The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.
Summary: Righteousness is a challenging topic. On one hand, is the view that because no one is righteous then that means people are incapable of any righteousness. But is that what the Bible says or is that what we want it to say?
If we are to escape the trap of evil desires, we need to be focused on God. The “trap” Solomon refers to has consequences both in this life and the next. It is righteousness that delivers us from the trap.
Some may say that we have no righteousness of our own and will refer us back to Paul’s letter to the Romans (See Romans 3:10, 23). But that is not what Paul says. He says, “There is no one righteous…” He does not say that we are incapable of being righteous in small ways. Instead, he makes the case that we are not righteous before God, specifically in the eyes of God’s law.
It is a bit like buying a new car. When you drive the car off of the car lot, it immediately changes from a “new” car into a “used” car. It has been “pre-owned” because you took ownership of it. If the car is well cared for, it may look new for a long time, but it is not new, nor will it ever be new again.
When mankind was in the Garden of Eden, we were like the new car. We were God’s creation, and we were perfect in his eyes (Genesis 1:31). Then we sinned. Like the first door ding on that new car, we were instantly transformed from new to used. Because our eyes were now open to evil (Genesis 3:5) we turned away from God.
Evil desires come from looking at things in evil ways. Righteousness means we turn away from evil and look to God.
Application: Make every effort to please God in everything you do.
Food for Thought: How do evil desires trap us?
James 1: 13 – 22 comes to mind. James describes evil desires within us luring us like bait to a fish. But once we take the bait it drags us away to death. If we dwell on the evil thing that we want, we will likely succumb. Instead we need to dwell on God’s word and be doers of His word rather than doers of evil. Notice verse 21 of the passage in James 1. It has good advice. 1 Corinthians 10: 13.
Rich,
Nicely put. Your reference to verse 21 is excellent advice for those of us wanting to avoid eternal death:
“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” (James 1:21)
05-18-2022, Proverbs 11:6, How do evil desires trap us?
All who seek to please God in their own righteousness are living in a trap.
For our sake He made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Jesus we might become the righteousness of God”. Not only is Christ’s righteousness imputed to us through faith, but our sin is imputed to Christ.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
2 Corinthians 5:21, John 3:16-18
The Bible teaches two kinds of righteousness. In His sermon on the mount, Christ said to his disciples, and to the multitude, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven”. The Pharisees were the best people in the Jewish nation, possibly in the world so far as outward acts were concerned. The name Pharisee signifies “separated;” and they took this name because they were separated from the common people by their superior goodness. They professed to live according to righteous standards “ THEY “ had established according to “THEIR“ interpretation of God’s word. And Jesus described them as whited sepulchers’ – a people who outwardly professes to be virtuous yet were inwardly evil. A people who professed beliefs and opinions that he or she did not hold in order to conceal his or her real feelings or motives.
Matthew 5:20, 23:27
What men might call two degrees of righteousness are in God’s eyes two kinds of righteousness. These two kinds of righteousness are written of by Paul, “Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.”
Philippians 3:8-9
Those with the time can read Romans 3:21-12:16, where our Lord instructed Paul in great detail regarding this topic.
Ron,
Very interesting! You are, of course, absolutely right. Any attempt to manipulate God by reducing his will to a set of rules is playing an evil game.
Interesting perspective Jeff. You’ve succeeded in making another think more.
Thank you, A.
That is high praise! I love to see people think! Specifically, I do not want people to question God, but rather I desire that we question our assumptions about God. Sometimes our assumptions can lead us to do the very opposite of what we intend.
For example: When we take a binary approach to the concept of righteousness, we elevate Romans 3:10 up higher than other verses in the Bible. So when it says “There is no one righteous, not even one… we understand that to mean that humans cannot be righteous in any form.
The intent of this approach is well-meaning. We do not want anyone to presume that their righteousness might be a ticket to heaven. So, like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, we put “fences” around God’s Word to keep people back from this ledge.
In Genesis 6:9 God’s Word says, “This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.”
In 1 Kings 3:6 Solomon says to God, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart.”
Likewise, John himself says, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” (1 John 3:7)
Now if John says we can be righteous and we assume Paul is saying that we can’t be righteous, who is right?
If the Bible says that Noah was “righteous” and David was “righteous … in heart,” how do we reconcile these verses with a strict interpretation of Romans 3:10?
For my part, I can’t. So while well intended, this “fence” of assuming that we cannot be righteous in any way sets up a conflict with other parts of God’s Word.
I believe that people are inherently logical. Oh … I know. People do crazy things all the time, but that is because of faulty assumptions rather than faulty logic.
We might not argue with a teacher who teaches that Romans 3:10 is absolute, but deep in our minds, perhaps under the surface of our thoughts, such a belief casts doubt on those Scriptures that seem to say we should at least try to be righteous.
More concerning is the possibility that someone might misapply our misassumption.
Suppose a new believer comes to the topic of righteousness and is taught that Romans 3:10 means people can never be righteous. What is the message there? Would he be wrong to conclude that since he can never be righteous, there is no reason to try and be righteous?
That is a perfectly logical conclusion.
And so without meaning to, such a view of Romans 3:10 could lead a person to ignore the admonitions in Scripture to live a holy life.
So what are we to do?
One: Trust God. After all, it is His Word. If the Bible says some people are righteous, then a person can be righteous.
Two: Trust the Holy Spirit. Jesus sent the Spirit to teach us (John 14:26). Shouldn’t we allow him to do his work?
Three: Trust Jesus. Luke 6:37 quotes our Lord saying, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Our God is a forgiving God. Let’s not make the mistake of presuming to know what Jesus cannot forgive.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, was famous for pointing out, “When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”
If it is impossible for God to lie (Hebrews 6:18) and if the Bible says that “no man is righteous” and “the one who does what is right is righteous,” then what remains? Could it be that the word “righteous” has more than one meaning or application?
We know that this is true of other words such as “love” which has seven or more meanings, and the word “law” which is used in at least five different ways in Scripture. If these nuances exist in other parts of the Bible, why is it so hard to imagine that they apply to the word “righteous,” too?
I hope you find these thoughts helpful and not hurtful.