Intimacy With A Spouse After Deliverance Ministry?

We often see clients (women, most frequently) go through our deliverance ministry process and then ask an important question:

“God has set me free from demonic strongholds, but won’t I get them all back if I am intimate with my husband?”

What is the truth?

We get this query primarily from those whose husbands are unsaved and are exhibiting bad or abusive behavior.  We do a specific teaching on staying free when the spirits return to the house (Matt 12:43-45) so they are rightfully concerned about reopening doors for torment.

We quickly work to put them at ease and reassure them that there are Scriptures to support the reality that they are not to withdraw.

God has made provision for the expression of physical intimacy between a man and a woman within the bounds of marriage. The bible specifically warns against prolonged estrangement in this area:

Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. (1 Cor 7:5, NIV)

Intimacy With A Spouse Is God-Ordained

There is a divine protection for spouses because of the divine, godly soul tie between them as one flesh (Ephesians 5:31).

For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy. (1 Cor 7:14, NIV)

The unbelieving spouse is sanctified through the believing spouse.  This sanctification does not mean that the  unbelieving spouse is saved, because that is an individual and personal decision that each must make. To understand this scripture properly, one must understand the meaning of the term “sanctified”.

Most people equate the word sanctification with holiness, but that is incorrect. The term “sanctified” is translated in the New Testament from two Greek words, hagiasmo and hagiazo. I am not going to fake any linguistic expertise here, but when you research you will see that the term “sanctified” means that someone is separated from something or set apart.

In the context of spouses being sanctified, the good news here is that the unbeliever lives in a sort of “set apart” environment — cutoff from the total and extreme godless influence of the world. Hopefully, the result will be that he or she will be won to the Lord.

When one goes through deliverance and is set free from demonic strongholds, it is important to keep the doors closed.  Part of that walk involves discerning the spirits and resisting them as they try to initiate sinful actions to reopen doors.

There is an important disclaimer: If the unbelieving spouse is actively engaging in fornication with another, the other is under no obligation to reengage. This adulterous behavior damages the marriage and places the offended partner at risk of demons and disease.

Sexual sin will reopen doors, but spouses need not be concerned in this area if their intimacy is reserved only for the other. Move forward without fear!