7 Significant Bible Verses about Casting Out Demons
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In modern Western culture, we haven’t seen many people delivered from demons. Some missionaries travel to other nations and encounter evil spirits and cast out demons, but it's rare to see this in places like America.
Several reasons exist for this rarity, from general unbelief to over-reliance on intellectualism and academia. However, due to this rarity and the reasons for it, it’s difficult to relate to the clear expression in the Gospel about the Christian call to deliver people from demonic control.
Instead of explaining it away, perhaps we should examine a few key scriptures dealing with the issue to renew our minds and grow in our faith.
So, here are seven important verses about casting out demons.
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1. The Reason Jesus Came – Mark 1:38-39
One theme remains consistent regarding the biblical casting out of demons. Those whom God used to deliver people from evil spirits were on a mission to spread the Gospel. While fulfilling the purpose of preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, Jesus' followers often encountered demons that needed to be dealt with and cast out.
Jesus declares this to be the reason he came to earth. His disciples try to get him to stay in Capernaum, but Mark 1:38-39 gives his response: “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” The next verse says he went throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons. Christ’s mission was to reach as many people as possible with the Good News of the Kingdom of God and free them from all forms of spiritual bondage.
Jesus came to earth with a clear purpose: to preach the coming Kingdom of God and destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). By casting out demons, he demonstrated the authority of the Kingdom of God over all evil, and he fulfilled prophecies about how the Messiah would set captives free (Isaiah 61:1). Each time he cast out a demon, he showed his power over darkness as he preached about repentance and the coming Kingdom. Jesus revealed his compassion for all people under various forms of spiritual oppression through his preaching and accompanying miracles.
Christians today should also realize that living a life on mission for God will mean encountering the need to cast out evil spirits attempting to destroy people, even though those evil spirits and forces may manifest differently today than they did during biblical times.
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2. Jesus Delivers and Heals Many – Matthew 8:16
Jesus often dealt with crowds, healing and delivering all present. Our Western culture often focuses on individualism, to the point that we forget God’s compassion for whole groups, cities, and communities.
Matthew 8:16 shows Jesus’s love for many through healing and deliverance. “When evening came, many who were demon possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick.” In this passage, Jesus addresses both physical and spiritual suffering, even confronting demons with a single or simple word.
Jesus cared for people’s suffering, including those trapped in spiritual bondage. Those under such oppression have little to no ability to exorcise themselves. They need others, and Jesus loved them enough to point out and heal the source of their problems: a demon. He engaged the forces of darkness with his authority and freed those powerless against the fallen angels. God often does several things at once, and in casting out demons, Jesus both displayed his power and mercy.
Often the Bible speaks of whole groups of people with needs, whether nations or cities or those within certain boundaries. God sets up boundaries and kings and nations (Acts 17:26), so he cares about their well-being, too. As believers, we can address the spiritual source of darkness within these areas by confronting the demonic and preaching Christ and the Kingdom out of love and compassion.
Through deliverance ministry, Jesus offered more than temporary relief to a crowd of people. He provided hope of a greater coming Kingdom. We can do the same in the Spirit and on the Gospel mission.
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3. Healing and Demons Connected – Mark 9:25-27
Another element that makes our modern sensibilities uncomfortable is that the Gospels often connect physical infirmities with a demonic cause. The West has made phenomenal progress in science and medicine, yet our pride in these subjects can keep us from recognizing when a deeper evil exists.
Mark 9:25-27 provides a good example of Jesus addressing a sickness through casting out a demon. In these verses, a boy suffers from convulsions and being mute, unable to speak. The boy’s father begs Jesus for help after the disciples fail to cast out the demon. Jesus acts with his authority and commands the spirit to leave the child: “You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again!” The demon leaves immediately, and the boy seems lifeless as a result. Jesus takes the boy’s hand and fully restores him.
Jesus came to heal us of our infirmities and diseases (Isaiah 53:4). God’s compassion flows to free people from these sufferings. In this account, the boy’s symptoms appeared physical, but the root cause was spiritual. Jesus recognized this and cast out the demon.
It’s important to note: sickness doesn’t always mean spiritual oppression, and this shouldn’t justify not taking people to a doctor. However, we can’t assume the Devil who seeks to kill us isn’t involved at all, either. We require the Spirit’s discernment to know the unseen reality and act accordingly for the person’s whole restoration, body and soul.
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4. Jesus Delivers the Demoniac – Matthew 8:28-34
While God cares for groups and communities, he also cares deeply for the individual. It’s not an either/or but both/and. Jesus—God in the flesh—went to great lengths to help a single soul.
Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39 record how a demon-possessed man lives in a graveyard. People feared his violent behavior, exiling him. But when Jesus arrives, he doesn’t avoid or ignore a disturbing situation. He steps into the brokenness to bring transformation.
Interestingly, when Jesus arrives, the demons recognize Jesus’ authority and plead for him not to torment them before their time of ultimate judgment. Jesus allows them to leave the man and enter a herd of pigs, an unclean animal. When the demons do, the pigs rush into the water and drown. This reveals the intent of evil, to either destroy life or lead living things to destroy themselves. In addition, evil spirits react around Jesus, and for those of us with his Spirit inside us, demons may react in strong ways when we act on Kingdom mission for the good of others.
Jesus enters a messy situation to save one man. While others had exiled this person, Jesus saw his humanity and need, and he chose to act and free the man. Like Jesus, we must intentionally enter circumstances out of compassion and seeing the true spiritual need instead of outward actions. With God’s love, we can bring light and healing by the Spirit.
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5. Jesus Gives Power over Demons to Disciples – Luke 9:1/10:17-19
If Jesus was the only man who could cast out demons, that would limit the good he could do. Therefore, he shared his authority over the Devil with his disciples.
In Luke 9:1, Jesus sends his disciples out to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. He also gives them power and authority over diseases to cure them. Jesus shows how he means his mission to go beyond himself, involving all who join his redemptive work.
Later, in Luke 10:17-19, the disciples return from the mission. They excitedly rejoice in their success and say, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!” Jesus confirms their ministry by replying, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” Snakes and scorpions symbolize the demonic, much like the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
By granting his disciples this authority, Jesus protects them from spiritual resistance and also extends his Kingdom reach. The Kingdom message would continue to advance through his disciples, and he needed to teach them how to deal with demonic attacks as he did.
And this doesn’t only apply to those men in that time. Jesus gives all believers on mission the call to cast out demons and set people free in his name.
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6. Jesus Gives Power over Demons to All Believers – Mark 16:17
Many today could make the excuse that casting out demons was for Bible times and not for the modern era. That was only for those men, not us. Yet the Bible clearly reveals how Jesus meant for all believers to exert Kingdom authority over evil forces.
Mark 16:17 records the authority Jesus grants to all believers as part of the Great Commission. “And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues.” Jesus extends this authority to anyone who answers the call of the Great Commission, which is available to all.
Just as Jesus gave the power to his disciples in Luke to ensure the preaching of the Gospel and his compassion continued beyond his earthly ministry, it still happens today. Because Jesus lives today, and we have full access to the Father through Christ, we are disciples of Jesus. He is the only mediator. The same Spirit of Jesus lives within us, and he directly leads and guides us now.
Casting out demons is part of the larger mission of spreading the Gospel. Healing and deliverance don’t save anyone from hell but give evidence that the Kingdom exists and is available for all who would repent and believe. As we live and preach the same Kingdom, we have the same authority. In compassion, we all have a role in advancing the Kingdom and bringing hope to a lost and dying world.
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7. Disciples Cast Out Demons during the Early Church – Acts 8:6-7
As further evidence, we see deliverance from demonic activity as the early church began to grow and spread the Gospel.
Acts 8:6-7 describes part of Philip’s ministry in Samaria. “When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed.” Philip was a leader of the church but not an apostle. As a fellow disciple, he developed through the Spirit to become a deacon, and God continued to use him to spread the Gospel. He preached the Good News of deliverance.
Again, we see the connection and how the evidence of healing and deliverance supported the message. This passage reveals the ongoing nature of Jesus’ ministry through those who believe, even to the third generation. Casting out demons wasn’t for Jesus’ three-year ministry. It became a central part of the early church. And for those who have a relationship with missionaries in other nations, stories like this still happen. Each is different and unique but with the same core reality. When we answer the sending out to preach the Gospel, we can and will encounter demonic activity. And we have the power to set people free out of love and compassion.
Looking back at these verses and accounts, we can examine our hearts to ensure we’re living according to God’s mission, whether we’re sent across the street to neighbors or across the world to foreign countries.
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