What other scriptures warn against delighting in unrighteousness? Setting the Scene with 2 Thessalonians 2:12 “So that judgment will come upon all who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.” Paul’s warning is crystal clear: taking pleasure in sin is not a harmless pastime but a marker of unbelief that invites God’s judgment. Scripture consistently amplifies this theme. Old-Testament Warnings Against Enjoying Evil • Proverbs 2:14 — “Who rejoice in doing evil and delight in the perversity of evil.” • Proverbs 4:16-17 — “For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; they are deprived of slumber until they make someone stumble. They eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.” • Psalm 5:4 — “For You are not a God who delights in wickedness; no evil can dwell with You.” • Psalm 1:1-2 — “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the path of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.” • Isaiah 5:20 — “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter.” • Malachi 2:17 — “You have wearied the LORD with your words… by saying, ‘Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and He is pleased with them.’” New-Testament Echoes • Romans 1:32 — “Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things are worthy of death, they not only continue to do them but also approve of those who practice them.” • Romans 12:9 — “Love must be sincere. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good.” • 1 Corinthians 13:6 — “Love takes no pleasure in wrongdoing but rejoices in the truth.” • Ephesians 5:7, 11 — “Therefore do not be partakers with them… Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” • 2 Timothy 3:4 — “Traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” • James 4:4 — “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God?” • 1 Peter 4:3-4 — “For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the desires of the Gentiles… they are surprised that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion.” • 2 Peter 2:13 — “They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it pleasure to carouse in broad daylight.” Threads That Tie These Passages Together • God’s character: He “does not delight in wickedness” (Psalm 5:4), so neither should His people. • The heart test: approving or enjoying sin reveals unbelief (2 Thessalonians 2:12; Romans 1:32). • Love’s standard: true love refuses to celebrate evil (1 Colossians 13:6; Romans 12:9). • Separation from darkness: believers are called to expose, not entertain, works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11). • Eternal stakes: delighting in unrighteousness invites condemnation; delighting in God’s truth leads to life. Direction for the Heart Today Reject the subtle thrill of sin’s entertainments. Saturate the mind with God’s Word, celebrate what is true and good, and walk in fellowship with the One who “is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.” |
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