyone including myself.
"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."
-- Ephesians 6:12Source: Religious teaching creating a false dichotomy that denies believers can face spiritual warfare, leading to salvation doubt when they do.
The spiritual warfare feels intense and the theology he's heard says this shouldn't happen to true Christians. Rather than questioning the theology, he questions his salvation.
Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament and saw the third heaven, was given a 'messenger of Satan to buffet him'—direct demonic harassment. God's response wasn't deliverance but 'My grace is sufficient.' Even the greatest apostle faced demonic opposition without his salvation being questioned.
I REFUSE the lie that spiritual warfare proves I'm unsaved. IT IS WRITTEN: We do not wrestle against flesh and blood—WE, the believers, are the ones wrestling. My struggle proves I'm a TARGET, not a fake. IT IS WRITTEN: I give them eternal life and they shall NEVER perish. Jesus said NEVER, not 'unless they face demonic attack.' I am sealed by the Holy Spirit, marked as God's possession, hidden with Christ in God. The BARAK blessing that protected covenant people even in their worst sins protects me—and I'm in a BETTER covenant sealed by blood. I am ETERNALLY secure.
Your Father isn't questioning your salvation every time you face spiritual attack—He's watching His warrior son stand firm in the authority He's given you. He's not waiting for you to prove you're saved; He's delighting that hell is threatened enough by His son to attack.