For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again; but the wicked shall fall into mischief (Prov 24:16).
This proverb complements last week’s proverb on progressive sanctification as the goal of every twice-born believer. God does not demand, nor does He expect those born again to achieve perfection in this life such as seen in the life of His incarnate Son who was tempted in all ways and yet remained sinless. But God does expect us to seek His kingdom and righteousness as a priority in our lives. In the course of so doing, there will be those moments when every person stumbles because of having a sinful nature common to all mankind since the Fall in Eden. But a true seeker of righteousness who has come to Christ by grace through faith is expected to rise up again after having committed a transgression and resuming walking righteously by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. This is in sharp contrast to the wicked who continue in habitual rebellion to the ways of God and fall into exceedingly great trouble, certainly eternally if not in this life. Those who submit to the leading of Holy Spirit will steadily put to death the misdeeds of the flesh (Romans 8:13) and be gradually transformed into Christ-likeness. Indeed, scripture is clear that those and only those who are led by the Spirit of God are true sons and daughters of God (8:14). In these latter days when the Word of God is generally compromised, bold teaching in this regard is rarely emphasized from the pulpit. However, both OT and NT speak of living “blamelessly” which does not mean without sin, but rather indicates not doing what one realizes is contrary to the revealed will of God. We find the psalmist referring to this as follows: “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willing sins; may they not rule over me. Then I will be blameless, innocent of great transgression” (Psalm 19: 12,13). David desires to serve God will all his heart, and yet realizes there are hidden faults in his character and asks forgiveness for that which he is unable to recognize at the present time. On the other hand, he realizes that with God’s help it is possible to avoid intentional or “willing sins” that violate the known will of God for his life. This speaks to the grave error of what is known as the doctrine of ‘eternal security.’ It is presumptuous and a great transgression to assume that deliberate violation of God’s revealed will, if habitual, will not result in exclusion from the kingdom of heaven. Paul deals with this matter very directly in Galatians 5:19-21), warning that habitual practice of “willing sins” will result in the loss of a place in God’s kingdom. Furthermore, the apostle writes the following in regard to his behavior together with Silas and Timothy during their evangelistic outreach to the city of Thessalonica: “You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed” (1 Thess 2:10). He does not accept the view of many today which says that salvation by the atoning blood of Jesus and the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit is not adequate to keep a person from bondage to sin. It is unbiblical to claim that Christians must expect to sin daily in thought, word and deed through their early life. Paul writes to Titus that the grace of God which saves a person also “teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodly- ness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives” (Titus 2:11,12). And when a believer does stumble and fall through inborn human weakness, he or she is expected to rise up again into righteous living unlike the wicked who fall into “mischief” or great trouble. It is great transgression or the sin of presumption to believe that one will not reap what they sow, both in this life and in the life to come. Such is a serious deception (Galatians 6:7,8).
