What is evil? I believe evil is that which is the foundation of offense that results in condemnation. Let me explain what I mean by that definition.
When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they bought into a system that brought a standard into the world. It is a system that is against you and who you are already. God made you in His image, and you are a new creation in Christ. In order to understand what is evil and who is evil, let's examine the definition of evil from scripture.
Strong's defines "evil" from Galatians 1:3 like this:
evil
πονηροῦ (ponērou)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4190: Evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.
Ponerou is the word that gets translated to evil in many cases. We can find ponerou in many other verses including these:
Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
So as you can see evil is something we can experience when we depart from what God has establish, and we enter into when we partake of the world's system. In fact Hebrews 3:12 sheds some light on this very thing:
Hebrews 3:12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
When you turn your heart away from God, like Adam and Eve did, you experience a system that brings unbelief in what God has declared you to be, and then condemnation sets in as you believe what the world is telling you. Hardship, toil, and frustration are what the world brings. Your heart has been infiltrated with evil and bad doctrine that tells you that you have to live up to a standard.
Also, you may feel like God has left you. But we know that is not true from what Hebrews 3:12 states "turning you away from the living God." It is you that does the turning away, not God. He never leaves or forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5). In fact Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
There is much more to be said on who the evil one is, so look for part 2.
When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they bought into a system that brought a standard into the world. It is a system that is against you and who you are already. God made you in His image, and you are a new creation in Christ. In order to understand what is evil and who is evil, let's examine the definition of evil from scripture.
Strong's defines "evil" from Galatians 1:3 like this:
evil
πονηροῦ (ponērou)
Adjective - Genitive Masculine Singular
Strong's 4190: Evil, bad, wicked, malicious, slothful.
Ponerou is the word that gets translated to evil in many cases. We can find ponerou in many other verses including these:
Hebrews 3:12 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.
Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Ephesians 6:16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
So as you can see evil is something we can experience when we depart from what God has establish, and we enter into when we partake of the world's system. In fact Hebrews 3:12 sheds some light on this very thing:
Hebrews 3:12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.
When you turn your heart away from God, like Adam and Eve did, you experience a system that brings unbelief in what God has declared you to be, and then condemnation sets in as you believe what the world is telling you. Hardship, toil, and frustration are what the world brings. Your heart has been infiltrated with evil and bad doctrine that tells you that you have to live up to a standard.
Also, you may feel like God has left you. But we know that is not true from what Hebrews 3:12 states "turning you away from the living God." It is you that does the turning away, not God. He never leaves or forsakes you (Hebrews 13:5). In fact Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 6 that you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
There is much more to be said on who the evil one is, so look for part 2.