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The Just and the Unjust
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We tend to lift ourselves up as one that is special or favored to God -
evil is not from without, but begins in the heart of man by taking that which
is of God and bringing judgment and condemnation causing separation
Dr. Audrey
Drummonds
"For the eyes of the Lord are
over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of
the Lord is against them that do evil." - I Peter 3:12
I have found that many times our attitude as Christians is
separation from those that don't know Jesus Christ.
The verse above is one that is used by many to justify
this attitude, however, if we keep in mind that God's ways are not our ways, we
may be surprised to find that Peter was telling us something other than what
most denominations teach with this verse.
Let's do some Greek translating on a few of the words in
this verse.
The word "eyes" is the Greek word "ophthalmic"
which means vision, a watching or inspecting with intensity.
The word "righteous" is the Greek word "dikaios"
which means to conform to being a Christ one, or reflecting the image
of God.
The word "face" is the Greek word "prosopon"
which means the eye, or anything which is turned or presented to the eye of
another.
The word "against" is the same Greek word
used for "upon" in this verse.
It is the word "epi" which means
superimposition, towards, rest, or even touching.
The last word is "evil" which comes from
the Greek word "kakos".
He tells us that evil is not from without, but begins in
the heart of man by taking that which is of God and bringing judgment and
condemnation causing separation.
This is not what we think of evil in the natural, but
spiritual.
Now, let's review this verse with the Greek understanding:
“For the eyes (to inspect with intensity) of the Lord are over
(superimposed, resting) the righteous (the Christ ones, or those that
reflect the image of God), and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the
face (eye) of the Lord is against (superimposed, resting) them
that do evil (taking the word of God and bringing judgment and condemnation
to others).”
The Greek translation is revealing to us that this verse
is a positive and a positive, not a positive for the good people and a negative
for the bad which is how many denominations try to justify their teachings.
A double witness to this understanding can be found
reading John chapter 5 and focusing on versus 22, 27, and 30.
This concept does not give us a license to sin, but the
freedom to love with unconditional grace and mercy as He has loved us so that
God's face can be seen when others see our face.
Dr. Drummonds is a graduate from Tabernacle Bible College & Seminary
with a PH.D. in Religious Philosophy and a Masters in Divinity. She also holds
a B.A. in Religious Studies from Liberty University; and a B.S. in Philosophy
and Research from the International Institute of Alternative Medicine.
She and her husband currently reside in Lake County, Florida where
she continues to write and support the body of Christ through ICM Ministries.
ICM Ministries is a marketplace resource center created to help
unify individuals and other ministries. We all have unique talents and gifts to
share, and ICM’s mission is to help you develop and share your uniqueness
through support and connection with other members of the body of Christ
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