Evil is the consequence of sin (Rom 1:30 – “they invent ways of doing evil.) While evil must always be countered, we need to recognize that is always only a stop-gap measure at best, akin to pulling up the top half of a weed but leeaving the root for it to grow back. Combatting evil in this fallen world is never-ending. The mistake that some Christians make is thinking that we gain the victory by countering evil.

Yes, we should indeed counter evil when we encounter it. For example, we must push back against contemporary gender ideology when it rears its insane head, particularly in our schools where it infects impressionable, immature young minds. But that is not where the battle is ultimately won. It is always much easier to assault evil than it is to assail sin which is the root of all evil. To ultimately destroy evil, the underlying sin must be attacked and neutralized. Christ came ultimately to destroy sin – 1 Pet 2:24, “[Christ] himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” If we fail to expose and deal with sin, and only counter evil, we are playing a nonending game of “whack-a-mole” whereby as soon as we knock down a specific evil, it will simply pop up and reappear elsewhere. It will never end. If we let sin fester, it will always manifest as evil. On the other hand, if we can negate the sin with the gospel, the evil related to that specific sin will be neutralized.