Hello,<\/p>\n
I have a question regarding evil. Are people born evil or does life make them that way? I ask because I was reading this case of a serial killer in Ukraine who killed 52 people. How does someone become this twisted and not feel bad about it? I know it’s not right to judge where a person’s soul ends up, but where did this guy end up going?<\/p>\n\t
Sin is always a choice. “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness<\/em>” (I John 3:4). Therefore, it is neither due to birth nor environment, though environment might encourage a person to make wrong choices.<\/p>\n Any sin that is repeated often enough causes a person to become numb to the guilt of sin. “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and\u00a0they, having become callous<\/strong>, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:17-19).<\/p>\n I can’t say where this person ended up because I can’t tell you how his life ended. But we do know that unrepentant murders end up in hell. “But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death<\/em>” (Revelation 21:8).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Question: Hello, I have a question regarding evil. Are people born evil or does life make them that way? I ask because I was reading this case of a serial killer in Ukraine who killed 52 people. How does someone become this twisted and not feel bad about it? I know it’s not right to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[703,406,179],"class_list":["post-49364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-guilt","tag-murder","tag-sin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":93492,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-someone-be-born-with-a-sin-that-cannot-be-forgiven\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":0},"title":"Can someone be born with a sin that cannot be forgiven?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 26, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, First, I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I do appreciate your knowledge. I have an interesting question about the topic of \"saveability\" (not an actual word). Does God allow for someone to be born with sin that they cannot be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21808,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/arent-men-born-sinful\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":1},"title":"Aren’t men born sinful?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I'm just emailing about a little something I found in an article of yours. It's answering a question about where the Word talks about\u00a0all men being equal. Not to be picky, but it says in the article we are all born without sin, which isn't true. One of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52556,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-sin-still-our-fault\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":2},"title":"Why is sin still our fault?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 5, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have something to ask that's been a big question for me. I don't understand things the way I ought to. All have sinned. Can you help me reconcile the fact that it's impossible to never sin, but sin is still our fault? I know factually that God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90138,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-difference-between-a-mistake-and-a-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":3},"title":"What is the difference between a mistake and a sin?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How do we discern if a mistake is sinful or not? For example, if someone (not a characteristically prideful person) fails to listen to wisdom and makes a poor choice, believing they're using good judgment, is that sin? Does the Bible talk about mistakes, or give examples of mistakes,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":47265,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-babies-are-not-sinners-then-why-do-some-babies-die\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":4},"title":"If babies are not sinners, then why do some babies die?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, The Bible says for the wages of sin is death. If you claim that babies are not born sinners why do babies die? Thanks Answer: \"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52519,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/im-not-sure-if-my-thoughts-are-sin\/","url_meta":{"origin":49364,"position":5},"title":"I’m not sure if my thoughts are sin","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I saw a website that makes going to heaven seem really difficult. I have religious OCD and I get blasphemous thoughts constantly and repent all day long. Some of the thoughts feel like I want them. What should I do? If I'm not sure if my thoughts are really\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49364\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}