The enemy is a master of illusion; he knows how to make evil things look beautiful. We fall for his enticements because we have not cultivated the ability to distinguish between good and evil. Without discernment—the ability to make wise distinctions and decisions—our spiritual defeat is inevitable.
Do not be overcome by evil ... (ROM 12:21) "Do not be overcome" is a present, passive, imperative of the verb nikao with the negative me. In Greek, when a negative is used with a present, imperative, it is a command to stop doing something that you are doing. These believers in Rome were being conquered by evil.
The preposition hupo, translated here "by," means "under the control of." There are several words for "evil," but the word used here, kakos, refers to something rotten to the core, harmful, malignant, but something which may look very, very good. The Romans were being deceived by appearances. They were thinking of some evil things as good. But Paul orders them by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop being conquered by this rotten cancer.
[Click here for The Doctrine of Evil]
The prophet Isaiah issued an even harsher injunction to the people of his day: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and clever in their own sight!" (ISA 5:20-21).
Perhaps the greatest test in our lives as believers is the test of evil, and yet most believers do not even know what evil is. Evil is the policy of Satan. As such, it is anything that opposes God's creative intent. The essence of evil is independence of God. Anything that man does on his own is evil, because man was never intended to function independently of God.
Christianity is weak today because most Christians think that evil is simply sin, and because they think that, they are waging a war that has already been won and totally ignoring the war that is still in progress. Sin is only one manifestation of evil. The war against sin was won at the cross, where judgment for every sin that had ever been or would ever be committed was poured out on Jesus Christ. No one will ever be judged for sins. But evil has other manifestations, the most often ignored of which is human good. The human good produced by believers is the wood, hay, and stubble that will be burned up at the Judgment Seat of Christ (lCo 3:11-15; 2CO 5:10). The human good produced by unbelievers is the deeds judged at the Great White Throne. Apart from faith in Christ, no one will measure up to the righteousness of God, and therefore their deeds will condemn them (Jud 14-15; REV 20:11-15). ... but overcome evil with good. (ROM 12:21) Paul had a solution for the evil in these defeated believers' lives. Instead of being conquered, Paul says, "overcome." He uses alla, the strongest conjunction of contrast in the Greek language, with the present, active, imperative of nikao. He is saying, "In total and complete contrast to your being conquered, you choose to stand up and keep on conquering evil."
How are they going to do that? There is only one way evil can ever be conquered—with good. The phrase translated "with good" is en to agatho, "in the good" or in the sphere of good." Agathos is one of two Greek words for "good;" it means absolute good, intrinsic good. Paul is talking about divine good, that which can be produced only by God.
Divine good is produced through believers by the working of the Spirit of God together with the Word of God. The Spirit works through us only when He is in control, when we have no unconfessed sins in our lives and so are filled with the Spirit. But if we do not have truth stored in our souls, we have made the Holy Spirit a workman without tools. The work He wants to do in and through us He will do only with the Word. That is why we feed on the Word every day. The more we store in our souls, the more the Holy Spirit has to work with and the more He will accomplish through our lives.
Active discernment is a product of this balance of the Word and the Spirit in our souls. Wisdom, which comes only from the Word, is insight into the true nature of things and the ability to know what action to take. But knowing what to do is never enough—we need courage, and the kind of courage we need comes only from the Holy Spirit, the Paraklete, the Encourager.
[Click here for The Value of Wisdom]
*This material was originally a highlighted topic in "The Basics". Additional topics can be found here
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