A Study on Mans
Evil Nature
MANS EVIL NATURE
GENESIS 6:5
Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of
man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually.
GENESIS 8:21
And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma.
Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the
ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is
evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing
as I have done.
ECCLESIASTES 9:3
This is an evil in all that is done under
the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the
sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while
they live, and after that they go to the dead.
ISAIAH 59:1-4
1 Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, That
it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear.
2 But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He
will not hear.
3 For your hands are defiled with blood, And
your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your
tongue has muttered perversity.
4 No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead
for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive
evil and bring forth iniquity.
JEREMIAH 4:22
"For My people are foolish, They have not
known Me. They are silly children, And they have no understanding.
They are wise to do evil, But to do good they have no knowledge."
JEREMIAH 9:3
"And like their bow they have bent their
tongues for lies. They are not valiant for the truth on the earth.
For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," says
the Lord.
JEREMIAH 13:23
Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the
leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to
do evil.
JEREMIAH 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
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 good things to those who ask Him!
MATTHEW 12:34-37
34 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak
good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks.
35 "A good man out of the good treasure of the
heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil
treasure brings forth evil things.
36 "But I say to you that for every idle word
men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of
judgement.
37 "For by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned."
MATTHEW 15:18-19
18 "But those things which proceed out of the mouth
come from the heart, and they defile a man.
19 "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies.
MARK 7:20-23
And He said, "What comes out of a man,
that defiles a man.
21 "For from within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 "thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit,
licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
23 "All these evil things come from within and
defile a man."
LUKE 6:45
"A good man out of the good treasure of
his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil
treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance
of his heart his mouth speaks.
JOHN 3:19-21
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather that light,
because their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light
and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 "But he who does the truth comes to the
light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been
done in God."
ROMANS 7:19-21
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but
the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 now if I do what I will not to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with
me, the one who wills to do good.
HEBREWS 10:22
let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
JAMES 1:14-15
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by
his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
AVOID
EVIL AND SEEK WHAT IS GOOD
ISAIAH 1:16-17
16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away
the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the
oppressor; defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
AMOS 5:14
Seek good and not evil, That you may
live; So the Lord God of hosts will be with you, As you have
spoken.
JOHN 3:19-21
19 "And this is the condemnation, that the light has
come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light,
because their deeds were evil.
20 "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and
does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.
21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that
his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
ROMANS 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what
is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
ROMANS 12:9
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what
is evil. Cling to what is good.
ROMANS 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome
evil with good.
ROMANS 16:19-20
19 For your obedience has become known to all.
Therefore I am glad on your behalf; but I want you to be wise in
what is good, and simple concering evil.
20 And the God of peace will crush Satan under your
feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Amen.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-5
4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not
envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;
5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own,
is not provoked, thinks no evil;
1 CORINTHIANS 14:20
Brethren, do not be children in
understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding
be mature.
2 CORINTHIANS 7:1
Therefore, having these promises,
beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
EPHESIANS 6:10-18
10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in
the power of His might.
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the
heavenly places.
13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you
may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to
stand.
14 Stand therefore, having girded your waist with
truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of
the gospel of peace;
16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which
you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of
the Spirit, which is the word of God;
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in
the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverence and
supplication for all the saints--
PHILIPPIANS 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatever things are
true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just,
whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever
things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is
anything praisworthy-- meditate on these things.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:21-22
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.
22 Abstain from every form of evil.
HEBREWS 3:12-14
12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an
evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God;
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called
"Today," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of
sin.
14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold
the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end,
HEBREWS 10:22
let us draw near with a true heart in
full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
CONSEQUENCES OF EVIL
PSALM 34:16
The face of the Lord is against those who
do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
MATTHEW 12:37
"For by your words you will be justified,
and by your words you will be condemned."
JAMES 1:15
Then, when desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
SATANS ROLE IN EVIL
ISAIAH 14:12-15
12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of
the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened
the nations!
13 For you have said in your heart: 'I will ascend
into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will
also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of
the north;
14 I will ascend abouve the heights of the clouds, I
will be like the Most High.'
15 Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the
lowest depths of the Pit.
CHRISTS ROLE IN EVIL
ROMANS 5:12-21
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the
world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men,
because all sinned--
13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is
not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even
over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the
transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if
by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and
the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to
many.
16 And the gift is not like that which came through
the one who sinned. For the judgement which came from one offense
resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many
offenses resulted in justification.
17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned
through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace
and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the
One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgement
came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one
Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in
justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made
sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made
righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might
abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace
might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
ROMANS 7:25
I thank God-- through Jesus Christ our
Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but
with the flesh the law of sin.
GALATIANS 1:4
who gave Himself for our sins, that He
might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will
of our God and Father,
GODS ROLE IN EVIL
1 KINGS 22:19-23
19 Then Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word
of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the
host of heaven standing by, on His right hand and on His left.
20 "And the Lord said, 'Who will persuade Ahab to go
up, that he may fall at Ramoth Gilead?' So one spoke in this
manner, and another in that manner.
21 "Then a spirit came forward and stood before the
Lord, and said, 'I will persuade him.'
22 "The Lord said to him, 'In what way?' So he said,
'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his
prophets.' And He said, 'You shall persuade him, and also prevail.
Go out and do so.'
23 "Now therefore, look! The Lord has put a lying
spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of yours, and the Lord
has declared disaster against you."
JOB 1:12
So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, all
that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his
person." Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
JOB 2:6
So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is
in your hand, but spare his life."
JAMES 1:13-15
13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by
God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt
anyone.
14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by
his own desires and enticed.
15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
COMBATING EVIL
PROVERBS 3:7
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the
Lord and depart from evil.
PROVERBS 8:13
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil;
Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I
hate.
PROVERBS 16:6
In mercy and truth Atonement is provided
for iniquity; And by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil.
THE CONDITION
OF THE WORLD
EPHESIANS 5:16
redeeming the time, because the days are
evil.
AN UNDERSTANDING
OF EVIL
The question of what is good and what is
evil can only be viewed, in an ultimate sense, from Gods'
perspective. What does He understand as good and evil (Rom 14:23,
James 4:17, 1 John 5:17). Where does He draw the lines, and are
they clearly drawn, or seen through a glass darkly. He is God. He
is absolute. He is, at times, mysterious. Who would question His
actions or know His mind. (Job 9:1-35, 38:1-42:17, Romans 9:14-24,
1 Corinthians 1:17-31)
Alienation from God occured because of
the first man's sin (Rom 5:12). A perfect man, Adam, placed in a
perfect setting, Eden, with only one law or rule which he could
not break, to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Adam broke the commandment and received for
himself, and his offspring a curse which we have been living with
ever since.
Some would say that man, because of the
fall of Adam, is totally evil (Gen 6:5, 8:21, Eccl 9:3, Jer 4:22,
9:3, 13:23, 17:9, Matt 7:11, 12:34). What do we mean by totally?
It is a matter of intention. The inclination of man is towards
evil. His heart, his base emotions are towards evil, even though
there is still good within his heart. His mind, capable of
thought, is inclined to evil if he follows the evil imaginations
of his heart, or good if he follows what he knows he should do,
according to God's law, or his conscience if it has not been
seared (1 Tim 4:2). The mind makes choices. The mind continually
chooses between good and evil, and shades in between.
Man, made in the likeness of God, without
any evil acting upon him, would never have fallen. Adam made a
choice, when tempted, and chose what God had forbidden. Prior to
that occurance Adam didnt know the difference between good and
evil because he only knew good. The concept of evil was foreign to
him. His inclination was continually toward good. After he fell
his inclination was towards evil. His heart was then not only
susceptible to deception and evil from without, but evil was now
within it. His inclination, though being made in the likeness of
God, was towards evil. He was still capable of good, and did good,
because his mind told him what was right, with his conscience
bearing witness, but his inclination was to follow the leadings of
the heart.
Some would say that children are born in
sin (Job 25:4, Ps 51:5). Some would say that they are innocent.
Both positions are correct. Because of the fall of Adam, the child
will be born in the likeness of God, but the inclination of the
child's heart will be to self centered evil. The child, if not
trained properly in what is right and wrong, and not disciplined
(the training and discipline should be done out of a basis of love
for the child, not out of anger or frustration), will not only be
inclined to evil but will be a little brat, evil beast, hellion,
spoiled rotten. Spoiled, not to the core, but from the core, the
heart, because the child was allowed to have its own way. The
concept of innocence deals with whether the sin of Adam, or the
childs father for that matter, is imputed to the child. The
scriptures are clear that the sins of the father are passed on to
the Nth generation. The scripture is also clear that the son will
not be judged by the sins of the father, but for his own sins.
Sociologists will tell us that children who are beaten by their
parents, will often repeat the mistakes of the father with their
children.
Psychologists will tell us that mental
illness often runs in the family. Physicians will tell us that
heart disease and other disorders, even balding heads, run in the
family. So, while it is true that I may have to deal with the sins
of my forefathers, I will not be judged by them (Ez 18:1-32, Matt
12:36-37, Rom 2:14-16, 5:13)(I do not consider balding heads a
sin).
How do we escape from this nature? Christ
provided the redemption, he paid the price of sin, the ransom by
which we are redeemed. Christ, having been the perfect sacrifice,
by his blood, appeased the wrath, judgement, and justice of God on
those who do evil. The bridge was built (or rebuilt) between God
and man. Jesus Christ overcame the world, the flesh, and the
devil. It is finished. Yet his work in bringing men to Himself is
not complete, for that process will continue until his return.
Man cannot come to God unless the Spirit
of God draws him. It is the Spirit of God who goes across the
bridge and draws men back to God. All men do not respond to the
Spirits' leading. Yet without that leading, drawing, and
conviction no man would be capable of coming across the bridge.
Thus, man must respond to Gods' call to be redeemed, yet he cannot
respond without Gods' help and would never have a hope of making
it across Christs' bridge without His assistance, regardless of
what he knew he should do or even wanted to do, for otherwise he
would be pulled back by the evil of the world, the deception of
the adversary and his assistants, and the weight of his own
unrepented sins. Left to himself to respond to God, man would have
no hope. Yet the call and the leading goes out to all, but all do
not come.
It is by faith that we are in Christ.
What is faith? Trust is a portion of faith, a derivative. To act
in faith is also to trust, but trust is not faith, and faith is
not trust. Faith is an extension of belief. In Greek, belief and
faith are essentially the same words, belief being the noun, and
faith being the verb. By trusting, we demonstrate our faith, our
faith in what we believe. It is by this relationship of trust,
faith, and belief, which is witnessed to by the Holy Spirit, the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the Scriptures (Rom 10:13-17) that we are
able to overcome evil. Faith, being the verb form of belief, is
acting as if you believe. This faith is given to us as a gift by
God. It is only through the action and ministry of the Holy Spirit
that this faith is maintained, and that only if we respond to that
Spirit. The Spirit of God works through, and not apart from, His
Word. That word is the Scriptures. It is the Holy Spirit, through
the Scriptures, who bears witness to Jesus Christ.
It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the
Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who is given to man to dwell
within him to allow man to overcome his evil nature, his
inclination to do evil. The evil nature remains (Rom 7:19-21), but
the redemptive power of Christ, and the conviction of the Holy
Spirit, allows the new creature to begin the process of
sanctification in which the inclination towards evil is replaced
by an inclination to good (1). In the early years the 'babe in
Christ' is often a walking civil war (Eph 5:17), a classic
schizophrenic. As the legitimate child of God matures through the
chastening of the Father of spirits (Heb 12:1-11), he slowly is
trained in the ways of fighting the war. The war is fought by
putting on the whole armor of God (Eph 6:10-18); by overcoming,
putting away, abstaining from, and abhoring evil; by clinging to
and learning good (Is 1:16-17, Amos 5:14, Rom 12:9, 1 Thess
5:21-22); by being babes in malice and simple concerning evil, and
wise in what is good, and mature in understanding (Jer 4:22, Rom
16:19, 1 Cor 14:20); by overcoming evil with good (Rom 12:21); By
meditating on what is true, noble, just, pure, lovely, of good
report, on things of virtue and praise (Phil 4:8); by being
transformed by the renewing of the mind (Rom 12:2); By perfecting
holiness in the fear of God (2 Co 7:1).
It is through the fear of the Lord that
we depart from evil (Pr 3:7, 8:13, 16:6, Matt 10:28, 2 Cor
5:10-11, 1 Pet 1:17), and only in the love and joy of Christ that
we maintain that departure (Rom 8:34-39).
So we still have evil in the world, not
only as our eyes show us, but as the Scriptures tell us that this
is how it will be until all is accomplished. During this period of
groaning, Christ acts as our Intercessor, our Advocate. This was
planned and purposed by God before the foundation of the world
(Rom 8:28-9:13, Eph 1:4-14). The grace, unmerited favour, of God
is intended, not to return man to his original state, but as
Christ, to be resurected to a state far beyond mans original
condition; to become a new creature, a new creation, in Christ; to
become a son of God, by adoption, capable of calling the Father,
Father.
FOOTNOTE
1/ Philip Schaff, The Creeds of
Christendom: Vol 3, The Evangelical Protestant Creeds (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985), p. 591. (The Canons of the Synod
of Dort, Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine, Art. XVI)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
TRANSLATIONS
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Elohim, Yahweh. The Jerusalem Bible. Garden City: Doubleday &
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Elohim, Yahweh. The Interlinear Bible: Hebrew, Greek, English. Jay
P. Green, Sr.. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1983
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Alexander, David & Pat. Eerdmans'
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Eason, J. Lawrence. The New Bible Survey.
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Schaff, Philip. The Creeds of
Christendom. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1985.
Latourette, Kenneth Scott. A History of
The Expansion of Christianity: Vol 3, Three Centuries of Advance.
Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1974.
GENERAL WORKS
Adams, Jay E.. More Than Redemption: A
Theology of Christian Counseling. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House,
1979.
Althaus, Paul. The Theology Of Martin
Luther. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1966.
Bainton, Roland H.. Here I Stand: A Life
Of Martin Luther. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1950.
Bubeck, Mark I.. The Adversary: The
Christian Verses Demon Activity. Chicago: Moody Press, 1975.
Bubeck, Mark I.. Overcoming The
Adversary. Chicago: Moody Press, 1984.
Edwards, Jonathan, A.M. Thoughts on the
Revival of Religion in New England, 1740.. New York: The American
Tract Society, approx. 1795.
Gilpin, Richard. Daemonologia Sacra; or,
A Treatise Of Satan's Temptations.. Minneapolis: Klock & Klock
Christian Publishers, Inc., 1982. (reprint of copy printed in
1867, and originally published in 1677.)
Kerr, Hugh T. Ed.. Protestantism.
Woodbury, New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1979.
McMillen, S.I., M.D.. None Of These
Diseases. Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1979.
Montgomery, John Warwick, Ed. Demon
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