I have witnessed many people saying things like “God allows evil things to happen.” That’s simply not true. It seems to stem from the idea that because God doesn’t stop evil from happening in every moment, it is somehow God’s permissiveness.
It is not.
People make all sorts of incorrect statements about God and what He does. When bad things happen, it is not because God allows them or causes them to be. It is also not true that He stands by and lets moral evils occur. That’s just NOT Biblical.
When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he chose for the entire human race to know calamity and how to alleviate it. Adam fell as a result of insurrection by an enemy.
That enemy and his minions have a certain fate guaranteed by the work on the cross. The Bible says the demons tremble. That’s because they have no redemption. However, humans can be redeemed by the work of Jesus on the cross. They have a respite of punishment as the wages of sin is satisfied. It is a day of salvation whereby they can be snatched from a sure fatal end.
The choice for humans amongst the evil doings in this world is to be rescued or perish.
Evil happens. The kind of evil I speak of is moral evil, those heinous things that happen. There are many things that come to pass that do not arise in the mind of God nor happen because He decrees or commands them to be.
They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My heart.
Jeremiah 7:31
As we see there, things happened that weren’t decreed, allowed, or even controlled by God.
God is also not standing by letting things happen.
Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed swiftly, the heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil. Since one who sins may do evil a hundred times and extend his life, I also have experienced that it will be good for those who fear God when they have reverence before Him.
Ecclesiastes 8:11–12
He’s not powerless, nor standing by at all. Punishment doesn’t happen immediately because of the stay from the cross. Many mistake that respite as impotence, reluctance, or indifference. God is not powerless, nor is He disinclined to act. He sent Jesus to die! It proves God loves us and is intentional in that. There’s a reason why it seems punishment is delayed. He puts up with it maximizing the number of people who can be saved.
Do you despise the riches of His goodness, tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:4
Don’t be a person who despises His tolerance and patience. Those wrong ideas lead to making falsities about Him when the truth is supposed to lead us to repentance.
I suppose some of the fault comes because of teachers building on others’ error without taking the time to ensure a correct understanding. Sometimes these teachings are picked up by pastors and theologians because it sounds Biblical. Not because it is biblical.
Each of us has a responsibility to ensure what we are taught is really real. The blame rests squarely on the person who is not noble in understanding the things of God. It is painfully evident when one hears sad news about a person by a flippant “Hod is sovereign.” It’s like blaming the bad stuff on God.
Learn to do the noble thing like in Acts 17:11.
God is a good, good Father.
