Keeping Steadfast

For Monday, August 1, 2005
Proverbs 11:19

Whoever is steadfast in righteousness will live,
but he who pursues evil will die.

One half of this proverb seems easy enough to fulfill, while the other half is impossible. Most people claim that they do not pursue evil, while also admitting that they are not perfect. The contrast seems to be between those who are in a state of righteousness and those in a state of sin/evil.

Romans 1-3 presents these conditions and the dilemma: "all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin" (Romans 3:9). The Bible makes the case that no one can be steadfast in righteousness; even the person with a conscious to do good only fails (Romans 7:15ff). Where then is our hope? "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness," says the hymn. We are given "the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe," says the Bible (Romans 3:22).

Remain steadfast, then, in Jesus Christ. Keep your faith in him. "Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God" (John 3:18).