Scripture and Love

"In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death" (Prov. 12:28). I love this scripture because there is so much hope in it. After all, that's what we're aiming for isn't it? To live forever. Not just to live forever, but to live forever without any of the issues we have in this world and with this corruptible body. But I want us to think about that verse a little bit, and see the absolute simplicity of it. While we're thinking about that one, let's take a look at another one like it: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). So between these two verses we see a very clear picture of what it takes to attain unto eternal life,and also what it takes to miss out on that glorious promise. Righteousness equals life, and sin equals death. There simply is no confusion, complexity, or difficulty in that equation. It all means just what it says. Moses said the same thing to the children of Israel after he had declared to them the repeating of the law that they had received: "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live" (Deut. 30:15-19). So there's a few more words there then what we see in our text verses, but nonetheless the same simplistic message.

I would like now to look at Romans 6:23 a little closer, because we are told there that not only "the wages of sin are death," but also that "the gift of God is eternal life." Since we are more motivated toward the 'eternal life' end of that spectrum, let's see just what this "gift of God" is that IS in fact eternal life. "While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the GIFT of the Holy Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God" (Acts 10:44-46). So we see that the holy Ghost here is referred to as "the gift," but does that mean THE gift of eternal life? Remember from our text verse that it is in "the way of righteousness [where] there is no death." With that in mind let's look at another key verse in the matter: "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but RIGHTEOUSNESS, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). So in fact it is the Spirit of God which IS the righteousness of God, even as it is the Spirit that is the peace and the joy of the Lord. We have this fact confirmed to us again in another place: "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Eph. 5:9). If that isn't enough then we can look at another verse that goes straight to the point of this whole article: "And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the SPIRIT IS [eternal] LIFE because of RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Rom. 8:10). This verse plainly shows us that not only is the holy Ghost the righteousness of God, but that it is also the same Spirit that IS eternal life. Is that not enough for you? Then let's just back up to some verses in the same chapter for even more confirmation of the point: "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death" (Rom. 8:2). Wow! That one takes us even more full circle to the understanding of the whole matter. He refers to the holy Ghost as "the Spirit OF life," meaning eternal life; and even clarifies that it is the Spirit that frees us from the [nature] of sin. And of course we already know from our text verses that sin equals death, whereas righteousness equals [eternal] life. So it only serves to good reason that it would be 'life' that sets us free from death, and that is exactly what Romans 8:2 says.

So with these things in mind, let's look again at our text verse: "In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death." Seeing the clarity of these things, it is absolutely no wonder that the scripture states the following: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). So where is it that the Spirit of God leads us to? Well, with all that we've read here from the Bible, it certainly is NOT to sin. That means that God's HOLY Spirit only leads us into the HOLINESS, or righteousness of God, because in fact the Spirit IS the righteousness of God. The Bible also shows us that God's Spirit gives us the 'power' to remain clean and free from sin, if we will be led by it (Acts 1:8; I Cor. 4:20). Just to veer from the exact topic for a moment, I would like to make one more point in short order, so as to leave no confusion about the holy Ghost being the eternal life of God. That is what we have seen from the Bible, so let me just point out that the scriptures mean what they say. Jesus clearly said that the Father had given him 'life' even as he [the Father] has life (Jn. 5:26). He also said that he came to provide that same 'life' for us (Jn. 10:10). Naturally the 'life' that is in God, that he gave to the Son to be in him when he begot him, is ETERNAL life, because God is eternal. What this means is that the holy Ghost is not a third person of the 'God family,' but rather it is exactly what we have seen from the scriptures here, and that is the very life substance that dwells in the Father and the Son, and now is made available to dwell in us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. The Spirit is the righteous or divine nature of God, and of the Son, and of all those who have and follow after the Spirit. John said it like this: "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is IN his Son [as well as in the Father]. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life" (I Jn. 5:10). So in conclusion let me just say, Have life, and follow after it. Amen.