What Does Jesus Save Us From?
Part II: The Knowledge of Good and Evil

When Satan made his attempt to lure Adam and Eve away from God to living without God, he caused them to think that it would be a good thing for them to know good and evil all on their own. That would make them like God, and they wouldn’t need God any longer. Satan was successful in convincing them of this, and they chose to live according to their own knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, what is good and what is evil. Where they made their mistake was in believing that this could work. However, thousands of years of history have proved that this never has worked and never will work. Living without God is impossible – if a person wants his life to be a good one and to count for something. Remember, the standard for a good life is perfection, so even if you have never committed a gross sin like murder or adultery, your life is still not good enough.
Living our lives independently of God is what the Bible calls “sin”. And wages are paid for sin. Those wages are death – death of our body at the end of our natural life, and eternal death, which is total separation from God in a state called hell.
But let’s look a little more closely at the results of living according to our own knowledge of good and evil in the here and now.

            Have you ever wondered why: 

·             We have pro-abortion laws and think nothing of terminating a baby for one woman while nurses and doctors are desperately trying to save the premature baby of another woman?

·             People lie and cheat on their taxes and feel justified in doing that?

·             Children fight in the playground?

·             Teens form cliques that frown on and exclude other teens?

·             Bullies bully?

·             Spouses stubbornly and self-righteously hold grudges against one another? 

The list could go on, of course. Every wrong act could be put on the list. Why do we do these things?

Without God, we decide what is right and what is wrong based on what we want and feel we need, what we decide is the truth in any given situation. Let’s take a single example. Think of someone with whom you are having problems, or someone from the past with whom you had problems. Why the conflict with this other person? Usually, according to the knowledge of good and evil, we come into conflict with others because the other person sinned against us – did something to hurt us or tried to force us to do something we didn’t want to do. But God would not agree with that. James 4 says: 

1  What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?
2  You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God.
3  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. 

According to God, we end up in interpersonal conflict because we want something we can’t get. Then He says, we don’t get because we don’t ask the right person – Him. We expect the other person to come through, but God says that’s the wrong place to go. Expect Him to come through.
God says that His wisdom is “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). If our “wise” decisions do not have these qualities, then we are not being wise; we are operating out of the knowledge of good and evil, which is Satan’s replacement for divine wisdom.
If Jesus died to undo the knowledge of good and evil, then that means He gives us something to replace it. Jesus always saves us from wrong things by giving us better things to take their place. In this case, He has given us “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation” (Ephesians 1:17). The interesting thing about this role of the Holy Spirit in our lives is that His primary job is not to tell us how to live our lives. Remember that the real core of sin is living independently of God. So the Spirit of wisdom and revelation is given to us “so that you may know him [God] better”. Then, it is out of that relationship with God that we are able to live good lives (2 Peter 1:3): “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.” This is a return to how things were before Adam and Eve sinned. We know God intimately, as a friend and Father and mentor, and we draw wisdom from Him instead of from ourselves (1 Corinthians 2:16): “‘For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”
Proverbs 9:10 says much the same thing: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
At this point, some may be wondering if human wisdom is good for anything. Surely scientific discoveries and medical breakthroughs have improved our quality of living. Doesn’t that kind of thinking count for anything? Not as far as the value of a life goes. Those things make our life on earth a little more comfortable. But they do not change our heart. They do not change the kind of person you are. Only God can do that.
When God values a life, He looks for how much love is in that life. He doesn’t look at your IQ, how much you have contributed to society, how hard you work, the size of your bank account, or any of those things. He looks for how much love you have for Him and for those around you. 1 Corinthians 13 says: 

1  If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3  If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 

Remember that description of heavenly wisdom – “first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17)? Look at how closely the Bible’s description of love fits with that (1 Corinthians 13:4-8): 

4  Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8  Love never fails. 

The Bible goes on to say that “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Corinthians 8:1). Knowledge has a selfish quality to it – it makes me feel good about myself – I am capable of this and someone else isn’t. Love seeks to build everyone up; there isn’t a trace of self-interest at someone else’s expense in it anywhere.
God is not interested in what we produce so much as in who we are. Because He knows that “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23). In other words, we act according to what is in our heart. If the love of God fills our heart, that will pour out in our decisions and actions. If we care mainly about ourselves, that is how we will live, that that is the way of sin. Ever say something you regretted the minute it came out of your mouth? Did you end up wondering where on earth that could have come from? Jesus said: “But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart” (Matthew 15:18a). All our words come out of something that is already in our heart. And Jesus died to change our hearts to hearts of love, hearts that know Him and hearts that are able, out o that knowledge and love, to make decisions and to live life the way God would. Now that is a wonderful life!

Sharon Currens