So many places to swerve

“Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.”
-Proverbs 4:27

In the previous verse to this one, we mainly spoke about doctrine, and how doctrine is something that is really critical in this Christian walk of ours. Coming right after that exhortation, this verse reiterates – pay attention and keep to the path. Anything else is wrong.

We could very easily here talk about the rules God expects us to follow, the complete righteousness we are supposed to achieve. We could talk about how we’ve all messed up and turned away from this holy path.

And we have. This is all true. We have not lived up to God’s perfect standard for us. We have all sinned in lust, pride, hatred, and greed. We have all fallen short of the glory of God.

In this way, we have all jumped right off the path to eternal life and run away from it as quickly as possible.

Or we could talk about how we need to love our neighbors, and how we’re not doing enough in the community. How we need to give more time and money and help people.

Which is true as well. Christians often close themselves off too much. We could all be doing more in the community to love people and help those in need.

But I don’t want to talk about those things, because both will run you right off this path if taken alone.

See, you can leave the path to the right or the left. One was is total sin and debauchery. We all know that part. The other way to leave it is total legalism.

If you’re salvation is based on your doing everything right, you aren’t going to be good enough. In the same way, if your salvation is based on loving people enough and a social gospel, you’re not going to love them enough. You won’t make it.

The truth of the narrow way is Jesus. Paul tells the Galatian church, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another one” (Galatians 1:6-7). The Galatians were doing the same thing we do today – adding something to the Cross.

But the Gospel is simple. By our sins we have earned death. We are guilty, and we are unworthy to be in the presence of God. It is a debt we can never fully pay, but in love Jesus paid it for us. In His death, He took on our sin and paid the price for them so we could be reconciled with God.

That is the doctrine to which we cling, for it is our only way to life. It’s not that plus more love, or that plus being really moral. It’s not that plus anything, because Grace is not something we can earn.

Do not turn away from that, for Jesus is the way to life.