Sin is evil but not all evil is sin! Some evil goes beyond sin, or the acts of sin by individuals. Some evil is so big and so disguised, it goes mostly undetected. Quite often, the people involved in the evil I am thinking of are good people, well-intentioned and think they are doing right. However, they are victims. Let me give you a example: The Pharisee's, when Jesus walked amongst them, were nice people, the back bone of the society and the Jewish people. They had good intentions, they had the Scriptures, the buildings, the good reputation and the tag "normal". Yet, they were involved with Evil. They didn't know it but they were in bondage to that evil. Jesus said they were "fathered by the devil". That is as evil as you can imagine. That evil that drove them didn't use sin, sinful acts or sinful, evil people. The Pharisees had Scripture, religious symbolism, rituals and traditions on their side. Yet, it they were driven by evil, fathered by the devil himself and could not recognize it. They thought they were doing good, defending righteousness and sacred truths and rituals when they crucified Jesus and persecuted the early church, Yet, they were doing evil.
In the world we live in, the same EVIL power exists. This is the power Satan uses at the highest level of his war. With this power of EVIL he is able to bond good people, with good intentions into a mass and herd them toward disaster, and they will not realize it is happening. It happened with the Nazi's. How else can you explain a whole nation of people that turned toward evil but thought it was doing good? It even explains what has been happening in this nation where half of this county, people who love this nation, people with good intentions are being herded to the cliff edge all the while they THINK they are doing well, even saving the country, even saving the globe but in fact, they are headed for disaster and cannot see it. It explains why people, such as we witness in the country, vote in a way that brings them harm, yet do not recognize what is happening. The Pharisees could not see they were in bondage and that is why EVIL survives and succeeds as it does. It does not use acts of sin to empower, it uses good people with good intentions.
The EVIL that marshaled the Pharisees into a force against God is still among us, still doing the same things, for the same purposes, as it did back then. The people in it are innocent victims. Let me give you an exercise: Imagine you were completely new to Christianity, and you just picked up a New Testament and read it, trying to figure out what it was about. With no other information to go on, you would read the story of Jesus, the Cross and conclude "Awful". But, then you would read Acts 2 and onward and realize why the cross happened. You would rightly conclude "Jesus went to the cross so He could give to every believer the Holy Ghost". You would then look at what those who received the Holy Ghost in baptismal measure, at how they received and how they behaved like and you would say "Ah Hah!. You would look at the book of Acts and say "Ah Hah, that is what a Christian church experienced, looked like and behaved like". If you were that person, reaching those conclusions and then looking around at the Main street church world, you would conclude "Well, that is all history now". You might even ask "What happened? Why no power, where is the HOly Ghost, where is the reality of God?" The answer? EVIL has done its work.
The force of EVIL is not about you sinning, making a mistake, etc. It is about turning masses of people away from the reality of God and sweeping you up into that mass. When Jesus walked among us, EVIL turned normal, good people by the masses away from Him for He was the reality of God, God manifested among men. Now, today, God among men, God in reality, is the Holy Ghost and EVIL in every way possible, with everyone possible, working subtly, strives to turn men away from God in reality. This is religion. The word "religion" means "ceremonial observance". So, the force of EVIL has millions of good, Christian people ceremonially observing God while all the while ignoring the reality of God. The people in religion are not un-saved heathen. God loves them. They are His children, but children in bondage. They are victims of EVIL. They are in bondage to evil though they may never sin a sin. The Pharisee people were victims, in bonds of EVIL and did not know it or recognize it. That is what religion does.
The only cure for this EVIL that I know of is to embrace the Holy Ghost with great zeal. He is, indeed, what Jesus died on the cross so you could receive. Yes, on the cross, he purchased your forgiveness of sins, but did that in order to give you the Holy Ghost. Embrace Him the way the Bible reveals Him to be. He is a River, living water, something to be experienced by drinking. And, be on guard. Evil is always there, always attempting to move you away from the reality of God. It is why we are instructed to not be "umwise" concerning the will of God but "ever be being filled and stimulated with the Holy Ghost". Only when we turn to the Spirit is the blinding veil lifted from us and we begin to experience the glory, the reality of God among us.
