Useful Bible Studies > Ecclesiastes Commentary > chapter 7

Why we do wrong things

Ecclesiastes 7:29

Nobody is completely good. Every person does things that are wrong and evil (Ecclesiastes 7:20). But God, who created all people, never does anything wrong. So clearly he did not intend people to live as they now live. He did not want them to do wrong and evil things. It was people who chose to do those wrong things. God is not responsible for people’s evil deeds; they themselves are responsible.

That is what Solomon learned by his careful study and thought about this world. And that is what the Bible teaches as a matter of history. All that God created was, originally, completely good (Genesis 1:31). The first people were completely good and they lived in a perfect world (Genesis 2:8-25). But they chose not to be loyal to God. They did not obey his instructions. They made that decision on purpose (Genesis 3:1-12).

They did that evil act because of their wrong desires. They desired to make themselves like God (Genesis 3:5). They wanted to know what it is like to be evil. And they allowed their desires to tempt them (Genesis 3:6). So they carried out their plan not to obey God.

Still today, people do wrong things for similar reasons. They make plans in their minds to satisfy their own desires. They do not allow God to rule their lives. Instead, they want to be like a god who can rule his own life. And so their wrong desires guide their actions. They do things that they know to be wrong. And they know that they deserve God’s punishment (Romans 1:18-32)

Our situation is hopeless, but God has been very kind to us. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us. And because of his death, God can forgive us (John 3:16). So we must confess our evil deeds to him. And we must invite him into our lives.

Next part: Wisdom is wonderful (Ecclesiastes 8:1)

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© 2019, Keith Simons.