“The fear of the Lord is to hate evil…”.   

Proverbs 8:13 KJV

As the people of God, there are some things that we should hate!   Such a statement sounds strange to some.  It seems totally contradictory to the message of the Gospel! After all, the scripture clearly declares that “God is love!”  (1 John 4:8). And as followers of Christ, we are called to love one another with the Love of Christ. (John 13:35).   Such love, which the Lord provides,  identifies us as God’s people!   It separates us from the world!   But if we truly love the Lord and seek to honor Him and follow Him, there will be some things that we hate!

As God’s people we will hate the things that God hates.   And yes, there are some things that God hates.  There is an impressive list in Prov. 6: 17-19.  In looking at that list we can quickly see that God hates every form of evil!    He hates sin which is the root of all evil expression.   The Evangelist Paul Washer said it well:   “Don’t tell me about your new relationship with Jesus!   Tell me about your new relationship with sin!   As a follower of Christ, do we hate the things that God hates?  And do we love the things that God loves?”   The Lord loves all people, but He hates the sin that enslaves and wrecks their lives!   He hates every form and every expression of evil!   So should we!

We should also hate the lies of our culture.  The lie that says that you can choose your gender.  The lie that says a baby is not a human and it is OK to kill the baby as long as there is a small portion of its foot still in the birth canal.   The lie that says that it is OK to permanently mutilate young children’s bodies when they are too immature to make such life-altering decisions.  The lie that says the state knows how to raise children better than parents do.  The lie that says that government is more efficient than private enterprise. The lie that says you can tax a nation into prosperity.   The lie that says you can permanently spend more than you make without any negative consequences.   The lie that says that everyone is entitled and everyone is a victim.  The lie that says no one is responsible for their actions.  And we could go on and on!   

Such lies degrade, enslave, and destroy people’s lives.  They can also destroy communities.  And as God’s people,  we should hate those things!   We should stand against those things. And do all that we can as God’s people to fight with our voices and our vote against those who proclaim and promote such lies!

Rev. James W. Black.

“…Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.  Fight the good fight of faith…”. 

1 Tim. 6:11-12 ESV

When we surrender our life to Christ,  we quickly become aware that we are in a conflict.   It is a conflict between the Light of Christ who now resides within us and the powers of darkness that surround us.  Before we knew Christ, we may have recognized certain aspects of the darkness but we were not in conflict with it because we were also a part it.   We were blinded and enslaved by that darkness and did not even know it.  Once  Christ set us free, our eyes were opened for the first time and we could see what before was hidden from us.   Then, to our surprise, we discovered ourselves in direct conflict with the very darkness we once enslaved us!       

The Apostle Paul was well aware of this.  With that in mind, he encouraged Timothy to pursue godliness.   And in doing so he challenged him to “fight the good fight of faith.”    It is notable that Paul called it a fight.  But in reality it is!  We soon discover that there are three different adversaries that we must stand and fight against. 

The first one is our own sinful, fleshly nature that resists and sometimes rebels at the idea of submitting to Christ in a particular area.  (Rom. 7:21).  The second one is the lies of the adversary that attack us in our mind.  Those lies question the love of God, the goodness of God, the grace of God, and the faithfulness of God. (Gen.3:1). The third one is the culture at large that has no knowledge of God and is totally opposed to the ways of God. (1 John 2:16).    All three areas rise-up to fight against us when we embrace, lift up. and carry the banner of Christ. 

The best news about this fight is that it has already been won for us in Christ.  All we are required to do is to stand and obey. (Eph. 6:10-13).  He has already provided everything that is needed to enforce and experience the victory.  (2 Pet. 1:3). Therefore, let us resolve to “fight the good fight of faith” with absolute confidence.  We have nothing to fear! 

James W. Black