Abstain from all appearance of evil
In the King James Bible there is a verse that very simply says, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." It is in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 22. 1st and 2nd Thessalonians is about our blessed hope. Our blessed hope includes that as believers, we are saved from the wrath to come which is the 7 year tribulation on the earth. Believers in the dispensation of grace will be raptured out before the tribulation begins. Our blessed hope also includes our receiving our glorified bodies, being taken to the heavenly places which is a believers true home, our receiving of possible rewards in heaven, and being given our new heavenly careers. This is one of the first doctrines that Satan attacked, and still today much of Christendom is completely in the dark about the rapture and regarding the details of "the day of Christ". This means that many believers are lacking in hope! We are reminded that we have a blessed hope in Christ and that we are not children of the night, nor of darkness, but are children of light, and children of the day.
1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 says,
"4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness."
As such, we ought to walk as children of light and this includes our abstaining from all appearance of evil. Not just abstaining from evil things, but even from all appearances of evil! This is something to really think about.
So what is evil in God's eyes? Well, many things in this "present evil world" are evil! First, God hates false doctrines and religion. Religion is man trying to earn his way into heaven, or to earn his own righteousness or to try to earn blessings from God by his own fleshly efforts. So, as believers who are saved by grace through faith alone PLUS NOTHING, we are to abstain from the seduction of religion. We are not to even look like the religious people, who might wear religious garb at services or sometimes even in their day to day lives (long flowing robes with giant crucifixes is one example).
2 Timothy 3:5-7
5 Having a form (appearance or sounding like) godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
We are not to sound like them either, which means abstaining from any kind of false doctrine or even from the seduction to use "Christianeze" language such as saying things that are unbiblical like "the Lord put it on my heart to ..." when the more biblically accurate thing is that God isn't giving anyone special revelation today, but rather his word in the Holy Bible rightly divided is working in and through the believer today as we read and study it. He is not giving some believers special revelatory messages, visions or dreams today. Even saying "God bless you" isn't actually biblically accurate either, though it might sound really nice, because God has given each believer the SAME amount of blessings and the same kind of blessings, which are ALL SPIRITUAL blessings in Christ Jesus, and He isn't blessing one believer more or less than another and He isn't blessing us with things pertaining to our flesh today either! A spiritually mature believer that rightly divides the scriptures understands this, yet at the same time it's easy to get caught up in the Christianeze language of today. But, it is actually ungodly for us to do so because it might be teaching people the wrong things!
Ephesians 1:3
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings (not carnal or earthly) in heavenly places in Christ:
Romans 12:3
3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; [God isn't blessing one Saint and then not doing the same for another, rather we each have all of the same exact spiritual blessings that are taught to us in Romans-Philemon] but to think soberly, [based upon sound grace doctrine rightly divided] according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. [again, ALL believers have the same spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus]
God also hates many other things such as legalism, self-righteousness, witchcraft, idolatry, lying, cursing, foul language, envy, strife, murder, theft, adultery, fornication, laziness, ungratefulness, rioting, lasciviousness, debates, deceit, etc. We are to not only avoid these things but even to avoid the appearance of these things. Witchcraft for example would include avoiding even the appearance of witchcraft, and that could include things like perhaps not participating in Halloween or not watching movies or TV shows that feature magic and witchcraft. Yes, I certainly understand that as believers we have liberty in Christ but Halloween, for example, is literally a pagan holiday that glorifies death, deceit (trick or treat), witchcraft, and violence. Even if you are taking a more innocent approach to Halloween, we have to consider others around us, the unbelievers and believers, and if we are displaying evil depictions on our front lawns or dressing up like witches, ghosts, zombies and vampires, how does that bring anyone to Christ? How does that glorify God? Are we going to have Halloween in the new heaven and the new earth? No way! I'm NOT trying to put anyone under the law here, however as adult sons of God we need to decide for ourselves based upon scripture what we think is right (not based upon our own ideas or personal feelings). There are so many verses in scripture, including in Paul's Epistles, that speak against witchcraft and we need to keep in mind that others are watching us - unbelievers, fellow believers and even the angels in heaven, so we want to be a good witness for Christ! Halloween or TV shows and movies with magic might be fun to our flesh, but is it edifying?
1 Corinthians 10:23
23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
Philippians 2:15 - That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;
Romans 12:1 - I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Galatians 5:13
13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
The more sound grace doctrine that we have built up in our inner man, the less that we should want to be like the unbelieving world that lives in darkness, and the more that we should want to walk as children of light and children of the day.
**For more about Halloween see the following articles https://forwhatsaiththescriptures.org/2014/10/31/should-christians-celebrate-halloween/
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