Three Minutes in Theology: The Problem of Evil

Welcome to Three Minutes in Theology. I'm Pastor Alan Nelson, pastor of Perryville Second Baptist Church in Perryville, Arkansas.

Today we're going to talk about the problem of evil. Last time we talked about the providence of God. And when we talk about the providence of God, perhaps you think the providence of God is only over good things or at least neutral things.

But Christians maintain that the providence of God is also over evil. Now, the problem of evil is tricky.

It's been levied against Christianity for centuries. In fact, Scottish philosopher David Hume in the 18th century said,

Is God willing to prevent evil but not able? Then he is impotent. Is he able but not willing?

Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? From whence then is evil? So this has been used to try to disprove the existence of God.

Because we live in a universe that evil is a reality, the argument goes that God cannot be sovereign, he cannot be good.

Of course, Christians have a different answer. Let me read to you from the 1689, chapter 3 of the 1689.

It says, God hath decreed in himself from all eternity, by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will, freely and unchangeably, all things whatsoever comes to pass.

Yet so is thereby is God neither the author of sin, nor hath fellowship with any therein, nor is violence offered to the will of the creature, nor yet is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established, in which appears his wisdom in disposing all things in power and faithfulness and accomplishing his decree.

In other words, what the confession is saying there is that God is sovereign over all things and has ordained even evil to come to pass, and yet he is not the author of evil.

He does not participate in sin in any way. And the Christian position on the problem of evil is this, that ultimately

God is using evil for a higher good and a higher purpose. That is not a neat and tidy answer for every example of sin that we come across.

Nor does this excuse man's responsibility. In other words, you cannot say, well, I sinned,

God ordained that. That's not the position that you can take. You will be held responsible for your sin and if you don't repent of your sin and believe the gospel, you will be punished appropriately.

Now how does God use sin for his ultimate glory and the ultimate good of his people?

Well, this may be, we may not be able to explain every single situation and say, I see how that happens, but we, results in good.

But we do trust overall that God is using evil for the ultimate good and the glory of his name.

And the one example that we'll mention is the cross. The cross is the ultimate example of evil in the scriptures.

Wicked men nailed the son of God, truly God, truly man, to the cross of Calvary.

And yet the crucifixion, the death, the burial, and then the ultimate resurrection of Christ, God used that for good, for the good of his people and the glory of his name.