What does the Bible say about witchcraft and sorcery?

Modern culture often treats witchcraft as either fictional fantasy or a trendy spiritual identity, crystals, spellwork, tarot, marketed as empowering self-expression. But the Bible describes something much more serious underneath the modern packaging: an attempt to access supernatural power or knowledge from a source other than God, which is precisely why it takes the subject so seriously.

Understanding what Scripture actually says requires looking past cultural trends to the consistent, sober warnings that run from the Law of Moses through the New Testament epistles.

Exodus 22:18 states directly, 'You shall not permit a sorceress to live,' reflecting how seriously Israel's law treated the practice under the theocratic covenant. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 broadens the list, forbidding sorcery, divination, and every related attempt to manipulate or access unseen power outside of God's revealed will, naming it 'an abomination to the LORD.'

2 Kings 21:6 records that King Manasseh 'used fortune-telling and omens and dealt with mediums and necromancers,' and this is presented as one of the primary reasons his reign is judged so harshly in Scripture, leading Judah toward exile.

Galatians 5:19-21 lists sorcery (the Greek word pharmakeia, related to drugs and potions used in occult ritual) among 'the works of the flesh,' alongside sexual immorality and idolatry, warning that 'those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.' This places witchcraft not in a separate spooky category but squarely within Paul's list of serious, life-dominating sins.

Revelation 21:8 and 22:15 likewise list sorcerers among those excluded from the new heaven and new earth apart from repentance, underscoring that this is not a minor issue but a matter of eternal significance.

At its root, witchcraft is an attempt at self-directed spiritual power, bending unseen forces to a person's will rather than submitting to God's will. That posture is fundamentally the opposite of biblical faith, which trusts God's sovereignty and seeks His power through humble, dependent prayer rather than ritual manipulation (James 4:2-3).

It is also spiritually dangerous because it opens a person to real deceptive power. Scripture consistently presents the spiritual realm as populated by real, hostile forces (Ephesians 6:12), and practices that invite their influence are never safe, however benign they are marketed.

Acts 8 tells of Simon, a practicing sorcerer in Samaria who 'amazed the people' with his magic and 'claimed to be someone great' (Acts 8:9-11). When Philip preached the gospel there, even Simon himself believed and was baptized, a striking picture of how the true gospel confronts and can overcome a life built on occult practice.

Yet Simon's story also carries a warning: when he later tried to purchase the power of the Holy Spirit with money, Peter rebuked him sharply, telling him to repent because his heart was 'not right before God' (Acts 8:18-23). Coming out of witchcraft does not always mean every wrong instinct disappears instantly; ongoing repentance and genuine transformation of the heart matter as much as the initial break from the practice.

The good news is that Christians are not left powerless in a world that offers counterfeit power. Believers have access to the actual power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:8), prayer that moves the hand of God (James 5:16), and authority over the enemy given by Christ Himself (Luke 10:19).

If you have been involved in witchcraft or sorcery in any form, the response modeled in Acts 19:19 remains the pattern: confess it, remove and destroy related materials, and walk forward in the genuine freedom Christ offers, resting fully in Him rather than in any spiritual practice or object.

Freedom in Christ is not merely the absence of old practices; it is the presence of a new, satisfying relationship with the living God. Where witchcraft promised control and hidden knowledge, Christ offers something far better: to be truly known and truly loved by the God who made you (1 Corinthians 13:12; 1 John 3:1).

This is why the gospel, and not merely willpower, is the true answer to witchcraft's appeal. Trying to simply stop a practice through sheer determination rarely lasts; what lasts is a heart that has found something, someone, more satisfying than the counterfeit power it used to chase (Psalm 16:11, 'in your presence there is fullness of joy').