Casting Out Devils: 4 Reasons to Exorcise the Demon-Possessed

Many wonder, “If we don’t cast demons out of Christians, then who is exorcism for?” It’s for the unbeliever.

The primary reason Christians hesitate to cast demons out of the unbeliever is because they misapply this portion of Scripture:

When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, “I will return to the person I came from.” So it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before. That will be the experience of this evil generation (Matthew 12:43-45 NLT).

We find many useful revelations in that text from Matthew 12. We see that demons wander the earth after leaving an individual. Demons return in an attempt to reenter. Demons have wills of their own. Demons are observant. Demons communicate with one another and even call for backup. Demons can vary in their level of evil. These are all helpful insights.

To the point, this is how that portion of Scripture is misapplied: “If we cast demons out of the unbeliever and they don’t get saved, we put them at risk of being seven times worse than before. Therefore, we mustn’t cast demons out of the unbeliever.”

The concern is well-founded, for the Bible indeed teaches that demons can return with seven others. But there are a few reasons as to why we should set the captives free, even if our theology causes us to hesitate. What does the Bible teach about casting demons out of unbelievers?

Paul expelled a demon from an unbeliever in Acts 16:

One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes. She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her (Acts 16:16-18 NLT).

There are four other very good reasons why we should cast demons out of unbelievers:

#1 – Deliverance is for today and essential.

If we look at the ministry model of Jesus, we see that He often taught, healed the sick, and drove out demons. Casting out demons isn’t negotiable. Deliverance was as much a part of Jesus’ ministry as healing and teaching.

That evening many demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus. He cast out the evil spirits with a simple command, and he healed all the sick (Matthew 8:16 NLT). (See also Matthew 4:23-25 and Acts 10:38.)

The following Scripture speaks of the continuation of Jesus’ deliverance ministry through those who believe His message.

These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages (Mark 16:17 NLT).

How many of the demoniacs that Jesus freed do we imagine were born-again believers? Of the thousands daily who sought Jesus before He would finish His work on the cross, how many had been born again through their faith in His sacrifice?

To deny deliverance to the unbeliever is to reject a major portion of Jesus’ ministry. Since only the unbeliever can be demon possessed, we would be missing a major function of ministry if we were to deny them freedom. This is why I have written to you that one of satan’s greatest lies is that Christians can be demon possessed. That lie causes Christians to treat their strongholds like possession and remain bound; that lie also distracts us from practicing exorcism for the benefit of those who truly need it—the unbelievers. What a tricky lie, indeed!

Clearly, Jesus drove demons out of the unbeliever and so should we. Deliverance is too important to leave undone for the sake of a poor application of a single Bible verse. People are in bondage. People are hurting and tormented. We can’t allow a religious rule to keep us from ministering to people who need it. What could be more religious than, for the sake of tradition, turning away the captives? Jesus regularly contradicted the traditions of man. He healed on the Sabbath. Likewise, we can and should cast demons out of unbelievers, despite what modern Christian superstitions might dictate.

#2 – Tomorrow isn’t promised.

None of us have the guarantee of seeing tomorrow. This goes for those who are demon-possessed too. In turning away the bound, we demonstrate our presumptuous ways.

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that” (James 4:13-15 NLT).

The Scripture declares, “… Indeed, the ‘right time’ is now. Today is the day of salvation’” (2 Corinthians 6:2 NLT). We don’t know who will still remain upon the earth tomorrow, so why risk a soul? Why put off the deliverance? We must cast demons out of the unbeliever now, for now may be all they have.

#3 – Exorcism could lead to salvation.

Think of the demoniac in Mark 5. He was set free and then decided to follow Jesus.

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him (Mark 5:18 NLT).

And Mary Magdalene likewise committed herself to Christ after having been delivered from demon possession. The Bible mentions that she had seven demons cast out of her.

After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons (Mark 16:9 NLT).

Note that her exorcism didn’t take place on that Sunday morning. She had already been delivered for quite some time, since just before she started following Jesus. Mark noted her testimony to help distinguish her from the other Mary. The point is that she followed Jesus as a result of her exorcism.

Exorcism can lead to salvation.

 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4 KJV)

We cry slogans like, “Set the captives free! Deliverance is for today! Jesus still delivers!” Yet we turn away those in desperate need of freedom for the sake of theology. This is the burden of legalism, the powerlessness of religious thinking. Hyper-focused on a strict misapplication of Scripture, too many believers say to the demon-possessed unbeliever, “I have to leave you in bondage, for my doctrine tells me so.”

Yes, the unbeliever may end up worse off if they don’t repent after exorcism, but the fate of their eternal soul will be far worse if we stand by and do nothing. I wonder how many demon-possessed people would have already been freed and then born again were they not ignored. It’s possible that someone’s deliverance could draw them to salvation.

This may raise the question, “Then why do we need deliverance ministry at all? Why not just get everyone saved? Then we wouldn’t have to cast demons out of anyone.”

Such thinking fails to take into account that deliverance ministry is more than just exorcism. Additionally, many may only come to Christ after they’ve been set free from demonic possession. When someone experiences such liberty after having lived under the hopelessness of demonization, they more often than not commit to following Christ. It’s too deep of a spiritual breakthrough to not want the Lord after having experienced it. So we should cast demons out of unbelievers, because it could be what God uses to draw them to salvation.

#4 – We don’t say the same about evangelism.

The basic idea behind refusing to cast demons out of unbelievers is that we don’t want to potentially make their situation worse. That’s understandable. We don’t want to put people in positions where their demonization will increase sevenfold. It’s wise to consider if the demoniac has at least some willingness to be free. The demoniacs Jesus delivered came to Him or at least allowed themselves to be brought to Him. Still, this doesn’t mean that we should never cast demons out of unbelievers, because that’s who exorcism is for.

Because the people of Capernaum saw the miracles of Jesus, they were put under stricter judgment for their unbelief.

And you people of Capernaum, will you be honored in heaven? No, you will go down to the place of the dead. For if the miracles I did for you had been done in wicked Sodom, it would still be here today. I tell you, even Sodom will be better off on judgment day than you (Matthew 11:23-24 NLT).

Did this stop Jesus from performing miracles? Imagine saying to the Lord, “Lord, You shouldn’t do miracles, because then You could potentially bring a harsher judgment on the people who see the miracles yet still choose to not believe.”

Moreover, what about those who know the truth yet reject it? Aren’t they in a worse position than if they simply never knew the truth in the first place?

And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life (2 Peter 2:20-21 NLT).

We don’t withhold the gospel from unbelievers for fear that they may one day fall away from the truth and end up worse. So why would we withhold deliverance from the bound for fear that they may receive seven more demons?

Aside from the fact that only unbelievers can be demonized, those are four biblical reasons as to why we should cast demons out of unbelievers.