The first test of unmasked love is the problem of evil. If we follow the world’s concept of love, then we should empathize with and try to understand evil lest we make someone feel bad. But that is not the Biblical concept of agape love. “Let love be without hypocrisy. Detest evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9, CSB) And the psalmist advises, “Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34:14, CSB) Detest evil, turn away from it, give it no room, and pursue love and peace.
The problem becomes one of definition. What is evil and what is good? We learn early on which behaviors get us in trouble and which ones we are rewarded for. But many of those are shaped by culture, which creates a problem: what one culture considers evil or good may differ in another. So the first bit of unmasking is something that Jesus said.
One day someone came to Jesus to ask what is needed for eternal life. He started his question with a bit of flattery: “As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, ‘Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ ” (Mark 10:17, CSB) Before Jesus answered the man’s question, He corrected his use of good. “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone.” (Mark 10:18, CSB) The good we encounter reflects God’s character, and the evil we encounter reflects the opposite. If we call something good that is contrary to God’s character, we are actually committing a grave evil. “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20, CSB)
God’s character is pure, just, merciful, and loving. He demonstrates His perfect agape love in Christ’s sacrifice for our sins. “But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8, CSB) God didn’t just choose to ignore our sin; He sent His Son into the world to pay the penalty for our sin. As Jesus said, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13, CSB) That is the standard for good, which gives us the framework to recognize evil.
Evil always begins with a lie, a twist of words designed to tarnish God’s utter goodness. “Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’ ” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” (Genesis 3:1–5, CSB) The serpent’s lie is that God is withholding something out of fear, jealousy, or control. Evil’s whispers always sound reasonable, rational, logical, and desirable as it seeks to steal, kill, and destroy.
Detest evil. Turn away from it. Do not try to understand it or empathize with it. That is both hard and easy. It is hard since evil is all around us. The gateways to evil are everywhere in our modern, connected lives. It takes little time to find evil: a few swipes on social media, a few mouse clicks, or a search for answers in an AI chat. But removing screens doesn’t remove evil from our lives. The answer to evil is to cling to what is good.
Glue yourselves to good. Create and abide in an unbreakable bond with God’s utter and complete goodness. That was one of Eve’s big mistakes. She didn’t talk to God about the serpent’s twisted truth or compare the words to the revealed character of God she had encountered. This means getting to know God’s character, who He is. Our first encounter is His love and forgiveness that we experience by turning from our sin and accepting Jesus Christ into our lives. Many touches of God’s goodness follow that first one.
This verse raises more practical questions than we can answer in this space. One of the largest questions is: How do we respond to evil directed at us? How do we unmask love in the face of evil? Paul answers that a few verses later in Romans 12. “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Give careful thought to do what is honorable in everyone’s eyes. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Friends, do not avenge yourselves; instead, leave room for God’s wrath, because it is written, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, says the Lord. But If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For in so doing you will be heaping fiery coals on his head. Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.” (Romans 12:17–21, CSB) We will visit that verse later in this series, but it does answer the question. We don’t conquer evil with more evil; we conquer evil with good. Giving grace where none is deserved. That’s what God did for us.
- Love Unmasked – Good and Evil - October 28, 2026
- Love Unmasked – Removing the Mask - October 21, 2026
- Romans Applied – Real Unity - October 14, 2026
