The Source of Evil Thoughts

Many people are distressed and perplexed by the influx of trash and perversion that continually fills their minds. Some relish the thoughts while the godly are tormented by them. Just what is the source of evil thoughts? The Bible in Matthew 15:19 answers this question where it says, “For out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness and slanders.” The heart is not man¹s personal spirit, but it is the centralization of the attitudes that are formed from a person¹s emotions and their mind. In New Testament terms, the heart is the conscience. If something affects my conscience, I cannot have a strong faith in God. Not only does it hinder me from knowing the love of God, but it hinders my faith and prayer life because I can only have confidence in God when my conscience is clear (1 John 3:21).

The Bible clearly teaches that evil thoughts proceed from the heart. James 1:14 says each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. In other words, we can only be tempted by the defilements that have been stored or planted down in our hearts. The word defilement means to corrupt chastity, to debauch, to violate, to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness, to taint, to stain, to contaminate, to sully, to render impure by sin. It means to become polluted, to be profaned or made common, to be made unclean or unhallowed. So evil thoughts come out of a part of our hearts that are unsanctified and in need of cleansing.

The good news is that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood upon Calvary making provision for the atonement of our sin and the cleansing and sanctifying of our heart. His blood when appropriated by our asking and through the confession of our sins will cleanse our conscience of all defilement. We are told in Hebrews 9:13-14, “For if the blood of goats and bulls and ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve a living God.”

Romans 1 says, “The law of God is written on our hearts.” As little children and even adults, we have had our consciences violated by the sinful things we have done and by the sinful things which have been done to us. Also defilements are past down to us at birth through the generational iniquities of our forefathers. The world calls this phenomenon “genes.”

Anytime the Word of God is violated in our lives either by the things we do or the things which have been done to us, our consciences will become defiled in a given area or areas. Every sinful act and even the negative traumas or events of our life, if not dealt with at the Cross, will be forgotten by our conscience memory, stuffed down and stored in our sub-conscience memory. Only to reappear again and again in our thoughts and sooner or later vocally expressed with our mouths and/or, even worse, carried out by sinful physical acts. Matthew 12:34 says, “The mouth speaks
out of that which fills the heart.” James 1:15 says, “When lust is conceived it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.” Proverbs 4:23 says to, “Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it (the heart) flow the springs of life.” Without a careful guarding of the heart, doorways are opened to defilement. The purer the heart, the purer the thoughts. We are responsible for what we allow in our minds. For victory to be realized, our every thought must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ and brought into alignment with the Word of God as the Bible commands us in II Corinthians 10:4-6.

The Bible Lists Some Specific Sins Which DEFILE Us:

1. IDOLATRY OR SPIRITUAL HARLOTRY.
Christians are referred to as the Bride of Christ. When our hearts go after other lovers (gods), we commit the sin of spiritual adultery. Idolatry can also be an image, an idea or a picture in our minds of how we think things ought to go. (Ezekiel 20:7, 18, 30; 23:30, 38; 5:11; 36:18; 22:4; Hosea 5:3; 6:3; Jeremiah 2:20-27; Revelation 14:3-4).

2. SEXUAL SIN
(adultery, fornication, bestiality, incest, molestation, inappropriate touch, lust, etc.) (Genesis 34:2-5, 13; Numbers 5:12-14,20,27-29; Deuteronomy 24:4; Leviticus 18:20-24, 28, 30; Ezekiel 22:10-12; 23:7, 13, 30,38; 33:36).

3. EATING FOOD SACRIFICED TO IDOLS
(or any sin against a weaker person or child (wounds) imprints the conscience and cause the person to pattern after the perpetrator. (I Corinthians 8:10-12).

4. A ROOT OF BITTERNESS
We defile others and others defile us with a root of bitterness. (Hebrews 12:15).

5. TOUCHING THE DEAD, THE BONES OF THE DEAD OR GRAVES
(Leviticus 21:1, 3-5, 11; Numbers 19:13-20; Ezekiel 44:25).

6. THE TONGUE
The words we speak or the words others speak over us. (Matthew 15:11; Mark 7:15, 20-21; James 3:6; Proverbs 12:18; 15:4; 17:20; 18:6,21; 21:23).

7. CAUSING SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO PASS THROUGH THE FIRE
(Leviticus 20:3-4; Ezekiel 20:31).

8. VIOLATING THE LAW OF GOD WHICH HAS BEEN WRITTEN ON OUR
HEARTS (Romans 1).

9. THROUGH WHAT A PERSON SEES AND HEARS
(television, movies, radio, music, pornography, etc.). The Word of God is seed and words are seeds. We are referred to as soil (Matthew 13; Mark 4; Luke 8). In Isaiah 5, we are also referred to as the vineyard of the Lord. Deuteronomy 22:9 says, “We are not to plant two kinds of seed in our vineyard because the bad seed will defile the good.” Hosea 10:12 says, “We are to sow with a view to righteousness.” Galatians 6:7-8 says “What a man sows this also he will reap for the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption.”

10. THROUGH DREAMING, FANTASY, PRETENDING, WISHING, DENYING TRUTH (Jude 1:8; Philippians 4:8).

11. OCCULTISM
(Leviticus 19:31; II Kings 23:8-16; II Chronicles 36:14-16)

12. MARRYING UNBELIEVERS AND THE COMPROMISE THAT GOES WITH IT
(I Corinthians 6:16-17; II Corinthians 6:14-18; Nehemiah 13:25-29).

13. LISTENING TO FALSE PREACHERS OR TEACHERS AND TO FALSE PROPHETS (Colossians 2:8-9; Ezekiel 13:19-23; Timothy 4:1,2).

Sin is at the root of every evil thought. Deliverance and healing will come when we:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the doorway (the sin/sins).
2. Take accountability for whatever happened.
3. Forgive others and/or yourself.
4. Confess your sin to God and ask Him to forgive you of your sin (1 John 1:9).
5. Break soul ties with every person involved.
6. Break generational curses.
7. Ask the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse and sanctify your conscience from all defilement by His precious blood (Psalms 51:2,10).
8. Submit yourself to God and resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7).
9. Praise Jesus for His deliverance and ask the Holy Spirit to fill you up with Himself.

When Jesus spoke the Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” The purer our hearts, the greater our ability to perceive God and know God. He wants each of us to have a pure heart and He has made provision. Hallelujah!

Abiding Life Ministries • P.O. Box 1141, Lindale, Texas 75771• 903-882-1965