Isn’t man capable of both?
7/30/22 11:40am
Matthew 12:35 KJV
A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
Luke 6:45 KJV
A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.
I believe God is saying both a good treasure and an evil treasure dwell within every man— or simply that every man’s treasure consists both of good and evil. And that whichever of the two finds the most expression in the life of a man will determine whether he’s a good man or an evil man.
Or rather —more chicken-vs-egg’ish— his goodness/evilness will determine the majority of his speakings, works and doings— whether they be righteousness or evildoing…
1 John 3:7 KJV+
Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he IS righteous.
This means that righteousness is more about what you are than it is about what you do. Otherwise a man whose actions were mostly good could then —by his good works— work his way to into heaven, which speaks NOTHING of any power higher than himself; it makes nothing of God and His sacrifice or of Jesus and the spilling of His redemptive blood.
But by one’s righteousness being predicated not on what he does but on what he IS, man has to look outside of himself and away from his own hands (and mouth) to find definition in who he is and what he does; he can’t simply say “I’m good because I do good and that makes me righteous.”, no— good isn’t good enough if God isn’t receiving the glory from it, so by what a man is (righteous vs evil) coloring what that man does, he has to look to a savior for his salvation, and in so doing Christ is magnified, God is glorified.
So what makes a man good vs what makes him evil…? What he deposits into the world from within him. What a man brings forth from within (via what he speaks & does) will either be good or be evil. Good will be produced from a good treasure and evil will be produced from an evil treasure— both of which each man is capable of…
Matthew 7:11 KJV
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
Luke 11:13 KJV
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
What you might be wondering…
If man is capable of both, how then can he be one over the other? Are you sure Matthew 12:35 and Luke 6:45 aren’t saying a man is either good OR evil?
I’ll clarify the 2nd part of the inquiry first:
A man is indeed one over the other, but because we’re dealing with man, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. In other words, because of the weakness of man (humanity), he’s incapable of being good without the inclusion of evil in the overall equation. Only God is capable of goodness while ALSO being incapable of doing evil, and that contrast between God and man is highlighted here…
1 John 1:4-5 KJV
And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Though He came in the appearance of sinful flesh, Jesus is the only man whose flesh wasn’t sinful. Everyone else, however, was shaped in iniquity:
Psalm 51:5 KJV
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
And because of the way potential works, naturally speaking, nothing will ever accomplish anything unrelated to its origin; a volcano will only behave as such, for it is incapable of non-volcanic activity, thus, a man shaped in iniquity is guaranteed to sin. This is why and how a good and evil man can bring forth evil and good from the treasures of their hearts, respectively.
Ecclesiastes 7:19-20 KJV
Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city.
20 For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.
If good THINGS originate from the good treasure of a man’s heart, and evil THINGS originate from the evil treasure of a man’s heart, this means that every THING points to and proves the very existence of the treasure within the man that produced it. And if God (through Solomon) says there is not a righteous man on earth that both a) does good, AND b) sins not, that means there isn’t a man on earth who doesn’t have an evil treasure from which he draws, and then deposits evil THINGS into this world.
And now for the first part of that question: “If man is capable of both good & evil how then can he be one over the other?”
Let me reiterate that what (who) Jesus calls clean is clean…
Acts 10:11-16 KJV
And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:
12 Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
13 And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.
14 But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any thing that is common or unclean.
15 And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
16 This was done thrice: and the vessel was received up again into heaven.
Note that "cleansed" and "common" are placed on opposing ends of the same spectrum by the above verse. Contextually, that means clean and uncommon are the same thing, making unclean and common the same thing. What God says is uncommon/cleansed is what we are to agree is uncommon and clean. Biblically speaking, cleanliness denotes righteousness, justness. Whoever Jesus calls righteous, is righteous!
So, ordinarily, a person is defined by what they spend the most of their time and resources committed to; if a man spends the majority of his time doing evil, evil defines him— he’s an evil man, not a good man. And since no man on earth can be without sin, a good man would be defined by being more committed to doing good than he is to doing evil. Majority rules. Basically, which one of his two treasures finds more expression in his life than the other? Good? Good man. Evil? Evil man.
The alternative to going by ‘time spent’ (operating from one treasure or the other) is to go by which one of those treasures was last engaged— as in, “Hmm, which one did my good or evil self most recently draw from?” But a man assessing himself by that metric isn’t even sensible, otherwise Jesus would be equally recognized for His fleeting, MOMENTARY desire to divert His will from God’s will, as He is recognized for being in perfect alignment with the will of His Father…
Luke 22:41-42 KJV
And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down,
42 and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless NOT MY WILL, but thine, be done.
Redemption / Salvation
Any man who lived wickedly ALL his life will become righteous & just the instant he 1) believes in his heart and 2) confesses with his mouth that Jesus Christ is LORD and was sent by His Father God to die for his (the wicked man’s) sins as well as the sins of the world. This is otherwise known as salvation (aka becoming born-again, aka getting saved); and that is how time spent bringing forth mostly evil things from an evil treasure is overridden— by the blood of the Lamb.
And a man’s alignment with Christ (through salvation) will thenceforth gradually cause his good treasure to overpower —and find more expression than— his evil treasure does.
Yes & amen
P.S - We are not to judge one another so this teaching isn’t about how to determine whether someone else is good or evil— that’s God’s area. But! We ARE to judge ourselves (1 Cor 11:31), which, if we do, keeps us from being judged.
If you’d like to be blameless before God, I’d recommend becoming ‘the righteousness of God in Christ’ or in other words, giving your life to Jesus (getting saved); this is the same salvation mentioned in the final paragraphs above (labeled "redemption/salvation"), and it will redeem ANY man —through the blood of Jesus— from the eternal damnation (a never-ending future in hell) which awaits EVERY unrighteous person once his/her temporal life comes to an end.
You want this salvation (if you don't have it already). Not just for you but for your family & friends. You want heaven to be your home. Eternity is a very long time, and you'd rather spend it with your Maker up above, than in the lake of fire down below. Confess Christ as your LORD & Savior, and place your soul into Jesus' capable hands today. God bless you and yours.
