pc102 Having Integrity and Righteous before God is an honest discussion of Christian integrity and righteousness.
By David Cox
[cp102] v1 ©2024 www.coxtracts.com
You may freely reproduce this tract for non-profit purposes
We have to understand that salvation is a set of issues. They are all integral one to each other. They are dependent on each other. Going to heaven when we die is one of these issues, but another is the moral change that salvation represents.
Yet another issue is our sanctification, or living godly. We must understand that God saved us because He has a purpose for us to fulfill before we die. That is to announce the virtues of God.
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
In this matter of our salvation, God wants us to “proclaim the virtues” of God, that is, for other human beings to recognize His moral character. But how? Because we personally and individually live this character in our lives.
It is very frustrating to see that the lives of the brothers are not constant in the good, nor do they have this faith that is the same as constancy, nor are there signs of repentance (which is faith, leaving what is not the will of God, to seek and implement what is).
For this reason, an unsaved person goes to a saved person because he sees victory over sin in his life, and then it is easy to guide him to the Savior. It is because he has the power of God showing it in his life. For this reason, too, they do not pay attention to Christians who have their lives in disaster. Who wants what a Christian has when he is still losing the fight with sin in his own life?
Integrity is to do what is Correct
Proverbs 11:1 A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight. 2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. 3 The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.
The character that a Christian must have and demonstrate to the world is his integrity. The idea is to be “complete,” that is, not divided by different interests and gods (motivations of the heart). He serves God with all his life, trusts in God, and his hope is not in the things of this world, but in his Savior. Things as “insignificant” as a store that has its way of weighing its products with alteration demonstrates the good or bad character of the seller. The heart of the human being is deceitful and wicked (Jeremiah 17:9). And the wickedness of each one will be judged.
God Weighs the Heart
Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.
Proverbs 16:2 All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits. (1 Samuel 16:7 “the LORD looketh on the heart”)
Every person fights as best he can for life and for the good in this life. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses, and sometimes he doesn’t even know if he won or lost. But the true Christian is someone who has this concept that God is his Judge, and will reward and punish him one day for everything he does. (Heb 11:6 “he is a rewarder of them”)
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
That is, nothing is overlooked with God. Everything we are and everything we do, God can see to the depths of our soul in His judgment.
2 Chronicles 6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)
Jeremiah 17:10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
(Discovery is one thing, but punishing us with our own sins is worse.) God judges according to our actions, words, thoughts, attitudes and motives, and worse still, God deals with us in the same way that we are morally. (Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.) If one is harsh, aggressive, malicious, in his spirit toward other people, God is going to give the same back to the person. “According to the fruit of his doings,” God is going to give this to the person. So what you want from God, this you must give to others.
Proverbs 24:12 If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works? (Rev 2:23)
The Desire of the Christian Should Be to Be Clean and Holy
Psalms 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Sinful man cannot walk in straight paths, and it is only by submitting to God and obeying His will that we can walk as we should. This implies that the Christian lets the Holy Spirit guide him.
Integrity is the same as righteousness. Integrity is controlling your life to stay in the will of God. Righteousness is walking on this straight path. These two moral qualities are the seal of salvation.
Psalms 25:21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. This is so that the saved follows the way of God. (Psa 26:1, 11) Psalms 41:12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity, and settest me before thy face for ever.
God promises us that as long as we walk in integrity before Him, He will sustain us and ensure that we enter heaven. This speaks of a constant faith. Faith means that your life conforms to these beliefs and faithfulness, and you never vary from them but are always faithful to walk in them.
Proverbs 10:9 He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. Proverbs 28:18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
Integrity is so wrapped up in salvation that they are almost one and the same. A “Christian” who doesn’t care how he or she walks in sin, or how he or she is led astray by other interests, is not really saved. So, to review, integrity is about being whole, complete, and in this context, we are talking about having a commitment to God, your relationship with God. “Fractured” people are people who have a heart divided between God and other priorities.
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
This is what God wants from us. Notice the “all” and “with all your might.” To have God and anything else fighting in your heart for your attention, your efforts, your time, your energies, etc. is to be “fractured” or with a deviation that wins against God means you have not understood salvation yet. If one is a new Christian, new to the faith, he needs to understand that he must follow God entirely. To value salvation so much that he is actually saved is to put supreme value on salvation and despise everything else.
Luke 8:14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
Not bearing fruit is like saying that they are going to hell. Recognizing how you are before God is very easy. Are you fractured or are you completely loving God with all your being? The Christian is a person in whom you see that God is in his whole life. He puts God in everything he is, what he does, what he thinks, what he desires, in his goals, in his ways of living. Even a housewife who sweeps the floor well, does so because she sees that even with this little thing, she is worshiping God.
Proverbs 28:18 Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once.
Job 27:5 God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.
Job 31:6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. (Psalm 7:8)
That is, in the example of Job, his integrity was his faith. He never left his walk in integrity, nor left his integrity before God.
Salvation is to make this your Priority
Matthew 16:26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Jesus placed supreme priority on saving your soul. There is nothing more important, no interest or profit in this world equal to the salvation of your soul. Your actions and interests should reflect this intense interest and priority.
Exhortations for Integrity and Righteousness
Ephesians 4:25 Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
People lie because it suits them. A Christian of integrity never says something that he is not convinced is the truth. To say something that is not true is a deception. A Christian does not deceive others for any reason.
2 Corinthians 8:21 Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
The Christian makes all his life straight, with nobility, honoring the LORD.
1 Corinthians 16:13 Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.
The Christian is an example of being firm in faith, of having strength and virtue (moral strength) in his decisions and in his life habits.
1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
“Finding God” is dependent on you seeking Him to serve Him with a life dedicated to Him, with a pure spirit, without fracturing your life between interests for God and interests in other things on a par with God.
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