CALLING EVIL GOOD…AND GOOD EVIL

"The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.” Psalm 12:8.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Isaiah 5:20.

Back in 1977 it was very common in our culture to call evil good. Immoralities of various sorts were glorified on TV and in the movies. They still are. But evil left unchecked in a society will grow toward its fullness. I remember speaking in one of our home fellowship meetings at that time (1977) and saying, “We are seeing people call evil good. Immorality is glorified as normal. However, in the coming years we will see a progression of evil. The next step in the degeneration of our society will be to call good evil.” That trend is now applicable in our cultural mindset today. Evil is being treated as good, and good is being treated as evil. Christianity used to be respected even by those who did not practice it. Now it is treated as a liability in many aspects of our culture. For example, presidential appointees who are outspoken Christian have found it a disadvantage in the congressional confirmation process. Godly people are viewed with reproach while various immoral lifestyles are honored and praised.

There are growing forces in our nation that seek to remove God and biblical Christianity from our culture. These forces “preach” against intolerance and hate while exhibiting these very attitudes towards Christians. A culture that calls evil good and good evil, will eventually persecute Christians with the same intensity we have witnessed in other nations. As our culture lays aside biblical values and removes God from its institutions, government, and education, it will begin more and more to despise Christians and hate them because of their commitment to Jesus Christ as the only way to God, and because of their stand on moral issues as taught in the Bible. During the Roman persecutions Christians were called “haters of mankind” because of their disapproval of and refusal to participate in cultural immoralities prevalent at the time. There are forces in our culture now moving in that same direction. Just as the devil has historically created an irrational and unreasonable hatred toward the Jews, which we are witnessing today, he will also stir up and fuel the same unreasonable and intense hatred toward those who follow Jesus and stand on the Bible as the Word of God.

Calling evil good and good evil is one of the indicators of iniquity reaching its fullness. God judges a nation when iniquity reaches its fullness. God sent Noah’s flood because “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth (Genesis 6:1-8). God sent fire and brimstone upon Sodom and Gomorrah because the sin had reached its fullness (Genesis 19:13). In His covenant with Abraham, the Lord told him that His descendants would enter and possess the land when the iniquity of the Canaanites had reached its fullness (Genesis 15:13-16). Moses warned the Israelites to not adopt and practice the various abominations that were prevalent in Canaan, lest the land vomit them out as it was vomiting out the pagans whom they dispossessed. Israel’s entrance into the land fulfilled God’s promise to Abraham and fulfilled God’s word that Israel’s entrance would be the judgment of God on the abominations that were prevalent in the land. We should take note that the apostle Paul warns us that the wrath of God will be upon those who are given over to their sin and who are filled with the fullness of iniquity while refusing to repent. He also warns those who place approval on and honor those who practice these abominations (Romans 1:18-32). The wicked prowl on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men.

So what are Christians to do in this atmosphere? Here are a few suggestions.
We should faithfully proclaim the Gospel and remember that Christ died on the cross because he loves the world and wants to reconcile them to Himself.
The church and its ministers should be calling the nation to repent. Jonah proclaimed to Nineveh that they must repent or be overthrown in forty days. The whole city responded to Jonah’s message of repentance, and God spared the city. I believe God is going to pour out His Holy Spirit upon our nation. If the nation repents of its abominations, we will see a great visitation of God upon the whole land. But if there is no national repentance, the Holy Spirit will fall upon the church while inevitable judgment falls upon the nation.

Proclamation, prayer and intercession, and the call to repentance are necessary at this time. Christians should be in prayer and intercession on behalf of our country, even as Abraham interceded for Sodom. We should demonstrate God’s love amid these difficult times and conduct ourselves honorably. Those who are determined to hate God and His people may still reject us and the message no matter how palatable we make it. But we must proclaim God’s word in wisdom and love whether we bear reproach or honor.  

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Billy Long

broblong@gmail.com