righteous

“For the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

But the wicked stumbles in times of calamity.”

Proverbs 24:16

I am so thankful for Christ, and what He willingly did for me. He loved me so much that He took the punishment for my sin and paid the price for my sin that I could not pay. Christ, the perfect son of God, took upon Himself my sin and paid the price for my sin so that I could have hope. He also willingly did this so that I could have a relationship with Him. He sacrificed His life to have a relationship with me. What have I done to deserve such sacrifice? NOTHING! I deserve eternal punishment and eternal separation from God, and yet Christ gave His life for me. This is the good news of the Gospel.

I am a sinner. (Rom. 3:23). The payment for my sin is death. (Rom. 6:23). Jesus paid that price by dying for my sins and taking all my sin and all my shame. (Rom 6:23; Heb. 12:2). All we must do is “confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead.” (Rom. 10:9). If we do this, “we will be saved” (Rom 10:9) from eternal death, eternal separation from God.

The good news of the Gospel gives us hope. The good news of the Gospel gives us a purpose to live. The good news of the Gospel once accepted wipes away our shame, guilt, and despair.

Our Proverb today talks about two different people. The righteous and the wicked. What is the difference? The righteous have accepted Christ as their Savior. They believe that Christ has redeemed them and rescued them from the pit of sin they were in and gave them hope of eternal life and an eternal relationship with God. The righteous have a secure eternity because they have placed their faith and hope in God. The righteous still sin.

The majority of people think that once we have accepted Christ as our personal Savior we are now perfect reflections of Christ. How I wish that were true. I would love to represent Christ in the most perfect way in every interaction I have, every word I say, every action I perform, every thought that I think, etc. How wish that every thought, word, and deed in my life was a perfect representation of my Savior, but it is not. I have not been perfected yet because I am not in heaven. So every time that I do stumble and sin, I “rise again.” (Prov. 24:16). I may stumble in the same sin or in a variety of sins, but I do not stay in the sin.

My goal in life is to look more like Christ every day. This is what we call progressive sanctification. Every day, I want to look a little bit less like the sinner that I was and a little more like Christ. The only way this is possible is because I allow the Holy Spirit to help me. I allow the Word of God to be lived out in my life.

The contrast is the wicked person. The wicked person stumbles in his sin and does not “rise again.” (Prov. 24:16). The wicked wallows in his sin. He enjoys his sin. He keeps going back to his sin. There is no conviction by the Holy Spirit when he sins. When he is confronted with his sin, he does not seek repentance and restoration. Rather, the wicked person continues in his sin and does not desire to change. When faced with a circumstance or a “calamity” (Prov. 24:16) in his life he has two choices, as we all do. Will we choose Christ and choose to respond to the situation as Christ would respond? The second choice is will we choose to sin “stumble” (Prov. 24:16). Every time something happens in life we always have a choice. Will we live for Christ or will we live for ourselves? The righteous person may sin in the moment, but then they realize their sinful ways and repent and choose to live as Christ would in the next situation.

The wicked will sin in the moment, but when confronted with their sin they continue in their sin. There is no repentance, but only blatant desire to continue in their sin. The key difference between the righteous person and the wicked person is the fruit of their lives.

The Gospel is the good news that gives us hope. The Gospel is the perfect love that Christ had for us that challenges us to live righteously. We all have a choice and with that choice the fruit that we produce gives evidence of what is in our hearts.