Question

Why should Christians keep fighting evil if the Bible says the world will get worse before the end?

Studied by claude-opus-5-5 · asked once

Start the discussion

The New Testament passages that warn of worsening times always come with a command to keep going: don't let your love grow cold, don't grow weary of doing good, stay busy until the master returns. A prediction that evil will grow is never offered as a reason to stop resisting it. Christians do disagree about how much the world will get better or worse before the end.

What the text says

The warnings come with instructions attached. The best-known "it will get worse" passages are not neutral forecasts. In Matthew 24:12–14 Jesus says that "because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold," and goes straight on: "the one who perseveres to the end will be saved," and the gospel "will be preached in all the world." Lawlessness growing is the danger. Love growing cold is the failure he warns against. In 2 Timothy 3:1–5 Paul describes "terrible times" in the last days, and in 3:10–17 and 4:1–5 he tells Timothy to keep teaching, correcting and doing "the work of an evangelist." Being told the struggle is hard is a reason to prepare for it, not a reason to quit.

The early church faced this very question. Some believers in Thessalonica seem to have stopped normal work because they expected the end soon. Paul's answer was blunt: work quietly, earn your own bread, and "do not grow weary in doing good" (2 Thessalonians 3:10–13; compare Galatians 6:9–10). In Jesus' parables the servants are told to "do business until I come back" (Luke 19:13). The servant who is blessed is the one his master "finds so doing" when he returns (Matthew 24:45–46). The final judgment scene asks whether people fed the hungry, welcomed the stranger and visited the prisoner (Matthew 25:31–46). It does not ask whether they had worked out that the world was declining.

Foreseeing evil is not approving it. Jesus says, "it is inevitable that stumbling blocks will come, but woe to the man through whom they come" (Matthew 18:7). Evil can be expected and still be resisted and judged. Christians are told to "overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21), to be salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16), to "seek the welfare of the city" even in exile (Jeremiah 29:7), and to "do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly" (Micah 6:8). Paul tells Timothy to "fight the good fight" (1 Timothy 1:18). The New Testament describes the deepest fight as being against spiritual evil, not against people (Ephesians 6:12). Its weapons are truth, righteousness and the gospel, and its usual tactic is to repay evil with good (Romans 12:17–21).

The end gives the work its point. Paul ends his long chapter on the resurrection with: "be steadfast… always abounding in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:58). Peter asks, since everything will be dissolved, "what kind of people ought you to be?" His answer is holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:11–14). In these texts, hope about the end is what drives faithful action now. Finally, the "last days" in the New Testament are not only a future period. Acts 2:17 and Hebrews 1:2 say they had already begun in the first century. So every generation of Christians has lived in them and has been given the same tasks.

Where readers differ

Premillennial (including dispensational): the world will decline until Christ returns, and faithfulness matters all the more

On this view, texts like 2 Timothy 3 and Matthew 24 describe a real downward path that ends in a final rebellion, which only Christ's return will put right. Holders do not conclude that Christians should be passive. Their work is to rescue people, preach the gospel, show mercy and stay morally alert, like a lifeboat crew. They do not expect to fix society, but they expect to be found faithful.

2 Timothy 3:12 Timothy 3:13Matthew 24:122 Thessalonians 2:3Luke 18:8

Amillennial: good and evil both grow until the harvest

The parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24–30, 36–43) is the key. The kingdom grows and so does evil, side by side, until the end of the age. Christ reigns now, so Christians work for justice and mercy in a world that remains mixed. They expect neither total collapse nor a golden age before the return.

Matthew 13:24Matthew 13:36Matthew 28:18Revelation 20:11 Corinthians 15:24

Postmillennial: the gospel will gradually transform the world before Christ returns

Holders point to the kingdom pictured as yeast that works through all the dough and as a mustard seed that becomes a tree. They also point to prophecies that the Messiah's government will keep increasing and that the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. They read the 'worse' passages as describing particular periods, some of them already past, rather than the overall direction of history. On this view, fighting evil is part of how the promised victory comes about.

Matthew 13:31Isaiah 9:7Isaiah 11:9Psalm 110:11 Corinthians 15:25

The words it turns on

  • πραγματεύομαι pragmateuomai (πραγματεύομαι)

    To do business or trade, to put capital to work (Luke 19:13).

    Drift: The KJV's "Occupy till I come" is often heard today as "hold your position" or "just wait." The Greek means active trading: make the money grow while the master is away.

  • στρατεία strateia (στρατεία)

    A military campaign or warfare. In 1 Timothy 1:18 it is literally "wage the good warfare."

    Drift: "Fight the good fight" can sound like a private moral effort. The image is soldiering under orders. Ephesians 6:12 says the enemy is spiritual, not "flesh and blood."

  • χαλεπός chalepos (χαλεπός)

    Hard, difficult, troublesome or dangerous (2 Timothy 3:1, "difficult times").

    Drift: It describes times that are hard to live through. It says nothing about the church's task being pointless or over.

  • αἰών aiōn (αἰών)

    An age or era. In synteleia tou aiōnos it means "the completion of the age" (Matthew 13:39; 24:3; 28:20).

    Drift: The KJV's "end of the world" can suggest the physical planet being destroyed. The phrase is about one era ending and God's next one beginning.

  • νικάω nikaō (νικάω)

    To conquer, overcome or win (Romans 12:21: "overcome evil with good").

What the Bible doesn't say

The Bible gives no timetable. It does not say how bad things will get in any given place or generation, and Jesus says even he did not know the day or hour (Matthew 24:36). It also gives no political programme for "fighting evil." Christians honestly differ on how far that fight should reach into law, government or social reform, and how far it should stay with personal holiness, mercy and evangelism. They also disagree on whether force is ever justified. But no reading of the end times, whether premillennial, amillennial or postmillennial, uses the text to excuse giving up on doing good. In the history of interpretation, all three agree on that.

Key verses

  1. Matthew 24:12

    Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

    Jesus predicts that wickedness will increase and in the same breath warns against letting love grow cold.

  2. 2 Thessalonians 3:11

    For we hear that some of you are leading undisciplined lives, accomplishing nothing, but being busybodies.

    Paul answers believers who quit ordinary life because they expected the end: "do not grow weary in doing good."

  3. Luke 19:13

    Beforehand, he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Conduct business with this until I return,’ he said.

    "Do business until I come back": the time before the return is for active work, not waiting.

  4. 1 Corinthians 15:58

    Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

    The hope of resurrection is the stated reason the work is "not in vain."

  5. Romans 12:21

    Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

    The basic command is to overcome evil with good.

  6. 2 Timothy 3:1

    But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.

    The main "terrible times" passage. Its context (3:10–4:5) is a call to keep going.

  7. Matthew 25:31

    When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.

    At the judgment, people are measured by concrete mercy, not by how they read the times.

  8. Matthew 18:7

    Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come!

    Evil can be inevitable and still be condemned. A prediction is not permission.

  9. 2 Peter 3:11

    Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness

    Knowing the end is coming is meant to produce holy, active lives.

  10. Matthew 13:24

    Jesus put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.

    Good and evil grow together until the harvest, so the mixed state of the world is expected.

  11. Galatians 6:9

    Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

    "Let us not grow weary in doing good... let us do good to all people."

  12. 1 Timothy 1:18

    Timothy, my child, I entrust you with this command in keeping with the previous prophecies about you, so that by them you may fight the good fight,

    Timothy is told to "fight the good fight" (literally, wage the good warfare) as an ongoing calling.

Common points of confusion
If the Bible predicts the world will get worse, trying to improve it works against God's plan.
The text separates foreknowing evil from approving it (Matthew 18:7). It commands believers to do good to everyone (Galatians 6:10) and to seek the good of the city where they live (Jeremiah 29:7).
The "last days" are a future period, so the warnings are only for the final generation.
Acts 2:17 and Hebrews 1:2 say the last days had already begun in the apostles' time, and the instructions apply throughout the church age.
"Occupy till I come" means hold on and wait.
The Greek pragmateuomai means trade or do business. The servant who just kept his money safe is rebuked (Luke 19:20-26).
Expecting the end soon is a good reason to stop normal work and responsibilities.
Paul rebukes exactly this in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12.
Fighting evil means attacking evil people.
Ephesians 6:12 says the struggle is not against flesh and blood, and Romans 12:17-21 commands repaying evil with good.

Sources: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (G165, G3528, G4231, G4752, G5467) · Bauer, Danker, Arndt, Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG), entries pragmateuomai, strateia, chalepos, aiōn · Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament · Berean Standard Bible (verse quotations) · Robert G. Clouse (ed.), The Meaning of the Millennium: Four Views (IVP)

Discussion

What do you make of it? Agree, push back, add a verse.

Loading…