Sorcery is the attempt to gain hidden knowledge or power through forbidden spiritual means, apart from the living God.
Scripture lists it among the works of the flesh and among the sins that exclude people from the kingdom of God.
It is closely bound to idolatry, deception, and fellowship with demons.
The gospel calls every person who has practiced sorcery to repent, destroy the tools of darkness, and turn to Jesus Christ.
The Bible treats sorcery as rebellion, not as a neutral craft. In the law it is named among the abominable practices of the nations. The prophets condemn it. In the New Testament, sorcery appears in the lists of the works of the flesh and in the catalog of those whose place is outside the holy city. When the gospel reached Samaria and Ephesus, those who had practiced magic arts believed, confessed, and publicly burned their books. Sorcery promises control—over the future, over other people, over spiritual forces—yet it actually enslaves. It substitutes secret techniques for trust in the Lord and seeks power that belongs to God alone. The believer’s response is not curiosity but a clean break: no participation with demons, no unfruitful works of darkness, and a life filled instead with the Holy Spirit.
- Sorcery is forbidden by God and listed among the works of the flesh.
- It is an attempt to manipulate spiritual reality apart from submission to the Lord.
- Those who practiced it in the book of Acts repented by confessing and destroying their materials.
- Sorcery is linked with idolatry and with the worship of demons.
- No sorcerer will inherit the kingdom of God or enter the New Jerusalem.
- The power of the Holy Spirit, not secret arts, is the source of true spiritual life.
- Christ’s victory at the cross has disarmed the rulers and authorities that stand behind such practices.
- Forbidden Practice – Named in the law as an abomination to the Lord.
- Work of the Flesh – Listed with idolatry and other sins that mark those outside the kingdom.
- Demonic Association – Scripture connects pagan sacrifice and occult arts with demons, not with God.
- Deceptive Promise – Offers hidden knowledge and control while producing bondage.
- Call to Renounce – Genuine conversion includes the abandonment and destruction of occult materials.
- Final Exclusion – Sorcerers are named among those outside the city and in the lake of fire.
- Gospel Alternative – Repentance, faith in Christ, and the filling of the Holy Spirit.
- Galatians 5:19-21 – “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Revelation 21:8 – “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
- Revelation 22:15 – “Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”
- Deuteronomy 18:10-12 – “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.”
- Acts 19:18-19 – “Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver.”
- Acts 8:9-11, 18-23 – Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria; after believing he tried to buy the gift of God and was rebuked by Peter.
- Acts 13:6-10 – Elymas the magician opposed the gospel; Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, called him a son of the devil and an enemy of all righteousness.
- Micah 5:12 – “And I will cut off sorceries from your hand, and you shall have no more tellers of fortunes.”
- Isaiah 47:9, 12-13 – “These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments… Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed…”
- 2 Kings 9:22 – “And when Joram saw Jehu, he said, ‘Is it peace, Jehu?’ He answered, ‘What peace can there be, so long as the whorings and the sorceries of your mother Jezebel are so many?’”
- Malachi 3:5 – “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely…”
- Exodus 7:11-12 – Pharaoh’s magicians replicated some signs by their secret arts, yet Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs.
- 1 Corinthians 10:20-21 – “No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons.”
- Ephesians 5:11 – “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.”
- Colossians 2:15 – “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”
- Revelation 9:21 – “Nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.”
- Revelation 18:23 – Of Babylon: “for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery.”
Sorcery is not a hidden path to power; it is a work of the flesh and an abomination to the Lord. Those who practiced it in Ephesus did not keep their books. They burned them. The same choice stands today. There is no place in the kingdom of God for the practice of sorcery, and there is no need for it. Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities. The Holy Spirit gives life, wisdom, and power to those who belong to Jesus. Turn from every secret art. Destroy what belongs to darkness. Inherit the kingdom. The door is open through repentance and faith in Christ, and the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
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