I tend to be simplistic when it comes to this type of topic:
Only God is good; we are evil apart from the grace found in Jesus Christ (imputed goodness).
Only God is righteous; we are unrighteous apart from the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
What is the Scriptural Definition of Evil?
- Thread starter LearningToLetGo
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Only God is good; we are evil apart from the grace found in Jesus Christ (imputed goodness).
Only God is righteous; we are unrighteous apart from the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.
Not all that is bad is evil, and not all that is good is righteous.
There is a spectrum. In between the polar opposites lives an area of human distinction, a debatable situational application between that which is unambiguously righteous, and that which is deplorably evil.
As in all of human affairs there will be different views, values and opinions on the distinctions.
How Almighty God see this I can only imagine, but I think we can infer much, really more than enough for us to get by in this world, just from reading scripture.
Most of us know evil when are in it’s oppressive presence, and we can feel righteous when we are brushed by its grace.
If we are to lean one way or another, we lean towards Christ, and then we can be content to let God work out the details.
There is a spectrum. In between the polar opposites lives an area of human distinction, a debatable situational application between that which is unambiguously righteous, and that which is deplorably evil.
As in all of human affairs there will be different views, values and opinions on the distinctions.
How Almighty God see this I can only imagine, but I think we can infer much, really more than enough for us to get by in this world, just from reading scripture.
Most of us know evil when are in it’s oppressive presence, and we can feel righteous when we are brushed by its grace.
If we are to lean one way or another, we lean towards Christ, and then we can be content to let God work out the details.
Amen.........You took the words right outa my mouth!I have a headache...
Well.........All I know is that you can not roller skate in a herd of Buffalows, you can not take a tiger for a ride in the back seat of your car and you can never ever poke the mask of the Lone Ranger!
Context............Never agin will I destroy all living creatures, WITH A FLOOD!
Romans 7:16-19 tells the whole storyYou make a good point to separate good from righteous. If evil is the opposite of righteous and righteous is a form of correctness then evil, being opposite of correctness, is a form of incorrectness. In this case, incorrect in relation to God.
We attempt to do good, that is to say, be righteous in our own eyes, and we bring forth evil in the eyes of God. In our small way we follow in the footsteps of Lucifer by attempting to live according to our own standard (i.e. doing our own will) instead of God's standard.
In the end it's not about doing good or even doing bad, it's about a correct relation with God. Of course one won't desire to do bad once one is in correct relation with God, but being limited we will do bad just the same. The bad we do just won't be evil. However, a person in incorrect relation with God, i.e. not righteous, will likewise do bad but in their case they will also do evil.
"For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."
The topic of evil is uncomfortable but also necessary. God accuses us via scripture of being evil in our hearts even from childhood. That's a horrible accusation so it behooves us to well understand it. If we are saved, we must know why; and if we are damned, we must likewise know why. This is as serious as it gets.
Yes. of course you are correct. You are forcing us to consider something that most of us do not like to think about, even though we know it is true.
It is very true that In its raw, natural state, the inner core of mankind is rotten and detestable, "deceitful above all things" as Jeremiah said in 17:9. God realized that the human heart would have an inclination toward evil, even man would outwardly proclaim its goodness.
God made us so that character development would proceed from the inside out. That is why we are saved from the inside out, heart first!
Define EVIL... On 2nd thought, never mind.
I think this thread may shed some light on your question...
What is the Scriptural Definition of Evil?
I just happened to run across this verse in the Genesis 8 thread: "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every...
christianforumsite.com
The problem of trying to define evil is similar to a blind person trying to describe color. Likewise, due to our blinding sin nature, the definition of evil eludes us. Our best hope is Scripture enlightened by the Holy Spirit.I think this thread may shed some light on your question...
What is the Scriptural Definition of Evil?
I just happened to run across this verse in the Genesis 8 thread: "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every...christianforumsite.com
Are you saying we can't know the definition of evil? If so, that is an interesting POV and one that hadn't occurred to me.
We have our limitations, our sinful nature being one of them, preventing us from seeing clearly.
Evil is so crafty, it eludes us at every turn.
1 Corinthians 13:12a
For now we see in a mirror dimly,...
We know evil exists as the Scriptures reveal that, but doesn't define it, sort of like the Trinity.
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Agreed.
Evil has many sides. There is evil behavior and there is evil calamities.
Evil is usually thought of as that which is morally wrong, sinful, or wicked but then again, that is open to what we think it means.
Same with GOOD. Evil is the opposite of GOOD but what is good to some is evil to others. The cross was evil in its appearance and methods of death, but now as we consider the CONTEXT of it, we see that it was GOOD for us.
Robitussin is that way. It is EVIL when you take it but after about 5 minutes we see it was GOOD for our cough!
Listerine is the same way!
Consider Nuclear energy. One person says it is EVIL because it can blow up the Earth, while another is able to have electricity!
All of this is about "Perception"!
Would you consider 'evil' calamities as from God's perspective or our's?
Brother......There is a problem of evil, but only from our experience, not from God’s perspective. Everything is happening just as He planned.
What we perceive is our problem because of our finite minds.
From the perspective of this thread, we can all see the logical problem. We have this impasse: a God who claims to be powerful, good, and wise. And yet, inside his creation, there exists rampant evil.
Now, I can not speak for LTLG, and maybe I am on the wrong path, but from his posts on this thread and others, he seems to be deeply involved in philosophically inspired questions. Do not misunderstand me now.......there is nothing wrong whatsoever with asking the deeper things of our heart and mind.
In fact, the Greek philosopher Epicurus originated a deep philosophic lots of people ask when he asked........
“Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”
I do not know of LTLG is coming from that point of view but it seems that we are in the middle of that question!!!!
Another way of saying that is............"“Why, God?”
Right about here is where good teachers will say that just because you can’t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen, doesn’t mean there can’t be one. God has a reason and a plan, and we have to trust Him.
The truth is that there are lots of things we just can not process. Allow me to give you an easy one. I can not for the life of me process how a ship made of steel weighing 100 tons can float on water. But it is all about the air and distrubtion and so on. I weigh 225 pounds and I am full of air but I can not float on water.
My concern is one of agreement. Humanity must agree with God as to the definition of evil otherwise we are at an impasse. For example, since God accuses humanity of being evil in our hearts from birth, we have a choice to make. We can:
1) Accept the accusation and beg forgiveness
2) Feign acceptance of the accusation in the hopes of receiving mercy
3) Reject the accusation and damn ourselves
God sees into our hearts so option 2 is essentially the same as option 3, leaving only option 1. Yet how can we accept the accusation that we are evil? I don't see myself as evil. I don't harm others and I try to help when I can. I obey the laws of society. I see myself as moral. Yet this is not enough and in the end will be for naught. I believe that God is good yet I also believe I am good. The problem is that God disagrees with me. You see the problem here?
Not to put too fine a point on it, but no, He doesn’t need our approval.
He needs us to obey Him and His commandments and the teachings of His son Jesus Christ.
There is no impasse, I am afraid my friend that He holds all the cards here.
You are correct and it was not my intention to imply God needs anything.
But there is an impasse, and it is with us. Until we accept the accusation that we are evil in our hearts from birth, we will continue to resist God. As long as we resist God, we will be unable to obey him and truly accept his son.
We are like defendants in court who plead not-guilty and attempt to defend ourselves. That will never work since, as you say, God holds all the cards. Our only choice is to plead guilty and throw ourselves at the mercy of the court. But unlike a human judge who may be convinced by our outward show of contrition, God sees into our hearts and knows if we are truly contrite or merely pretending, which brings me back to my point #1: we must truly believe in our hearts that we are evil. We must accept that accusation as true. But who among us can do that?