Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Romans 12:9
If you love what is good, you will abhor the evil that destroys it. If you love truth, you will hate lies. If you love peace, you will hate war. To abhor evil is part of loving what is good.
Notice God says, “Abhor what is evil.” He does not say, “Abhor the person who is evil.” It’s what, not who.
Peter Kreeft, a Catholic writer, makes the point: “Abortionists, homosexual activists, pornographers, school boards, and the media are not the enemy. They’re victims of our enemy.”
The Bible says, “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).
It would have been easy for Christians in Rome to think: If we could just get rid of Nero, we’d be done with the problem. But the problem was not Nero. Behind Nero there were dark powers.
The song “O Church, Arise” says this well: Our call to war, to love the captive soul; and to rage against the captor. We are not called to rage against the captive soul. We are to love the captive soul, and to rage against the captor, that is Satan, our enemy. That is our call to war and it’s really important that we understand it.
It is very difficult to win people to Jesus if you have branded them as “the enemy.” Our calling is to reach out to every person and to seek to win him or her to Jesus.
Respond to the statement: “To abhor evil is part of loving what is good.”
