Soul ties are real, but what are they? What is the scriptural basis for understanding soul ties? How are they formed? Are they always demonic? What danger is there in soul ties? How can they be broken?

Soul ties are formed when two or more persons become bonded together. Some soul ties are good, and others are evil; some are holy, and some are ungodly. Our Holy God has ordained and sanctioned the soul ties of bonding between children and parents, husbands and wives, friends with friends and Christians with one another as members of the Body of Christ. Good soul ties are founded upon the law of love, which the Bible calls "the law of Christ" Gal. 6:2, and "the royal law" Jas. 2:8. Thus, the soul ties approved by God represent the bonding of persons together in agape love.

In marriage, God purposes that a man and a woman "be joined...and the two shall become one flesh" Eph. 5:31. They are to be bonded by love. "So husbands ought to love their own wives..." Eph. 5:28. Within marriage, sexual union is an expression of God-approved love. The Bible declares that in marriage God joins a husband and wife, and let not man, through divorce, put asunder what God has joined together (see Matt. 19:6). Thus, divorce violently rends soul ties which God created. This tearing is what causes such pain, sorrow and trauma in divorce.

"The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul" I Sam. 18:1. Here is another type of soul tie which is pure and based upon love. Jonathan loved David even to the laying down of his rights to the throne of Israel. "There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" Prov. 18:24. The Hebrew word for "friend" is rea, meaning "companion or lover." Oh, what a Friend we have in Jesus! For, "A friend loves at all times" Prov. 17:17. Pure and holy soul ties are always based on godly love.

Concerning Jacob's relationship with his son, Benjamin, we read, "His father loves him...His life is bound up in the lad's life, and his soul knit with the lad's soul" Gen. 44:20, 30, Amplified Bible. Although Jacob's love for Benjamin was intensified because he believed his son, Joseph, had been killed; yet it illustrates the soul tie that exists between a parent and child.

When a child is born, the infant should be bonded to his parents. The parents convey their love to the child in many ways. When a healthy soul tie is formed; it ministers, throughout life, love and security to that child. The soul tie between parent and child stabilizes a child's personality.

The Church is made up of many members who are knit together and built up together through love. "The whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies...causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love" Eph. 4:16. The relationship between Christians in the Body of Christ is compared to the relationship of the various parts of the human body. The soul ties formed between members of the Body of Christ are not only desirable but necessary, for they enable the Body of Christ to mature and fulfill its calling.

Demonic soul ties are perversions of the good and holy. Good soul ties are founded upon love; demonic soul ties are founded upon lust. Remember that Satan cannot go beyond his limited rights: He must work within the framework of what he is allowed. When he gets the opportunity, he will pervert that which is pure.

"Do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For 'The two', He says, 'shall become one flesh'" I Cor. 6:16. Through sexual relationships outside of marriage, demonic soul ties are forged. Those who engage in sex outside of marriage, become the one flesh which God purposed solely for a husband and wife. Through adultery, an evil soul tie is created in lust, and this demonic soul tie destroys the holy union which is based upon mutual love and trust. When love and trust are betrayed through adultery, it is very difficult (although not impossible) to restore the shattered bonds of marital oneness.

Perverse soul ties are not limited to those formed between persons of the opposite sex; they are also formed between those of the same sex through sodomy. Homosexuals, both gays and lesbians, attempt to remove the stigma of their sin by referring to themselves as "lovers," but the Word of God declares that their motivation is lust: "Even their women changed the natural use for what is against nature: Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another" Rom. 1:26,27.

Furthermore, perverse soul ties include those formed between men and animals. Animals have souls (minds, emotions and wills); therefore, men can form soul ties with animals. The ultimate expression of sexual perversion is bestiality: lying carnally with animals. Some soul ties with animals fall short of bestiality and are characterized by false compassion and inordinate affection for animals.

When Adam needed a companion with whom he could become one flesh, every animal in all creation passed in review before him, and "Adam gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the air, and to every [wild] beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found a helper meet (suitable, adapted, completing) for him" Gen. 2:20, A soul tie with an animal is a perversion.

"Do not be deceived and misled! Evil companionships(communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character" I Cor. 15:33,. One is readily influenced by his friends, so it is important to choose righteous and holy friends.

Soul ties with evil companions will ensnare you, and you will find yourself entangled in wickedness. "Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them...Make no friendship with an angry man....lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul" Prov. 22:5, 24, 25. (emphasis mine)

Within a family, there are close soul ties, any of which Satan is eager to pervert. The soul tie between parent and child can be healthy and beneficial, except when it continues into the adult life of the child. The familiar expression, "cutting the apron strings," actually speaks of severing the soul tie between the parent and an adult offspring, When a son or daughter is ready for marriage, the soul tie with the parents must be terminated in order for the soul tie between husband and wife to be formed. Therefore, God decrees, "A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife" Eph. 5:31. When the father gives his daughter in marriage, he severs the soul tie with her in consideration of her husband. When the final soul tie is not severed at the proper time, then that which was good and beneficial becomes evil through control and possessiveness.

A pastor and his wife had five children of their own plus an adopted daughter. The six children were raised with impartial love, spiritual influences and training. Why, then, was this adopted daughter the only child who was drawn into the world and its rebellion? It was that this particular child was abandoned and rejected by her own flesh-and-blood parents. In spite of the love offered her by the adoptive parents, the spirit of rejection kept her from accepting that love. In her quest for love-fulfillment, she became wed to the world in lust.

When a family member or close friend dies, the soul tie formed with that person must be dissolved. The period of sorrow, following the death of a loved one, is a time of adjustment during which the soul tie is ended, yet the fond and loving memories remain.

Prolonged mourning may indicate the continuation of the soul tie, and the stress of extended grief will create an opportunity for spirits of sorrow, grief and loneliness to enter.

Sometimes there are factions within the Body of Christ which oppose the Body unity sung about in the familiar hymn, "Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love". There are evil soul ties represented by cliques which cause division in the Body. Such groups oppose Church unity and the blending of the Body together.

Spiritual leaders must maintain the spirit of John the Baptist who declared, "I am not the Christ...but the friend of the bridegroom" John 3:28, 29. Otherwise, one usurps the position of Christ as Head of the Church and ties the people to himself. When loyalties are tied to man rather than to Christ, Christian fellowship with other churches and denominations is either hindered or made impossible.

Demons of doctrinal error have been known to identify themselves by the name of the leader who fostered the error. In such cases the demonic soul tie is clearly identified.

How do demons enter into soul ties? Evil spirits are able to enter when spiritual boundaries are violated. God has set boundaries which govern our relationships with others. God has given man a nature to love and to live in association with others, but God has set boundaries for all such relationships. For example, there are protective boundaries set by God for marriage. A man is to forsake all others and be joined to his wife. There are similar limitations which govern friendships and bonds within the Body of Christ. When relationships within any given area disregard the boundaries which God has established, the relationships become perverse and demons enter. In other words, fleshly soul ties become demonic soul ties.

Through soul ties, a spiritual channel is formed. For example, in a godly marriage, the Holy Spirit flows between husband and wife so that revelations and workings of the Holy Spirit are held in common between a man and his wife. The two become one through the influence of the Holy Spirit on their lives. The same principle operates in demonic soul ties. When there is a sinful joining of two individuals, demon spirits in one person open up the other person for similar spirits, and the two become one.

The power of soul ties is reflected in two important words in the Greek New Testament: "joined" and "fellowship."

The word "joined" is used in relation to marriage. In Ephesians 5:31 we are told that a man is to be "JOINED" unto his wife. The literal meaning in Greek is: to cleave, stick to, glue, or cement. Another use of "joined" is found in Matthew 19:6 where we are told concerning marriage: "Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." "Joined" can be translated as "yoked together."

The Church is one body. "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it" I Cor. 12:26. That is, whatever happens to one member affects the other members of the Body. "Do you not know that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not!" I Cor. 6:15 Therefore, when a church member engages in sexual immorality, Christ the Head, is affected; and each member of the body is affected. This is the reason that there must be church discipline in such matters to remove any unrepentant sinner. For example, the man in the Corinthian church, who was living incestuously, was to be excommunicated. Paul explained: "Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump" I Cor. 5:6, 7.

When a person goes to a fortune teller, he "joins" himself to that occult practitioner by a spiritual connection and, therefore, commits spiritual adultery. By spiritual adultery, a spiritual soul tie is formed. Through occult involvement, one has spiritual intercourse with demons!

We have FELLOWSHIP with Christ through His sacrifice on the cross.

"Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry...You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. I Cor. 10:14, 21"

How does the Lord feel about our fellowship with demons? "We provoke the Lord to jealousy" I Cor. 10:22. If a wife goes out with another man, the husband is jealous. Likewise, a Christian's affair with "another spirit" provokes the Lord to jealously. Soul ties made through occult involvement must be renounced and destroyed.

"Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak; Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; Noses they have, but they do not smell; They have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; Nor do they mutter through their throat. THOSE WHO MAKE THEM ARE LIKE THEM; SO IS EVERYONE WHO TRUSTS IN THEM. Ps. 115:4-8,

 

Through our study we have come to see that demonic soul ties are indeed prevalent and more far-reaching than we may have supposed. As evil soul ties are identified, what can be done to reverse their power?

Ask for and accept God's forgiveness for each evil soul tie that you ever formed. In the name of Jesus, command all demons associated with perverse soul ties to go.