Can Satan (or demons) be bound by believers under authority given by God?

Absolutely not. Again, when Pentecostals and charismatics claim to bind Satan in their prayers they are employing a faulty hermeneutic. Such binding has not yet taken placeit will take place at the beginning of the millennial reign of Christ. The devil will be bound for a 1000 years. One of the inconsistencies of Pentecostal theology is that they tend to pick and choose whatever seems to be sensational even if it wreaks havoc to their theological system. They tend to be dispensational and pretribulationala viewpoint which necessarily makes them premillennial. And if premillennial, then they must believe that the binding of Satan does not occur until Christ establishes his kingdom on earth. There are two points here of significance: (1) the binding will not take place yet; and (2) Christ and Christ alone will bind Satan.

So, in summary, I'd say that the error of charismatics is twofold: (1) a faulty hermeneutic which has no consistency, but is essentially sensationalistic; (2) an anthropocentric focus in which God may well be viewed as powerful, but he is still viewed as impersonalthus, God becomes the instrument that the almighty Christian wields!

The error of non-charismatics too often is that though they see the greatest miracle of all occurring all the timethe raising of the spiritually deadthey often fail to believe that God will do lesser works among them. However, those who have been or are now in a crisis often come to embrace a more holistic understanding of God's grace and power in their lives.

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