Maybe you are not certain that there is a spiritual world, a realm outside of our normal senses. Or maybe you have already been convinced by an odd encounter, a coincidence just too against the odds, or a full-on sighting of something not of flesh. Wherever you are in your life, at some moment you will consider if ghosts exist.

They do. But not the ghosts you see in the movies or on the Travel Channel—not haunting ghouls or poltergeists rattling chains for ratings. “Ghost” is another name for spirit, and spirits exist in the spiritual, or supernatural realm.

The Judeo-Christian Scriptures have plenty of references to spirits. Angels are called ministering spirits (Hebrews 1:14). Demons are unclean spirits. Human beings have a spirit that returns to God who gave it (Ecclesiastes 12:7). After the resurrection, the disciples thought they were seeing a spirit until Jesus invited them to touch His hands and feet: “A spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). The Bible does not deny the unseen world. It assumes it.

What Scripture does not do is treat the dead as available for conversation. “It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The rich man in Jesus’ parable could not cross back to warn his brothers (Luke 16:19–31). God forbids seeking the dead on behalf of the living: “Should not a people inquire of their God?” (Isaiah 8:19–20; see also Deuteronomy 18:10–12; Leviticus 19:31). When King Saul, already abandoned by the Lord, consulted the medium at Endor, the episode ended in judgment, not comfort (1 Samuel 28; 1 Chronicles 10:13–14). And John writes, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God” (1 John 4:1).

Cultures all around the world, and at all times, have stories and warnings of spirits. Many still keep in contact with their ancestors. Is that only a hopeful wish to speak to those who have passed before us? Sometimes it is grief wearing a religious costume. Sometimes it is a genuine hunger for guidance that should be taken elsewhere. Honoring memory is not the same as asking the dead to mediate, protect, or advise. There is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5). Love the ones who have gone ahead. Tell their stories. Do not try to pull them back through the veil.

I have personally had my own encounters with the spirit world. Once there was a dark-cloaked figure at the end of the bed. It was real enough to leave a mark, and it was not holy.

These spirits are a small part of a much larger realm. There are angels who serve. There are powers of darkness who deceive, masquerading even as light (2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:12). And above and through all of it, there is only One Spirit we should listen to: the Holy Spirit of the living God.

I have heard God audibly. I was worrying and praying about my upcoming marriage. Is this right? Is he the right guy? Is it too soon? I heard a voice, as clear as someone standing next to me: “This is the man I have for you.” We have been happily married for 37 years.

The Spirit of God does not mutter from the ground. He does not require a medium, a box, or a séance. Jesus promised Him as the Spirit of truth, who would guide us into all truth (John 16:13). He speaks, convicts, comforts, and conforms us to Christ. He is the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

So, if you have wondered whether ghosts exist—yes, spirits exist. Do not chase them. Do not fear them as if they were the last word. Don’t be deceived. Test them. Then turn your ear toward the only Spirit who is safe to obey.

Practical way to test spirits:

When something “speaks”—a dream, a figure, a coincidence, an inner word, a medium’s line:

• Does it confess Jesus Christ come in the flesh, crucified and risen?
• Does it line up with Scripture, or require you to set Scripture aside?
• Does it drive you to inquire of God, or of the dead / a technique / a personality?
• Does it produce freedom in Christ, or dependence on the experience?
• Does it glorify Jesus, or the encounter?

If it fails any of those, you do not owe it a second hearing. “Test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).