BIG IDEA
We can be part of overcoming evil in our world.
Overcoming Evil
READING
Rom. 8
THOUGHTS
We live in a world filled with pain and evil. All the evil and brokenness in the world is a result of sin. As we move away from reflecting God, we experience less and less life—or more and more death. Sin destroys us, our relationships, and our world (Rom. 6:23, 8:20–21).
Sin
As we will discuss in more detail in the theology section, to sin is to live independently from God, who is the source of all life. Sin can be an attitude, thought, or behaviour that doesn’t reflect God’s character and nature. The Bible articulates what sin looks like (Exod. 20; 1 Cor. 6:9–10; Gal. 5:19–21; Eph. 5:3–7; 1 Tim. 1:9–10). All of us have the propensity to sin (Ps. 14:3; Rom. 3:23; 1 John 1:8).
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunken- ness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Gal. 5:19–21
Spiritual
There is a spiritual force of evil that also wants to get us to reject God’s work and authority in our life. In chapters 20-21, we talk through the spiritual world and demons in more detail (John 10:10; 1 Pet. 5:8; 1 John 5:19).
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Eph. 6:12
Temptation
Followers of Jesus are not immune to the temptation of sin. There is influence found in the world, from others, and the old life in us (1 Tim. 6:9; James 1:13–15; 1 John 2:15–17).
One day Jesus said to his disciples, “There will always be temptations to sin …” Luke 17:1
Battle
God’s Spirit battles against the old life in us that wants to lead us into sin. We prepare for the temptations and fight against the desires as we read God’s Word, pray, listen to the nudges of the Spirit, and employ spiritual armour. If we experience a moment of failure, it’s not over; we can step up again to fight (Ps. 119:11; Rom. 6:12–14, 8:1–9, 26–27; Eph. 6:10–18; James 4:7).
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the tempta- tion to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. 1 Cor. 10:13
Repentance
Not only is repentance the first step in following Jesus, but it’s a daily activity/response when we give in to temptation (Acts 2:38, 3:19, 5:31, 11:18, 17:30). Repentance means: to completely turn, to stop, pivot, and walk in another direction. Repentance is a decision to stop trusting self and to leave sinful thinking and living behind.
Receive Grace
We must remember that all we have is a result of what Jesus has done and offered freely to those who make Him Lord of their life. This is called grace, and it’s a gift of forgiveness that can’t be earned (John 1:14–17; Rom. 3:20–27, 5:17; 2 Cor. 8:9; Eph. 2:8–9; Heb. 2:9).
Faith
The next part of repentance is to trust Jesus fully. This is called faith and refers to both our attitude and actions. When we embrace right living (1 Cor. 6:9–11; Gal. 5:19–21; Titus 2:11–14; Heb. 12:14) and trust God despite circumstances (Heb. 10:38–11:5) it grows deeper every day (2 Cor. 5:7; 2 Tim. 4:7). Faith is what God is ultimately looking for from us (Luke 18:8; Heb. 11:6).
When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be per- fect and complete, needing nothing. James 1:2–4
Lordship
A “Lord” is one who has total authority and power over a realm of influence. Another way to articulate the steps of repentance and faith is to say that we must make Jesus our Lord. It’s the acknowledgment that everything in the world is created and ruled by Jesus (2 Chron. 20:6; Col. 1:16), that God has elevated Jesus as Lord of all (Acts 2:36, 17:24; Eph. 1:18–22), that one day everyone will recognize Jesus as Lord (Rom. 14:11–12; Phil. 2:5–11; 2 Thess. 1:7–9), and that Jesus wants us to make Him our Lord today and each day voluntarily (Acts 17:30–31; Rom. 14:9).
Advance
We can fight evil in the world by living in Jesus’s way, overcoming evil with God’s love, and inviting people to follow Jesus (Luke 6:27–38; Rom. 12:14–21; 1 John 5:4).
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Rom. 12:21
DISCUSSION
- Read the list of sins in Galatians 5:19–21. What did you never consider to be sin before reading this?
- What are some examples of temptations you face?
- What are some ways you can resist evil?