Who defines “good and evil” for you? If you believe truth is subjective to your own interpretation, then you have put yourself in the position to BE god over your own life. We call this “secular humanism” which is basically another religion or “faith” in self. By taking that decision of putting “faith in yourself”…you have decided to go against all the universal truths and powers that brought you life in the first place.
My crisis of faith for decades was putting myself in control and the judgment seat of all that is around me…which obviously is very finite. So, I the finite being, here for a whiff of time in the universal order the great “I AM” has set in motion have declared myself THE authority over what is good or evil TO ME. This very simply takes me down the road of justifying anything I want to do. I may choose to be altruistic, or I may choose to be evil. I may give or I may choose to steal. If I am making those value judgments, they are based on MY will and MY whims. I answer to no God and probably only answer to any governance in my life because of fear of losing my free will to the human systems and institutions I now live and serve under.
How can you have morality without God? the Bible tells us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). When someone tells me they are their own authority regarding morality, I have learned not to expect any morality there. Even those secularists who believe in “altruism” and that they can be a “good person” are basically delusional. Many people pursue good works with the MOTIVATION of covering up their immorality or pretending to be better than they know in their hearts they really are.
We are lying to ourselves if we think “good” can be expected from evil, immoral people or leaders. The obviousness of this fallacy goes all the way back to Genesis when “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)
From the fall of mankind we have seen man living unto himself. The created worships the created…not the Creator. Thus we have this current world of corruption, manipulation, greed, hate, and decadence. Mankind is NOT moral at the core.
Thankfully, God is spirit and eternal. He is not affected or swayed by our fallen nature, but He wants no part of us in our fallen state. Thankfully, He continues to shine His light on our darkness. He continues to convict us of our sins while calling those He will to repentance and restoration of the spirit. Only when we see the light can we realize how dark was our darkness.
It is very clear we can’t have it both ways. We can’t know or understand THE God while we worship or believe in ourselves as “mini-gods”. When we are so full of ourselves, we have no ability to have faith or make room for the Spirit of Christ to reveal truth within us.
To know truth and reality of the universe, we must cast off our own “crowns”, humble ourselves, and SEEK that which is beyond ourselves. We pursue light, not darkness. Jesus was and is the light of the world. God has revealed Himself completely in His Son. In turn, the Son has revealed Himself through the Holy Spirit which when we let Him in is like a “mighty rushing wind”. You can feel it though you can’t see it. You can hide from it, or pursue it. You can say the wind doesn’t exist, but you would just be deluding yourself.
Our loving God has left us His promise that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with your whole heart”. (Jeremiah 29:13). His Spirit bids us come. Our hearts need to obey and “go”. The idolatry of self is direct defiance of your maker…and HIS justice, not yours, will prevail. We are “dust in the wind” trying to tell the wind it doesn’t exist. Just stop being foolish.