"Wise unto good" and "Simple concerning evil" | Women's Grace Devotional

"Wise unto good" and "Simple concerning evil"

Romans 16:19 KJV

For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

As believers we are to know and understand that which is good, which is God's word rightly divided, and to be simple concerning things that are evil - all of the bad doctrine out there, but also in guarding our minds from learning about all of the evil things in the world. Let's talk about this a little more in detail. 

1) Wise unto that which is good

What good things does Paul want believers to be wise about? Well, this verse comes at the last chapter of Romans. Romans is foundational doctrine for the believer today in the dispensation of grace. In Romans you learn about being justified by grace through faith alone; our eternal security as believers; our identity in Christ; overcoming the sin cycle and walking in the Spirit; the dispensational transition; service as a Believer and member of the body of Christ; being a model citizen in society as a believer; dealing with weaker brethren by grace; oneness in the Body of Christ and glorifying God; working in unison with fellow believers and the revelation of the mystery. 

Then, throughout the rest of Paul's Epistles we learn even more sound grace doctrine and can be further stablished. This matures us spiritually so that we can "walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing". Then, we are also to study the whole Bible rightly divided as well. The old testament and the books of Hebrews through Revelation are not written specifically to us today, but are for our learning. This rightly divided Bible study is the good that we need to know. 

There are other good things that we can know and focus upon as well. For example, a homemaker knowing how to cook, clean and take care of her family is good to know. It's good to know how to read, to solve mathematical problems and other educational things to help us function better in the world. It's good for men to know a trade or to be educated for a specific career to take care of his family and to be a good citizen in society. Even knowing things like how to paint, play an instrument, sew, bake, etc can be helpful to bring a little enjoyment into your and your families life. The primary things for us to know, however, that are good is God's word rightly divided. Then, as we get sound grace doctrine built up in our mind and heart, Christ and His word can live in and through us even in the details of our lives. 

2) Simple concerning evil

Believers are then told to be simple concerning evil. What are the evil things that we should be simple about? First of all, being simple means to have only basic knowledge on something or maybe not even knowing anything about that thing at all. The evil is, first of all, unsound doctrine. We are really not to be spending all of our time, or even much of our time, studying all of the false doctrines out there, even in order to "defend the faith". If you have sound grace doctrine built up in your inner man, then that is really all that you need! That is the WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD that Phillipians talks about. If you happen to come across unsound doctrine, you will know it is unsound because it doesn't align with the sound grace doctrine in Paul's Epistles. There are apologists and so-called "discernment ministries" that spend a great deal of time going over every bad doctrine out there and all of the details of them, yet they themselves often are not even properly established in sound grace doctrine and do not preach "Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery." They've never even heard of the mystery, or if they have, they have rejected it! They spend all kinds of money and time attending seminary schools, lectures, watching or producing videos and podcasts, reading or writing books, blogs and articles all about the doctrines that they disagree with, and arguing and debating with one another, and yet very little time actually reading, studying, believing and teaching sound grace doctrine! Paul says that these people are "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). He also says that these types of people "bite and devour one another" (Gal 5:15) and we are to avoid them. I was a newager for many years and when I came back to my Christian faith, I did eventually do a short series of podcasts and blogs on why newage is a deception. However, I do NOT focus all of my online ministry on exposing the newage. This is because I believe that if I had been taught sound grace doctrine as a girl after I was saved, I probably would not have gotten caught up in newage teachings to begin with! So, I focus more on sharing a clear gospel message with unbelievers and then teaching sound grace doctrine to fellow believers.

But, it isn't just bad doctrine that we are to avoid and be simple about. As believers we should also be simple concerning evil things in the world regarding crime, politics, lustful and immoral deeds, etc. We shouldn't be spending so much of our precious time here on earth watching traumatic news coverage all day, watching immoral tv shows and movies, getting overly caught up in politics, being a conspiracy theorist, arguing and debating with people online or in person, sharing derogatory posts about people that we disagree with (like politicians), or hanging around people who are living obvious sinful lifestyles. As believers we do have liberty, but not everything is edifying or good.

1 Cor 10:23

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Also, when we hear about evil things happening in the world, we should pray and then get into bible study and sharing the Gospel with others as well as tending to our family. What this lost and dying world needs most of all is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our peace. There is no peace without the Lord Jesus Christ! Turning your attention away from the traumatic news coverage, or reducing the amount of time watching or reading the news, doesn't mean that you do not care. As believers, we have a heart for others and we don't like seeing injustice and suffering. But we can only do so much. Maybe you can donate to support a cause, vote at the next election, or do something else that could be helpful, but oftentimes all we can do is pray and then continue on with the work of the ministry, which has eternal value. 

It's also very easy to get caught up watching or reading about some of these evil things happening in the world. Whenever we hear about something horrible, we might be prone to watch the news for hours or "doomscroll" off and on for several days (doomscrolling is checking the bad news repeatedly either on tv or online or both). With 24/7 tv news coverage, 24/7 access to the internet via smartphones and computers, live streaming, and social media it's very easy to get caught up in reading and watching these things. This can actually lead to anxiety and depression and if you have a family, your family really needs you to be a beacon of God's love shining in and through you. In fact, the world needs this. Our flesh thinks that it can solve the world's problems by flooding our minds with more information on what is going on in the world, and it can become a really bad addiction as well because it is the flesh's attempt at trying to relieve any anxiety, stress or fear that we might have or a way to "try and do something" about the evil in the world, but it is a failed attempt. The news and social media is all designed to be highly addictive which only makes it even more difficult to steer away from being constantly focused on the things of this world. 

So we have to get into bible study and put off the old man and walk in the Spirit instead. You might want to listen to the KJB on audio or to some rightly divided bible studies, or some gospel hymns or even spend a little time listening to or reading a Christian friendly fictional book for awhile while you are doing things around the house to help distract you from that pull to check the news constantly or to check social media. Maybe get outside in nature with your family, start a garden or a new hobby or go to a weekly group Bible study. All you have to do to stay informed about current events is to read a trusted news headline once or twice a day, and maybe not even that often, and usually that tells you all that you need to know. Or, if you decide to avoid reading and watching the news entirely, a friend or family member will probably end up telling you about things going on and you can ask them to leave all of the traumatic details out of it. Of course the news can be helpful if it's regarding something occurring very specifically where you are, like keeping updated on the weather if your area is expecting a hurricane or blizzard or something of the like. I also do NOT recommend playing traumatic news coverage or even news in general in front of children or spending hours in front of the TV and smartphone when your family needs you taking care of them. As adult sons (and daughters) of God we ought to make proper, healthy, and mature decisions while also guarding our and our families hearts and minds. We live in a present evil world and our flesh wars against our spirit, so if you struggle in this area just know that you are not the only believer who struggles with this. The answer is really simple: focus more on God and His word, but it's not always easy. Give yourself grace and just keep refocusing on heavenly things and taking care of your family. Even spiritually mature saints sometimes get caught up in worldly things.

We know that the world is waxing worse but as believers we do have a blessed hope. One day we will be raptured out of this present evil world. Everything in this world is temporary. God will also one day create a new heaven and a new earth for believers in both our mystery program and Israel's prophetic program to dwell in.

In the meantime, we must focus on taking care of our families, getting into bible study and prayer, sharing the Gospel with the lost and teaching sound grace doctrine to others as well as encouraging other believers. We are to be "wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil."

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