The believer in the Lord Jesus Christ has indeed been indwelt by the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 1:13; Romans 8:9-11 and 1st Corinthians 6:19). Because the Holy Spirit lives in the believer, they are protected against Satan’s ability to curse them. In 1st John 4:4 we read, “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because HE WHO IS IN YOU IS GREATER than he who is in the world.” The Holy Spirit is infinitely GREATER than Satan and his minions who are in the world to deceive us (see verses 1-6) and he is powerless to curse us.

The Bible does speak of witchcraft and sorcery, which Satan does use to deceive and curse people (see Deuteronomy 18:9-12), but he is unable to CURSE those whom God has chosen to BLESS. We have a beautiful example of this in Numbers chapters 22-23. As the children of Israel were traveling through the country of Moab a wicked king named Balak hired a prophet named Balaam to curse them. “Then he (Balak) sent messengers to Balaam…saying: ‘Look, a people has come from Egypt. See, they cover the face of the earth, and are settling next to me! Therefore, please come at once, CURSE THIS PEOPLE FOR ME, for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land, for I know that he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed” (22:5-6). In verse 12 we read, “And God said to Balaam, ‘You shall not go with them; YOU SHALL NOT CURSE THE PEOPLE, FOR THEY ARE BLESSED.” Balak still desired Balaam to curse the people but the Lord had him tell Balak and all his princes, “How shall I curse whom God has not cursed? And how shall I denounce whom the LORD has not denounced?” (23:8). Balak tried yet again to convince Balaam to curse Israel but again God gave a word to Balaam and he said to Balak, “Rise up, Balak, and hear! Listen to me, son of Zippor! ‘God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to BLESS; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it. He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel’” (23:18-21). Is this not clear? God had chosen Israel by His sovereign grace (see Deuteronomy 7:6-8) for blessing and all of Satan’s attempts to curse them were in vain! In God’s eyes He looked upon Israel as “holy (sanctified, set apart) people” because He had redeemed the nation by the Passover Lamb in Egypt. This was their position before God based on His redeeming grace and because He had “chosen them for blessing” they could not be cursed.

Believers in Christ have also been chosen by God for blessing! Listen to these precious words from the apostle Paul, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, WHO HAS BLESSED US WITH EVERY SPIRITUAL BLESSING in the heavenly places in Christ, just as HE CHOSE US IN HIM before the foundation of the world, that we should be HOLY AND WITHOUT BLAME BEFORE HIM IN LOVE” (Ephesians 1:3-4). Our blessings are guaranteed for we have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross (verse 7). This is our position before God based on His redeeming grace and because He has “chosen us for blessing” we can not be cursed. Verses 13-14 then speaks of the Holy Spirit who has been given to each believer as the Divine Guarantee of these blessings. “In Him (Christ) you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the GUARANTEE of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Regarding “bad luck,” we need to ask ourselves, “Is there such a thing as bad luck?” In Proverbs 16;13 we read, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD,” The “casting of lots” was equivalent to the “drawing of straws” or the “tossing of a coin” to determine who wins or loses, but even though the Israelites used this method to settle disputes they knew this method was actually a means of “determining God’s will,” for they knew that “every decision is from the Lord.” They knew that God is Sovereign (in complete CONTROL) and there was no such thing as “good luck” or “bad luck.” So, we can conclude that everything that happens is under God’s control, which means if we are experiencing misfortune or adversity of some kind, it is “God’s will” and NOT “a curse.”  (DO)  (502.1)