There is a way that seems right to a man
Wed, 29 March, 2006: Today’s Bible readings.
There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
This proverb tells us that people have a sense of what is right. They have a sense of what they should do. But it is fundamentally flawed.
What do we learn from this?
What is it that is born into us, that we all inherently think is right, but in fact leads to death? I contend that this is our sense that we can earn God’s favor. We all know we have offended God. We know we have broken His law. We know we are guilty before Him. But we think that if we do enough of the right things, God will accept us despite our sins.
We see this attitude all the time as people say that if your good deeds outweigh your bad deeds, you will be OK on the day of judgment. You see it in the attitude of giving money to the church or by doing some special act of service that will get you back in God’s favor. You see it in the thought some have that attending church twice on a Sunday will make up for a lot of sin through the week.
But if you think you can earn God’s favor by doing your special acts to outweigh your bad one, you are wrong. You can not atone for your guilt before God by being better. This is the way that ends in eternal death.
Where is Christ in this passage?
The way that seems right to man ends in death. But God’s way leads to life. God has provided the way for us to be right with Him. It is not by us doing more good deeds, for we never could do enough to atone for even one sin. In fact, it is not in us doing anything at all. Our salvation is all based on what Jesus Christ has already done for us. We are called to place our faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation, but we dare not trust in our faith to save us. Our faith isn’t the one big work that cancels out all our bad deeds. No. Our faith is itself a gift from God, and it does not save us. It is the instrument through which God brings us salvation, but the cause is God Himself. He saves us through the work of Jesus Christ who lived and died and rose again on our behalf, earning our salvation. This is the way that leads to life.
