Soul ties? - Michelle Lesley

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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Ms. Lesley is asked a question about soul ties and completely drops the ball in her answer. And she doesn't quote a single Bible verse. 

We must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

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Q. I was wondering what your views were on “ungodly soul ties”, in reference to past relationships? If I was in a previous relationship with someone who I was involved with physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally, how would I loose myself from that?

A. The concept of “soul ties” is not biblical. It is not mentioned or even hinted at in the Bible. (Actually, the phrase "soul ties" is not found in the Bible. However, Ms. Lesley will need to demonstrate the concept, rather than the term, is not in the Bible. Hint: She will not do so.)

Proponents of this heretical doctrine, as you can see in this article, Basic Introduction to Soul Ties,¹ will try to convince you that soul ties are biblical by taking all manner of Bible verses out of context and stretching and twisting them like Silly Putty to try get them to mean what they want them to mean. (Ms. Lesley will quote none of these supposed twisted verses. In fact, she will never quote any Scripture.)

All you have to do is look up the verses they cite, and read them in context to see that none of these passages say that one person’s soul can be literally bound to another person’s soul.

I find it especially laughable that many of the verses they cite in support of soul ties are the “one flesh” verses, such as Ephesians 5:31 (which is actually a quote of Genesis 2:24). Don’t you think that if God, the creator of language, meant to convey in these verses that two people’s souls were tied together, that He would have said “one soul” instead of “one flesh“? Perhaps if Ms. Lesley quoted the actual verse we might be able to more accurately evaluate her claims, so let's actually read them: 

Ep. 5:30 -32 for we are members of his body. 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. 

In context we can see that the issue is not simply "one flesh," as Ms. Lesley claims, it is also "united." The Greek word for "united" is proskollaó, From pros and kollao; to glue to... God stuck together or "tied" the man and woman together.  

We see the context is the one-ness of the Body of Christ, which God glued together, is illustrated by the man-woman relationship. This is something joined together by God:

Mk. 10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.

Why do people regard broken relationships in terms of the spiritual situation? Because Jesus makes the broken union a spiritual connection. When a person makes that connection with someone else Jesus calls it adultery:

Mt. 5:32 But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.

The connection is profound, and the label "soul tie" has been coined to describe the idea. Ii appears that Ms. Lesley ia more triggered by the terminology, because she has yet to even address the idea behind it.)

Or that He would have clearly said: “In this type of close relationship, the two people’s souls are bound together.”? This is God we’re talking about, here. He’s perfectly capable of explaining Himself clearly. He knows what words mean, and He never makes a mistake and chooses the wrong word. And yet, time and time again in Scripture, He uses the words “one flesh” to describe the intimacy of marriage and sexuality, and He never, anywhere in Scripture, even suggests that the souls of two people are bound together under any circumstances. (So it is the terminology. But what about the concept?)

Soul ties are just one more piece of false doctrine usually taught by those in the heretical New Apostolic Reformation camp. (When I Googled “soul ties”, articles by Kris Vallotton {Bethel}, Terri Savelle Foy, and Paula White – all among the worst of the worst of the NAR and prosperity preaching – were on the first page of results. That should tell you something.) (She dodges the issue entirely by employing Guilt By Association.)

There is no way your spirit can be tied or bound to someone else’s spirit. (Term-switching, and a bare assertion. This in fact is the matter to be demonstrated, the process which Ms. Lesley has yet to undertake.)  

I’m not sure what you mean by being involved with someone “mentally” and “spiritually”, but I’m assuming you don’t mean that you were in Mensa together or that you had long talks about theology and frequently prayed together. Those might be fond memories that make you wistful, but no mental or spiritual activity you participate in with someone else binds your soul to his or is something you need to be “loosed” from.

What you need to do is read your Bible, understand what it says about sin, and if you sinned in any way in this relationship (for example, sex outside of wedlock, putting your love for this person ahead of your love for the Lord, being influenced by this person to lie, etc.) you need to repent, not “be loosed” (because you’re not bound to this person, and because repentance from sin is the biblical way of thinking about this situation). (Again, a bare assertion. This is the matter under discussion, and Ms. Lesley is not permitted to simply deny and move on. 

And, by Jesus' words in Mt. 5:32 [quoted above] we can certainly assert that the man and the woman are indeed bound together.)

You may also need to avoid spending time with or talking to this person for a while. And if you’re really having trouble getting over the relationship, you might want to seek counsel from a doctrinally sound pastor (one who understands that soul ties are unbiblical) or an ACBC certified Biblical Counselor.

That’s truly all there is to it. The spirit-realm mumbo jumbo of “soul ties” is a bunch of mystical malarkey. Your spirit isn’t tied to anyone else’s spirit, you’re just sad that the relationship is over, having difficulty moving on with your life, and, perhaps missing the person. And it’s OK if that sounds earthly and pedestrian. Because it is. But if Christ is your Savior, you can trust Him to carry you through it.

Here are some resources you might find helpful:

What does the Bible say about soul ties? at Got Questions

Soul Ties? I at Fighting for the Faith (starts around 34:14)

Soul Ties? II at Fighting for the Faith

¹Just in case it isn’t abundantly obvious, this is a heretical New Apostolic Reformation article/website, and I certainly don’t recommend it.