Is it Good or is It Evil?
The Bible tells us to respond when we are in the presence of something good or in the presence of something evil and tells us how to respond. But we must first discern whether the thing we are facing is good or evil.
The Bible tells us to respond when we are in the presence of something good or in the presence of something evil, and the Bible tells us how to respond. The response that we make in the presence of good or evil is an action of “judgment,” and if we respond as the Bible directs, this is “true judgment.” God very much desires for us to have actions of true judgment in our personal lives and in our society:
- Amos 5:24: But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
- Zechariah 7:9-10: Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Execute true judgment, and show mercy and compassions every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.
But the Bible says that it takes wisdom to be able to discern what is “good” and what is “evil.” If we cannot sense whether something is “good” or whether something is “evil,” then we are in no position to respond. Discernment has to come first, and then actions of judgment can follow.
The Bible says that the ability to discern between good and evil develops within us through a process of exercise and growth. The Bible’s process of exercise and growth to develop the ability to discern is presented in the books of Cindy Kay Lail Publications. These books will develop people who are wise—people with the ability to discern between good and evil.
Here is a Summary of the Process:
Discernment is a skill that develops through the integration of four dynamics: Perception, Morality, Spiritual Transformation, and Spiritual Ascension.
Perception
Perception is a function of the human spirit. The human spirit is a subtle energetic infrastructure that surrounds and permeates the human body. It consists of a vertical column of energy, primary inflow and outflow points, connecting pathways, and an external aura. Each part of the infrastructure has a specific function. The various cultures around the world describe this spirit infrastructure using different word pictures and phraseology, but at the core, these cultures all describe the same thing. The Bible also describes this spirit infrastructure.
Subtle, spirit energy flows through this infrastructure, and certain aspects of this energy flow through specific points in the structure. The spirit-energy flowing through the human spirit sparks the life, form, and function of the body, creates consciousness, and sparks our awareness of God.
The human spirit is highly sensitive. The sensitivity of the human spirit is what enables us to perceive. But the human spirit is also vulnerable. The points and pathways of the spirit infrastructure can easily become damaged, blocked, and clogged. Spirit-energy can get stuck at these points and not flow well. Energy can build up at certain points and become too intense.
When the human spirit is damaged, it does not function as it should and thus does not perceive well. All parts of the human being are affected when the spirit is damaged. Our human spirit directly affects our physical, emotional, and mental health and also our awareness of God. If a place in our spirit infrastructure is damaged, there will be a weakening and dysfunction in the areas of our body, mind, and emotions that correspond with that area of the spirit structure. The health or lack of health in our human spirit directly affects the health or lack of health in our body, mind, and emotions and also the degree of our awareness of God.
There are many causes of damage to the spirit. We inherit a lot of the damage from our parents, and then we add to it as we go through life. Gratefully, our human spirit has an element of consciousness and has the capacity to know where there is blockage within its structure. Our spirit has the capacity to search within its structure and to search our body, mind, emotions, and awareness of God, and it can find the blocked and damaged areas.
Through practice, we can learn how to sense our spirit. If we can sense our spirit, we become more in tune with the part of us that perceives. As we learn how to sense our spirit, we can start to realize where there is blockage in our spirit. Through practice, we can learn how to release this blockage and enable our spirit to heal. As our awareness increases and our spirit heals, our perception increases.
Various activities support our awareness of our spirit and the healing and strength of our spirit. These activities include spending time outside in nature, the martial arts, the fine arts, and meditative exercises. Our spirit affects the health of our body, mind, and emotions, and the converse is true also. Any activity that supports the health of the body, mind, or emotions supports the health of the spirit. Healthy eating and lifestyle habits are vitally important.
As our spirit heals, we can perceive the subtle energy within us and around us, and we become sensitive to the quality and aspects of this energy. We become sensitive to aspects such as beauty, truth, and morality.
Morality
Subtle energy is a substance that God created, and it permeates and animates all of God’s creation. The Bible tells us the God creates this energy first, before creating the heavens and the earth. The Bible tells us that as God creates the energy, He imprints it with many of His qualities, and one of these qualities is His moral standard. He imprints it with His qualities of righteousness and holiness. The Bible teaches us that when God creates the heavens and the earth, He communicates to us that He is perfectly righteous and holy, and He communicates this message through the vehicle of subtle energy.
Because of this, if we become aware of our human spirit and the subtle energy within it, we can sense what God is like. We can sense God's righteousness and holiness. We can sense His moral code—the standard that defines good and evil.
God wants us to be righteous and holy as He is. The moral code in the energy enables our spirit to perceive that some things are morally right and some things are morally wrong, and we can perceive that God does not approve of those things that are morally wrong.
But in addition to the moral code that is imprinted within subtle energy, God has given us detailed moral laws in the writings of the Bible, and God wants us to follow these laws. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament of the Bible contain moral laws. The same set of moral laws appear in both the Old and New Testaments—consistent from cover to cover. God has moral laws, and He wants us to obey them. This is His standard. Some things are “good,” and some things are “evil,” and we are to acknowledge this and then respond accordingly.
Spiritual Transformation
Throughout all recorded time and in all parts of the world, humans have not been able to meet the moral standard that they perceive in subtle energy and read about in the Bible. Consistently, humans have chosen to disobey God and violate His laws. This has not been in ignorance, for humans know that they have violated God’s standard, and they seek for means of escape or redress. The remedy that the Bible describes is for each one of us to choose to place our faith in the payment that Jesus Christ made for our disobedience. Jesus Christ took the punishment for our “sin” when He submitted to Roman crucifixion and death on a cross. But then three days later, Jesus rose from the dead, and He lives today and forever will live.
The death and resurrection of Jesus opens the door for profound human transformation. The Bible is clear that God is Father to all of us—whether we are obedient or disobedient, a believer in Jesus Christ or not a believer. God is Father to all. However, being a “son of God” has a special meaning. In the Old Testament, angels are called the “sons of God.” Never in the Old Testament is a human referred to as a “son of God.” But the New Testament declares that when we place our faith in Jesus, we become a “son [or daughter] of God.” Believers in Jesus are “children” of God, and the Bible specifies that this status is equal to the angels and then explains what that means.
This is God’s response to the human desire for spiritual evolution. Throughout time and around the world, humans have wanted to increase the strength of their human spirit to surpass human capacity and become more like an angel. This was Adam and Eve’s motivation in the very first human sin in the Garden of Eden. This is spiritual evolution, and the Bible clearly shows us that God disapproves of it. But how gracious God is to allow us to immediately transform (not evolve) in our status as children of God.
Spiritual Ascension
When we place our faith in Jesus Christ, God’s Holy Spirit comes to live within our human spirit—within our subtle, energetic infrastructure described above. God’s Holy Spirit lives within our spirit, and this opens the door for spiritual ascension.
God’s Holy Spirit wants us to grow in our faith, and this means to grow in obedience to God’s laws. God’s moral standard remains in effect: God is righteous and holy, and He wants us to be righteous and holy also. He wants us to grow in faith and learn to obey His laws. Before trusting in Christ, we had trouble obeying. But now, we have the Holy Spirit within us, and He can give us the strength and courage to obey. This strength, courage, and power to obey is called the grace of the Holy Spirit. We grow in this grace slowly, over time, but the overall direction should be upward.
It is crucial that we consider the ramifications of having God’s Holy Spirit within our human spirit. Our spirit remains the same subtle, energetic infrastructure that it was before we trusted in Jesus. This infrastructure remains fragile and still has damage and needs healing. But now within this structure, we have a new holy, powerful energy.
With the Holy Spirit within our spirit, we will be more aware of what is good and what is evil. The Holy Spirit knows what is good and what is evil, and when we are in the presence of good or evil, He will react within us, and we will feel the reaction. Our ability to discern will be greater with the Holy Spirit within us.
But there are risks to having the Holy Spirit within us. If the Holy Spirit prompts us to take an action, such as a step of obedience, and we ignore Him and do not take that step, our ignoring Him is disobedience. Our ignoring Him is not a neutral event—it is a negative event. The energy of the Holy Spirit is pushing in a positive direction, and we block it or pull in a different direction. This reaction against a positive flow is a negative action, and it will damage our spirit. Over time, these negative actions will cause blockages. If we ignore the Holy Spirit and pull against Him, as time goes by our spirit will become very damaged and very hard.
The strongest invectives in all the Bible are in the portions of scripture that describe transformed children of God who refuse to grow. These people block and insult the gracious gift of Jesus’ death and resurrection and the presence of the Holy Spirit. These people become extremely hardened in their spirit. Their spirit becomes so damaged that the Bible describes it as being “seared with a hot iron.” Their condition is “worse” than before they trusted in Jesus. Their ability to perceive and discern between good and evil is destroyed.