If the righteous receive their due on earth,
how much more the ungodly and the sinner!
Summary: Solomon continues to educate us on the meaning of being righteous. In today’s passage, he compares the righteous to the ungodly. It is an interesting comparison!
This passage is a challenge for me. Do the righteous receive their due on earth? That is a tough question!
Why is this a tough question?
Well… because of Jesus.
Solomon is writing to us under the umbrella of the original Old Testament Law or Covenant with God. During the exodus from Egypt, God gave the Law through Moses and this became the Mosaic Laws. These laws included several categories of law. The principle laws were the Ten Commandments. These applied to everyone and could be easily remembered by everyone because there are only ten of them. And, it should be noted that they make total sense!
In addition, there are Levitical laws for the service of the Tabernacle and a whole series of instructions for the priests. Later, during the exile, the Pharisees and teachers of the law would begin adding to these laws and rules, creating a complex web of exacting regulations that governed every area of life.
As I understand it, righteousness is defined by the Ten Commandments. As Jesus sums it up in John 22: 37-40, these laws tell us to love God above all else and our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus gives us more details when he teaches us the prayer called “the Lord’s Prayer.” He says:
“This, then, is how you should pray:
'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.'" (Matthew 6: 9-13)
Notice the structure of the prayer. It begins with honoring the Father. In fact, the first half of the prayer is all about loving God above all else. Then the prayer turns to our needs. We want to eat when we are hungry. Even the righteous need food. Then, God adds an important two-edged sword to these words. “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”
Oops.
This is that “loving others as we love ourselves” thing. Yep, it includes forgiving others just like we want to be forgiven. And then, of course, there are the words about keeping us away from temptation and delivering us from the evil one.
So what is really “due” to the righteous? According to this prayer, it is food to eat and helping us avoid temptation and the evil one.
So what is that worth?
If we judge this passage with worldly eyes, it might be easy to conclude that the righteous are not coming out of this very well. After all, they don’t have the riches and worldly wealth that the criminal class can attain by taking advantage of other people. But they have something more important. Like Job, the righteous have their integrity, and their basic physical needs are met.
So what is due to the ungodly and the sinner? What is it they receive on this earth?
Are they delivered from the evil one? Are they protected from temptation? Does God forgive their debts? Do they always have daily bread?
The picture painted here is stark. I hope those who have eyes to see are paying attention.
Application: Strive for righteousness in everything you do.
Food for Thought: Share your thoughts on what the righteous are “due” here on earth.
Persecution
Tim,
You have put your finger on the point I was referring to when I wrote that Jesus was the reason this is a tough question. You are right, we do expect persecution if we are following Jesus. We also are given the Holy Spirit, God’s Word, and the love of Christ. On balance, the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the good things God gives us far outweigh any persecution we might encounter..
I’m thankful that I was messaged Romans 5:1-5 this morning.
Perfect verse!
Whatever we ask for? Jesus did say ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.
The desires of our heart?
Assurance that He is returning to take us to heaven with Him.
I am sure I can think of a bunch more,..but the main one for me is getting to go to heaven through Jesus.
Amen, John! Amen! 🙂
I really liked how you paraphrased this part of the Lord’s Prayer: “integrity, and their basic physical needs are met.” I think I’m going to adopt this as a measuring stick for when I feel discontent.
Share your thoughts on what the righteous are “due” here on earth.
When I ponder on this question, I get the sense that it is talking about sin. That everyone has to give account for it before God. The righteous (those that strive to serve God), they will be given understanding into their own sin on this earth, ask for forgiveness (even though it is already given), and try and turn away from it. The righteous will still have to give an account at the Throne, but God will also see their good heart and good action. They aren’t forgiven because of their good heart or action, that forgiveness came because of Jesus, but the overall circumstances have changed. The unrighteous, they will not seek the Lord on Earth, and will have to give account before God without having accepted His forgiveness, and having never tried to turn from sin. So my thoughts here are that the righteous “due” is transformation. If God can and will do that for us here on Earth, from the inside out, imagine how it would be to die and stand before God without forgiveness.
I certainly don’t have all the answers, but that is what came to my mind. I am eager to read others thoughts on this as well.
Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
2 Timothy 1:9 Who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
— Romans 12:2
Chris,
Thanks for the feedback on the post today.
You make a great point about the power of God to transform our lives. That has certainly been my experience. I cannot imagine living without God at this point. He makes everything new.
I am with T on this one. We are absolutely promised persecution – 2 Timothy 3: 12. We are promised to be hated on account of Jesus by the world. Jesus often asked His followers to count the cost – from what I see even more than counting our blessings. Now, of course, we do receive blessings – especially the blessing of giving to someone else – Acts 20: 35.
There are many blessings that we receive. Some are listed in Ephesians 1: 3 – 14. Most have to do with our eternal blessings (see also Romans 8: 18 – 39). We are promised that He will never leave us or forsake us. We are promised in a proverbial sense our daily food (many believers have starved to death – so it is proverbial in nature I believe – such as Matthew 6 – it is in general truth but the evil of men will starve someone else). There are many blessings, but if we see those as mostly material I don’t think we are on solid ground.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
James 1:2-4
06-29-2022, Proverbs 11:31, Share your thoughts on what the righteous are “due” here on earth.
“LORD, your word is forever; it is firmly fixed in heaven. Your faithfulness is for all generations; you established the earth, and it stands firm.” Psalms 119:89-90
Believers are immediately declared Righteous by God, we now live in the presence of God, His power in our hearts now and we will not perish BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE NOW.
Romans 3:23-25, Ephesians 3:17-19, Colossians 1:27, 2 Timothy 1:7, John 3:16
The entire Bible is written and preserved by God, pointing to righteousness being received by man by the power of Jesus Christ who paid the price, wiped away all our sins and has given all believers the Holy Spirit as our teacher.
God’s truths are eternal, true before creation, were written to me 45 years ago when in the power of the Holy Spirit He called me, illuminated Scripture to me, and revealed our eternal, living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to me through Bible Study.
2 Timothy 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:21,1 John 2:2, John 14:26
Today our God of all creation, who walked in the garden with Adam and Eve, who called Abraham out of this world, resides in my heart.
Romans 5:5
According to His word, prayer and meditation are the food we eat to help us avoid temptation and the evil one.
James 5:16
Are we delivered from the evil one? Are we protected from temptation? Does God forgive our debts? Do we always have daily bread? YES!
This is our due and God gives every believer his due NOW, so we can enjoy our relationship in and with Him NOW.
Ron,
I appreciate your focus on the benefits of our relationship with Jesus. It is true that as Christians we are to expect persecution from the non-believers we come across, but persecution is ultimately incidental to our new life in Christ. The reasons that Jesus’ disciples endured persecution including martyrdom was because of the things you have listed.
“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15 – KJV)
Great question and comments all the way as usual Jeff. The only downside to living today is watching the many ways people are choosing to go down in flames as they choose to oppose righteousness. I begin to understand ” Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do!”
Keep up the righteous work you do Brother!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Ron! 🙂
Thank you Ron for the reminder of forgive them father for they know not what they do.