How Does Evil Affect God’s Perfection?

Who’s To Blame?

As we continue our look into the evil of this world and how that affects our Lord, I want to strongly encourage you, if you haven’t already, to read the last blog post that we made on this topic. This is not just a topic that is similar in language, but rather it is a continuation of what we’ve already discussed. Terms like ‘theodicy’ and ‘compatibilistic theodicy’ would be recommended to know, and we go over both of these terms in our previous post. Earlier this week we discussed why God allows evil, and this week we will be going even deeper on this topic by looking at how this evil affects God’s perfection. Now if you’ve been following along with this blog or if you’ve been a Christian for quite some time, you know that the answer to this prompt is simply, ‘it doesn’t’, and you’d technically be correct. As looked at last week, God uses evil for His glory all of the time, and while we may not know the answer to why He allows certain evil aspects to take place and not others, we do know that whatever He allows, He allows for a reason, despite whether or not we may ever figure out what that reason is. This is shown to us again in Romans 8:28 “28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

So we can see here, that even though we may never know why God allows certain things, God can work all things, even evil, for good. However, the aspect we will be dissecting now is how God can remain perfect, even when He allows evil, despite it being used for good. Sure, it’s amazing when an evil act can be turned into something positive, but wouldn’t a perfect being just be rid of all evil in the first place? Most of us would answer ‘yes’ to this question because we cannot see all of the good that can come from transforming an evil act like God Himself can. So if a perfect God can use or shut down evil whenever He wants, does this mean we should strive to do evil as much as we can to show the perfections of our Lord?!?! Thankfully, we are not the only ones in history who have dealt with such a question. Paul himself addresses this exact issue throughout the book of Romans as well, and that’s where we will dive in to find the answer to this seemingly ongoing question. 

Paul’s Questioning

To start, let’s look at what Paul says in Romans 6:1-2 “1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? 2 Far from it! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Right away, we see Paul asking a very similar question and how does he answer it? He shuts down the idea of intentionally doing evil and committing sin completely! Paul argues that while God can use evil, it is up to Him to decide when to use it, not us. He then doubles down on this point by asking, ‘How can we claim we died to sin while we still live in it?’. Just as we discussed last week, who do we see being blamed for sin here? Us!!! It’s all of mankind’s fault that sin and evil are alive in this world, not God’s. Therefore, God’s original intent remains, to die to sin, and not commit evil. Just because God can rescue us from evil, doesn’t mean we should continue to commit it. This questioning goes back and forth throughout all of Romans 6 and 7 and Paul shuts down every opportunity where people may try to excuse their evil and sin. This, in essence, is why evil does not affect God’s perfection. Because while on the one hand, God allows and uses evil, on the other, it is never something He commands or makes us commit. Our Lord Himself gave us Jesus Christ to die for all of our sins, and on top of that, has filled us with His spirit to lead us away from our sinful past. God remains perfect because He has made the only way possible for mankind to escape sin and evil, while at the same time, remaining the only being who can still use the evil that people commit for good. When we view God from the lens of His word, we can see that all evil is from a fallen, corrupt mankind, and all good comes from God and God alone. 

Perfection Prevails

This is the conclusion that Paul himself comes to in Romans 7 when he is debating the conflict between two natures. In this chapter, Paul is debating how sin can exist in him while knowing that he has been saved by Christ. He comes to this particular conclusion in Romans 7:21-23 “21 I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, the law which is in my body’s parts.” Paul here describes ‘two laws’ that are waging war in his being, the law of God in his mind, and the law of sin in his body. This may sound absurd to anyone who may not be saved, but to those who have repented and believed in the gospel, you know exactly what Paul is talking about. When we are saved by Christ, the war of sin and holiness begins in our lives and proceeds every day, the more we are made like Christ. This again, is how our gracious, and merciful God remains perfect in His nature. 

God uses evil acts for His glory, while at the same time, refusing to leave us in a state that can’t overcome sin. He has given us the gospel of Jesus Christ to atone for sin once and for all. Perhaps no one says it better than Warren Weirsbe when he notes, “What could be more wretched than exerting all your energy to try to live a good life, only to discover that the best you do is still not good enough! Is there any deliverance? Of course! ‘I thank God that there is someone who shall deliver me-Jesus Christ our Lord!’ Because the believer is united to Christ, he is dead to the law and no longer under its authority. But he is alive to God and able to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit.” The only being that can make a corrupt, fallen, and sinful people holy again, is a perfect, holy being itself. Paul realized this when he came to the same conclusion at the end of Romans 7, in verses 24 and 25, “24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

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Sources

[1] “Access Your Bible from Anywhere.” BibleGateway.Com: A Searchable Online Bible in over 150 Versions and 50 Languages., www.biblegateway.com/. Accessed 2023.

[2] Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary New Testament Volume II Ephesians – Revelation. Colorado Springs, David Cook, 2008