Since coming to the truth and growing in the Word of God I have noticed the great discrepancy and deception in worldly thinking regarding what is good and evil.
For much of my life outside of faith in the Lord Jesus, my standards of morality were based on feelings and perceptions of what is right, but these perceptions were largely based on what I could see around me in the world. Aside from the beneficial role of my parents and family and being in the faith when I was younger, maturing as a non-believer led me to discern good and evil not from the Word of God, but from the world around me. What I believed was right and wrong was influenced and directed by popular sentiment in the world, entertainment, television and my peers.
Who’s standard?
This really left me with no true idea of what good or evil was. Sure most can understand certain actions as clearly evil, but what I didn’t understand was that many of the things that I was led to believe were acceptable in society are considered evil and sin in the eyes of the Almighty God. I learned from Scripture that we were not created with sin, but fell into sin due to rebellion against God in the beginning and ever since mankind has had a sinful nature that we are all born into. Sin is all kinds of behaviour that is wrong to God (1 John chapter 5 verse 17) and is called lawlessness (1 John chapter 3 verse 4). We are told that our fleshly bodies desire contrary to the Spirit and that we should not obey the flesh which desires to sin, but to walk by the Spirit (Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 to 17).
Denying the flesh and temptation
Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins and by the sacrifice of His flesh and blood upon the cross He alone atoned for the sins of the whole world. By our faith in Him and repentance we receive forgiveness of our sins (Acts chapter 3 verse 19), everlasting salvation and the Holy Spirit of God. The Lord helps us to walk by the Spirit and not by the flesh. We are told in Romans chapter 8 verses 13 to 14: “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” After coming to the truth I understand that we must deny our desires for sin and that we are called to bear our cross and follow after Jesus (Luke chapter 14 verse 27). Our Lord Himself was tempted while on earth but was entirely without sin (Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15) and is our example.
The true standards of God
We live in a world that denies sin and denies what the Bible calls is evil, where it is often praised and called good instead (Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20). Many are living lives without knowing the truth that sin is rebellion against God and that Jesus came to save us from our sins and everlasting destruction. In the past I could rationalise behaviour as acceptable as long as I felt like I wasn’t hurting anyone. This was based on what I saw in the world and the standards of my peers. This is not an acceptable measure for us who have come to the truth and follow the Lord Jesus. We are called to be holy as God is holy (1 Peter chapter 1 verse 16). Our measure is to walk after the Lord and His Spirit, to bear our cross, to abide in Him and His Word and obey His commands (John chapter 15). I realised how so many things I used to do and the behaviours and actions I had taken were against God, and how entrapped and deceived I was in sin. After receiving the truth and repenting to the Lord I was able to grow and understand that thoughts and impulses to do unholy behaviour was actually temptations from the desire of the flesh and our spiritual enemy.
Without the knowledge of the truth in God’s word society offers unsatisfactory explanations for sin such as natural human desire or animal instincts. However, the clear truth is that we are under temptation and it is good and true to deny the temptation of the flesh and walk after the Spirit of the Lord.
To persevere
The Bible tells us to take up the whole armour of God and that we are in a battle against spiritual forces of evil, against principalities and powers, against rulers of the darkness of this age and spiritual hosts of wickedness (Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12), and that our enemy the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour (1 Peter chapter 5 verse 8).
Only after growing in my journey as a follower of Jesus Christ have I understood the extreme grip of evil in this world, the reality of sin and its destructiveness, and the very real battles we all undergo against temptation and the desires of the flesh. The Lord has shown me the way through is repentance and humility before Him, and to focus on loving Him and others. Until the race is finished and I am together with Him forever, I am resolved and encouraged in the Lord to “endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 3).
Christopher Harris is a 27 year old from Victoria. He confessed his faith in Jesus Christ in 2016 and has sought to set his focus on the Lord. He makes videos on his youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/JESUSisLORD and believes the world is living in those times prophesied by the Holy Bible as the last days.