The different degrees and kinds of malice in people’s hearts (all kinds of malice)
What does the emphasis ‘ALL malice’ imply in Peter’s admonition? Malice has many faces. In some people’s lives, malice puts on the garment of desire to cause harm to others. In other people, malice goes a little forward to cause significant injury to satisfy misplaced yearnings for revenge. When malice takes its root within an individual, it could go beyond the common desire to cause pain, harm, or distress to other people.
The dangerous effects of malice
Malice is capable of motivating its victims to commit unimaginable wicked acts. It could go beyond household or community wickedness to global disaster and terrorism. People with a deep-rooted spirit of malice derive joy in seeing others experience significant pain, injury, distress, and suffering. This is so sad.
Malevolence kind of malice explained
The next level of malice is called Malevolence, which fills the victim with a bitter, persistent demon of hatred likely to be expressed in malicious conduct. This spirit fills its victim with ill will and feelings of antipathy.
The operation of the malevolence kind of malice
It provokes careless remarks, petty feelings of envy, and resentment, often expressed in harassment and insults inspired by spite. When King David and his servants fled Jerusalem barefoot through the trackless roads of Palestine, a man called Shimei, possessed by the demon of malice against David, showed up.
‘And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, thence came out a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera: he came forth, and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of King David: and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. And thus said Shimei when he cursed, come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial: The LORD hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the LORD hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and, behold, thou art taken in thy mischief, because thou art a bloody man’. 2 SAMUEL 16:5-8
For years, Shimei harbored malice against David until it got to the level of hostility, deep passion, and relentlessness consumed by dangerous wrath and spite clouded his mind until he could vent his spleen against him.
Consequences of malice
It is wrong to parade yourself as a senior citizen, pastor, priest, minister, teacher, or leader of any level when you have given in to the vice of malice. If not put off, this brute grieves the Holy Spirit, and the consequence is usually very disastrous.
Grieving The Holy Spirit
How is the Holy Spirit grieved?
When you give constant permission to the works of the flesh to operate freely in your life, it provokes or grieves the Holy Spirit.
Works of the flesh are laden with sin, evil, and blasphemy, which is one of the characteristic words of Paul in his epistle to the Galatians.
Why you should not be under the control of the flesh
‘Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God’. GALATIANS 5:19-21
When you continually live under the control of sin, as listed above, you are far from being a faithful follower of Christ.
Works and fruits explained
Examining the root of the works of the flesh, notice that work is what man produces with energy, while fruit comes from source and power, which man has no control over. So, it appears work and fruit go in opposite directions. If you are not a Christian, you are bound to live in the flesh, and living in the flesh grieves the Holy Spirit.
What happens when one repents and comes to Jesus?
However, when you repent and confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Repentance and salvation shatter the bridge Satan constructed to let sin into human life.
Why you should put off sin and live a Christ-like life
In military strategy, no grand army can invade a nation from the sea without obtaining a bridgehead. That is why we are told to put off sin to live without grieving the Holy Spirit.
‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption‘. EPHESIANS 4:30
‘But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: therefore, he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them‘. ISAIAH 63:10
We can be sure that in times of temptation and attacks from satanic agents, we are safe because the Spirit of the Lord is in control of our lives.
‘But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith’. GALATIANS 5:22