Romans 12:9, Abhor That Which Is Evil
Romans 12:9 …Abhor that which is evil…
“To abhor” means “to hate utterly, to shrink away from”. It speaks of a life separated from evil.
The psalmist in psalm 1:1 pronounced the man who abhors that which is evil as a blessed man. He says “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” (Psalm 1:1)
The first are ungodly, as to their mind, the second are sinners, who not only think, but carry out the workings of their evil mind. The third are scorners glorying in their wickedness and scoffing at righteousness. The first continue in that mind of taking evil counsel, the second carry it out, as the principle of their walk and the third settle down in their evil, as on a seat.
Remember the first commandment of God delivered to our first parents were in the negative in Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” How appealing and pleasurable is the enticement to sin! The attack comes first in the mind – the “counsel of the ungodly”, it is most deadly! The serpent said to Eve, Genesis 3:4-5“Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Ungodly counsel inclines our heart to sin, to disobey God. Eve “saw that the tree was good for food and it was pleasant to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise.” Therefore, we see here that the mind must be fortified with godly counsel. How can we receive it if we do not restrain our wandering feet is the thrust of this first phrase.
The next step of rebellion to stand in the way of sinners. A logical progression in the slippery downward slide to destruction, to “stand” here means to have made a choice, to choose the way of sinners. To stand with someone is to agree with him and to take the side of him, who? The sinner! The way of the world, ruled by the prince of this world, Satan himself. Eve chose to stand with the lie of Satan instead of the truth of God’s Word. That influenced her to pick the forbidden fruit and eat.
The third degree of sin is “sit in the seat of the scornful”. Having listened to the enticement of the Serpent, now Eve becomes chief advocate for Satan, she gave the forbidden fruit that she has eaten for Adam to eat, plunging all humanity into total depravity and utter hopelessness.
A study of the word “scorner” used in the Bible tells us that he is proud and haughty, delights in boasting, deriding, mocking, incapable of discipline, reproof or rebuke, cannot find wisdom, is an abomination and should be avoided. Hence the importance of separation from sinful companion, such is the potency and influence of evil companions, separation from the world.
Dear friends, we must be careful to choose our friends, and help our loved ones in the choice of friends, especially for every father and mother our children! Amen.