Does God allow evil? (Part 1)

 BY Argie Simonis

We live in wicked times. Bad things happen even to good people and I have seen many times that the responsibility is attributed to God,  either as the author of these problems, or he permits these problems to come in order to teach us a lesson or somehow fulfill His plans.

I believe this is one of the most dangerous teachings in the Body of Christ. The way God's sovereignty is taught in most churches today is a faith killer. The belief that God controls everything or permits everything to happen around us is one of the greatest lies that satan has ever managed to convince people. If that's really the case, then it's completely pointless to try to do something, since everything is planned to be done in a certain way.

If we believe that it is God's will for everything to happen to us, good or bad, it can temporarily relieve us of our responsibilities and comfort us from guilt or remorse, but in the long run it distorts the image and character of God, preventing us from trusting Him and it leads us to passivity.

- For example, religion presents a child-killing God, who takes babies and children to Heaven because he "needs" them there more than their biological family here on earth.

 - Religion presents a God who sends sickness and sorrow to His children to "teach" them humility and obedience.

 - Religion presents a God who is responsible for every war, famine, earthquake, disaster and every evil that happens in the world, because nothing happens if He does not "allow" it.

So how is it possible to love and trust someone who treats you like that? Under current law, if such a God takes the stand of the accused in court, he will be sentenced to life imprisonment, or even to death as a common criminal!

Religion (the religious spirit) has invented a new meaning of the word "sovereignty" and when it attributes it to God it basically means that God controls everything and that nothing can happen except what He wants or allows.

The dictionary defines the meaning of the word "sovereign" as follows:

- Supreme.

- The one who has the highest degree, power and authority.

- Independent, not subject to the authority of another (eg sovereign state).

- Excellent, the one that prevails compared to someone else.

Let's see a very representative example from the Bible:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2Pet. 3:9

Here we clearly see that it is not in the will of the Lord for anyone to be lost. But does this actually happen? Let's see what Jesus tells us:

"Enter you in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads to life, and few there be that find it." Matt. 7:13-14

Despite the fact that it is God's will for all to be saved, in the end there are just a few who succeed. So how can God's will not be fulfilled?

This is because the Lord has given us the freedom of choice. The Lord not only does not send anyone to hell, but with His sacrifice He paid for the sins of the whole world:

"And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1John 2:2

"For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." 1Tim. 4:10

The Lord paid for the sins of the whole world but we must choose to believe in Christ and receive His salvation. We must understand that man is the one who chooses hell when he rejects Jesus as his Savior. It is the free will of man that condemns him and not God.

No one will ever be able to stand before God and accuse Him of never giving them a chance to be saved. The Lord with His Spirit draws every man to Him, but we must also cooperate.

The world is governed by the physical and spiritual laws of God. Under these laws every choice we make has some consequences in our lives and the Lord simply validates and applies the consequences of our choices.

God has a perfect plan for each one of us but He does not force us to walk in this path:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, said the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." Jer. 29:11

We are free to accept or reject it. The Lord has told us what the right choices are to be made, but He will not make them for us. God has given us the power to control our own destiny.

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your seed may live:" Deut. 30:19

The typical teaching of God's sovereignty places Jesus as our guide and us as passengers. On the surface, this may sound good and comforting, but the Bible teaches that we are behind the wheel of our lives and that Jesus, as our companion, gives us instructions. That means that we have power over our lives, but we need the Lord's guidance to succeed:

"O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his steps." Jer. 10:23 

God created us to be dependant on Him, and the root of all our problems lies in the fact that we strive to function independently of Him. And on top of that comes religion saying that all our problems are in fact blessings in disguise from God and their ultimate goal is to accomplish His will. This is a reall faith killer and makes people completely passive.

--------- End of 1st part. To be continued...

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