How Could God Let His Gifts Operate Through Unsaved Evil People?
Question : I've a doubt. How could gifts operate through unsaved people?
Answer : Gifts are one time transaction that God gives according to the calling that He gives to each person before a person is born, so what happens is, God doesn't repent back to take the gifts that He has given to them. So on purpose God uses them because of His foreordained plan and purpose that He has to reach other people who are in need. That is why even Satan is used by God after Millenniums of sinning and open rebellion against God (1 John 3:8). If God can use Satan to fulfill His larger purpose (Luke 22:31), why not these evil men who side up with Satan to make money out of the gifts that God has given them. That is why Jesus told all the believers to look for the fruits in people and not the gifts to know whether they are genuine or not (Matt 7:20). Wolves always will try their best to conceal their identity of bad character to come before God's people in sheep's clothing saying all the right words and jargon's that sheep use like "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah...Glory to God!", it is up to each of us believers to know by the Word and the Spirit who is the real minister of God and who is the wolf that Satan has sent among the Churches to consume the sheep's so that we can avoid them (Rev 2:2; John 10:12).
Righteousness, in relation to men, is their conformity to a standard.
God’s righteousness (or justice) is the natural expression of His holiness. If He is infinitely pure, then He must be opposed to all sin, and that opposition to sin must be demonstrated in His treatment of His creatures. When we read that God is righteous or just, we are being assured that His actions toward us are in perfect agreement with His holy nature.
Unlike men, God is not subject to anything outside of Himself. No one states this better than A.W. Tozer:
It is sometimes said, ‘Justice requires God to do this,’ referring to some act we know He will perform. This is an error of thinking as well as of speaking, for it postulates a principle of justice outside of God which compels Him to act in a certain way. Of course there is no such principle. If there were it would be superior to God, for only a superior power can compel obedience. The truth is that there is not and can never be anything outside of the nature of God which can move Him in the least degree. All God’s reasons come from within His uncreated being. Nothing has entered the being of God from eternity, nothing has been removed, and nothing has been changed.
Justice, when used of God, is a name we give to the way God is, nothing more; and when God acts justly He is not doing so to conform to an independent criterion, but simply acting like Himself in a given situation. . . God is His own self-existent principle of moral equity, and when He sentences evil men or rewards the righteous, He simply acts like Himself from within, uninfluenced by anything that is not Himself.” [Referred From : A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 93-94.]
In other words, God always acts righteously; His every action is consistent with His character. God is always consistently “Godly.” God is not defined by the term “righteous,” as much as the term “righteous” is defined by God. God is not measured by the standard of righteousness; God sets the standard of righteousness.
God reveals His righteousness in His protection of the poor and the afflicted (Psalm 140:12; see also Psalm 12:5; 82; 116:6), God reveals His righteousness when He shows mercy and compassion (Psa 116:5-6; Isa 30:18), God reveals His righteousness in saving sinners (Psa 98:2-3; Isa 53:11).
When we love God and His righteousness, we need not fret over the wicked of our day who seem to be getting away with sin, which only the unfaithful and backsliders will do and get from bad to worse shape spiritually. If we love righteousness, we most certainly dare not envy the wicked, whose day of judgment awaits them (Psalm 37; 73). Their day of judgment is rapidly coming upon them, and justice will prevail in the time God has preset for them and until then God shows his goodness to these wicked to make them understand the righteousness of God at the end of it all (Matt 5:45; Eccl 8:11). Because God's mercy triumphs over His judgment, he always delays judgment to give more time for sinners to repent and be saved from sin and all evil ways (Jam 2:13; Mic 7:18-19).
Do you know that in the Bible God has said that the government people are God's ministers to you for your good that God has appointed (Rom 13:4)? There is no authority except appointed by God, because they are God's ministers, we must be subject to them for God's sake except when it is in direct opposition to the Word of God (Acts 4:18-20). We know how much corruption of bribery, injustice, murder and all kinds of evil goes behind the scene in the governments of the world, how can God still use these people evil as they are? That is where God comes in justice and will use these people with the gifts that He has given them beforehand, but at the end of it as a just God will also bring them to justice and will always give them time to repent of their sins by convicting them to make a good choice to follow righteousness as long as they live (Psa 7:11; 9:4-5; 11:5; 25:8; 33:4; 96:13; Exo 9:27; Rom 9:16-17). Once they die, it is too late to turn any more, and as a result they will have to face the perfect judgment of God for whatever they have done with the gifts they have been given by the Lord (Heb 9:27, 28).
Here is a perfect scenario of the things we have seen through a parable of Jesus which demonstrates it : " 14 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going into another country, who called together his servants and loaned them money to invest for him while he was gone. 15 He gave $5,000 to one, $2,000 to another, and $1,000 to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities—and then left on his trip. 16 The man who received the $5,000 began immediately to buy and sell with it and soon earned another $5,000. 17 The man with $2,000 went right to work, too, and earned another $2,000. 18 But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping. 19 After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to him to account for his money. 20 The man to whom he had entrusted the $5,000 brought him $10,000. 21 His master praised him for good work. ‘You have been faithful in handling this small amount,’ he told him, ‘so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned to you.’ 22 Next came the man who had received the $2,000, with the report, ‘Sir, you gave me $2,000 to use, and I have doubled it.’ 23 ‘Good work,’ his master said. ‘You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this small amount, so now I will give you much more.’ 24 Then the man with the $1,000 came and said, ‘Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your money in the earth and here it is!’ 25 [See 25:24] 26 But his master replied, ‘Wicked man! Lazy slave! Since you knew I would demand your profit, 27 you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28 Take the money from this man and give it to the man with the $10,000. 29 For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from the man who is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be taken from him. 30 And throw the useless servant out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" (Matt 25:14-30, Living Bible).
Here in the above parable we see that the one given 2000 and 5000 dollars are the born again men and women of God who used the gifts that God gave them for the Glory of God and for the extension of His Kingdom. But the one given a 1000 dollars by God is a unregenerate man who used the gifts for his own glory, and so have hidden the gift in the earth mistakenly thinking that God will not come to ask anymore about it as it belongs to him. Little did he realize that whatever natural gifts that God gave by His calling before he was born was actually given to multiply it together by receiving salvation first and them ministering it to others to collect eternal treasures for himself for eternity ahead with dividends, and not just earthly ones which has no real value in the sight of God. Thus the man with the 1000 dollars was sent to hell fire because of his selfishness and lack of regard for God's goodness and the opportunities he gave him to get saved on earth. Here is the bottom line : "3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2:3-4). In other words, why God uses evil men in spite of their evil heart is to make them realize God's goodness of righteousness and their depravity of sin, so that they could take a good choice to turn from their evil ways by the conviction of God, and come to God to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth to live in righteousness and inherit eternal treasures that will stay with them for eternity ahead.
So in short, it is not, 'how could gifts operate through evil people?' but rather, because of God's desire for evil people to get saved, 'When will a sinner take the good choice to turn from his evil ways knowing that God is good and that is why he is blessed and used on earth in spite of his evil nature?' God using the gifts of evil unregenerate men is a clear evidence that God wants these men to understand his goodness, and turn to Him and get saved from sin and transgressions. In other words, unless goodness of God is exhibited freely, how can one understand the evil nature of himself, to take a good choice to follow God and His righteousness willingly.
Much Blessings....
Answer : Gifts are one time transaction that God gives according to the calling that He gives to each person before a person is born, so what happens is, God doesn't repent back to take the gifts that He has given to them. So on purpose God uses them because of His foreordained plan and purpose that He has to reach other people who are in need. That is why even Satan is used by God after Millenniums of sinning and open rebellion against God (1 John 3:8). If God can use Satan to fulfill His larger purpose (Luke 22:31), why not these evil men who side up with Satan to make money out of the gifts that God has given them. That is why Jesus told all the believers to look for the fruits in people and not the gifts to know whether they are genuine or not (Matt 7:20). Wolves always will try their best to conceal their identity of bad character to come before God's people in sheep's clothing saying all the right words and jargon's that sheep use like "Praise the Lord! Hallelujah...Glory to God!", it is up to each of us believers to know by the Word and the Spirit who is the real minister of God and who is the wolf that Satan has sent among the Churches to consume the sheep's so that we can avoid them (Rev 2:2; John 10:12).
Righteousness, in relation to men, is their conformity to a standard.
God’s righteousness (or justice) is the natural expression of His holiness. If He is infinitely pure, then He must be opposed to all sin, and that opposition to sin must be demonstrated in His treatment of His creatures. When we read that God is righteous or just, we are being assured that His actions toward us are in perfect agreement with His holy nature.
Unlike men, God is not subject to anything outside of Himself. No one states this better than A.W. Tozer:
It is sometimes said, ‘Justice requires God to do this,’ referring to some act we know He will perform. This is an error of thinking as well as of speaking, for it postulates a principle of justice outside of God which compels Him to act in a certain way. Of course there is no such principle. If there were it would be superior to God, for only a superior power can compel obedience. The truth is that there is not and can never be anything outside of the nature of God which can move Him in the least degree. All God’s reasons come from within His uncreated being. Nothing has entered the being of God from eternity, nothing has been removed, and nothing has been changed.
Justice, when used of God, is a name we give to the way God is, nothing more; and when God acts justly He is not doing so to conform to an independent criterion, but simply acting like Himself in a given situation. . . God is His own self-existent principle of moral equity, and when He sentences evil men or rewards the righteous, He simply acts like Himself from within, uninfluenced by anything that is not Himself.” [Referred From : A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 93-94.]
In other words, God always acts righteously; His every action is consistent with His character. God is always consistently “Godly.” God is not defined by the term “righteous,” as much as the term “righteous” is defined by God. God is not measured by the standard of righteousness; God sets the standard of righteousness.
God reveals His righteousness in His protection of the poor and the afflicted (Psalm 140:12; see also Psalm 12:5; 82; 116:6), God reveals His righteousness when He shows mercy and compassion (Psa 116:5-6; Isa 30:18), God reveals His righteousness in saving sinners (Psa 98:2-3; Isa 53:11).
When we love God and His righteousness, we need not fret over the wicked of our day who seem to be getting away with sin, which only the unfaithful and backsliders will do and get from bad to worse shape spiritually. If we love righteousness, we most certainly dare not envy the wicked, whose day of judgment awaits them (Psalm 37; 73). Their day of judgment is rapidly coming upon them, and justice will prevail in the time God has preset for them and until then God shows his goodness to these wicked to make them understand the righteousness of God at the end of it all (Matt 5:45; Eccl 8:11). Because God's mercy triumphs over His judgment, he always delays judgment to give more time for sinners to repent and be saved from sin and all evil ways (Jam 2:13; Mic 7:18-19).
Do you know that in the Bible God has said that the government people are God's ministers to you for your good that God has appointed (Rom 13:4)? There is no authority except appointed by God, because they are God's ministers, we must be subject to them for God's sake except when it is in direct opposition to the Word of God (Acts 4:18-20). We know how much corruption of bribery, injustice, murder and all kinds of evil goes behind the scene in the governments of the world, how can God still use these people evil as they are? That is where God comes in justice and will use these people with the gifts that He has given them beforehand, but at the end of it as a just God will also bring them to justice and will always give them time to repent of their sins by convicting them to make a good choice to follow righteousness as long as they live (Psa 7:11; 9:4-5; 11:5; 25:8; 33:4; 96:13; Exo 9:27; Rom 9:16-17). Once they die, it is too late to turn any more, and as a result they will have to face the perfect judgment of God for whatever they have done with the gifts they have been given by the Lord (Heb 9:27, 28).
Here is a perfect scenario of the things we have seen through a parable of Jesus which demonstrates it : " 14 Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going into another country, who called together his servants and loaned them money to invest for him while he was gone. 15 He gave $5,000 to one, $2,000 to another, and $1,000 to the last--dividing it in proportion to their abilities—and then left on his trip. 16 The man who received the $5,000 began immediately to buy and sell with it and soon earned another $5,000. 17 The man with $2,000 went right to work, too, and earned another $2,000. 18 But the man who received the $1,000 dug a hole in the ground and hid the money for safekeeping. 19 After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to him to account for his money. 20 The man to whom he had entrusted the $5,000 brought him $10,000. 21 His master praised him for good work. ‘You have been faithful in handling this small amount,’ he told him, ‘so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Begin the joyous tasks I have assigned to you.’ 22 Next came the man who had received the $2,000, with the report, ‘Sir, you gave me $2,000 to use, and I have doubled it.’ 23 ‘Good work,’ his master said. ‘You are a good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over this small amount, so now I will give you much more.’ 24 Then the man with the $1,000 came and said, ‘Sir, I knew you were a hard man, and I was afraid you would rob me of what I earned, so I hid your money in the earth and here it is!’ 25 [See 25:24] 26 But his master replied, ‘Wicked man! Lazy slave! Since you knew I would demand your profit, 27 you should at least have put my money into the bank so I could have some interest. 28 Take the money from this man and give it to the man with the $10,000. 29 For the man who uses well what he is given shall be given more, and he shall have abundance. But from the man who is unfaithful, even what little responsibility he has shall be taken from him. 30 And throw the useless servant out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’" (Matt 25:14-30, Living Bible).
Here in the above parable we see that the one given 2000 and 5000 dollars are the born again men and women of God who used the gifts that God gave them for the Glory of God and for the extension of His Kingdom. But the one given a 1000 dollars by God is a unregenerate man who used the gifts for his own glory, and so have hidden the gift in the earth mistakenly thinking that God will not come to ask anymore about it as it belongs to him. Little did he realize that whatever natural gifts that God gave by His calling before he was born was actually given to multiply it together by receiving salvation first and them ministering it to others to collect eternal treasures for himself for eternity ahead with dividends, and not just earthly ones which has no real value in the sight of God. Thus the man with the 1000 dollars was sent to hell fire because of his selfishness and lack of regard for God's goodness and the opportunities he gave him to get saved on earth. Here is the bottom line : "3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim 2:3-4). In other words, why God uses evil men in spite of their evil heart is to make them realize God's goodness of righteousness and their depravity of sin, so that they could take a good choice to turn from their evil ways by the conviction of God, and come to God to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth to live in righteousness and inherit eternal treasures that will stay with them for eternity ahead.
So in short, it is not, 'how could gifts operate through evil people?' but rather, because of God's desire for evil people to get saved, 'When will a sinner take the good choice to turn from his evil ways knowing that God is good and that is why he is blessed and used on earth in spite of his evil nature?' God using the gifts of evil unregenerate men is a clear evidence that God wants these men to understand his goodness, and turn to Him and get saved from sin and transgressions. In other words, unless goodness of God is exhibited freely, how can one understand the evil nature of himself, to take a good choice to follow God and His righteousness willingly.
Much Blessings....
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