Walking in Uprightness

[Christsfreeservant]

Proverbs 14 Select Verses NASB1995

2 He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,​

But he who is devious in his ways despises Him.​

5 A trustworthy witness will not lie,​

But a false witness utters lies.​

8 The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,​

But the foolishness of fools is deceit.​

9 Fools mock at sin,​

But among the upright there is good will.​

12 There is a way which seems right to a man,​

But its end is the way of death.​

22 Will they not go astray who devise evil?​

But kindness and truth will be to those who devise good.​

What we read here in Proverbs 14 describes for us what someone looks like who is a Christian, i.e. a true follower of Jesus Christ, and what someone looks like who is not a Christian, i.e. not a true follower of Christ, even if that person professes that he is a Christian who believes in Jesus Christ. For faith in Jesus Christ is not demonstrated by lip service only but by our actions, by how we live, by how we conduct our lives on a daily basis.

Now some non-Christians are fairly nice people who live moral lives and do good to others, and they are not nefarious in their actions towards others. But they still do not believe in Jesus, and so they are still dead in their sins, and so they do not have salvation from sin and eternal life with God. For we are not saved from our sins on the basis of our own good works, of our own flesh, and of our own doing. We are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus.

But many professing Christians and non-Christians alike fit the description here of people who are nefarious in their actions toward others. They are people who are devious and manipulative, and can be charming. They are skilled at telling lies, deceitful in nature, and foolish in their behaviors. And so they mock at sin, i.e. they don’t take their sins seriously and will have many excuses for their addictive sin patterns if they are caught in their sin.

So, even though some of these people described above profess faith in Jesus Christ, and for many different reasons, they truly despise the Lord, which is evidenced by their sinful and addictive and immoral behaviors. And when this says that there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death, it doesn’t necessarily mean that he doesn’t know right from wrong, but that he chooses the way of sin and not the way of godliness.

For there are many professing Christians who know the right way but they have chosen to listen to teachers who are altering the truth of the gospel, and who are teaching the Scriptures deliberately out of context for the whole purpose to deceive and to lead people to continue in their sin and to think that God is okay with that. So they adopt this altered gospel because it lets them continue in addictive sin, believing they are in a “safe” zone.

So, are all real Christians living in absolute sinless perfection? No, most likely not (see 1 John 2:1-2). But God does not require that we do so. Where God “draws the line in the sand” has to do with people on one side of the line who make sin their deliberate and habitual practice, and obedience to God and living righteously are not their practice (habit, life pattern), and on the other side are those whose practice is to obey God and to not live in sin.

So a true Christian is going to be someone who takes God and his word seriously and whose practice is to obey the Lord and his commands and to not make sin his practice, to not deliberately and habitually continue in sin and not in walks of holiness and righteousness. It all comes down to our life choices. Do we willfully ignore our Lord’s commands in order to do what we know is wrong? And then do we keep going back to that same wrong?

Or do we willfully listen to our Lord, and then do as he commands, because we love him, and because we want to obey him? The godly pursue righteousness and holy living and walks of obedience to our Lord, and they make it their practice to deny self and to die to sin daily and to do what pleases the Lord. Their lives are surrendered to the Lord to doing his will, and their desire is for the Lord to serve him with their lives, and not self.

Those who are truly following the Lord with their lives are truth tellers, too. They will not deliberately nor habitually lie to people. And they should be those who are spreading the truth of the gospel of our salvation to the world around them, because that is what God requires of all of us that we be his witnesses, and that we make disciples of Christ of people all over the world, and that we shine as lights for the truth so others will be drawn to the light.

For Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and walk in obedience to our Lord, in his power, then we have salvation from sin and eternal life with God, provided we stay the course (Luke 9:23-26).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-21; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]

Only Hope

By Jonathan Foreman

There's a song that's inside
Of my soul..
Sing to me of the plans
That you have for me over again

I give you my destiny
I'm giving you all of me
I want your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs
I'm giving it my all

So, I lay my head back down
And I lift my hands and pray
To be only yours I pray
To be only yours
I know now you're my only hope

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Walking in Uprightness
An Original Work / February 23, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love