This week’s big news has again focused on conservative Christians who claim to follow Jesus and do God’s work. But their actions and words clearly prove otherwise. They choose not to do the good God commands His people to do, but instead follow the evil desires (Psalm 37:3, Colossians 3:23).
The week began with popular conservative conspiracy theorist and divider Alex Jones losing his appeal to the Supreme Court over his unloving lies about the Sandy Hook school shootings.
Allison Jones is notorious for his far-right conspiracy theories that only promote his selfish beliefs and slander anyone who disagrees with him. Once again, we see that even people who claim to know Jesus or believe in God are still capable of doing evil (Isaiah 64:6, Romans 3:23):
- Deception
- Prideful
- Greedy
- Unloving
Alex Jones and radical far-right proponents are notorious for spreading division and looking down on those who do good. Mr. Jones’s podcast is anything but conservative or Christian, whether it is deceiving people about his wealth or fighting against the truth.
He has forgotten to fight the good fight against his own evil nature (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, Galatians 5:16-17).
What is An Evil Nature
One of the most basic Christian and Jewish teachings is we all have a sinful and evil nature (Genesis 6:5, Romans 3:23). Our flesh and hearts are maligned by our evil nature. Our evil maligned nature is defined as, “Having or showing often vicious ill will: evil nature, influence, or effect.”
Christianity emphasizes that we all have evil within us (Romans 5:12; 7:18-19). Don’t believe the myth that Satan makes us do what is evil. God gives each of us free will to decide who we will listen to, His Spirit or our own selfish wants (James 1: 5; 14-15, 1 John 4:1).
That is why the Bible has a lot to say about the evil and sin in each of us (Ecclesiastes 9:3, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 7:18-20). This fallen kingdom is full of evil and temptation. Even Jesus was tempted by the devil while He walked amongst us (Matthew 4:1-11).
Jesus resisted the devil and his own flesh to show us how to die to ourselves and the evil within us daily (Luke 9:23, Galatians 2:20). God’s people are called to resist our own evil hearts and desires and pursue God and His Kingdom (Romans 13:14, 1 Corinthians 9:27, Galatians 5:16-17, Ephesians 4:22-24, Colossians 3:5, Titus 2:11-12, 1 Peter 2:11).
The apostles remembered their Jewish education about the evil inclination inside of every one of us and how we must resist it to listen to God’s Spirit.
Yetzer Hara
The Torah tells us after the fall, when man chose to know evil, sin entered the human heart (Genesis 3:16-24). From the first Adam on, sin has corrupted every ounce of flesh that has walked the earth, except for Jesus.
The second Adam is the only sinless human being. The human condition is so bad that God regretted making mankind because of their evil ways and heart (Genesis 6:5). The Hebrew phrase in the Old Testament for evil inclination or ways is Yetzer Hara, and it is the opposite of God’s good and perfect nature that God’s people are called to represent (Leviticus 20:26).
That is why God set apart Israel to be a holy people dedicated to Himself (Exodus 33:16, Deuteronomy 14:2). It is also why Judaism emphasizes the need to resist the evil acts of our corrupt flesh (Job 41: 1, Proverbs 16:7, Hosea 11:1):
- Stealing
- Injustice
- Adultery
- Idolatry
- Deception
- Pride
- Greed
- Falsehoods
Jesus warned His followers about the evil within their own hearts (Mark 7:21). He taught them to do good instead of evil like this evil world (Matthew 5:16; 7:21-23). Our Rabbi taught His followers that a good tree cannot produce bad fruit and vice versa (Matthew 7:15-20).
Our Lord warned His followers that their corrupt flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). That is why He taught His followers to inspect the fruits of others who claim to be of God (Matthew 7:15-20, Luke 6:43-45).
He warned His Disciples that the evil of the heart will come out of a person’s mouth (Matthew 15:18-19). That is why if we listen to people close enough, we can see their true hearts and intentions.
Hamas
Earlier this week, President Trump gave a long, boastful speech to the Israeli parliament about his great work of finally ushering in an “Eternal peace” after 3000 years of conflict between Israel and the Middle East.
The president bragged and boasted about his accomplishments, which the Christian faith calls evil acts themselves (Psalm 34:2, Proverbs 27:1-2, 1 Corinthians 1:31, Ephesians 2:8-9, James 4:16).
He mocked both the Jewish and Christian faiths by declaring an “Everlasting” peace because, as it is written, an everlasting peace only comes from God (Isaiah 9:6, Ezekiel 37:26, Zachariah 9:10, Revelation 21:3).
Then he turned around and threatened further violence if Hamas didn’t do what he said. The president continues to listen to his evil heart, instead of submitting to God’s authority:
- Prideful
- Arrogant
- Uncompassionate
- Vengeful
Interestingly enough, Prime Minister Netanyahu did not attend the peace summit in Egypt to sign the peace deal. To no one’s surprise, the “Everlasting peace” President Trump brokered ended less than 24 hours after the president signed the deal. Hamas and Israel exchanged fire within the Gaza Strip.
Hamas violently and publicly executed innocent Palestinians on the world stage. Evil can only produce evil fruit, regardless of spiritual beliefs or political affiliation (John 15:4-5, James 3:12.
Shockingly, many Bible believing Christians, educated Christians, still support an antichrist in Washington that does the opposite of what our Lord commands us, just as Scripture predicted; they continue to listen to their Yetzer Hara (Matthew 24:10-11)!
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