Tough And Tender Truth

A HUGE QUESTION

The Holy Scriptures gives us many examples of the contrast between people who are considered the "righteous", and those that are considered "wicked". Proverbs chapter 37 would be a case in point, there are at least 8 times the little word "but" is used to distinguish between the two. We can see there is a tremendous difference between the two, especially regarding their eternal destinies! And yet we read that "God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). And we know from (John 3:16) that God so loves the whole world that He sent Jesus to redeem us from the penalty of sin. This leaves us with a huge question, what then constitutes the difference between the righteous and the wicked in God's eyes, that His Word would make a clear distinction between the two?

I'm sure there are deep theological issues here that my simple mind can not comprehend, but just consider these points of truth. First off, Jesus declared that "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), so we can be sure that He knows the answer to this question. Before He left this earth after He had finished His task of providing redemption for mankind, He sent the Holy Spirit to take His place here on earth. (John 14:26). Since, as followers of Jesus, we have the Holy Spirit indwelling us, all we need do is ask Him the answer to questions like this. I have done this, and what came to my mind was the fact that God created each of us with a free will, that allows us to make choices. We sometimes make right choices, but sometimes make wrong choices, like Paul explains to us in chapter 7 of his letter to the church in Rome. Our carnal fleshly nature always wants us to make the wrong choices, while the Holy Spirit tries to guide us to make the right choices. Paul explains this struggle in (Gal 5:16-17), and we can all relate to this fact!

Because of the foreknowledge of God, He knew the choices we will make, before we make them. (Rom 8:29), but we must allow His Holy Spirit to help us make the right choice every time! This requires a complete yielding of our will to His, but even when we fail, we have the provision He has made for us as recorded in (1 John 1:9), so we are covered, providing we obey His Word. Thank God He loves us enough to provide everything we need, but we must provide the obedience, which He cannot do for us! So the answer to our problem as I see it is to follow the advice of the apostle Paul in his letter to the churches in Galatia that we mentioned above!!
Sincerely submitted.
Dave Jamer