Who is "Actively Evil"?

I explored this query briefly during an online discussion about the nature of evil in the unredeemed. Let me state from the outset that I'm generally of the opinion that online debate and rhetoric to be almost entirely fruitless with one possible exception being intellectual development.

Certainly there may be readers who are influenced positively for the Lord after reading a thread containing such discussion or debate but for the most part, and particularly for the principals involved, little ground is given or taken and the entire exercise typically becomes a zero sum activity.

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE

My view - which I believe to be in harmony with scripture - is that all human beings fall into one of two categories: the saved and the lost.

Those who have been saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ are Christians, those who have received His free gift of eternal life, wherein He paid for our sins upon the cross. The Christian believer's sins were righteously judged at the cross, therefore there is no future judgment relating to salvation – where you spend eternity – for a believer. There are certainly heavenly judgments in store for the Christian, but this is not to determine if the believer is found acceptable to stand before the Throne of Glory. He is accepted in Christ.

I believe that the Bible teaches that anyone and everyone who has not received the gift of salvation are not only lost, but actively evil. This concept is taught throughout New Testament canon. Essentially anyone who has not received the Son has rejected Him by default and whether that rejection stems from ignorance, deception, or outright rejection matters not because the miserable end result is the same - a lost soul without hope. There is no middle ground upon which one can stand.

If one has rejected the Son (by not receiving Him) then that individual is an offense to God as he is living in his sin, which thing God hates. The lost are fully under the dominion of Satan, and hence are his servants. Even the casual believer can see the enemy working his unseemly plans in the lives of the unredeemed. It doesn't take deep spiritual discernment to note that those who lead the most debauched existences often harbor the most virulently anti-Christian worldviews.

THE ENEMY WITHIN

A singularly disconcerting manifestation of Satan's influence lies within the professing church. As the scriptures clearly teach Satan sought to destroy and discredit the true Church early on by sowing his tares among the wheat. These wolves in sheep's clothing are those who wear the Christian badge, but bear the fruit of anti-christ. These false teachers and wicked servants are also responsible for giving The Ancient of Days a decidedly poor reputation. The unchurched world sees these hypocrites who claim Christ and yet defile His name and they are impressed by their false witness and ungodly testimony and their impression is less than favorable I can assure you.

I'd like to explore this topic in more depth later with supporting scripture. One thing is for certain, according to the infallible Word of God the condition of the world is going to get much worse before it gets better.