Jennifer Rothnie Supporter Housewife, Artist, Perpetually Curious

God does not allow evil. 

The definition of allow is to 'give permission for or legally permit'; 'to grant something to a person as a right'; 'to permit via neglect or oversight'; to 'deliberately set apart time or opportunity for', 'to approve or sanction'. Allow implies granting or conceding a right to do something, or at least the complete absence of intent to hinder something.

It is clear from scripture that God does not legally permit evil (Psa 34:15-16, Prov 8:13, Amos 5:15, Psa 45:7), he does not treat evil as a right or necessity (James 1:13, Psa 97:10), he does not permit evil via oversight or neglect (Job 34:21, Psa 33:12-15, John 7:7), he does not deliberately make opportunity for evil to occur (James 1:13-15), and He does not approve or sanction evil (Jer 7:30-31, I Pet 3:10-12). 

In fact, God -forbids- evil, hates it, does not permit it, punishes it, and asks us all to turn from it; the exact opposite of allowance. (I Pet 3:9, Rom 12:9-17, Prov 8:13, Jer 25:5, Isa 1:16, Rom 6:15-17, Psa 26:5, Prov 24:19-20, etc).

By one man, Adam, sin entered the world. With sin came death for all men. (Rom 5:12). Even the physical world was subject to bondage (Rom 8:18-24) Yet before Adam had even been created, God had set in motion His eternal plan to bring eternal life and righteousness through Christ and liberate creation. (Rom 5:12-19, Rev 13:8, Rom 8:18-30, Heb 1:1-4, Heb 9:23-28).

The eternal plan revolves around redemption in Christ, not around God stopping men from doing evil or punishing evil immediately. This does not mean God allows evil in these instances; far from it; but that in grace He has postponed judgement. This is due to God's character traits of forbearance, long-suffering, and mercy. God, in patient endurance, may delay judgment for the sake of man that man might have time to repent. (Rom 4:3-5, II Pet 3:9-15).

We see an example of this patience in I Pet 3:20, where God patiently waited an extra 120 years (Gen 6:3) to being judgement upon a wicked world (Gen 6:5-8). Only Noah and his family entered the ark and were spared (Gen 6:8-22, Gen 7:1-23). The ark is a picture of how Christ covers our sins as an atoning sacrifice, sparing us from the wrath of God, and how we are raised with Christ by His Resurrection (I Pet 2:30-22, Rom 8:10-11, Luke 12:49-50).

When people use the phrase 'God allows evil', they are probably wondering why God does not immediately punish evil, or prevent it from ever occurring in the first place. After all, it stands to reason that an omniscient and omnipotent God would certainly have the power to stop evil, and a benevolent God would not wish evil to happen. 

It is true that God has the power to stop evil, and that He does not wish evil to happen. That is why He sent Christ - to put an end to sin and death (Rom 6:5-22, Dan 9:24, Heb 9:11-27, Luke 12:49-50).

If God prevented evil from ever happening, there would be no need for Christ to have come to redeem us, and no eternal life with Christ. We could speculate that perhaps we all would be living in an Earthly paradise in Eden, eating of the tree of life and physically living forever, and perhaps even able to talk with God as Adam did. From an earthly perspective, that seems pleasant. 

Yet, there would be no indwelling Holy Spirit, no personal relationship with Christ, no familial relationship as children of God, and God would not dwell with us. Our comprehension of blessings and joy would be far less, for we would have no comprehension of suffering or evil. As we would be prevented from ever making a choice outside of God's will, our personalities would be stilted and there would be no growth nor conforming to the image of Christ. How much greater we can love when we have been forgiven (Luke 7:47), and how much greater our joy when a hope is fulfilled (Tit 2:11-14, Rom 15:4-13)!

Despite evil in the world, we know that "our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us." Rom 8:18

December 15 2015 • 10 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

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