Bible Study What is good or evil?

[chongjasmine]

The first sin that man committed is not the sin or murder, or the sin of theft, or what we called any of the major sin today. Instead, the first sin that man committed is the sin to define for ourselves the right to determine for ourselves what good and what evil really is. Adam and Eve sinned because they took the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 3:6) They did this because, they wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil. In other words, they wanted that right to define for themselves what good and what evil really is. They rejected God’s right to be the one and the one alone to decide what good and evil is.

That is the reason for the mess of the world today, with each man or woman deciding for ourselves what good and evil really is and because we disagree with each other on our definitions of what good and evil is, we quarrel and argue with each other and we even fought wars in the name of what we believe to be right. And since each of us has different definitions of what is right, the wars we fought and the murders we commit in the name of what is right is endless.

Oh, why can’t we accept that God alone has the right to determine what is good and evil. He is after all; the Potter and we are His clay. (Jeremiah 18:6)

Surely, He has the right to determine what we are and how our conducts are to be. (Romans 9:21)

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honourable use and another for dishonorable use?

When we give God back His right and His right alone to determine what is good and what is evil, the world will become a better place.

For in Joshua 1:8, it is said that we will make our ways prosperous and have good success if the Word of God does not depart from our mouth and we meditate on it day and night. God promises in His Word that if we do what He says is right, and avoid what He says is evil, we will be prosperous.

Therefore, the first step to changing the world for the better is to accept that God is who He said He is, that He is good. (Psalm 25:8) If we truly believe His word that He is good, then we will believe also that He knows what is good and what is evil. If we truly believe that He knows what is good and what is evil, we will give up our own right to decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil and submit to His decision of what is good and evil. If we truly want to submit to what His decision is about good and evil, we will read His Word to find up for ourselves what His Word says is good and evil.

For in 2nd Timothy 2:16-17, it is said that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” It is therefore by studying God’s work that we know what good and evil is, and by doing only what God said is good, that we can be a better person and make this world a better way that before.

Therefore, let us go back to the basic of basics—that we accept God’s Word that He is good, truly believe it, accepts His right to determine for us what is good and evil, gives out our own tree of knowledge of good and evil and accepts His tree of life. Then, we study His Word and do all that He tells us is good and avoids what He tells us is evil.

Then the world will be a better place than before.

For more Christian article like this, visit http://curiousaboutgod.42web.io/

 

[Tenchi]

Interesting post! It has provoked the following thoughts in me:

They did this because, they wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil. In other words, they wanted that right to define for themselves what good and what evil really is.

I would encourage you to read more carefully what you wrote here:

"...knowing good and evil..."

"...define for themselves what good and what evil really is..."

Did the Forbidden Fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil confer the power to establish or define Good and Evil? No, it was only the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, not the Tree of the Power to Define Good and Evil. And so, when one reads the account of the Fall of Man, Adam and Eve responded to the effect of the fruit as follows:

Genesis 3:6-7
6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings.

There is no hint in this account that Adam and Eve suddenly held the power to determine for themselves what Good and Evil were. All that happened to them upon eating the Forbidden Fruit was that "their eyes were opened, and they saw that they were naked." They also realized they'd done wrong and in their guiltiness and shame hid themselves. Where in what the account of what they did do you extract the idea that they began to decide for themselves what was Good and what was Evil?

That is the reason for the mess of the world today, with each man or woman deciding for ourselves what good and evil really is and because we disagree with each other on our definitions of what good and evil is, we quarrel and argue with each other and we even fought wars in the name of what we believe to be right. And since each of us has different definitions of what is right, the wars we fought and the murders we commit in the name of what is right is endless.

This is true - to a degree. There have been a variety of things that have sparked arguments, quarrels and wars among human beings. At the bottom of these conflicts is always just selfishness, not ideology, or concern for what is true. Humans actually know the Truth but actively "suppress it in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18-21). They share a common moral sense, for example, they have "the law of God written on their hearts" (Romans 2:15), that points plainly to Him but squelch the import of this Truth, refusing to come under His authority and direction. This Self-rule is, ultimately, what produces human evil. Conflicts over values, religious beliefs, ideologies, territory, power, and wealth are all just "window dressing" around the central evil: Human selfishness.

When we give God back His right and His right alone to determine what is good and what is evil, the world will become a better place.

No one ever actually takes from God the right to determine Good and Evil, they just delude themselves into thinking they have. Every person deluded in this way will one day stand before God, their Judge, and will answer to Him for their willful rebellion against His standard of Good and Evil. All their foolish and wicked justifications for denying God and His Moral Law will dissolve and the unrepentant sinner will realize, too late, that God never lost His right and power to establish Good and Evil.

Therefore, the first step to changing the world for the better is to accept that God is who He said He is, that He is good. (Psalm 25:8) If we truly believe His word that He is good, then we will believe also that He knows what is good and what is evil. If we truly believe that He knows what is good and what is evil, we will give up our own right to decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil and submit to His decision of what is good and evil. If we truly want to submit to what His decision is about good and evil, we will read His Word to find up for ourselves what His Word says is good and evil.

Hmmm...what does God's word say? Is it a knowledge of God's goodness that leads us to accept God as God? Partly, yes.

Romans 2:4
4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

Psalm 34:8
8 O taste and see that the LORD is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
An important part of why Eve was lured into sin was that she wanted to be "as God," equal with her Maker, sharing in His power, glory and authority. This is at the heart of all the sinful rebellion toward God of which human beings are guilty. And so, humility toward God, submitting to Him, is vital to "changing the world for the better."

Romans 6:13
13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Romans 8:14
14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

Romans 12:1
1 Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

James 4:6-7
6 ..."God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble."
7 Submit therefore to God...

James 4:10
10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

1 Peter 5:5-6
5 ...clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,

For in 2nd Timothy 2:16-17, it is said that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” It is therefore by studying God’s work that we know what good and evil is, and by doing only what God said is good, that we can be a better person and make this world a better way that before.

Amen. But, you know, the goal of Christian living isn't to "make the world a better place," but to know God, to love Him, to enjoy Him and to live to His glory. The by-product of all this is that we may be used by God to good - that is, godly - effect in the world. We don't want to "get the cart before the horse" in this, right? Cause before effect, yes?

 

[momsage]

The first sin that man committed is not the sin or murder, or the sin of theft, or what we called any of the major sin today. Instead, the first sin that man committed is the sin to define for ourselves the right to determine for ourselves what good and what evil really is. Adam and Eve sinned because they took the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 3:6) They did this because, they wanted to be like God, knowing good and evil. In other words, they wanted that right to define for themselves what good and what evil really is. They rejected God’s right to be the one and the one alone to decide what good and evil is.

That is the reason for the mess of the world today, with each man or woman deciding for ourselves what good and evil really is and because we disagree with each other on our definitions of what good and evil is, we quarrel and argue with each other and we even fought wars in the name of what we believe to be right. And since each of us has different definitions of what is right, the wars we fought and the murders we commit in the name of what is right is endless.

Oh, why can’t we accept that God alone has the right to determine what is good and evil. He is after all; the Potter and we are His clay. (Jeremiah 18:6)

Surely, He has the right to determine what we are and how our conducts are to be. (Romans 9:21)

21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honourable use and another for dishonorable use?

When we give God back His right and His right alone to determine what is good and what is evil, the world will become a better place.

For in Joshua 1:8, it is said that we will make our ways prosperous and have good success if the Word of God does not depart from our mouth and we meditate on it day and night. God promises in His Word that if we do what He says is right, and avoid what He says is evil, we will be prosperous.

Therefore, the first step to changing the world for the better is to accept that God is who He said He is, that He is good. (Psalm 25:8) If we truly believe His word that He is good, then we will believe also that He knows what is good and what is evil. If we truly believe that He knows what is good and what is evil, we will give up our own right to decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil and submit to His decision of what is good and evil. If we truly want to submit to what His decision is about good and evil, we will read His Word to find up for ourselves what His Word says is good and evil.

For in 2nd Timothy 2:16-17, it is said that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” It is therefore by studying God’s work that we know what good and evil is, and by doing only what God said is good, that we can be a better person and make this world a better way that before.

Therefore, let us go back to the basic of basics—that we accept God’s Word that He is good, truly believe it, accepts His right to determine for us what is good and evil, gives out our own tree of knowledge of good and evil and accepts His tree of life. Then, we study His Word and do all that He tells us is good and avoids what He tells us is evil.

Then the world will be a better place than before.

For more Christian article like this, visit http://curiousaboutgod.42web.io/

No,

 

[momsage]

No, 2 Tim. 2: 15-16 says: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain bablings for they shall increase unto more ungodliness

 

[momsage]

The bible defends self-defence. Roman's 12:8 If it be possible as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all man. The Japanese, German, Islam Terrorists, etc were not willing to live with us peaceably. Luke 11: 21 When a strong man, fully armed, guards his house, his possessions are safe. Something like our inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happy. Otherwise I say amen to your post. God Bless

 

[for_his_glory]

Within these scriptures we can see that which is evil that will keep one from not inheriting the kingdom of God as their names will be blotted out of the Lamb's Book of Life as they will be cast into the lake of fire on judgement day when Christ returns.

God's grace pardons us while His mercy loves us, but grace does not give us a license to sin and only through repentance will God forgive us our sin.

Col 3:5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;

Read Colossians 3:1-17 about putting on the new Spiritual man

Rev 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
Rev 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Rev 22:15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

 

[Who Me]

the first sin that man committed is the sin to define for ourselves the right to determine for ourselves what good and what evil really is. Adam and Eve sinned because they took the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

Sorry but the first sin was committed when Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit.

 

[WIP]

Sorry but the first sin was committed when Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit.

Could it have been even a bit before that? In Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV) Jesus explained the sin of adultery when He said...

27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Sin begins in the heart and not just with the action. So, as it says in Genesis 3:6 (NKJV), "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate." She had already committed the sin in her heart before she even plucked the fruit from the tree.

 

[Who Me]

Could it have been even a bit before that? In Matthew 5:27-28 (NKJV) Jesus explained the sin of adultery when He said...

27 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
28 But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart."

Sin begins in the heart and not just with the action. So, as it says in Genesis 3:6 (NKJV), "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate." She had already committed the sin in her heart before she even plucked the fruit from the tree.

Jesus certainly taught that what one thinks can be sinful, I'm not aware of this being taught in the O T.

 

[WIP]

Jesus certainly taught that what one thinks can be sinful, I'm not aware of this being taught in the O T.

There's the letter of the law and then there's the spirit of the law. Jesus didn't change the rules. He explained the spirit of the law. The law still remained. That's the problem. We all try to be attorneys on our own behalf attempting to split hairs. What is that phrase? Defendants representing themselves have fool for a client.

 

[Who Me]

There's the letter of the law and then there's the spirit of the law. Jesus didn't change the rules. He explained the spirit of the law. The law still remained. That's the problem. We all try to be attorneys on our own behalf attempting to split hairs. What is that phrase? Defendants representingbut that is not taught in the ot. themselves have fool for a client.

Yes,

 

[chongjasmine]

Moderator: Kindly remove the link in this thread as I just become aware that I am not supposed to self-advertise.