Are we all evil ?

The Holy Spirit Helps Us

Why Christians, still sinners whilst in the flesh, sin less and struggle to do good.

John 14:15-17 (New American Standard Bible)

15 "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments."

16 "I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever;

17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you."
 
Most Excellent !!!

An excellent question which needs to be explored.

Yes, by nature we are all evil. That's an easy question followed by multiple scripture. It’s not difficult for the EVIL angels to represent both saints and sinners, we cannot be naive to this situation. Even Judas fooled the disciples, “Is it I?†Yet Jesus washed his feet, Oh, what unconditional love?

EVIL means more than the obvious, Bad people. Yet bad people can be deceiving in our outward evaluation. It can mean by extension (as a friend). Raah. It also means (associate selves and show SELF friendly). Aram in the Hebrew. Can you believe the word? One can show themselves to be friendly yet in actuality be an enemy!

In other words, SELF is evil, or the enemy of all evil.

When the snake was labeled by God as subtle, He said that the enemy, the snake was “smoothness†(aram). … The message of the cross is not always smooth, it may be difficult and rough. The cross is not always beautiful in one’s eyes, but “offensive†as the scripture states.

In conclusion, “Self†is evil. One author concluded:

Getting Rid of Self.—It is quite generally recognized that “self†is the great thing that stands in the way of Christian progress, and that it must be denied and put away. Accordingly we hear people express the determination to get rid of self, so that the Lord may have a complete possession. But too many forget that they themselves cannot put away self; for it is obvious that when self attempts to put self away, self will remain all the time. Self is sin, and only Christ can put away sin. He hath appeared to “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.†Heb. 9:26. He “gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world.†Gal. 1:4. Only the power by which he “emptied himself,†can empty us of self. Let us rejoice that he is abundantly able to do it, and simply yield ourselves to him, that he may work his own will in us.†End Quote
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord†(Rom. 6:11).

“For a bishop must be blameless … not selfwilled … (Titus 1:7).

Even Christ lived by faith and by the will of the Father, getting rid of His own will or self. “… not to do My own will …†(John 6:38).

“But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness … Presumptuous selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil …†(2 Peter 2:10). Parallelism is assumed in this verse.

It can be remembered in Romans 9 that the condition of Israel according to the flesh were those who were called Israel. They are “accursed from Christ.†They “followed after the law of righteousness,†but did not attain to righteousness, because they sought it not by faith, but by works. The Gentiles, therefore, gained the precedence over them, because they sought righteousness in the right way, by faith dear friends. Thus fulfilled the words of Christ to the self-righteous Jews: “The publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you;†and again, “The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.†Matt. 21:31, 43.


Blessings in Christ,
John

You have hit upon the root of all evil >>> SELFISHNESS .

We must die to self in order to live sinlessly.

JESUS BLESS YOU !!!!!!! :cross:
 
1 Corinthians 3:
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy.....

God's Spirit dwelling within a person is proof enough~
 
Christians struggle not to sin

1 Corinthians 3:
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy.....

God's Spirit dwelling within a person is proof enough~


Christians struggle not to sin. That is one proof of the indwelling HOLY SPIRIT.

Even though we still have evil tendencies, the HOLY SPIRIT helps us not to sin, if we choose not to sin. However we still sin.

It is a battle we fight while still in the flesh.

( soon we are liberated PRAISE GOD !!! )

Dave :D
 
Spirit against the flesh

What does it mean to be evil?

the word evil used in matthew 7:11 is "poneros", meaning:

bad, of a bad nature or condition

so you have to ask are christians by nature bad or good? This is an old argument. If you are calvinist in thought you will tend to say that we do not have a bad nature, but a reborn nature in Christ. If you are arminiest in nature you will tend to say that we have an evil nature, and are saved by grace.

Although I am not a calvinist, I tend to agree that we have a new nature in Christ, and therefore our nature is not evil, but our flesh at work in us is evil. We now have the choice to be evil or not. We choose our condition to work of the flesh or walk in the spirit.
Are those who will be saved evil? No.
Are those who will not be saved evil? Yes.

I agree with you in general principle. It was Plato that came up with the idea that the flesh itself was evil.

There are many paradoxes in the scripture. For example, " ... given ... precious promises that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4).

On the other hand the sinful nature is always trying to take over, "For the flesh [nature] lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish" (Gal. 5:17). It is by nature that we wish to do the things of the flesh because the scripture declares that "There is none who does good, no, not one."

John
 
The world inside us

You have hit upon the root of all evil >>> SELFISHNESS .

We must die to self in order to live sinlessly.

JESUS BLESS YOU !!!!!!! :cross:

Hi,

Why did Christ give Himself for our sins? "To deliver us from the present evil age." There is a story about a certain man known for his violent temper and would frequently become very angry and blamed it on the people around him. So he declared that he was going to "leave the world" and become a hermit.

He went to the forest and lived in a cave. One morning he took a jug to a spring to get water. He set the jug on a moss-grown slippery rock and it would continually slip away.

Finally the hermit's patience was exhausted and he picked up the jug one last time and set it down with vehemence and it was broken to pieces. There was nobody to blame but himself and finally realized it was not the world around him but the "world inside him" that made him sin. We can now look at John 17 in a different light.

Wherever we go, we carry the world with us until we open our hearts to Christ. It really shows us too that monks and hermits are not in God's plan. We are to be the salt of the earth and salt must be mingled with whatever is to be preserved.

John
 
While indeed Plato may have come up with the thought Paul certainly reinforced it. :D
 
Not a follow up but in response to the general theme

1 John 1 (New King James Version)


5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
 
likeness of sinful flesh

While indeed Plato may have come up with the thought Paul certainly reinforced it. :D

Dear brother,

Something to consider:

If the flesh "in itself" is evil then we need to consider a serious consequence of our Lord and Saviour's flesh, and or (nature).

In chapter 8 of Romans, Paul states that Christ was sent "in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin" (vs. 3). The question that perplexes many is what "likeness" means. Is it reality or mere resemblance?

We need not "misperceive" what Paul is saying because he explains himself by using "likeness" in the same Greek dative case in Philippians 2:7, where he says that Christ was "made ... in the likeness of men." The word cannot mean a mere appearance or outward form. The heresy of Docetism denies the true humanity of Christ.

Romans 8:3 does not state "in the unlikeness of sinful flesh" nor does it suggest "in the likeness of sinless flesh." His flesh (or nature) was identical to ours, yet He NEVER yielded to the sinful flesh, which He took.

There is a great difference between assuming "sinful flesh" and actually sinning in the very same. "In ALL things He had to be made like His brethren" (Heb. 2:17). "As the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same" (vs. 14).

If we say the sinful flesh is "in itself evil" then the only conclusion is to say that Christ's flesh was evil. OH, not so! 1 John 4:1-3.

I do not accept the idea of the immaculate conception.

blessings to you in Christ,
John
 
The imaculate conception was of course unfounded and has no biblical basis. Jesus was indeed in our likeness but there was one difference- He inherited no sin from His Father and as such was the only human flesh without sin.
 
I look at it this way. God is perfect in everyway. What is good in this world is God. He has never sinned. So when compaired to him, were evil. Even if we think we're a pretty good person compaired to our neighbors.

In our a drug user who sleeps around and steals money is a very bad person in our eyes. But if he grew up in the ghetto, that is more acceptable, and he might only see a Murderer as a truely evil person. But to us he is evil, because he is more sinful then we are.

So in our eyes we may not seem evil, but when compaired to God we're hopeless sinners.
 
Psalm 23:4
Even though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
 
new testament tells us mary was a virgin.and Gods spirit born Gods son.if you don,t believe this how can you quote any other scripture.:jesus-sign:
 
That is not what the doctrine of immaculate conception is SC. Some believe Mary herself was born without any man to assist. this would negate the fact that Jesus walked as a man and has no factual basis.
Mary was indeed a virgin when she conceived Jesus- she was given much grace - that is what God gives humans to make them acceptable in His presence. The bible declares that Joeseph never has sex with Mary UNTIL she had given birth. Like any good Jewish girls it was her hearts desire to have as many kids as possible.
 
Spiritualism

The imaculate conception was of course unfounded and has no biblical basis. Jesus was indeed in our likeness but there was one difference- He inherited no sin from His Father and as such was the only human flesh without sin.

Yet He came in the likeness of "sinful flesh." The flesh is not evil, the carnal mind of man is evil. Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh, yet we do not drag His mind into it. Our sinful flesh is not evil, yet our minds, without Christ are evil. There is a great difference. Plato's ideals of "spiritualism" and Paul's word inspired of the Holy Spirit are infinitely separate.

John
 
seeing she had relatives ,elizebeth who born john,who straightened the path for our saviour,where do they get that from,also why is it never explained ,more clutter i think.
 
Thank God for His Word SC- it is our compass when things like that are thrown at us and allows us to clearly see the truth.
 
Just a thought but it would seem as though the bible is the one calling it sinful flesh.
 
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