Either/Or

February 22

God is an ‘either / or’ God. If something is right, it is because it complies with His unchanging standard of holiness. If something is wrong, it digresses from that standard. To have broken the law in one “jot or tittle” (tiny marks of punctuation, comparable to our period or apostrophe) is to be guilty of breaking the whole law (see Matthew 5:18 and James 2:10).

Of ourselves, we cannot measure up to the pure standard of our Holy God, but Christ complied with every nuance of Heaven’s perfect law in our behalf. When we accept His completed work, we are considered guiltless. “Though our sins be scarlet, they are washed white as snow,” Isaiah 1:18. From that point, the Holy One counts us a ‘just,’ and says of us, “The Lord loves the just…They will be protected forever…”

The verse goes on to contrast the fate of the evil ones: “…but the offspring of the wicked shall be cut off,” Psalm 37:28. He reiterates this promise in Psalm 145:20 where David states, “The Lord watches over all who love Him but the wicked He will destroy.” The world is steeped in evil, for mankind has lost his spiritual compass and cannot find his way, but those who embrace Jesus will be guarded and guided by His Holy Spirit.

There may be a struggle, for the evil one fights viciously to discourage and destroy those who are Christ’s, but the promise made long ago will stand forever—“God holds victory in store for the upright; He is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for He guards the course of the just and protects the way of His faithful ones,” Proverbs 2:7, 8.