An Unheeded Secret

"The way of the just is uprightness: Thou, most upright, dost weigh [i.e., make level] the path of the just." Isaiah 26:7

We are "the just" in that we are both to do justly (Micah 6:8) and are justified (Romans 5:9). The way of the just, the "walk and talk" required of the just, is marked by outstanding moral character. Such a character is not in man, however, nor is there the strength in man to attain it.

"Thou, most upright, dost [make level] the path of the just." (Rev. marg.) It is God and God alone that is completely upright, He alone that is the fullness of outstanding moral character; and it is He that levels our path out so that we can walk upright as He walks upright. That is the great unheeded secret of Christianity (one of many): God gives us salvation, i.e., the Life of Christ in us. Then He commands us to walk as Christ walks, to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." (Philippians 2:12b) The secret that we miss is that to work out what God worked in is beyond our meagre strength. It is God's strength that gets it done, God's strength through Christ that can do all things (Philippians 4:13), God that levels our path so we can walk upright, "it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13) The life of the Son of God in you is both the thing to be worked out and that which works it out. It is paradoxically the tools and the finished product.

"The path of the just is a s the shining light..." (Proverbs 4:18a) The just see clearly in order to walk uprightly, not by some light of their own, but by the life that is the light of men (John 1:4). Christ's life is in us for us to both be and use.

"By your strength

I both live

And stand..."