Righteous men and women have the Lord to fall back on. He is their fail-safe. But the wicked man has nothing to fall back on, no safety net. In the end there is only death for the wicked man.
"The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and the crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them." Proverbs 11:3, Amplified
It has been said that integrity is what a Christian's actions are even when he knows he is not being watched. The Lord's eyes are upon us all the time, however, those around us and the rest of humanity are not always watching. What a Christian does behind closed doors in the privacy of his own home, describes his integrity.
The antithesis of this is wickedness. There are those who are blatantly evil in every action that is taken. These actions could be private or public, either way it is a willful disobedience to the Lord. There is no glory awaiting the willful and contrary man at the end of his life.
"Riches provide no security in any day of wrath and judgement, but righteousness - uprightness, and right standing with God - delivers from death." Proverbs 11:4, Amplified
Riches provide so much for a man here on earth. They can even buy a temporary happiness. Bribes might even relinquish the judgement of man. But what about when it is time for the Lord to judge the earth? Will riches win out against the holiness of the Lord? No. "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath..." (Zephaniah 1:18a, NKJV) Riches, in any form, are still of this fallen world and have no part with God. The Lord is not bound by the bounty of this earth. Man's vision is so hindered by his financial status that he tends to forget that the Lord says, "For every beast of the forest is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills." (Psalm 50:10, NKJV)
But the righteousness of the righteous shall deliver them. For their righteousness of Jesus Christ. When our righteousness is truly not our righteousness but someone else's, then we are truly righteous. What I am saying is that nothing in and of ourselves is truly righteous. Man is a sinful being from the day that he is born. It is not till we come to a saving knowledge of the grace of Jesus that we become righteous and saved from death.
"The righteousness of the blameless shall rectify and make plain his way and keep it straight, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness." Proverbs 11:5, Amplified
The path of the righteous is pretty simple and straight. The most important commandment the Lord said was to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30, NKJV)
It is only when we begin to practice the sin of lawlessness that we enter onto a path that is difficult. Now do not get me wrong, I am not trying to take away from the Sermon on the Mount where the Lord spoke about the narrow gate. In truth, being a Christian is one of the hardest lifestyles that I have ever lived, everyday is a choice to live for Him and not myself. The plainness of the the path of the righteous is is this: follow God, do His will. There is no having to come up with a story to cover lie after lie after lie when you are following your Lord.
It has been said that a tangled web is woven when we begin the practice of deception. When living a life of sin we begin to deceive ourselves into thinking that we are deceiving God. This is the complication of a life of sin.
"The righteousness of the upright - their rectitude in every area and relation - shall deliver them; but the treacherous shall be taken in their own iniquity and greedy desire." Proverbs 11:6, Amplified
Do not misunderstand Solomon. As I stated earlier, there is nothing righteous within man that makes him righteous. It is that plain path and righteous decisions that we will make on that path that will be our deliverance. For every decision brings us closer and closer to our Lord. Every decision should have Jesus in the forefront.
In the end, we all fall into the same fate, death. Christians nor sinners can escape the inevitability of death. Our deliverance comes from the second death, Hell. The treacherous and the wicked will have no deliverance from death when this world is gone. They heap upon themselves more and more sin because their lust is insatiable. We have a choice to either live like kings today or to live like king sin the after life.
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