Righteous -- Established, Even When You Fall

"For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief." (Proverbs 24: 16)

When I read this passage, I had to rest on this truth: righteous people fall.

Consider the example of Abraham:

"And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness." (Genesis 15: 6)

Even though he had lied about his wife, twice, and fathered a child with a servant girl instead of trusting the grace of God to bless him with a son through his wife Sarah.

Consider the example of Lot:

"19Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: 20Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. 21And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. 22Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither." (Genesis 19: 19-22)

If Lot had understood that He was righteousness, he could have stayed in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The verse above from Proverbs states "rises again", yet the original Hebrew is better rendered:

"The righteous man falls seven times, yet is established; but the wicked stumble into mischief [even when trying to flee from it.

Righteousness is not about what we do, but what God has done.

Righteousness is about believing what Jesus has done, not believe in what we can do:

"16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." (Romans 1: 16-17)

and then

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2: 16)

How do we fall from grace, anyway? Not when we sin, as borne out in Proverbs 24: 16,  but through our efforts:

"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace." (Galatians 5: 4)

You have been made the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5: 21) You cannot fall away, even when you fail (Romans 8: 37-39).

Let this grace establish your heart today (Hebrews 13: 9), and walk with God in confidence!