Detest Evil – Cling To Good
. . . Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good . . .
(Romans 12:9b)
I often wonder what life would be like if Christ had not saved me as a young child and I had grown up without the hope of the gospel and the fellowship of God’s people. I do not understand how it could be bearable. Most of you were saved later in life and you have the experience of both worlds. Truly, I can say I have not, but I surely declare it without complaint.
The evidence of God’s love is seen in many ways both tangibly and intangibly. The internal evidence is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts while the external is in the acts of love and kindness we do in the name of the Saviour. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to investigate Jesus, he was seeking evidence that Jesus was the true Messiah. Jesus told these disciples to report to John about the miraculous ministry they witnessed: “The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.” (Matthew 11:5). This is the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. We need not be Bible scholars to assess that Jesus’ ministry was about caring for and helping people. This was not the modern social gospel for His ultimate purpose was the salvation of souls not feeding, clothing, and physically healing. Jesus said, “the gospel is preached,” which was the good news of salvation from sin, death, and hell through repentance from sin and faith in Him. This was the same message John preached. Jesus told John’s disciples to report that He was doing good for the people both physically and spiritually. He cared for them, and the kingdom He promised was one characterized by love and compassion for the whole person. This is taught throughout the New Testament from Jesus’ commendation of those who give a cup of cold water in His name to those who bear another’s burdens, and thus by Paul’s encouragement, fulfill the law of Christ. We are most like Christ when we care for other’s souls and then commit ourselves to their welfare. I could spend hours telling you how this characteristic of Christ’s kingdom has displayed itself in the past few weeks in my own home.
I have written much without expressing my main thought for this article. I now find myself without space to finish what I intended for you today. Let me give you a few thoughts which I hope to conclude in the next article. These came to me while contemplating the existence of evil in the world and the constant conflict with it that we as God’s people are engaged. None of us has a completely satisfactory explanation for the reason evil exists. How did a good God allow for the introduction of evil into His creation? Because He did, some insist He can neither be good nor omnipotent, and thus not God. This sets the course for endless arguments to justify God while contemplating what seems to be impossible contradictions. This is known as theodicy which is the branch of theology that defends God’s goodness and justice in the face of the existence of evil. Justifying God is an enterprise that must be reverently undertaken with the cautious understanding that we are woefully inadequate with our finite sinful minds to probe even the bare beginnings of the mind of an infinite God. Nevertheless, the scriptures never demand we abandon all inquiries and park our brains without contemplating theological issues that defy complete understanding.
Since I am out of space, I want you think on this statement for the next few days: “It is good that there is evil.” I will help you get you started. Reflect on what we believe about the sovereignty of God. You will begin to come to grips with it even though you may not completely understand how and why it is true. This much I am sure of without argument—we cannot begin to measure the goodness in the grace and mercy of God without admitting the abject evil that exists in each of our hearts (Matthew 15:19). We do not begin to understand the magnitude of God’s goodness without acknowledging the depths of our depravity. This is a great mystery. How are we now able to do that which is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour (1 Timothy 2:3)? Indeed, this is a mystery greater than the existence of evil.
Pastor V. Mark Smith