Category Archives: Sin

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July 17, 2024

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Apparent Contradictions, Sin

Should Christians pray, “Lead us not into temptation”?

Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13) However, the book of James says, “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.” (James 1:13) If God does not tempt people to sin, why does Jesus instruct Christians to pray that God will not lead them into temptation?

Leading a person to temptation and tempting a person are incredibly different actions. Leading a person into temptation is putting someone in a position where they will be tempted by another. Tempting someone is actively working to convince a person to sin.

At times God does lead people into situations where they will be tempted. In Matthew 4:1 God the Spirit leads Jesus into temptation, “the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” When God created the world, He put Adam and Eve in a place where they would be tempted. God planted the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden of Eden. He could have put the forbidden tree on the other side of the world or not created it in the first place. He chose not to do so. God had a good purpose in forbidding that tree and also in putting it near Adam and Eve. God planted the tree knowing Satan would tempt them to eat from it, but God did not deceive Eve or tempt her to eat from the tree.

First Corinthians 10:13 says, “God will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able.” This means God prevents Christians from being tempted beyond their Spirit-enabled capability, and it means He allows Christians to be tempted. Being led into temptation is being brought to the point where another will do the tempting, but leading one into temptation is not the same as actively tempting someone to sin.

Being tempted is not sinful, though there are some things people call temptation which are actually sin. For example, someone may say he is being tempted to have an immoral relationship with someone who is not his spouse. That is not temptation. That is lust and covetousness. Jesus was led into temptation and that was not sinful. Jesus endured intense temptations and that was not sinful. Jesus faced all the same kinds of temptations we face, but He never sinned. God can lead someone to temptation without violating His holiness or compromising His righteousness.

God promises Christians He will provide a way of escape for them out of every temptation.(1 Corinthians 10:13) Though at times He leads them to be tempted, He never abandons them in their time of temptation. He actively works in them during their temptation, and He provides all they need to stand firm against sin. (Ephesians 6:10-13; James 4:7)

Though God directs people into situations where they will be tempted, He is never the one Who tempts. Satan seeks the destruction of people by tempting them into sinning. A person’s own desires tempt the individual by longing for those things which God has forbidden. (James 1:14)

We pray that God will not lead us into temptation because we know our own tendency to sin. We pray to be kept as far from temptation as possible, but we also pray, “Your will be done.” (Matthew 6:10) When Christians are tempted they can be certain God did not permit that temptation out of a desire to harm His children. He permits temptation for their good. God allows Christians to be tempted that they might be strengthened in obedience, confirmed in their faith, and matured in Christ. (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 1:6-7)

None should pray for temptation, but Christians should willingly endure it that they might grow in Christ and God be glorified. Whenever the child of God is tempted he can be confident God has permitted the temptation, the temptation is not more than he can bear, and God will always provide the strength to stand against sin. Whenever we are tempted to sin we can be certain God is not tempting us, and He has allowed it for our good.

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March 19, 2024

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Christianity, Satan, Sin

Where did evil come from?

Evil exists in the world. A survey of any the news on any given day should be enough to convince a reasonable person evil is real. The question many struggle to answer concerns the origin of evil. Christians have been discussing and debating that question for over 1,500 years. This article offers one explanation for the origin of evil.

The Bible teaches that catastrophe, suffering and death is the result of sin. Man chose to disobey God and his disobedience brought the world under a curse. The curse of sin subjected creation to the many pains of life, from disease to disaster. Sin brought suffering into the world, but what brought about sin?

First, God is not responsible for the existence of sin. He is supremely holy (Isaiah 6:2) and does not approve of sin (Habakkuk 2:13). Every work of God is perfect (Deuteronomy 32:4). Second, God alone is the Creator of all things. Nothing which exists, exists independently of God. (John 1:3) These two statements sound like a contradiction. Many have attempted to resolve the apparent contradiction by concluding God must have created evil.

God could not have created evil. When God finished the work of creation He declared everything was very good. (Genesis 1:31) God is perfectly holy. He does not declare anything good which contains evil. Immediately after the creation week God stopped creating (Genesis 2:2). God has created no new thing since He ended His creative work.

The God who is morally holy cannot create evil. God did not create evil during the week of creation. God declared His work of creation was perfect. He has created no new thing since creation was finished. Therefore, God did not create evil.

God did not create evil, but He did create perfect beings able to freely love, serve and worship Him. In giving those creatures freedom to serve Him they also had the ability to refuse to serve Him. Chief among these perfect beings was an angel named Lucifer. Lucifer was beautiful and powerful (Ezekiel 28:13-14). He became filled with pride and thought in his own 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; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” (Isaiah 14:13-14) Lucifer’s desire for self-exaltation is the origin of sin.

Lucifer, who we know as Satan, did not create evil in the sense of causing some new thing to come into existence. Evil is not the creation of a new way of being, but a perversion of the way made by God. Evil is the corruption of the good which already existed. God created the angels to worship Him. Satan distorted that created purpose and turned it inwards towards himself. Ezekiel 28:17 says of Satan, “You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.” Satan did not act with understanding originating with himself. He had wisdom given to him. Instead of using that wisdom as it was designed to be used, he corrupted wisdom by the promotion of himself. Instead of exalting God as he was created to do, Satan exalted self. Instead of worshiping God, Satan worshiped self. Instead of serving God, Satan served his own selfish desires. The good things God created were rejected and perverted and perverted by Satan.

Evil exists because God’s creatures rejected the good of God and His creation. Evil began with Satan, the Father of lies (John 8:44) who continues to corrupt and counterfeit the good of God. Satan deceived Eve into rejecting the good God had given her. When Adam and Eve rejected God’s goodness to follow Satanic lies, they sinned. The sin of Adam and Eve corrupted their righteous hearts, polluted the hearts of all their descendants and brought a calamitous curse upon the world. Evil originated in the perverse heart of Satan, was spread to the heart of men through his lies and continues to bring sorrow to all the world.

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August 2, 2023

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Sexuality, Sin

Is the Bible silent about sexual orientation?

Some who profess Christianity and affirm homosexuality have argued that when the Bible was written the idea of sexual orientation was unknown, therefore any condemnations of homosexuality in the Bible cannot be a condemnation of homosexual orientation. Is this true? Is the Bible silent on orientation and consequently unable to address the questions of sexual orientation raised today?

Sexual orientation is defined by GLAAD as, “an person’s enduring physical, romantic and/ or emotional attraction to another person.” A key component in this orientation is the persistence of desire. Orientation is not defined by a momentary attraction, by a sexual experience or even by repeated homosexual experiences. Orientation is understood to be a continued attraction regardless of sexual experience or activity. The ancient world does not seem to have had a particular category of people who were known to be persistently homosexual.

Homosexual behavior was common in the Greek and Roman cultures but it was not viewed a defining feature of someone’s life. The ancient Jewish culture knew and practiced homosexuality within the context of idol worship, but nothing suggests that homosexuality was widely practiced by individuals in Israel outside of pagan worship. None of the major cultural influences on the Biblical authors viewed homosexual activity, even persistent homosexual practice, in the modern sense of orientation. Thus, the claim is likely true that the Biblical authors did not consciously address the concept of sexual orientation. Though ancient cultures may not have viewed homosexuality as an orientation and the Biblical authors were not intending to address modern understandings of sexual orientation, this does not necessarily mean the Bible’s teachings about sexuality have no application today to those who have a homosexual orientation.

The Bible is the Word of God inspired by Him in His infinite knowledge, wisdom, holiness and justice. The human authors may not have known of homosexual orientation, but everyone can be certain the Divine Author was fully aware of 21st century views about homosexuality when He directed the prophets and apostles to write as they did. To assume God’s Word does not apply to modern views of homosexuality assumes either the Bible is not truly God’s Word or God failed to address an incredibly significant area of modern life.

The Bible consistently condemns sin even if it is a persistent desire or orientation. In fact, the Bible presents the sin nature as an inborn, enduring desire for that which is contrary to God’s glory and commands. Sin is not jut something a person does, but the expression of a natural orientation of heart. All people possess an inherent, intense desire for that which dishonors God. Orientation toward sin does not justify sin, but proves its severity.

The Bible does not need to specifically condemn homosexual orientation because it condemns all desire for behavior that is contrary to God’s Word, regardless of the intensity or longevity of that desire. Homosexual orientation is condemned in the same way that Scripture condemns all sinful orientations.

Such condemnation does not abandon a person to an unfulfilled life of disappointment and defeat. A proper understanding of the Biblical condemnation of the sin nature points all to the Savior. Jesus forgives all sin and transforms the forgiven person from the inside out. Thus, the Bible’s message is a hopeful one of victory over sin. “Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more.” (Romans 5:2)

Even if a person never gains complete freedom from unwanted sinful desires the Bible promises eternal reward to those who are faithful to the Lord. A lifelong struggle against all sinful desires will be seen in Heaven to be worth all the pain and heartache suffered in this life. The affliction of sinful desire in this life is producing in the faithful Christian a far greater, eternal glory in the life to come. (2 Corinthians 4:17)

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February 8, 2023

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Creation, Sin

When did God Make Carnivorous Animals?

Genesis 1 describes God’s creation of all things, including the creation of every kind of animal. In Genesis 1:30 God says, “To every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food.” God then declared the entire creation to be “very good.” Initially all animals were plant eaters.

Genesis 3 records the rebellion of humanity against God and the subsequent curse that fell on all the world. Many conservative Bible teachers believe animals began to eat meat as a result of the curse. The Bible does not say when certain animals began to be carnivorous. Passages like Isaiah 11 which speak of carnivores being restored to their original herbivorous condition and Romans 5 which says death came because man sinned. These passages lead to the conclusion that no animal ate the flesh of another until after man sinned. After man’s sin some animals became carnivorous. Whether the transition to carnivory was gradual or instant is unknown.

Those who study zoology (the science of animals) know the digestive system of a meat eater is quite different from that of a plant eater. To survive on a meat based diet the creature has to be able to eat and digest the meat. This requires unique features in the teeth, jaws, stomachs or intestines of carnivores. When God cursed the world did He renovate the innards of certain animals so they could begin to eat meat? The Bible does not say.

Most carnivores are able to live on a plant based diet. Relatively few obligate carnivores (meat eaters which can only survive on a predominantly meat based diet) exist. Cats, snakes and lizards are a few kinds of obligate carnivores. The majority of meat eating animals also have a diet containing a large percentage of plant based foods. Bears, dogs and apes are carnivores which also eat varying amounts of plant matter. A slow transition to carnivory can be imagined for those animals which are not obligate carnivores. Conditions in the cursed world may have required them to begin eating meat and the process of adaptation allowed those better able to process meat to survive and pass on their unique genetic features. Knowing man was going to sin God could have built into the genetic structure of many creatures the ability to process meat.

God could also have redesigned many animals at the same time He redesigned certain plants to bear thorns and thistles. A Divine re-plumbing of certain creatures to enable them to survive on meat is not an unreasonable assumption. The curse of Satan included a radical redesign of snake structure. The serpent was created with legs, but was cursed to crawl on its belly. For this to be a sustainable transformation something greater than mere amputation had to happen. The structures supporting the leg bones, muscles and tendons had to be removed and new structures put in place (assuming they were not already present) that allowed the snake’s muscles to push its scales backward, thus propelling the animal forward. This design change also required a change of the animals DNA or only the first generation of cursed snakes would have been legless. If God had not changed the serpent’s DNA its offspring would have been legged because the genetic code would have included the originally created instructions to form the the embryo according to the originally created, legged design. God’s curse of the serpent shows that the effects of the curse were much greater than might be thought. Thus, speculating Diving intervention to massively redesign other animals is not unreasonable.

Nothing can be said with certainty about how and when animals began to eat other animals. The Bible does not tell those details. The Bible does tell of a time when that process will be reversed. Isaiah 11 describes the conditions of the world after the return of Jesus to establish His kingdom on this earth. During that kingdom, “The cow and the bear will graze” and “the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” (Isaiah 11:7) When Jesus rules on the earth He will renovate the world to remove much of the curse. He will radically alter the behavior and internal physical structures of animals so even obligate carnivores will eat hay. Who is to say He did not perform similar alterations when He cursed the world because of sin?

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August 16, 2022

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Satan, Sin

Why Does God Allow Satan So Much Power?

Satan is called the Prince of the Power of the Air (Ephesians 2:2), the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4) and the prince of the world (John 12:31, 14:30). He is also identified in the Bible as the deceiver of the world (Revelation 12:9) and the spirit working in the unsaved (Ephesians 2:1). Satan is shown in Scripture to wield great power in this world and to have great influence in the world.

Satan is a mighty creature and a beautiful angel who rebelled against God. Satan’s first recorded interaction with humanity was to deceive mankind and lead them into sin. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, Satan has held sway over the hearts of men and has had great authority over the course of this world. Satan’s angelic followers, the demons, are able to take over the lives of people. Demons can possess people and cause them to harm themselves and others. (Mark 5:2-5; 9:17-22) Demons apparently exercise great authority over the governments of this world. (Daniel 10:13; Ephesians 6:12) At the end of this age Satan will control a powerful world leader who will wreak havoc on the world and persecute thousands of people. (Revelation 13:1-2)

Despite Satan’s great power, his power is not limitless. He is the god of the world, but he is not God. Satan is a creature always under the control of God. God limits Satan’s activities, and accomplishes His good purposes in all things despite Satan’s malice. The greatest example of this is Satan’s control of Judas Iscariot. The Gospel of John says that Satan filled Judas’ heart to betray Jesus. Judas’ betrayal was evil and according to the wicked will of Satan. Satan sought to hinder the plan of God, but Judas’ betrayal directly resulted in Jesus’ death on the cross. God allowed Satan to control Judas and He allowed Judas to reject Jesus so the greatest good in the world- the salvation of men- could be accomplished on the cross.

Why does God allow the Satan so much power and control? The Bible does not give a clear or simple answer. However, some of what the Bible teaches about God’s allowing evil also answers why God allows Satan such power. God allows Satan to work so His name will be glorified. Just like God used Pharaoh’s hard heart to bring Himself glory (Exodus 14:4), so God is using Satan to glorify His name. God also allows Satan power to show the world the terribleness of sin. If men experience the pain of sin in this life and repent of their sin, they will be saved from eternal destruction (1 Corinthians 5:5) God also allows Satan power to test Christians to make them more like Christ. God used Satan’s affliction of Job to reveal to Job his own pride and wrong view of God, and God is doing the same in Christian’s lives today.

Though a complete answer cannot be given to this question everyone can be certain of three things. First, God permits Satan to trouble this world as part of the righteous punishment of sin. Sin always brings forth death and God uses Satan as one instrument of accomplishing this judgment. Second, God is allowing Satan the temporary power to afflict the world to bring about a far greater, eternal good. (Genesis 50:20) Part of this good is the salvation of mankind (Acts 17:26-27) Last, God allows Satan the power to trouble men to shape Christians into Christlikeness and bring eternal good to them. (Romans 8:28-29)

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July 19, 2022

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God, Life Questions, Sin

If God is completely loving and all powerful, why is the world filled with sorrow?

One of the most often repeated questions about God concerns the existence of evil. Why does evil exist if the God described in the Bible is real? The Greek philosopher Epicurus raised this issue two-thousand years ago. His argument has been summarized in this way: “If God is unable to prevent evil, then He is not all-powerful. If God is not willing to prevent evil, then He is not all good. If God is both willing and able to prevent evil, then why does evil exist?”

The Bible clearly says that God is all-powerful and is perfectly good. Jeremiah 32:17 says of God, “There is nothing too hard for Thee.” Job 42 says that God can do everything. The goodness of God is proclaimed throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms. “Good and upright is the Lord.” (Psalm 25:8) “The Lord is good to all.” (Psalm 145:9) The goodness of God must be understood in light of His holiness. All He does is righteous. He hates evil. God has no part in evil and does not promote it in any way. Since God hates all evil and He is able to destroy evil at any time He chooses, why is the world filled with so much sin and sorrow?

What is the Biblical explanation for evil? Sin and suffering do not originate with God. They originate with His creatures. God created beings with a capacity to obey or disobey Him. When God’s creatures rebelled against Him they did evil. The inevitable result of rebellion is punishment and suffering. The world is filled with sin because made refused to obey His creator.

This question goes deeper than the origin of suffering. This question wants to know why God let it happen. God could have prevented Satan from sinning, but He didn’t. God could have prevented Adam and Eve from sinning, but He didn’t. Why would God allow sin when He knew the terrible consequences that would come from it?

Many philosophical and logical answers have been offered to this question, but the Bible does not provide a single, simple answer. No verse or passage concisely explains God’s purposes in allowing evil. However, the Biblical record of the actions of man and God give some insight into the purposes and plan of God regarding evil.

The book of Job teaches that “why?” is the wrong question. God never explained to Job why he suffered. God simply told Job who was in charge. Romans 9 and Isaiah both challenge the person who would question God’s works. What right has the creation to demand the Creator explain His actions? Can a clay pot demand the potter justify his work? The Creator has every right to do as He wills with His creation. Creation has the obligation to submit to His will and to trust His good plan. This is not an emotionally satisfying answer, but it is the right one. God’s wisdom and understanding are far beyond our understanding. He rules all things. We do not have the right to question His work.

God does not reveal why He allowed evil, but the Biblical narrative gives some insight into what those reasons might be. God is working to exalt His name. Everything God did and is doing in the world is for His glory. From the calling of Abraham, to punishment of Israel, to the death of Jesus, to the salvation of Christians, to the judgment of the whole world, all of God’s actions are for His glory. The inevitable conclusion is that the entrance of sin brings God the greatest glory. This claim is hard to swallow, but it aligns perfectly with all the Bible teaches about God.

Because sin exists men understand better the grace of God. The angels who never sinned struggle to comprehend the grace of God in saving sinners. (1 Peter 1:12) Because God allowed men to sin all who have been forgiven of their sin understand God’s grace. The saved worship God in a way the angels cannot. The angels proclaim God’s praise, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty.” (Revelation 4:8) The saved in heaven sing a different song. “Thou art worthy . . . for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.” (Revelation 5:9). The entrance of sin into the world added another verse into the eternal hymn of praise to God.

God’s seeking His glory should cause any one to conclude God is selfish. His glory is the greatest good for the entire universe. The rejection of God buried the universe in agony. The exaltation of God’s glory will deliver the universe from its misery. (Revelation 21:3-4) To accomplish the extermination of evil on earth God Himself entered into our suffering. God the Son took humanity’s sin and all its anguish on Himself. None dare accuse God of selfishness or disinterest. He is not unconcerned. He is not malicious. He is involved. He suffered under sin to set men free from sin. One day He will bring all evil to an end.