My dear readers,

What Guides Your Decisions in Life?

Proverbs 11:3: “The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.”

Life is a continuous sequence of decision-making; it will end when life comes to an end. The gate we enter at death depends on the decisions we make daily. The narrow way leads to the narrow gate, and once entered, life everlasting awaits. The broad way leads to the broad gate that leads to everlasting condemnation. The well-trodden path of a holy life is key for one who has received Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour. The knowledge of the Bible, i.e. the gospel preached according to the Holy Scriptures, is the beginning of salvation. But this knowledge, including the understanding of the Bible, is NOT salvation. Christ knows when a confession is genuine and sincere. If the confession stems from biblical faith, Christ will certainly baptise him with the Holy Spirit. His life will never be the same again.

Professing believers need to take heed of this reality. It is not what we say, or when we call on the name of Christ, that allows us to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is when we live our lives in obedience to God's holy Word that opens the pearly gates of heaven. Jesus promised that in Matthew 7:21-23: “²¹Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Doing the will of God the Father on earth describes a life lived according to God’s Word and will.

Proverbs 11:3 reveals what will guide the life of one who is truly born again in Christ.

• The guide of the integrity of the heart – Only Christians are upright in God’s eyes as He will impute onto every believer the righteousness of the law upon their salvation. Christ obeyed all the laws of God on our behalf by His perfect life of obedience. All who receive Christ as their Lord and Saviour will be imputed with His righteousness; it will be as if they have also obeyed all the laws of God perfectly. Romans 4:22-25: “²²And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. ²³Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; ²⁴But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; ²⁵Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” It is called the law of righteousness in Romans 8:4.

Now that the believer has been made righteous, i.e. all his sins have been forgiven by God and washed away by the blood of Christ, he will do all things right according to the Holy Scriptures. He has a new heart, whereby integrity guides every decision he makes. His Christian integrity is to exalt Christ, not self. He does not obey the Bible in a legalistic manner, like the Pharisees who were without compassion and mercy. He forgives as he has been forgiven. His motive is to do all things to God's glory, constrained by the love of Christ. He seeks only the spiritual betterment of others in all his dealings. He sacrifices willingly, seeking nothing in return. He does all things for the sake of Christ who lived, suffered and died for him. He is convinced in his heart that he should also live, suffer and die for Christ by serving and giving his life to God’s people. He desires to decrease and Christ to increase in his life.

He will not compromise God’s truth for anyone or anything. However, he sacrifices his desires and preferences for all men for Christ’s sake. In this manner, he tempers God’s justice with mercy, seeking to help others return to God through repentance or to aid them in growing in the grace and knowledge of God and Christ. He has no ulterior motive but to exalt Christ and glorify God. He seeks to be forgotten as long they remember Christ in his life of service and devotion to his Saviour, Lord and Master. He can be ignored and forgotten by everyone. As long as others are spiritually blessed and sinners come to know Christ as Lord and Saviour, he is contented. This is precisely the outcome he aims to achieve.

The Word of God is his light to help him walk every step in life rightly, but the love of Christ, coupled with the integrity of his heart, sustains his walk until he sees the face of his Saviour on judgment day.

• The guide of perverseness – A professing believer needs to beware the delusion that the mere knowledge of the Bible is God-pleasing. He has taken the first step toward wisdom, but if this first step is his last step, then he has fallen short. He is still a sinner and condemned, like a dog going back to his own vomit. His nature has not changed. Proverbs 11:3b says he is a transgressor. The word “transgressor” describes a sinner who deals deceitfully. In the context of God’s people, the transgressor uses the Bible as a pretext to teach his opinions. By dressing his opinions in Christian garb, he deceives the undiscerning into following him. In time, and through many more such deceptions, he makes man into his own image. His followers believe they are Christ-like in their lives, but in reality, they have become like the transgressor whose image they have adopted, albeit unknowingly.

  God describes such an evil as perverseness. It is perverse because of the vicious nature of its deception. The deception is done in the holy name of Christ. These men, women and children think they are going to heaven, but sadly they are still heading toward hell. They will die in their sin if there is no intervention to open their eyes to see the truth. There is no deception worse than one that uses the only name on earth that can save a sinner from hell – Jesus Christ! The sinner who believes in a distorted Christ, regardless of his sincerity, will still die in his sin and be cast into hell.

  God will destroy these transgressors and their many insidious perversions. Take heed to God's warning to all transgressors; God will destroy them and their perversions. The basis of God destroying professing Christians is their perversions. They twist the Word of God to satisfy their lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and their pride of life. They claim to be followers of Christ, but their lives and motives are not following the Scriptures; thus, they bear the image of a false Christ. The worst of them all are the ordained pastors who preach and teach God’s holy Word by twisting God’s truth in the name of Christ. They have forgotten that the flock are God’s children redeemed by Christ’s blood. They do not fear God, for they do so with a cultic mentality, drawing disciples after themselves. Paul warned that such transgressors would arise from within churches. Acts 20:30: “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” God will deal with them accordingly.

It is not about how much of the Bible we know; it is what we do with however much of God's Word that we know and understand that matters to God. The one who knows God’s Word will let it guide his life by the integrity of his heart. Conversely, the one who is a transgressor is perverse, and God will destroy him for his perversions.

What guides your life?