Only Evil All the Time

 “Only Evil All the Time…”

Today, let’s look at the first part of Genesis chapter 6, which records the story of Noah’s flood:

“The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him to His heart. So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping things and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.’”
(Genesis 6:5–7)

God clearly says here that He saw mankind’s wickedness was great and that every thought of man’s heart was only evil all the time.

One of the main reasons we must read the Bible is because our thoughts are different from God’s thoughts. If our thoughts were the same as God’s, we wouldn’t need to search the Scriptures to understand His will. But since they are not the same, we need the Bible to see how God thinks and what He says.

Isaiah 55 tells us: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
As we read from Genesis to Revelation, at first we may feel the Bible is filled with understandable, agreeable words. But as we read more deeply, we begin to find that many things God says are completely different from our own thoughts. Then many people begin to waver between their thoughts and the Word.

We have always believed our own thoughts are right and have lived according to them. But because God’s Word and our thoughts are different, anyone who wants to follow God must lay down their own thoughts before the Word.

From our point of view, we sometimes feel that we are dirty or sinful—but not all the time. We think we also have moments when we are clean, kind, or doing well. We believe sometimes we sin, and sometimes we do good. Most people can admit they are sinful and have done many wrong things. But if we say there is no good at all in us, many people immediately object.

Yet Genesis 6:5 says, “Every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”
We think some of our thoughts are good and some are evil. But God says all of our thoughts are evil. We think sometimes good, sometimes bad. God says only evil.

Many people struggle with this. “I’ve helped poor people before. I’ve worked hard to support the weak. I’ve treated my friends sincerely. I’ve attended church and made offerings. How can this be evil?” But the Bible clearly says God could not find any good in man—only evil all the time. This is repeated throughout Scripture.

When I first read this, I couldn’t understand either. I remembered times when I had helped others despite my own poverty. Though I committed many sins, I thought I also did a lot of good deeds. I lived proudly with that thought. But God said there’s not a single good thing in me.

Jesus also spoke about the final judgment:

“Many will say to me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
(Matthew 7:22–23)

People whose thoughts differ from God’s will weep and gnash their teeth at the final judgment. If someone knows they are a murderer or thief, they may accept judgment as deserved. But those who believe, “I believed in Jesus, I served God, I should go to heaven,” will feel great pain and injustice when Jesus says, “I never knew you.”

Even acts of charity or kindness are not recognized by God as true good. If they were, God wouldn’t say that everything in man is evil. If He acknowledged our good deeds, He would have said, “You have both good and evil.” But He didn’t. God said our thoughts are only evil all the time.

Why aren’t helping the poor and living kindly considered good?
In Romans 7, the apostle Paul says:

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” (Romans 7:18)

This is like wearing a fake gold ring at a wedding because you can’t afford a real one. You can appear good on the outside, but inside it’s not real. Like a ring plated with gold but made of lead inside, what we call “good” is only good in appearance—inside, evil is exposed.

We may love someone sincerely for a moment, but our hearts soon change. That’s not the kind of good that God recognizes. Psalm 14 says:

“The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2–3)

This is crucial: Are we capable of doing good or not?
If we can truly do good and God accepts it, then with a little more effort we might reach heaven by our own righteousness. But if we have no good in us, then no matter how hard we try, we cannot reach heaven through our efforts.

If a person can do good, they just need to work harder. But if a person can’t, they must abandon their own effort and come to Jesus Christ.

Sadly, many people today cannot deny the “good” they think they have and therefore cannot come to Christ. They go to church, but they can’t lay down their own effort and labor to fully receive grace. To receive the grace of Jesus, we must give up ourselves completely.

God continually reveals through Scripture that in our hearts there is no good—only evil, filth, and hypocrisy. Like a whitewashed tomb: clean outside, but full of decay inside. God shows us this so that we might stop relying on ourselves and come to Jesus to receive His grace.

But Satan always whispers, “You’re a good person. You’re doing well. Just try a little harder.” Satan uses this to block people from coming to Jesus for grace, making them rely on their own deeds instead.

God said, “Every intent of man’s heart is only evil continually.” There is no true good in us. Do not trust in your own goodness. Nothing you do can make you acceptable to God. The only one God accepts is Jesus Christ.

Remember: God receives us not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus alone. We must understand that everything within us is worthless and trust only in Christ.

Take a moment to examine your heart: Are you good, or are you evil? Do you believe there’s some good in you, or none at all?
Those who acknowledge they have no good can receive the Lord’s grace. Those who cling to their own “goodness” cannot let go of themselves and cannot receive Jesus’ righteousness.

May you truly see that there is no good within you, and come to Jesus Christ.
By His grace, your sins are forgiven.

 

看尽都是恶……

 

今天我们来讲一下，《创世记》6章中记载的有关挪亚洪水的话语的前半部分。

“耶和华见人在地上罪恶很大，终日所思想的尽都是恶，耶和华就后悔造人在地上，心中忧伤。耶和华说：‘我要将所造的人和走兽，并昆虫，以及空中的飞鸟，都从地上除灭，因为我造他们后悔了。’”（创6：5~7）

神在这段话语中说：神见人在地上罪恶很大，终日所思想的尽都是恶。

 

我们必须读《圣经》的原因之一就是：我们的意念跟神的意念不同。如果我们的意念跟神的意念相同，我们就没必要非得从《圣经》中发现和了解神的旨意了。因为我们的意念跟神的意念不同，所以我们需要通过《圣经》去发现神的旨意是什么，神是如何看待的。

《以赛亚书》55章中有“我的意念非同你们的意念”这样的话语。所以，我们需要在《圣经》中察看，我们的意念和神的意念在哪些方面不同。从《创世记》到《启示录》，我们一开始读经时，会觉得都是一些能够理解的不错的话语，但稍微深入一些，就会发现圣经话语里充满了与我们的想法不同的内容。于是，很多人开始在话语和自己的想法间徘徊、矛盾。

我们一直认为我们的想法正确，带着这样的观念生活过来。但因为话语和我们的想法不同，所以接受神引导的人，无论何时，都要在话语面前扔掉自己的想法。

在我们的想法里，我们会觉得，有时自己确实也丑恶、污秽，但并不是一直这样。我们觉得，我们也有洁净的时候，也有做得不错的时候。我们觉得，我们有时犯罪，有时也行善。大部分人都能承认自己是肮脏丑陋的，犯了很多罪。但若说我们的生活中只有罪，没有一点善，也没有一点真实，人们就会说不对。

《创世记》6章5节中有这样的话语：“耶和华见人在地上罪恶很大，终日所思想的尽都是恶。”在我们看来，人的有些想法是恶的，有些想法是善的。可神却说，人终日所思想的尽都是恶。我们觉得，我们有时候恶，有时候善，神却说，我们尽都是恶。

我知道，我们对这句话语有很多不理解的地方。“我偶尔也帮助过贫穷的人啊？为那些可怜的人，我也付出过辛苦啊？我不也真心地对待过朋友吗？我不是也向神献了礼拜、奉献了吗？难道这也是恶吗？”大家或许会这样反问。但《圣经》中明确地说，我们终日所思想的尽都是恶。神说，神在人里面找不到善。神在《圣经》的好几处都说，人里面没有善。

 

我刚开始读这话语时，也理解不了。因为我记得，在我生活很贫困时，还多次帮助过别人。我也曾多次为可怜的人付出过辛苦。跟别人相比，我虽然犯了更多的罪，但也尽可能地做了很多善事。我一直带着这样自豪的心生活。可神却说，我们里面没有一点善。大家看到这话语时，也感到很困惑吧？

耶稣讲了有关最后审判的话语。

“当那日，必有许多人对我说：‘主啊，主啊，我们不是奉你的名传道，奉你的名赶鬼，奉你的名行许多异能吗？’我就明明地告诉他们说：‘我从来不认识你们，你们这些作恶的人，离开我去吧！’”（太7：22~23）

与神带着不同想法的人，在最后的审判前，肯定会哀哭切齿的。人们如果觉得自己杀人了、偷盗了、犯了很多罪，会下地狱，那么在神面前被排斥、受审判时，他们也许会认为这是理所当然的。但那些认为“我相信耶稣，肯定能去天国”的人，那些为神做过什么事、认为神会接纳自己的人，到了那天，当主说不认识他们时，会感到多么冤屈、痛苦？《圣经》中说，这样的人会哀哭切齿的。

就算我们接济、帮助了贫困的人，神也不认定这些。如果神认定这些，为什么还说人里面尽都是恶呢？为什么说我们终日所思想的尽都是恶呢？如果神认定这些，神就会说：“你们里面有恶，也有善。”神说我们里面所有的想法尽都是恶的意思是，在我们看来，这些是善行，但在神看来，这些并不是善。

那么，帮助贫穷的人，善良地生活，这些为什么不是善呢？使徒保罗在《罗马书》7章中说：“我也知道在我里头，就是我肉体之中，没有良善。”还说：“立志为善由得我，只是行出来由不得我。”就像一个结婚的人，因为太贫穷了，买不起婚戒，便戴了假戒指一样，我们里面有想行善的心，却没有行善的能力，只是摆出一副行善的样子罢了。

就像假戒指的外壳裹着金，但里面会出来铅或铜一样，我们所行的善，只是表面上看起来像善，但钻到里面，就会露出恶来。我们爱一个人，也不会从心里爱到底，过不了多久，就会变质。这不能成为神所看为的善，不能成为神所看为的美。所以，神在《诗篇》14篇中说：“耶和华从天上垂看世人，要看有明白的没有，有寻求神的没有。他们都偏离正路，一同变为污秽；并没有行善的，连一个也没有。”（诗14：2~3）

 

重要的是，“我们是能行善的人，还是不能行善的人？”我们若是能行善的人，若正行善，那么只要再发点热心，就有能去天国的可能性。但是，如果我们里面没有善，那么不管我们怎么努力，都去不了天国。我们是虽然恶，但也能行善，还是根本行不了善？这决定着我们信仰的道路与坐标。

如果各位自己能行善，神也认定这个善，那么只要再努力、再用心一些，就能凭借这个善去天国了。相反，如果大家行不了善，也没有能力行善，那么再怎么辛苦、努力，也不能成善，各位的努力和辛苦都是没有任何价值的。能够行善的人，只要稍微再努力一点，就有能去天国的可能性，但行不了善的人，再怎么努力也不行，所以会抛弃自己的努力，从而走到耶稣基督面前。

如今，不知道有多少人，因为不能否认自己的善，无法走到耶稣基督面前。他们虽然去教会，却不能抛弃自己的努力、劳苦，无法完全蒙受耶稣基督的恩典。我们要想蒙到耶稣的恩典，必须完全放弃自己。所以，神在《圣经》中不断让我们看到，我们心里没有善，只有邪恶、丑陋、肮脏，就像粉饰的坟墓一样，外表光鲜，内里却充满腐臭。神在告诉我们，因为我们再怎么努力也不行，所以要抛弃自己的一切，走到耶稣面前，蒙受耶稣的恩典。

但是，撒但不断显露着我们善的部分。“你不是做得很好吗？”“你不善良吗？”“你再努力点，不就行了吗？”撒但就这样拦阻我们的道路，不让我们走到耶稣面前蒙恩典，还诱导我们，让我们通过努力走到神面前。

神说，人类终日所思想的尽都是恶。人里面没有真正的善。请不要自以为善。各位做的任何事情，在神看来，都不是善，所以神不会据此接纳各位。神能接纳的，只有耶稣基督一位。请记住，神只会看在耶稣基督的份上接纳我们，不会因我们的任何行为接纳我们。希望大家能够明白，各位心里的一切都是无益的，我们只能依靠耶稣基督。

请各位重新审视一下自己的心。各位是良善的人，还是邪恶的人？各位心里是只有恶，没有一点善，还是也有善呢？那些认识到自己心里只有恶、没有善的人，能够蒙到主的恩典，但那些认为自己里面也有善的人，到现在为止，还是不能扔掉自己的善，无法接受耶稣的义。

希望大家都能明白自己心里只有恶，之后走到耶稣基督面前，藉着他的恩典罪得赦免。