Walking with the Wise #85: Finding Favor from the Father

“The righteous is delivered from trouble,

and the wicked walks into it instead.”
—Proverbs 11:8

God favors those who love Him. It is not that those who do good are any better than other people. No, the Bible clearly states that all people are sinners in their thoughts, attitudes and actions. But God’s favor is upon those who recognize their sin and their need for a Savior. Consider for a moment the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted”—Luke 18:10-14.

It was the one who knew his condition, who knew the wrong He had done in the face of a holy God, who came to God humbly asking for mercy; it was he who went home justified before God. Those who are righteous are not righteous because of something they have achieved in and of themselves—it is because they have come to God trusting in His mercy and grace. And for New Testament believers it is by our faith in what God has done that we are counted righteous. Abraham was a prototype of the type of faith we are to have. As Paul wrote,

“That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’But the words ‘it was counted to him’ were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in Him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification”—Romans 4:22-25.

For those who have placed their faith and hope in Christ, God makes them positionally righteous. And as we grow in the grace of God, we become progressively righteous—which means that we are leaving behind our sinful ways and doing that which God delights in. And as we do, we will soon discover God working in our behalf, bringing deliverance and favor in situations where we could not succeed without His gentle and gracious hand. Not so for the wicked—they will not escape the consequences of their sinful choices. Instead, they will be given over to them (cf. Romans 1:24-26).

Are you righteous by faith in Christ? Are you aware of your condition before the Savior? Trust not in your flesh, but in the righteousness of Him who died for you, living in the fear of Him, and you will discover the favor of the Father that was unto the Son being given unto you. Amen.