My dear readers,

Know Righteousness by Your Desires

Proverbs 11:23: “The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.”

All believers upon salvation are imputed with the righteousness of God, sometimes called the righteousness of the law. To be imputed the righteousness of God means that the believer will forever be regarded by God as righteous, as if he has never sinned before and will never sin again in His holy sight! The righteousness of God, given to all believers in Christ, is founded on the bedrock of the finished work of Jesus Christ at Calvary’s cross. If the righteousness of God is temporary, i.e. not eternal in the lives of believers, then Christ’s work is not really finished. God should not have raised Christ from the dead. Christ needs to come down from heaven to suffer and die again!

Thank God, the truth is that once God imputes His righteousness to the believer at salvation, he remains righteous eternally, even though he may still sin today! The sins believers commit today will not impact this imputed righteousness of God in them. What a believer’s sin negatively impacts is his holy witness for Christ, not his relationship with God as God's child. The righteousness gained for every believer by Christ’s death and resurrection assures that in God’s plan of salvation, every believer’s eternal home will be in God’s new heaven and new earth.

Therefore, the desire of the righteous will be in accordance with Christ’s righteous nature imputed on them. Conversely, the expectation of the wicked will result in wrath. The wicked are not only sinners, their evil deeds also characterise them. Their imagination is continually evil. Their hearts are motivated by greed, self and carnality. Their words are loud at times when it suits them, soft and tender when deception helps them accomplish their diabolical ploy. Their deeds are hypocritical, and seldom are they not cloaked in the skin of a chameleon. The reason is the presence of the sinful nature. The Bible describes the sinful nature as “servants to sin”. Romans 6:16: “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” The word “servants” means “slaves”.

Proverbs 11:23 depicts the behavioural contrast between the righteous and wicked: “desire” depicts the former, “expectation” depicts the latter.

• What are the only good that the righteous desire? – The desires of the righteous seek the glory of God in all they do. Therefore, they seek the salvation of sinners; they know that it is every sinner’s greatest need, for that is the reason Christ came. For fellow believers, the righteous seek their spiritual growth and well-being. They want all believers to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God, and to be strong and victorious in the Lord. If all that the righteous do is based on these desires, they will always turn out for good. Good for sinners, for they can find salvation. Believers will be spiritually blessed and encouraged. These results glorify God, which is the greatest good.

Desires have a beginning and an end. For God to call a desire good, it has to be good from the beginning to the end. The desires of the righteous have to be in accordance with God's Word. All desires according to God's Word are eternal in value; none of them has temporal significance.

For example, the desire of Christian parents is for their children’s salvation. They begin by ensuring their Christian home is holy in Christ. They study God’s Word daily to bring this to pass. They continue to study God's Word to keep abreast of changes as their home life evolves with them growing older and their children becoming adults. Maintaining a Christian home where Christ is Head and the Bible is obeyed is a lifelong process. The goal and hope are for the children’s salvation and spiritual growth after salvation. With this godly beginning and ending, they will live holy lives in Christ.

Another example: younger believers study diligently with a prayerful heart. Their beginning and end after salvation is to do their best in their studies for God’s glory. They do not focus on grades but on their holy witness in school, at home and in church. They know that when they focus on Christ, their grades will take care of themselves because their future is already known to God and is always in His sovereign control. All they need to do is to obey God's Word and be a godly student before the teachers and classmates. Those who are adults working in the world work for Christ, not mammon. They are like their godly children, bearing a holy witness for Christ, knowing that God will take care of their work life, as they focus on their spiritual life. Matthew 6:31-34: “³¹Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? ³²(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. ³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:31-34 is not a theory or wishful thinking, but a practical and integral truth of their daily lives.

Hence, the desires of the righteous are only good.

• What is the wrath in the wicked’s expectation? – The wicked are evil in thought, motivation and deed. Their desire is for personal gain and self-gratification. They hurt and destroy anyone and everything that stand in their way. To the wicked, might is always right. Their expectations are always according to their carnal desires, i.e. greed and self-aggrandisement. Material gain is always their ultimate goal. They expect to become wealthier and more powerful. They are drunk with their destructive power. They are never content with what they have. They are like what God describes in Proverbs 30:15-17: “¹⁵The horseleach hath two daughters, crying, Give, give. There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough: ¹⁶The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough. ¹⁷The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it.” The sinful nature of the wicked is captured here with great accuracy.

Therefore, God says in Proverbs 11:23b that the expectation of the wicked can only result in wrath. The wrath of God awaits all sinful men when they die in their sins. The only place where they will end up is hell, based on the divine justice of God that all who sin against Him must surely be punished! The wicked expect the good life that is equated with the constant feeding of the three-headed monster called the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. They feed this monster to the end of their carnal life. God's wrath awaits them.

What are your heart's desires before God?