Proverbs 16:12 ESV
It is an abomination to kings to do evil, for the throne is established by righteousness.
[https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+16%3A12&version=ESV]
What makes a king a king, a man a man, a parent a parent, a deacon a deacon? Certainly for all of these, some prerequisites are set- whether formal investiture, in the first and the last, or otherwise. These posts are so obtained and formed, but by mere qualification-to-bare-minimum is no man made man. The essence of such offices is to behave as those offices demand- and all legitimate, desirable offices demand righteousness. It is by righteousness that a man acts the image of God out, by righteousness that a father is a father to his child, by righteousness that a church officer tends to the flock. By righteousness, we must understand, are all good things in our lives established.
What makes a father into a father? Blood helps, certainly, but no Christian can deny the legitimacy of adoption without implicating his own salvation (Eph 1:5). Step-fathers too exist, and some at least deserve to be termed ‘father’ in their own right. The answer most plain, and which today’s verse supports, is that while fatherhood may be initiated by formality and biology, by blood in the veins or by ink on a certificate, fatherhood is made real and abiding by acting as a father. A father is not merely one who bears the name ‘father’ but one who lives the life of a father, caring for the child, guarding and teaching and disciplining.
This is a task integrally inclusive of righteousness. A father is not merely one who inculcates morals but who inculcates right morals. A father is not merely one who provides but one who provides what is actually needed- bread, not stones. A father is not merely one who punishes but one who disciplines. Yet in this fallen world, sadly, all fathers are imperfect fathers (save the Lord our Father Himself (Is. 64:8). Christian fathers fail. Pagan fathers too fail. Nor can we deny their fatherhood for that failure; God did not deny the fatherhood of pagan men, much less the fatherhood of His people’s flawed fathers (Matt. 7:9-11; Ex. 20:12). A distinction is here required: while righteousness establishes, God gives us grace in this world that fathers may be fathers though they sin and kings kings though they deal injustice and elders elders though they stumble. This is no carte blanche. The grace has a limit. Should a father seek to murder his child, deliberately and of intent, his fatherhood is broken, and the like for any other position.
At the center of it all is the same principle: by righteousness is established the good of life. We maintain and keep the right to the authorities and positions we enjoy and employ by the right use of them, by honoring God in heart, mind, soul, and strength. Righteousness instates this position into the world; more, it makes our actions and our lives of effect. By diligence, by patient, by discernment, by wisdom, by integrity, by honesty, by love, by compassion, by humility, by gentleness, by kindness, by self-control, by all these things can the world be shaped. It may hurt, it may take what seems forever (in our finite perspective), it may be against the whole world’s tide, but in the annals of eternity righteousness prevails.
Before righteousness, the world trembles. The world doesn’t like that, of course, so in fear it grows angry and strikes at the righteous. No man alone can stand against the world, and our righteousness is incredibly flawed anyway. The righteousness, in the end, which prevails, that righteousness is the righteousness of Christ, of His great victory on the Cross, that foremost triumph of righteousness. His righteousness, though, is in us not just in justification but in sanctification, working out in our lives, prevailing inside of us as it prevails outside of us. This is our hope: when all the world roars, when our own feeble hearts are crushed, when all our righteous deeds are but polluted garments (Is. 64:6), then Christ is, as He has always been, our all in all, our victory won.
God bless.
Written by Colson Potter
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
