THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE OF EVIL

     If we should analyze some noticeably wicked action, following it back to the source -- to the fountainhead from which it proceeded -- we would there find the basal principle of evil -- that principle which is the cause of all wrong in word, thought or deed.

     For this purpose we will take the case of Ananias and Sapphira. The outward sin was that of lying, or, as Peter put it, lying to the Holy Ghost. Their wrong doing did not consist in the fact that they had kept back part of the price of the land, it was their own and they had a moral right to retain it, as Peter gave them to understand; but the real outstanding wrong was in their attempt to deceive the apostles -- to hide from God, like Adam and Eve; and by their death God taught the church that it was dealing with Him before whose eyes all things are naked and open.

     Lying and willful deception are inconsistent with the lowest degree of the favor of God. Some go to the Old Testament and bring up the case of Jacob in his uncle Laban's house as proof that saved persons will deceive. Such theories are far-fetched and will not stand investigation. Jacob lived in an age of spiritual darkness. He did not have even the Mosaic law to guide him. Besides, there is no conclusive evidence that up to this time he was ever converted. The fact that he saw a vision at Bethel does not prove that he was. Again, even if he was converted according to his dispensation it does not follow that his life must tally with the lives of gospel saints. Another question arises here: Did Jacob really wrong his uncle? If he did, he never made it right, and no person can retain God's favor, much less get the experience of holiness, with unconfessed sins clinging to him. The wise man says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper," but Jacob prospered both temporally and spiritually. Jacob declared his innocence to the end. (See Gen. 21.) If he was not innocent this was lying (and his uncle would have known it since he knew the facts in the case), and lying is inconsistent with grace. But after all has been said we must conclude that it is unsafe to judge the validity of a New Testament experience by Old Testament standards or examples.

     Willful sin, no matter what it may be, according to the gospel standard, is positively inconsistent with the lowest degree of grace.

     Back of this transgression of the guilty couple there lies a deeper fact and for this fact we are searching.

     Every moral act is preceded by volition. As is commonly held, volition is the last or determinative element of the will. The three elements of the will are: 1. Choice, or that which prefers or selects a certain course of action. 2. Purpose, or the decision to realize the end of the choice. 3. Volition, or that faculty of the will by which the powers are directed toward the "attainment of a rational end chose and determined upon." It is "a specific executive effort or action of the will." Volition is the executive of the will, while choice is the esthetic faculty of the same, or that faculty which distinguishes between two or more courses of action and specifies that course which is the most pleasing.

     Choice has reference simply to the metaphysical act of the will which specifies a certain course of action, while volition has reference to the act itself. We might distinguish them thus: Choice accepts or selects a desire coming from within or from behind itself, as when it accepts the suggestions of the devil, and when these suggestions or desires are accepted they are carried forward through purpose to volition, which last faculty connects the suggestion or desire with the act. To be still more definite, the first thing is the suggestion from without, then the desire from within which corresponds to this suggestion; this desire is then made a subject of choice by the will, the purpose to act is formed and volition puts the purpose into effect Choice connects with the desire, while volition connects with the act. Choice might be called the mental or metaphysical quality of the will and volition the material. The two with the connecting link, purpose, make up the will.

     It is in the will that the involuntary desire becomes voluntary sin. No person can keep the involuntary desire from arising or the evil suggestion from being presented, but he can by God's help govern his choice.

     When any evil suggestion is voluntarily and knowingly accepted, that very acceptance is sin, and the person who thus chooses the evil is guilty in the sight of God. The fact that a person does not commit outward acts of sin is not sufficient proof that he is saved; he may live good and yet be guilty at heart. Again, the fact that he does not choose evil does not prove that he has the experience of holiness. The regenerate soul quickly rejects every evil thing and yet is unclean.

     Following back of the perverse choice which was made by Ananias and Sapphira, the next fact that we encounter is that there was of necessity an evil desire of the heart which was accepted and which directed the choice, and, because the directing desire was evil, the acceptation of this desire was evil. The desire in this case, no doubt, was reinforced by some suggestion from the devil. Judging from the facts that are given us we would conclude that the inherent desire which asked their approval was covetousness, and that the enemy from without, seeing their desire for money, suggested lying as a good plan for retaining it. Satan put it in their hearts to lie against the Holy Ghost while lying was the visible act, it is clear that the untruth was only a means to some end, as is generally the case with untruth. The retaining of money or the gratification of a covetous heart was the end sought. The liar is seldom or never inspired by the lone desire for deception, but has back of this other motives, generally some form of self-love, for his inspiration. Thus the real carnal principle that inspired their act of lying was covetousness. Around this covetous desire clusters many passions all clamoring for satisfaction. Money might be desired for a variety of reasons, Self-indulgence and distrust of God stand out prominently among them. Self-indulgence might be on the line of gluttony, or lust, or even to obtain human praise; while distrust of God is unbelief, carnal self-reliance, infidelity and even spiritual sloth.

     The context gives us to understand that along with covetousness was another guiding motive, namely, love of praise. They had seen how others had been applauded because of their liberality and professed to give all that they, too, might be acclaimed as liberal.

     These are some of the desires that are commonly called carnality, but which are only its outcroppings. Light is not the sun, but is produced by or is an emanation from the sun. These outcroppings of evil are produced by or are emanations from carnality, and when they are present in the heart they are an infallible proof that there is back of them a body of sin.

     The real nature of sin cannot be seen but by these outcroppings unless light be given directly by the Holy Ghost. The only way to tell the nature of a tree or an animal is by the characteristics which it exhibits, and the only way we can tell the nature of our hearts is by the characteristics which we are enabled to see.

     But why does the unsanctified soul feel envy or jealousy? Why does he feel the stirrings of pride. or impatience? Why do lustful thoughts arise from his soul? From whence do they proceed? They do not come of themselves; they do not spring from a pure fountain; they do not come independent of any cause. They do come from a source somewhere back in the soul -- from a polluted fountainhead. This pollution is not carnal desire, it is the carnal mind itself; it is the nature from which these sinful desires proceed. This nature is not the desires, but it is the cause of the desires.

     Carnality is not these active manifestations of sin, but it is the inherent principle which produces these active movements. Let us venture this definition: Carnality is a passive principle of evil lying at the fountainhead of desires; it is a bent to evil, a tendency or leaning toward evil. It does not lean toward the evil from choice but from its inherent nature -- from absolute necessity. It "is enmity against God" and cannot be otherwise. It "is not subject to the law of God" and cannot be.

     In stating that carnality is a passive evil principle we mean that it lies dormant in the soul and does not move until an idea is presented from without. These ideas may come from the devil or the law of association. The law of association, because of some event now passing, or from some other undetermined cause, brings to our minds some event that occurred in the past, or associates present or possible circumstances with past or possible circumstances. Also, by stating that carnality is a passive principle we state that it never moves or sends forth desires independent of the idea from without. To suppose that it would do so would be ascribing to an evil principle a knowledge that is possessed only by intelligent beings. A passive principle would not send forth a desire if an idea were not present.

     Many persons are not acquainted with their own natures until some occasion arises to reveal it; then they are surprised; they did not think that such evils could possibly lurk in their souls. A stirring of pride, or anger, or carnal fear is felt -- the thing was there in principle before, but was lying dormant; now when the proper occasion has arisen this principle sends forth the evil desire and almost swamps the soul.

     This is the "body of sin," the "body of death," the "old man," the "carnal mind," as the Bible variously terms it. This is the thing that entrenches itself at the core of being and is "only evil and that continually." It is the general in his tent sending forth corps after corps of marauders to despoil the surrounding country; it is the "old man" reaching out its octopus arms through the whole being, blasting, blighting, wrecking, ruining as it goes, deadening the soul and endeavoring to sap every atom of vitality from religious life. This is the "old man," more to be dreaded by those who desire to live for God than is the devil himself. This was the inspiration of the sin of Ananias and Sapphira -- wretched in the extreme. This is the basal principle of evil. It is the mind that controls or sends forth the myriad ramifications of carnal desire. No soul is clean until this vicious principle is gone. ^[1]

1 See Wood's Perfect Love, page 42.