Abhor What is Evil

Part two of three on Romans 12:9

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” Romans 12:9

As Christians we have grown far too comfortable with sin. Gossip, hypocrisy, sexual immorality, greed, idolatry, gluttony, and laziness run rampant through the church. Sin is killing us.

One of the biggest reasons why is simple. We have failed to “abhor what is evil” like Romans 12:9 commands us. We have foolishly come to believe that we can live at peace with evil. We take God’s word for granted, but are somehow shocked when we suffer the consequences.

When the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites, King David gathered his men to escort the Ark back to his home. But instead of having Levites carry the Ark as God had instructed, they put the Ark on a cart pulled by oxen. The compromise seems small. After all, the distance they had to travel was quite long. Did God really expect them to carry the ark all that way? When we fail to abhor evil we allow Satan to whisper in our ear “did God actually say?” (Genesis 3:1)

“Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:6-7)

God’s response seems harsh because we have become so comfortable with sin we are surprised when God actually punishes it. According to theologian R.C. Sproul the mistake that Uzzah made was believing his hands were cleaner than dirt. You see, the dirt was not disobeying God’s commands, Uzzah and his fellow Israelites were.

If we want to become serious about killing sin, we must become serious about abhorring evil. What evil is God calling you to finally hate the same way He does?

Karl

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You can purchase a copy of Karl’s new book, Killing Sin, right here!