ROMANS 8:28–39
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose
(Romans 8:28).
If God is good and sovereign, how can He allow evil in His world? First of all, what is evil? Christianity teaches that sin is any lack of conformity to God’s standards of righteousness. In philosophical terms evil is defined in terms of the negation of the good, a lack of goodness. In other words the only way we can describe evil is in negative terms. Thus, evil, by its very nature, is a parasite.
Saint Augustine put it this way: Only something good can do something evil. He meant something happens in a good being so that he has lost that goodness. When God created angels and men, He created them good. But the difference between the Creator and the creature is that God is unchangeably good, while the creature can fall away from good. It is possible for the creature to become wrongly related to the Creator. God cannot do evil because He cannot deny Himself.
Now we come to a second question: Does God ordain evil? There is only one possible answer to this question. Yes. If God did not ordain evil, there would be no evil. If there is evil going on and God did not ordain it, then God is not God. If there is something going on over which God is not in control, then something other than God is the sovereign of the universe—and this simply cannot be.
Now this is a bit tricky. We sometimes think that if God ordains evil, it means He imposes evil on people. However, when we say that God ordains evil, we mean He is mysteriously sovereign over all things that take place, including evil, yet without ever being the author of sin.
This brings us to a last question: Why did God ordain evil? I have no idea. We know all that God does is good and has a good purpose, but we cannot pry into the mysterious reasons God has for all the things He does.
CORAM DEO
Psalms 50–52
Acts 27:1–26
WEEKEND
Psalms 53–58
Acts 27:27–28:16
If the universe simply is, then there is no such thing as good or evil, justice or injustice. There is only “yin and yang,” or some other meaningless distinction. Only Christianity can give meaning to the world and explain the reality of evil and God’s victory over it in Christ. While the Christian view of evil is difficult to understand, think of the difficulties encountered by non-Christian perspectives.
For further study: James 1:13–24; The Providence of God series
WEEKEND