Is Everyone Evil?
Many non-Christians don’t accept the concept of sin—the transgression of some higher moral law. It doesn’t fit with modern scientific method. Yet, paradoxically, there are instances when they’re compelled to use words such as evil to describe people who have performed some unspeakably horrible things to fellow human beings.
Look at the terminology used to describe the arrest of several of the Bali bombers: headlines screamed “the face of evil.” Terrorists, mass murderers, child molesters—the world views such people as different from the majority of humanity. Rotten to the core.
They are fundamentally flawed and unable to be changed. The Simpsons’ Dr Hibbert would suggest they have “the evil gene.”
But the apostle Paul said all have sinned and “fall short” of God’s law. So that makes all of us flawed to a greater or lesser degree. Jesus equates hate with murder, not to lessen the seriousness of murder but to point out the blackness in all our hearts and to show that God doesn’t prioritise sins in the same way we think reasonable.
He sees it as one problem, and then wipes the lot through His forgiveness. All we need do is repent.
But hang on, you say, if someone like serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer or Osama bin Laden repents, does that mean they get away scot-free and don’t pay any penalty for their crimes?
Receiving God’s forgiveness doesn’t mean we avoid justice. The Bible shows He cares strongly about justice.
And someone who’s truly sorry will accept that they’ve done wrong and face the punishment. Moses, for example, was exiled for 40 years for murder, then wasn’t allowed to enter the Promised Land for disobeying God’s command later. But when it comes to getting into heaven, Jesus has already paid the price.
And whether we’ve sinned “a lot” or “only a little” makes little difference; the wages are still the same. Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers (see Matthew 20) tells us this. And He demonstrated it to the thief on the cross.
This may seem absurd—“it’s unfair,” cried the vineyard workers—and it would certainly seem that way. But if we don’t believe in God’s grace, then we accept only law, which dooms us to failure and rejection.
No-one can measure up to God’s perfect standards. Whether we’re a terrorist, murderer or a minister of religion. Good thing, then, that our God is more generous than we can comprehend.
So is everyone evil? Well, we’re all sinners, but the incredible thing is, God offers us a second chance.
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Articles of interest:
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This is an extract from June 2004
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