Brethren,
It is quite fashionable these days in carnal church circles to believe God would never call them or their deeds “evil.”
The Religion Of Niceness (RON) reigns supreme in the hearts and minds of millions of devotees. There are hundreds of accumulated teachers and preachers who enjoy nothing better than to tickle the ears of their audience.
We see our brother Paul proclaim solemnly to his favorite disciple the coming times that we moderns also must endure.
2 Timothy 4:1-4 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
But, what do you personally think of this doctrine that self-professing church goers, and even ourselves, can be called evil, along with their deeds?
You see in the picture above of the life of walking from +10 to -10. The ultimate reward is hearing “well done.” The ultimate punishment is hearing “depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Let us turn to the Word of God for direction. Please remember that proper biblical hermeneutics, or interpretation, can only be accurate if the first part of exegesis is correct. Exegesis, or the then-and-there meaning of the original author, is crucial to any current modern application.
First, we see our very Lord separating all peoples into only two groups: good or evil, the righteousness and unrighteous.
Matthew 5:45 …so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
Next, in the same message, Jesus calls the righteously saved audience “evil” in comparison to His Father.
Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!..”
Then, we see Him refuse to delineate any sort of gray area. Everything is good or evil.
Matthew 5:37 “But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil…”
Perhaps Jesus is exaggerating, using hyperbole. Maybe…but I think not. Here is what the apostle Paul declared about the judgment of believers to the carnal Corinthian church plant whose main leaders were taking him on at every turn.
Notice the translators use the word “bad” to contrast the good deed in the passage below. The same Greek word here, as well as those used by Jesus above, is rendered “evil” in many places. The English word is interchangeable, but the underlying Greek word declares itself “evil” being the same as “bad.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad (evil).
We return to Christ as He speaks to good and evil only…not some middle ground. Notice again the warning admonishment by our Lord of the coming judgment for “rotten (evil) words.”
Matthew 12:35-36 “The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. But I tell you that every careless (rotten, evil) word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment…”
A few scant verses later in this same 12th chapter Jesus calls His audience “an evil and adulterous generation…” and again after the story of deliverance from demons he calls them “this evil generation.”
In Luke, the Master is again extremely clear in the companion passage that ties to Matthew 12.
Luke 6:45 “The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart..”
The Lord refuses to call bad deeds something less like “compromised” or “less than the best.” Never. He is laser focused on what they are to Father God. The evil comes from the heart…always.
Matthew 15:19 “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders…”
And to top it all off, Jesus calls all church members His “slaves” but in particular the disobedient ones are “evil” and headed for the lake of fire and based on God’s disapproval.
Matthew 24:48 “But if that evil slave says in his heart, ‘My master (God) is not coming for a long time,’…”
Now, Paul says we should not crave evil things (1 Cor. 10,6), that some considered their good deeds an evil report (2 Cor. 6.8), that the present age was evil (Gal. 1.4), that the days are evil (Eph. 5.16), to take up the full armor of God to resist the evil day (Eph. 6.19), to beware of evil church workers (Phil. 3.2), and that we are never to return to the evil deeds of our past (Col. 1.29, 3.1).
This is just a taste of Paul’s theology of evil. But what about the other apostles?
For example, our brother James in his book is extremely descriptive too.
James 3:8 But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
James 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
James 4:16 But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil.
Peter too uses evil to describe the unsaved, and bad deeds of church goers if they will not walk worthy. The face of our God is against those who “do evil.”
1 Peter 2:16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
1 Peter 3:9-12 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
For, “THE ONE WHO DESIRES LIFE, TO LOVE AND SEE GOOD DAYS, MUST KEEP HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING DECEIT. HE MUST TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; HE MUST SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT.
“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
Do you see, brethren, as I do, an overwhelming trend here? If you think a deed and its motive are in the gray area, it probably is evil in the eyes of our Lord.
Most modern Christians I have met by the hundreds would never think themselves to be evil, or even their deeds as such.
Some time ago, I ran into a single woman who wanted to marry me. She pursued me and I really thought we might end up married. But, she was not sold out to Christ as I watched her reaction to our teaching, especially in the area on mammon and “church” which is the people, the called out ones.
She was strongly influenced negatively by the American gospel and an older church lady she knew for years. The older church lady hated my preaching. She went behind the back of the single woman and told her family members that I was not a Christian because I met in house churches and my hair was too long! I kid you not. The single woman was furious at the betrayal but wanted to keep up appearances in the church.
The older church lady continued to denigrate me behind my back to everyone who would listen. The Holy Spirit was informing me of this, and also as I watched her behavior in my presence. This woman was not “good” as the Scripture describes such a person of God.
Eventually I told the single woman that this older church lady was “evil” and began to explain what the Word declared. I exhorted her to avoid this woman as the Scripture commanded. She was appalled at my accusation, shaking her head “no” violently. It was all about appearances to her.
Satan used this church lady, a Christian feminist who also demonically controlled her husband and entire family, to blow up this potential marriage. It was a blessing in disguise that the Lord took off the masks of these “evil” women.
Both these women were successfully hiding out in the institutional church system that has absolutely no clue of what a person really is doing outside the few hours a week a person darkens their door.
Lest we might think that this idea of only good or evil is a New Testament aberration, we turn to a favorite Psalm song of mine and see that good and evil, righteousness and unrighteousness, and loving judgment is a doctrine of God in the entire Word. Our brother David the psalmist never speaks or alludes to a middle ground of conduct or those who do so.
Psalm 37:1-6 Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the LORD; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.
Psalm 37:7-14 Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked (evil) schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land.
Yet a little while and the wicked (evil) man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble (righteous) will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked (evil) plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth.
The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming. The wicked (evil) have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright (righteous) in conduct.
Take another look at the picture depicting the life of walking worthy, or walking evil. There is no middle ground, beloved, when it comes to the Word and our coming judgment.
Do you confess Christ with your mouth? Are you using 100% of your God given talents? Are you a saint who walks worthy and sin is a fluke? Or are you yet a sinner?
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Matthew 25:28-30 …”…’Therefore take away the talent from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…”
He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Your friend and brother in fighting the good fight,
Marc
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Saints, we’re one day closer to Home, and Him! Love Him wholeheartedly!
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Please comment on this post right below. Feel free to write and proclaim your leadings in the Spirit in an honorable fashion.
Marc White, Director, Walk Worthy Ministries, www.WalkWorthy.org
A brother in the Lord says
Amen…true words.