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The Path of the Righteous
Isaiah 26:7-9 ESV
Who are the righteous? They are those who have put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of their lives. By God-given faith in Jesus Christ they have been crucified with Christ in death to sin that they might now live in Christ to him and to his righteousness, all for the glory of God, and only in his strength, power, and wisdom.
They are those who are walking no longer according to the flesh, but who are conducting their lives according to the Spirit of God, in agreement with God. They are walking in obedience to their Lord in doing what he commands and in going where he sends them, all in his power. They are not perfect people, but they are not living in deliberate and habitual sin.
For, they have forsaken their lifestyles of sin to follow Jesus where he leads them. Sin is no longer what they practice, but righteousness is their practice. They are saying “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and they are living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives for the praise and glory of God and in his power and strength, according to his will and purpose.
They are those who seek after the Lord, and who desire to do his will, and to do what pleases him, because they love him. So, they follow him wherever he leads them, and they obey his commands as a matter of practice, and they resist the devil, and they flee temptation, and they draw near to God in full assurance of faith because they love their Lord.
The Path of the Wicked
Isaiah 26:9-11 ESV
The wicked are not like the righteous, for they have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin and they are not living to God and to his righteousness, although many wicked people profess faith in Jesus Christ. But their faith is of the flesh, not of the Spirit of God, and so they give themselves permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin.
The wicked, thus, can be those who give off an air of righteousness all the while they are sinning in secret when they think no one else can see what they are doing. Thus, they have dirty little secrets they are hiding from view, thinking that no one sees and that no one will catch them in the act, and therefore they can continue in their wickedness.
They have this idea that if no one sees and no one knows that they are free to keep on in their evil deeds. For, they have convinced themselves that they are free to sin as much as they want. And their pride and their arrogance keep them from facing the reality of their wickedness and the ultimate reality of judgement.
They have this false sense of security which tells them that they can do a little bit here and a little bit there and it won’t matter, for they truly believe they are the conquerors and that they sit as king and that they are untouchable. For those of them who say they have “believed” in Jesus, they see their salvation from sin as a “free for all” to continue in sin.
But they are wrong. Even if no other human sees, God sees what they are doing, and one day they will face his judgment, whether they believe it or not. Hopefully that judgment will come in time for them to make a turnabout with their lives, for them to finally face the reality of what they have done, and what that has cost them, and for them to turn their hearts to Jesus.
For, sad to say, as long as God shows his favor to the wicked, and God does not bring judgment immediately, the wicked do not learn righteousness. They continue on in their corruption, for they refuse to believe that God will ever judge them for their evil deeds. Since God has not yet judged them yet, they have a false sense of security that he never will.
So, God sends his judgments on the earth as a way to teach the people his righteous ways and so that some of them will turn from their wicked ways, and so that they will turn to the Lord and follow him. Sadly, for some people that won’t take place until a tragedy happens in their lives, or until they are caught in their evil deeds and are forced to pay the consequences for their sins. Still, even then, they don’t all learn righteousness.
Even in the midst of God’s judgments many will still refuse to see the righteousness of God and what he has for their lives if they will but put their faith in him. But they will stubbornly hold on to their pride and they will continue in their sin, and they will not be ashamed of their sins at all, but they may even justify them. And that breaks my heart!
So, if this is where you are right now, living in secret sin, refusing to repent and to obey your Lord, perhaps while you put on a show of righteousness, please know that God’s word is true, and that he will do all that he said he would do. And his word teaches that if we walk in sin, making sin our practice, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken
With your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is
Separate from Him.
Your words not matching
Your actions today.
Repent of your sin and
Bow down and pray.
Live what you testify
In truth always.
Purity’s lacking in
Your life and witness,
For you profess one thing,
But other you do.
Not moral, spiritual.
Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to
What you confess.
Lying about it
Puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice,
‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness –
None of it true.
Your heart is not given
To your Lord God.
Because of how you live,
You are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and
Give your life to God.
Isaiah 26:7-9 ESV
“The path of the righteous is level;
you make level the way of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.”
you make level the way of the righteous.
In the path of your judgments,
O Lord, we wait for you;
your name and remembrance
are the desire of our soul.
My soul yearns for you in the night;
my spirit within me earnestly seeks you.”
Who are the righteous? They are those who have put their hope and trust in Jesus Christ to be Lord (owner-master) and Savior of their lives. By God-given faith in Jesus Christ they have been crucified with Christ in death to sin that they might now live in Christ to him and to his righteousness, all for the glory of God, and only in his strength, power, and wisdom.
They are those who are walking no longer according to the flesh, but who are conducting their lives according to the Spirit of God, in agreement with God. They are walking in obedience to their Lord in doing what he commands and in going where he sends them, all in his power. They are not perfect people, but they are not living in deliberate and habitual sin.
For, they have forsaken their lifestyles of sin to follow Jesus where he leads them. Sin is no longer what they practice, but righteousness is their practice. They are saying “No!” to ungodliness and fleshly lusts, and they are living self-controlled, upright, and godly lives for the praise and glory of God and in his power and strength, according to his will and purpose.
They are those who seek after the Lord, and who desire to do his will, and to do what pleases him, because they love him. So, they follow him wherever he leads them, and they obey his commands as a matter of practice, and they resist the devil, and they flee temptation, and they draw near to God in full assurance of faith because they love their Lord.
The Path of the Wicked
Isaiah 26:9-11 ESV
“For when your judgments are in the earth,
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
O Lord, your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.”
the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.
If favor is shown to the wicked,
he does not learn righteousness;
in the land of uprightness he deals corruptly
and does not see the majesty of the Lord.
O Lord, your hand is lifted up,
but they do not see it.
Let them see your zeal for your people, and be ashamed.”
The wicked are not like the righteous, for they have not been crucified with Christ in death to sin and they are not living to God and to his righteousness, although many wicked people profess faith in Jesus Christ. But their faith is of the flesh, not of the Spirit of God, and so they give themselves permission to keep on in deliberate and habitual sin.
The wicked, thus, can be those who give off an air of righteousness all the while they are sinning in secret when they think no one else can see what they are doing. Thus, they have dirty little secrets they are hiding from view, thinking that no one sees and that no one will catch them in the act, and therefore they can continue in their wickedness.
They have this idea that if no one sees and no one knows that they are free to keep on in their evil deeds. For, they have convinced themselves that they are free to sin as much as they want. And their pride and their arrogance keep them from facing the reality of their wickedness and the ultimate reality of judgement.
They have this false sense of security which tells them that they can do a little bit here and a little bit there and it won’t matter, for they truly believe they are the conquerors and that they sit as king and that they are untouchable. For those of them who say they have “believed” in Jesus, they see their salvation from sin as a “free for all” to continue in sin.
But they are wrong. Even if no other human sees, God sees what they are doing, and one day they will face his judgment, whether they believe it or not. Hopefully that judgment will come in time for them to make a turnabout with their lives, for them to finally face the reality of what they have done, and what that has cost them, and for them to turn their hearts to Jesus.
For, sad to say, as long as God shows his favor to the wicked, and God does not bring judgment immediately, the wicked do not learn righteousness. They continue on in their corruption, for they refuse to believe that God will ever judge them for their evil deeds. Since God has not yet judged them yet, they have a false sense of security that he never will.
So, God sends his judgments on the earth as a way to teach the people his righteous ways and so that some of them will turn from their wicked ways, and so that they will turn to the Lord and follow him. Sadly, for some people that won’t take place until a tragedy happens in their lives, or until they are caught in their evil deeds and are forced to pay the consequences for their sins. Still, even then, they don’t all learn righteousness.
Even in the midst of God’s judgments many will still refuse to see the righteousness of God and what he has for their lives if they will but put their faith in him. But they will stubbornly hold on to their pride and they will continue in their sin, and they will not be ashamed of their sins at all, but they may even justify them. And that breaks my heart!
So, if this is where you are right now, living in secret sin, refusing to repent and to obey your Lord, perhaps while you put on a show of righteousness, please know that God’s word is true, and that he will do all that he said he would do. And his word teaches that if we walk in sin, making sin our practice, we will die in our sins. We will not inherit eternal life with God.
[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:9-10, 19-20; 2 Co 5:10, 15; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; Gal 5:16-21; Eph 5:3-6; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; Matt 7:21-23; Heb 10:26-27; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
Broken Cord
An Original Work / August 29, 2018
Your bond is broken
With your Lord and Savior
And your testimony is
Separate from Him.
Your words not matching
Your actions today.
Repent of your sin and
Bow down and pray.
Live what you testify
In truth always.
Purity’s lacking in
Your life and witness,
For you profess one thing,
But other you do.
Not moral, spiritual.
Still of the flesh.
Not living in truth to
What you confess.
Lying about it
Puts you in a mess.
Living a lie is your practice,
‘tis true of you.
Masquerade righteousness –
None of it true.
Your heart is not given
To your Lord God.
Because of how you live,
You are a fraud.
Turn from your sin and
Give your life to God.
