Rev 2:2 2/10/82; Rom 12 4/3/78, 16 10/3/78; Phil 4/13/78;

THE DOCTRINE OF EVIL

A. Definition.

1. Evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world. Evil is the modus operandi of Satan from the time of his fall throughout the angelic revolution and down to the point when be became the ruler of the world.

2. Evil is Satan’s failure to produce a system of good in mankind and society that would bring in a pseudo-millennium.

3. Evil is Satan’s system by which he administers the rulership of this world. Satan cannot restrain sin, and he parlays human good into sin and evil.

4. All evil has two sources: sin and erroneous thinking, and human good (the motivation of evil) and erroneous thinking. Where the sin of self-righteousness plus human good or sincerity combine, there is a saturation of evil in a nation.

5. The principle is that if Satan as the ruler of this world is not capable of ruling the world he controls, then no man can rule it either. Man cannot solve his problems by human solutions. All solutions to the problems of life depend on the imputation of God’s perfect righteousness.

6. Evil is the function and innovation of that person who is consistently involved in the cosmic system.

7. Evil is the adverse trend of society. It is the destruction of society, the malfunction of society, and the removal of legitimate authority and its function under category one truth, i.e., the laws of divine establishment.

8. Just as grace and doctrine represent the genius of God in relationship to the human race, so evil represents the genius of Satan in relationship to the human race.

9. The soul is the battleground of every believer in the Church Age, especially because this is the intensified stage of the angelic conflict. What you think is more important than you realize.

10. There are two ways of thinking.

a. Divine viewpoint is thinking doctrine, which glorifies Christ.

b. Human viewpoint is thinking evil, which dishonors Christ.

c. Therefore, the issue is thought versus thought.

11. Recovery from sin is instantaneous through the use of the rebound technique, but recovery from evil takes a long time through post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation.

12. Evil is the human good panacea which attempts to solve the problems of life apart from doctrine and divine establishment. Doctrine and establishment came first, being from the mind of God.

13. Evil is often a distortion of doctrine or a distortion of the laws of divine establishment. Satan’s original sin was a distortion of doctrine. Evil distorts law and order, substituting evil, as in crime.

14. Evil comes in many forms: altruistic humanitarianism, philanthropy, religion, legalism, reversionism, socialism, political internationalism, government interference, distortion of the law, bribery in government, cutting down the military, gun legislation, sociology, public welfare, the common wheel, and the United Nations.

a. Evil is the misconception of “brotherly love.”

b. The whole idea of government trying to abolish sickness, mental illness, economic problems, frustrations, and human problems by legislation and human solutions is evil. The world’s problems can never be solved apart from Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment.

c. Evil also includes social action, the social Gospel, restriction of human freedom for the greater good, the distortion of law to solve social and economic problems; i.e., the interference of government in business and free enterprise, setting restrictive regulations, legislating car requirements, government quotas, gun legislation, catering to minorities; these are all illegal and distorted laws.

d. However, the greatest of all evils is religion. Legalism and apostasy are the greatest manifestations of evil.

e. Evil includes all systems of Christian function outside of and apart from the local church. God only ordained and authorized one institution, and that is the local church. God has ordained and authorized the local church as the only vehicle for spiritual growth in the dispensation of the Church. No one has authority over believers in the spiritual realm except for the pastor-teacher, who must teach doctrine in the local church.

f. This means that not only are denominations evil, but so are independent service organizations. Most denominations last about 100 years.

g. Evil is what you think as an apostate, reversionistic liberal, a bleeding-heart, guilty type.

15. So the worst and most detrimental thing that can happen to a believer is to come under the influence of evil. The recovery from evil is lengthy and very painful.

16. Evil is every deviation from Bible doctrine and the laws of divine establishment.

B. Etymology.

1. Hebrew.

a. Noun AWEN means evil in the sense of nothingness or vanity.

b. Adjective RA means evil, bad, worthless (RAA comes from RA).

c. Noun ROA means badness of quality, evil.

d. Verb RAA means to be evil.

2. Greek.

a. Adjective KAKOS means evil, bad, worthless.

b. Adverb KAKOS means wickedly.

c. Noun KAKIA means depravity or wickedness; e.g., religion.

d. Adjective PONEROS means evil, worthless, degenerate; as a noun means the evil one (Satan).

e. Noun PONERIA means maliciousness, sinfulness.

f. PHALLOS means evil in the sense of worthless.

C. The Origin of Evil: Satan.

1. Evil originated and existed before human history. The means by which it was transmitted from previous creature existence to human history is Satan himself.

2. The origin of evil is Satan’s genius to devise a system to oppose God.

3. Evil originated in angelic creation in the greatest creature to ever come from the hand of God.

4. Profile of Satan. (Also see the doctrine of Satanic Strategy.)

a. He is the highest of all creatures.

b. He is the ruler of one-third of all angels, Mt 8:28, 9:34, 12:26; Lk 11:18-19.

c. If Satan could take on human appearance, as fallen angels did before the Flood, he would be the most beautiful, smartest, and strongest of all human beings. He would have every form of attractiveness.

e. He is the central antagonist of the angelic conflict, Heb 1- 2; Gen 6; 1 Pet 3:18-22.

d. Being a super-genius, he is a great organizer, Eph 6.

e. He is the original murderer, 1 Jn 2; Jn 8:44.

f. He is the ruler of the world, Lk 4:5-7; Jn 12:31, 16:11; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:2. He has set up a system of administration whereby Mr. Hyde can function in Dr. Jekyll.

5. Satan has devised a system whereby people can be nice, lovely, and look good to society, and yet behind the facade of good there lurks an evil, destructive person who is often self-deceived.

6. Satan controls most of Christianity through his cosmic system. The thing that makes people function in the cosmic system is arrogance.

7. Satan’s plan is related to beating Christ to the Millennium with his own the production of a perfect world. The more the world follows his plan, the greater the degeneracy which occurs. His plan seeks equality by destroying success and failure with legislation.

8. Satan’s plans always look good to the stupid, but it always results in degeneracy. L. S. Chafer put it best in his Systematic Theology, Vol 2, pp. 100-1, 108-111.

9. 1 Jn 3:8, “When anyone commits a sin, he has become the agent of the devil.”

a. The old sin nature is usually the source of temptation; volition is the only source of sin.

b. Your decision to sin puts you immediately into the cosmic system, making you the agent of the devil.

c. The works of the devil can only be destroyed by residence and function inside the divine dynasphere. We are the products of our own decisions; therefore, we bring disaster on ourselves.

10. Satan’s strategy regarding nations is found in Rev 12:20; regarding unbelievers in 2 Pet 2; Lk 8:12; 2 Cor 4:34; 2 Thes 2:7-10; Col 2:8; Rev 17; regarding believers in 2 Cor 2:11; to accuse believers in Job 1:6-11; Zech 3:1-2; Rev 12:9-10. 1 Jn 2:1-2 teaches that the Lord defends us.

11. Satan seeks to frustrate the will of God with every believer; i.e., regarding what we think, Eph 4:14; where we are located, 1 Thes 2:18; and what we do, Jas 4:7-8. He especially seeks to keep us from functioning at gate 4 of the divine dynasphere, where we learn and apply Bible doctrine. He seeks to destroy the believer’s focus so that he gets his eyes on other people, on himself (in self-pity), or on things, (e.g., logistical grace is not sufficient).

12. Arrogance is the system by which Satan keeps you functioning in the devil’s world without going crazy. His system is designed to distract believers by entertainment, improving the world (crusader arrogance), occupation with temporal solutions to man’s problems, social action, the welfare state, communism, fear, and religion.

13. Religion is created by Satan to counterfeit the plan of God. Religion is man seeking approbation from God on the basis of his works. Satan counterfeits the following.

a. The Gospel, 2 Cor 4:3-4.

b. Ministers, 2 Cor 11:13-15.

c. Doctrine, 2 Tim 4:1.

d. The communion table, 2 Cor 10:19-21.

e. Spirituality, Gal 3:2-3.

f. Righteousness, Mt 19:16-28.

g. The power and dynamics of the divine dynasphere, 2 Thes 2:8-10.

h. He has counterfeit gods, 2 Thes 2:3-4.

i. Counterfeit function in the cosmic system, Mt 23:13-26.

14. Satan’s system of false teachers is part of his strategy. They have a phony and hypocritical facade, Mt 7:15; Rom 16:18. They use human public relations as a system of flirtation, Gal 4:17-18; 2 Tim 3:5-7. They appeal to arrogance and pride, 2 Cor 10:12. They promote idolatry as part of the devil’s communion table.

D. Characteristics of Evil.

1. Evil is a factor that the believer must face which was not judged at the cross. The believer must realize that he cannot confess evil in something like the rebound technique, because evil was not judged at the cross.

2. Human good and evil have been an issue since the fall of man, both before and after the cross. After the cross, the angelic conflict must continue in order to be resolved. The angelic conflict can only be resolved through human volition. Positive volition toward the cross results in faith in Jesus Christ, solving the problem of sin. But salvation could not resolve human good, lust, and evil, because the angelic conflict must continue with some issue.

3. Man must be free to express his volition toward salvation, and toward sin after salvation in the rebound technique. But evil must continue or there is no angelic conflict. This is because Satan must have his “equal time.” Therefore, human good and evil continue right down to the Second Advent.

4. Man must not only be free to express his volition toward the cross and toward sin after being saved in rebound, but he must also be free to express his volition in the same way Christ did on the cross when He rejected, separated from, and divorced Himself from human good and evil. This takes a lot of doctrine for the believer to do this experientially. The believer’s positive volition toward doctrine develops divine viewpoint thinking which rejects evil.

5. Anything not judged does not have a one-second solution. In one second, you can believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. Likewise, in one second you can confess a sin and be forgiven. But there is no one-second solution to anything dealing with evil.

6. That’s why the post-salvation epistemological rehabilitation is a daily thing that must go on and on and on in order that you might be able to resist evil. The more doctrine you have, the more you reject evil.

7. All human good is the application of evil to experience.

8. The whole purpose of water baptism as a picture of retroactive positional truth was to teach the rejection of evil.

9. Evil and its various aspects become the greatest distraction to doctrine, because it catches doctrine at the point of your thinking.

E. Biblical Documentation.

1. The mature believer should be able to distinguish between sin and evil and between evil and honor. Heb 5:13-14, “But solid food [sound doctrine] is belonging to the mature, the ones who because of academic self-discipline keep having their perceptive faculties well-trained with reference to differentiating between both the honorable and the evil.” Therefore, the mature believer rightly divides the Word of Truth so as to distinguish between sin and evil. 2. Motivating evil exists in the thought pattern of the soul. Evil and degeneracy start with a thought.

a. Mt 6:23, “But if your eye is evil, the entire body is full of darkness [cosmic involvement].”

b. Mt 15:19, “For out of the right lobe comes evil thoughts.”

3. The balance of residency of the soul (Bible doctrine plus filling of the Holy Spirit; i.e., residence, function, momentum inside the divine dynasphere) avoids thinking evil. Impersonal love from maximum doctrine in the soul eliminates evil. It takes lots of doctrine to reject evil, Prov 23:7.

4. The divine dynasphere is the only real protection against evil. 1 Cor 13:5, “The love [virtue-love] does not behave dishonorably, is not preoccupied with self, is not hypersensitive, does not think evil.” “Love” refers to virtue-love. Personal love can think evil, but impersonal love, a function of the royal family honor code, cannot think evil. It is virtue- love which defeats evil.

5. The believer in the cosmic system is constantly frustrated by evil. Rom 7:19, “For what I desire I do not do, but what I do not desire [evil], this I keep practicing.” Rom 7:21. Sincere do-gooders are the major practicers of evil. The more involved you are in sincere human good crusades, the more you intensify your evil.

6. Therefore, the believer is warned to beware of those who practice evil, Phil 3:2. Even legitimate things are mutilated or distorted. To beware does not necessarily mean to avoid but to understand. You never get over the mutilation of your norms and standards by evil. (Elijah #1-3)

7. Believers are specifically warned not to be influenced by evil but by doctrine in 3 Jn 11. “Beloved, do not be imitators of the evil but of the good.”

8. False doctrine is both evil and insanity. Eccl 9:3 refers to psychotic arrogance.

9. Those who are under the influence of evil always have a price. 1 Tim 6:10, “The love of money is the root of all evils.” It is a dangerous temptation to any poor believer to chase after money so as to neglect Bible doctrine. Actually, this verse applies to the love of any detail of life.

10. Influence by evil explains why prayers are not answered, Job 35:9- 13. Rebounding doesn’t erase the influence of evil. Job 35:12, “There they cry out, but He does not answer because of the pride of evil men.” This explains the pattern of saying no to truth, building scar tissue on the soul, intensifying arrogance into self-pity, self-righteousness, and guilt, and therefore coming to believe the lie.

11. Believers are often led into the cosmic system and evil by their Christian friends.

a. 1 Cor 15:33, “Evil companions corrupt good morals.”

b. 2 Thes 3:2-3, “That we may be delivered from perverse and evil men, for all believers do not have doctrine; but the Lord is faithful and He will strengthen you and protect you from evil.”

12. God protects that believer inside the divine dynasphere who has positive volition to doctrine.

a. Prov 12:21, “No evil happens to the righteous.”

b. Ps 37:17, “But the Lord sustains the righteous.”

c. Ps 91:10, “No evil will befall you; you who love the Lord hate evil. The Lord preserves the souls of His mature ones; He delivers them from the hands of the evil one.” Ps 119:101.

d. Ps 121:7, “The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will guard your soul.” Prov 1:33.

e. Prov 2:11-13, “The wise sees the evil and hides himself, but the stupid goes on and is punished for it.”

13. The attitude of the mature believer toward evil is stated in Ps 84:10. “For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand days in the cosmic system. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of My Lord than to dwell in the tents of evil.”

14. Submission to the authority of establishment prevents evil and the influence of evil, Eccl 8:2-5. A leader can do anything he wants in his private life as long as he does his job well as a leader. Rulers do have a right to their privacy.

15. The laws of divine establishment are designed to protect the citizens of the nation from evil. Rom 13:3-4 implies that the unbeliever can function in the divine dynasphere at gate 3 when he follows establishment truth. “Do you desire not to fear the authority? Therefore, keep on doing the good and you will have recognition from it. For it [government] is a minister of God to you for the purpose of good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not wear the sword for nothing.”

a. All crime is evil. Crime is extended by a soft society. Evil criminals must be executed. Capital punishment is designed to separate out evil crimes.

b. Evil in the soul is like hydrophobia; it must be removed from society. If it is not, crime rages wild in society.

c. Once under the influence of evil, the criminal will never change; he will always be destructive. However, criminals with no evil can be resuscitated.

d. Certain sins express evil, but not all sins are evil. Certain sins express crime, but not all sins are criminal. All believers are sinful, but that does not mean all believers are criminals.

e. So by protecting against evil, the laws of divine establishment give freedom and protection for evangelization and for the teaching of Bible doctrine.

16. The domination of good in the client nation determines its historical prosperity, while the domination of evil determines its historical judgment, Prov 12:20; Ps 34:16.

a. If the nation through its law does not remove its criminals by death, the Lord will punish the entire nation for their failure. Disaster will come in one or more forms. Isa 13:11, “Thus I will punish the world for its evil. I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud, and abase the pride of the dictator.” Isa 47:10-11.

b. The only limitation on crime is humility and respect for authority. Micah 1:12 teaches that our failure to cope with evil leads to destruction of the nation. Amos 5:14-15, “Hate evil, love good, and establish justice in the court; consequently, the Lord God of the armies will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”

17. Evil is distinguished from war and disease, Jer 28:8.

a. Sin and evil occur in war, but war as a category is not evil. War brings national freedom. The same is true of disease.

b. Our Lord said there is a time for war, a time to talk, and a time to kill.

c. War is not sin; it is inevitable and a necessity.

d. Disease in itself is not sinful, though sin and evil are associated with disease. Not all people who are sick are being disciplined by God.

F. The system of evil has two cosmic dynaspheres.

1. Cosmic one is called the interlocking systems of arrogance in which the believer grieves the Holy Spirit. Arrogance is to the believer and unbeliever in cosmic one what the filling of the Holy Spirit is to the believer in the divine dynasphere.

2. Cosmic two is called the interlocking systems of hatred in which the believer quenches the Spirit.

3. Cosmic One has the following 26 gates. (See the doctrine of Cosmic One.)

a. Mental attitude arrogance is anything related to preoccupation with self to the point of sin, human good or evil. It is satisfaction with self and dissatisfaction with others.

b. Negative volition arrogance is related to preoccupation with self causing apathy toward doctrine. The authority of the pastor or the message is rejected.

c. Impulsive arrogance is any abuse of authority.

d. Institutional arrogance is rejection of the authority, policy, and purpose of the organization.

e. Blind arrogance is the arrogance of legalism. This is being partially divorced from reality (sociopathic rather than psychotic). This includes self-righteous arrogance, which is failure to see in yourself what you criticize in others.

f. Conspiracy arrogance comes after institutional arrogance and results in a conspiracy to overthrow the purpose, policy, or authority of an organization.

g. Criminal arrogance seeks to solve problems through violence. It is total divorcement from reality. It includes terrorist and revolutionary activities.

h. Crusader arrogance is the self-righteous arrogance of trying to straighten out the world. A person places his personal standards above the law or any form of establishment or authority. When criminal arrogance interlocks with crusader arrogance, there is terrorism or revolution.

i. Psychotic arrogance is total divorcement from all reality. It is a result of bad decisions, not genetics. It is intense concentration on self. It is the emotional control of reason.

j. Sexual arrogance is preoccupation with sex and self-gratification. It is preoccupation with the body to the exclusion of the soul.

k. Genetic arrogance is assuming that greatness in life is inherited. Parents who seek recognition through the achievement of their children have this type of arrogance.

l. Political arrogance is a result as well as an interlock with crusader arrogance. It is any human panacea which offers the solution to life’s problems. Liberals and conservatives both suffer from political arrogance. It rejects the separation of church and state.

m. Client nation arrogance emphasizes the laws of divine establishment and the function of government leadership in terms of arrogance versus humility. There are three basic forms of legitimate government.

(1) Monarchy is the rule of one man in the interest of the common good, which under arrogance becomes tyranny, i.e., the rule of one man for his own advantage.

(2) Aristocracy is the rule of a group in the interest of the common good. This degenerates to an oligarchy, which is the rule of a group for their own benefit, as the cosmic system influences the nation.

(3) A republic is the rule of the better part of the people in the interest of common good. But when arrogance comes, it degenerates into a democracy, which is the rule of the worst part of the people for their own benefit.

(4) Client nation arrogance is the failure of our elected representatives and arrogant bureaucracy in trying to control the government.

(5) Client nation arrogance is the collective arrogance of a people in cosmic one.

n. In authority arrogance, the individual fails to make the most difficult transition of temporal life, which is going from the authority in the home to freedom in life. The home is organized humility. The parents’ authority is enforced humility, and child’s response to enforced humility produces genuine humility. Rejection of overt authority in life results in rejection of inward authority of the soul, and that destroys your own self-discipline.

o. Arrogance of Ignorance. Genuine humility is necessary for the transitions from authority in the home to freedom in life and from ignorance at salvation to cognizance at spiritual maturity. Genuine humility is the necessary teachability to make that transition. The arrogance of ignorance is the failure to make that transition from ignorance to cognizance in the Christian way of life.

p. In the arrogance of unhappiness, self-centeredness eliminates any capacity or possibility for happiness. Involvement in cosmic one guarantees unhappiness and leads to erroneous ideas about what constitutes happiness. This means you expect others to make you happy. Entertainment and marriage is for people who are already happy. But with the arrogance of unhappiness, you have a martyr complex which results in trying to control people by giving them a guilt complex. This is how the weak control the strong.

q. The arrogance of disillusion is called iconoclastic arrogance or the feet of clay syndrome.

(1) This begins when you put someone on a pedestal. Then when their feet of clay shows, you become disillusioned and react to whatever they represent.

(2) In other words, arrogance creates an idol of enchantment and illusion, but when the idol is shattered, arrogance is shocked and distracted and disoriented to life.

(3) As a result, the arrogant creator of the idol seeks to destroy the idol, a revenge in which the person can only gain his self-respect by destroying the thing which has allegedly destroyed his self-respect.

(4) Illusion created by arrogance is illusion destroyed by arrogance.

r. The arrogance of morality is the self-righteous arrogance of superimposing false standards of morality on others. People major in one moral thing so they can rationalize and say they are better than everyone else in that area. This is superimposing a false standard of morality on others or taking a true standard out of its context, e.g., salvation. Morality is designed to protect human freedom.

s. The arrogance of emotion is irrationality. Arrogant people stop thinking and so their emotion becomes their substitute for thought. This is total preoccupation with self related to emotion. Knowledge is the environment for thinking. Bible doctrine is the environment for decisions. Emotional arrogance fantasizes and therefore collapses under pressure.

t. In the arrogance of pseudo-generosity, a person gives because of a desire for attention, approbation, or to buy friendship or happiness. 2 Cor 9:7,11 teach that the function of genuine generosity is found in the mind.

u. Arrogance of Christian service. Loss of momentum comes from rejection of doctrine and substituting Christian service for spirituality. Christian service becomes a distraction to momentum. Production is a result of growth, never the means. Perpetuation of Christian service while in the cosmic system is the arrogance of Christian service. Arrogance mistakes Christian service for growth and momentum.

v. The arrogance of discouragement is preoccupation with self under pressure and testing. Unexplained disaster tempts the believer to feel sorry for himself. Being maligned, treated unfairly, or facing the death of loved ones are the kinds of disaster or pressure that bring this on. Mt 26:58; 1 Kg 19:10. This was Peter and Elijah’s problem.

w. Arrogance of Lust. When legitimate desire is linked with arrogance, it becomes lust. Inordinate desire is lust. Desire is not wrong, but lust is. Lust is arrogant preoccupation with one’s desires.

Ÿ Pseudo-intellectual arrogance is the superimposition of human I.Q. over spiritual I.Q. Arrogance rejects divine viewpoint. It glorifies human speculation to the exclusion of Bible doctrine, or seeks to reconcile Bible doctrine with false philosophical, psychological, and scientific speculation; e.g., gnosticism.

y. Pseudo-love arrogance is the attempt of anyone to duplicate the principles or function of true love while residing in the cosmic system.

z. The function of suicide is produced by a permanently locked-in arrogance which motivates taking one’s own life.

4. Cosmic two has the following nine gates. (See the doctrine of Cosmic Two.)

a. Negative volition to doctrine. This person resists doctrine because he is antagonistic to truth, to God, and to the things of God. He is the enemy of God’s plan. Evil, before it ever becomes a function or action, is a thought or motive. People are degenerate because of the way they think, not because of what they do. You have to be preoccupied with yourself before you can be negative to doctrine in cosmic two. This is characterized by antagonism toward everyone associated with the divine dynasphere. There are three categories of negative volition.

(1) Negative volition at God-consciousness. This is the point of accountability which occurs at different ages depending on the culture. God-consciousness can occur in a number of ways.

(a) Teleological thinking says a structure demands a designer.

(b) Cosmological thinking says the intuitive law of cause and effect demands the existence of God.

(d) Anthropological thinking says that man’s soul possesses both volition and conscience with an urge to choose right rather than wrong, and that the structure of society is based on the recognition of virtue and truth.

(e) Theological thinking says that God must exist because men universally believe in His existence. Heathen are heathen because of negative volition at God-consciousness or Gospel hearing, Rom 1:18-25.

(2) Negative volition at Gospel hearing. Rejection of Jesus Christ enters you into gate 1 of cosmic two, 1 Cor 1:18; 2 Cor 4:3-4; 2 Pet 2:20-22.

(3) Negative volition to doctrine. The believer immediately enters this gate when he rejects the communicator and/or his message. Emotional arrogance is a big reason for this. 2 Cor 6:11, “You are hindered by your own emotions.” You become selective in what you think, thus rejecting anything resembling truth. Then you lean on your emotions for pleasure, thereby misusing emotion, Rom 16:17-18.

b. Cosmic degeneration. When you become antagonistic to truth you enter into a state of degeneracy. Degeneracy is in thought long before it is in actions. Rom 1:24-27 illustrates, “they who exchange the doctrine of God for a lie.”

c. Anti-establishment occurs when the soul is antagonistic to the laws of divine establishment and authority. 2 Tim 3:2-3 teaches that this begins in the home with “disobedience to parents.” This is ingrained antagonism toward authority. Rom 1:28-32 is the best illustration of anti- establishment.

d. Cosmic panaceas.

(1) Man’s attempts to improve the world are always sponsored by Satan. Anyone’s solution sought apart from divine truth is a cosmic panacea.

(2) Cosmic panaceas rejects any salvation by grace or spirituality by grace.

(3) Instead of freedom, there is the demand for equality.

(4) “The end always justifies the means,” is the motto of the believer in cosmic two. He believes in redistribution of wealth, over- taxation, legislation to solve all problems, sameness in life, big government and little people where citizens are slaves of the state, regulation of private enterprise, confiscation of private property, and utopianism.

(5) Cosmic panaceas lead to violence, terrorism, and revolution under the principle of social engineering.

(6) The state trains the children to be obedient to the dictates of the state rather than to parents. There is a total rejection of freedom and authority.

e. Religion is Satan’s counterfeit of the plan of God. Christianity is not a religion, but is a relationship with God through the person of Jesus Christ. Religion is man by man’s efforts seeking to gain the approbation of God. 2 Cor 11 describes religious leaders.

2 Tim 3:7-8, “these religious types oppose doctrine, are men of depraved mind [degenerate], disqualified from blessing with regard to doctrine . . .” Cf. 2 Pet 2:1-3.

f. Demonism. See the doctrine of Demonism.

g. Anthropocentric academic speculation is motivated by pseudo- intellectual arrogance. This is the attempt to reconcile philosophical and scientific speculation with doctrine. When this can’t be done, the person rejects doctrine and seeks a substitute. The more arrogant you are, the more you are attracted to academic speculation.

h. The old sin nature gate. See the doctrine of the Old Sin Nature.

i. Evil as the policy of Satan.

G. Evil and the Emotional Revolt of the Soul.

1. Negative volition toward doctrine causes the believer to be changed by evil, Prov 5:13-14. Evil changes your thinking.

2. Emotion revolts in the fourth stage of reversionism against its right lobe. This is when people get into many different kinds of evil trends.

3. You can always tell historically when emotion takes over because there is a tremendous change in culture; e.g., in music and drama, which goes from being great, honorable, and romantic to being perverse, sick, imbecilic, and irrational. These pointless things apparently appeal only to those in emotional revolt of the soul. (This is why so many people still instinctively go for sports where there’s still some honesty.) But many people are still propagandized by the current music, drama, and art trends. All of this explains why men now have long hair and women have short hair, as they try to run everything in revolt.

4. Emotion has no ability to think, no standards, no honor, no morality, and no establishment.

5. Normal emotion responds to our norms and standards, to doctrine in our soul, to establishment principles in the right lobe, and it recognizes authority.

6. But emotional revolt means rejection of authority. This sets up a vacuum which sucks evil into the soul. Evil in the left lobe produces scar tissue; evil in the right lobe produces hardness of heart.

7. There is no question that Satan controls any believer who has no doctrine in his soul. Therefore, you get into a tremendous amount of human good in reversionism.

H. Grace Versus Evil.

1. Every generation has to choose between the grace policy of God, represented by the cross, and the evil policy of Satan. This issue has never left the human race. The genius of God has perpetuated the issue of volition throughout human history and throughout the human race.

2. Therefore, the issue before the royal family is: are you influenced by doctrine or by evil? Our parents in the Garden faced this same issue.

3. Grace is the means by which doctrinal principles are elucidated; evil as Satan’s policy is the means by which false doctrine is inculcated, Prov 11:18-19, 14:22, 15:3, 16:6, 22:3, 24:1-4; Eph 5:16; 2 Thes 3:2-3. These passages present some of the following principles.

a. Divine omniscience provides discipline for evil and blessing for doctrine.

b. Thinking you are an island unto yourself is in itself evil.

c. The end of the pursuit of evil for the believer is the sin unto death. This is the most suffering any believer can ever endure, but he deserves every bit of it.

d. Now, just as in the beginning, when you partake of the “forbidden fruit” of evil, you receive tremendous divine discipline. Just as what you eat from a tree becomes a part of you, so when you partake of evil it becomes a part of you. And simply by being filled with human good and evil, you bring on yourself a whole system of self-induced misery and divine discipline.

e. Eph 5:16 summarizes all these principles of evil found in Proverbs. You redeem time by the filling of the Spirit and maximum doctrine in your soul, which at the same time kills off evil.

4. Doctrine neutralizes evil in the soul, Ps 54:5; Rom 12:21.

Once under the influence of evil, the only possible recovery comes from learning doctrine.

5. The mandate regarding evil is found in Rom 12:21: “Stop being conquered by evil, but conquer evil by means of the good.” This refers to the function of the plan of God, X+Y+Z. The divine system for the administration of the good is residence and function in the divine dynasphere. Therefore, the only way to “overcome evil with good” is to advance in the plan of God through the daily perception of doctrine.

6. Evil distorts grace, Ps 38:19-20, 52:1. Grace does not come through when you are under the influence of evil.

a. The Psalm 38 passage says that anytime a person follows the absolute good and doctrine, he is subject to many attacks of evil, both subtle and obvious.

b. 1 Cor 15:33, “Be not deceived; evil companions corrupt good morals.” Many people become anti-establishment through their association with those who are influenced by evil, who are in effect evil evangelists.

7. There is no evil in God, Ps 5:4; Jas 1:13-15. It is impossible for any of God’s attributes to be evil. He is minus all the evil things Satan does all the time. That there is no evil in God indicates the great dividing line in the angelic conflict.

I. Protection from Evil.

1. The supergrace believer is protected from evil. (Here is another reason to get to supergrace!) In supergrace B or no-man’s land, all the greatest attacks of evil strike. So when you mature as a believer, you face all kinds of evil.

2. Satan wants you to drop your guard and go negative toward doctrine, Ps 21:11, 23:4; Prov 12:12,20,21; Gen 48:16. Gen 50:20, “They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.”

3. There is no coexistence with both evil and inner happiness. However, sin and happiness can coexist. Do you know anyone happier than David, or anyone who lived better than David? You can be happy living in your sins.

4. There is divine protection from evil for the positive believer.

a. Ps 37:16-19, “They [mature believers] will not be ashamed in the time of evil; in the day of depression they will still have abundance.”

b. Ps 91:10, 97:10, 119:101, 121:7; Prov 2:10-14.

c. Prov 1:33, “He who listens to Me shall live in security, and shall be at ease without fear of evil.”

d. Prov 16:6, “By occupation with the Lord, one avoids evil.”

e. Prov 19:23 teaches that there is divine protection from evil all around.

5. The more doctrine you have in your soul, the more you will love the Lord and the more you will hate evil. All thoughts in life are actually fighting over your soul, Prov 3:7.

6. The negative believer immediately finds a great deal against which he can react, and he moves into the stages of reversionism. Remember that Satan offers him a pseudo-supergrace status, paragraph, and pseudo prosperity. Satan is capable of rewarding as the ruler of the world.

7. So the constant intake of doctrine is the only insulation from evil, because doctrine goes where evil would reside; i.e., in the right lobe, and there doctrine combats evil.

J. More Principles on Evil.

1. Evil distorts establishment, Ps 50:16-21, e.g., law and order, the sanctity of marriage.

a. Evil especially distorts divine institution #2, marriage, and divine institution #3, the family.

b. Evil also rejects authority. Ps 50:18 says “for you hate authority.” Rejection of authority in every area of life is evil. This is so prevalent in our day that you would think verse 18 was written recently.

2. Reversionists are influenced by evil, Ps 36:1-4; Jn 3:19; Ps 36.

a. Evil begins at certain stages of reversionism, especially from the frantic search for happiness stage and on.

b. All reversionists are evil, for evil is the thinking of Satan and the propaganda of Satan. So anyone in reversionism is under the influence of Satan.

c. Evil is the result of rejecting doctrine.

3. Evil rationalizes. Isa 5:20, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil.” Since evil must avoid any guilt reaction, it must rationalize by distorting the conscience and setting up its own norms and standards.

4. Conspiracy and revolution is evil, Ps 64:4,5; Prov 17:11. If a person is anti-authority, he is evil, because evil always attacks authority. No problems can ever be solved by assassination.

5. Evil is self-destructive, Ps 34:21; Prov 24:19-20.

This explains why David lived while Saul died the sin unto death. Evil people always try to solve the world’s problems by violence; e.g., anti-Semitism, which is three evils and two sins.

6. Evil seeks to build happiness on someone else’s unhappiness, Ps 35:12.

When evil is repaid for good, it always hurts the soul of the one who did good. You haven’t lived until this happens to you!

7. God judges evil, Ps 34:16; Isa 13:11. God uses Evil One to punish Evil Two because evil responds to evil. People respond to their leaders, and if the leader is evil, so will the people be evil. As an illustration, Hitler was accepted in his evil, and so was his nation evil.

8. Bible doctrine and evil were here before we came into the world. You cannot change either doctrine or evil, but they can change you. The believer who seeks to change evil is changed by evil.

9. The principle of historical trends.

a. The uptrends of history are caused by the evangelization of mankind, followed by the communication and reception of the mystery doctrine of the Church Age.

b. The downtrends of history are caused by a maximum number of people living in Satan’s cosmic system under the influence of evil.

c. Therefore, there are no tragedies in history. Historical disaster is related to certain cosmic trends based on evil, e.g., the demand for power exceeds the need for power.

d. Isa 47:11, “Evil shall come upon you and you will not understand its origin. Consequently, national disaster shall fall on you, and you will not be able to avert it; suddenly destruction shall come to you, and you will not understand.”

10. Remember that evil is the policy of Satan as the ruler of this world, and Satan is the greatest creature genius. Using his genius against God led to his evil, for his arrogance led to revolution which led to evil.

11. While evil and sin originate from Satan, the source of man’s evil is different. Man’s sin comes from his old sin nature, whereas the source of evil is his right lobe in the mentality of his soul. Sin comes from the old sin nature; evil comes from your thinking, from the thoughts of your right lobe and frame of reference. Remember, you are what you think.

12. Good and evil must continue as part of the angelic conflict. Good and evil must continue to challenge us as to which way we will go: Satan’s way or God’s way.

13. Evil will not be solved until Satan is removed as the ruler of this world, until he is incarcerated at the Second Advent in Gehenna.

14. Evil can only be avoided by establishing a command post of the soul, Heb 13:10. Evil can only be handled in each generation by those who are influenced by Bible doctrine.

15. Evil cannot understand life. In evil, there is no such thing as reality. People who are influenced by evil do not know reality nor can they face reality. When disaster strikes, people do not recognize the evil that originated it.

16. Evil is blind to the correct interpretation of history and does not understand life. This is because scar tissue on the soul believes the lie. Evil is divorced from reality. Reality says there is sin and evil in life.

K. Jesus Christ controls history.

1. In spite of evil, Jesus Christ continues to control history in three ways.

a. Direct control based on His own divine sovereignty will be brought more forcibly to the earth at the Second Advent.

b. Indirect control occurs through the laws of divine establishment. Destroying the laws of divine establishment results in anarchy and revolutions. Any people who have ever tried violent solutions have never found answers to their problems. Violence and revolution has never been the answer. God will demonstrate this at the Gog and Magog Revolution at the Second Advent.

c. Permissive control is God permitting evil to run its course during the angelic conflict.

2. Prov 16:3-4 summarizes the principle. Therefore, evil is going to run its course in human history, but evil should not be a deterrent to your spiritual growth. You advance spiritually in spite of evil. In other words, you don’t throw up your hands and say “It’s useless!”

3. Isa 45:7, “The One forming light and creating darkness [God created the creature who created darkness]; the One manufacturing prosperity and the One creating the evil one; I Jehovah, am the One manufacturing all of these things [Jesus Christ controls history].”

L. The saturation of evil means national destruction.

1. A vigorous nation can sin vigorously, but that doesn’t mean destruction will fall upon it. Sin is not the issue; evil is.

2. The fourth cycle of discipline is economic disaster, Lev 25-26. The fifth cycle of discipline is being taken over by a foreign power. Isa 47:10-11, “Because you have trusted in your evil . . . “ is a description of nations influenced by evil.

3. Nations not influenced by Bible doctrine or by the laws of divine establishment have a tendency to be influenced by one or more forms of evil. 4. There are three things a nation must have for survival and blessing: evangelism, spiritual growth in local churches by means of pastor-teachers teaching doctrine, and the laws of divine establishment functioning within the framework of the government.

M. Evil never understands grace function, Mt 19:27-30. 1. Matt 20 is the Parable of the Vineyard Workers. (Note especially verse 16.)

2. The Bible always advocates capitalism and free enterprise.

3. Evil is always antagonistic towards grace and always seeks to manipulate grace.

4. God’s standards for maturity and qualifications for blessing are the same for every believer: advance to spiritual maturity.

5. It is therefore blind arrogance for any believer to suggest or imply that he has achieved what no other believer ever has, or that he has had some unique experience, or that his life is more important than anyone else’s.

6. Blind arrogance divorces the believer from the reality of spiritual things. Blind arrogance comes in many forms: legalism, salvation by works, spirituality by works, maturity by works. All three are signs of evil.

7. So the person who assumes that the plan of God stands or falls on the basis of his behavior is arrogant and under the influence of evil. The plan of God depends on the essence of God, never on what we do.

8. Peter was like the arrogant person who sets up false standards, and then by complying with those false standards concludes that he is a great believer. Arrogance assumes many incorrect things, and always slips so easily into evil. (For more amplification, see Phil #59.)

9. Like believers in reversionism and evil, the labor union of Matt 20 had erroneous standards. Only blind arrogance made them cling to their standards instead of yielding to the superior standards of management. Labor becomes evil by complaining and judging management. The Bible calls the owner AGATHOS, for he kept his word.

10. So blind arrogance keeps the believer from yielding to the superior standard of God’s matchless and perfect grace. Grace is related to doctrine, never to works.

11. Rewards for the believer in eternity depend on God’s policy of grace, not on the arrogant, legalistic, anthropocentric evil standards of blind fundamentalism. God neither blesses in time nor rewards in eternity on the basis of arrogant standards of legalists. All His blessing is based on His grace standards.

12. You don’t make covenants or contracts with God. When you know and love Him, you depend on His wisdom to deal faithfully with you at all times.

13. So the “first” in this passage are those under the influence of evil. The “last” are the mature believers, depending on God’s grace standards.

N. Evil as Distinguished from Other Categories.

1. Evil is distinguished from war and disease, Jer 28:8. Neither war nor disease are evil. War is not evil, though there are evil acts in war. But the principle of war is good and noble, for it is a part of the function of establishment to maintain freedom. Most religious organizations make war or disease a part of evil, which is where they get mixed up.

2. Evil is distinguished from sin, 1 Chron 21:1,17. You can’t confess evil as you can confess sin.

a. Checking up on God is evil.

b. Evil possession of the soul is far worse than demon possession.

c. So David distinguished between sin and evil, though both were a part of his numbering the people. His motivation for doing so was evil.

3. Evil is distinguished from evil in the administration of the fifth cycle of discipline, Jonah 3:10. The people were first thinking evil, which led to the fifth cycle of discipline, which is always administered through evil. But God let them off from the fifth cycle of discipline, allowing the other evil to continue. So there are two kinds of evil.

a. There is evil in a national entity when the people are negative to the laws of divine establishment, or when believers reject Bible doctrine and go into reversionism.

b. The fifth cycle of discipline is called an evil. “An evil to an evil nation.” In other words, God matches the punishment to the crime. He uses evil one to judge evil two.

O. Testimonies Concerning Evil.

1. Jacob: Gen 48:16, “The angel who has redeemed me from all evil.”

2. Joseph: Gen 50:20, “You intended evil against me, but God meant it for good.”

3. David: Ps 84:10, 37:25-27, “I have been young, now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor His seed begging bread. Depart from evil and do good; therefore, live a long time.” 4. Job: Job 28:28, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; to shun evil is understanding of doctrine.”

5. Solomon: Prov 16:6,17, “And by occupation with the Lord one stays away from evil. The highway of the mature believer is to depart from evil.”

6. Isaiah: Isa 59:15, “And the one who turns aside into evil makes himself vulnerable.”

7. Jeremiah: Jer 23:21-22, 9:3. 8. The Lord Jesus Christ: Jn 17, “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to guard them from evil.”

P. The Final Mandate.

1 Thes 5:22, “Abstain from every form of evil.”