I have often found myself wrestling with the concepts and realities of good and evil. It stands to reason that if you believe in God And His goodness, power and the righteousness of Jesus Christ, then you must also believe in the existence of Satan and his earth bound inherent ‘evilness.’ So that I don’t become too esoteric, allow me to explain. It is the height of hypocrisy or wanton ignorance that we as human beings follow a course of action consistent with one belief and act,at the same time, totally contrary to that same belief.We concede to the reality that evil exists. Our laws and subsequent penalties are there to protect us against criminal, abhorrent and even demonic behavior.
The recognition, the counterbalance then should be a professed belief that confirms the existence of God. It’s supposed to be the good stuff.
There are also laws put in place to protect us on that front too.Unfortunately, it seems that evil demands actions while goodness gets a whole lot of lip service. I believe this is true because we humans, with all of our own flaws and faults (or should I say sinfulness), have gotten used to functioning in a world that Satan does have power in. Thanks to him many of us have become somewhat numb to his brand of life. Fortunately when we come to Christ, we are able to see the contrast between good and evil/sin in our own lives.That’s when we finally get it. By putting ourselves in relationship with the righteousness of Christ, it becomes clear to us where we fit in this struggle between good and evil. We then recognize, we are the prize in this game. To the victor we go. Again, fortunately for us, we have some say in the clubhouse celebration. Once you accept the concept of good and evil in the context of God and the devil, the rules of engagement become clear. In this game the ball has a say in who actually participates in the game. We are that ball in this high stakes game for our very own souls. Imagine that.Wecan stack the deck. But it can’t be by happenstance. It must be deliberate and we must be constant in making sure the ball takes favorable bounces throughout the game.
With this in mind, Christ has given all of us the game plan we need to insure our ultimate victory.“He who believes in me…will never die.” John 11:25-26. That’s it. It’s all about belief. When Jesus says in John 16:8-9,“When He (the Counselor/Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment; in regard to sin because men do not believe in me…” He is telling us that the biggest threat to our own salvation is disbelief. You see, belief in Christ brings about condemnation of Satan. It must. It has to. Now we are armed and ready for the struggle.We are on guard against the evil that is intended to destroy us.We now have a point of reference for all of our current and future behaviors.We know the difference between good and evil and recognize our weaknesses in relation to evil and our strengths in relation to good. No contest is without its risks and rewards but for now, let’s play and may God forgive your fumbles and bless your recoveries in the name of his son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
May God bless and keep you always.
This column is from “Spiritually Speaking: Reflections for and from a New Christian” by James Washington. You can purchase this enlightening book on Amazon and start your journey towards spiritual enlightenment.
