I will pursue righteousness and confront evil with the whole armor of God
This line has a three-fold reminder, first is that one must strive to do what is right and just in the sight of God, second that we must confront injustice and evil in the world, and last, that our actions and definitions of righteousness, justice, and evil must come from God’s truth and love.
Pursuing God’s Righteousness and Justice
One must be fully committed to seeking out and passionately learning what is right and just before God. In the words of Jesus, found in Matthew 5:6, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” And then in the words of David found in Psalms 106:3, “Blessed are they who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!” With ‘observing justice’ meaning to judge rightly, while ‘doing righteousness’ means to act rightly.
Pursuing God’s righteousness and justice is not a one day thing, this is certainly not something that can be accomplished by “liking” particular posts or movements with which we agree. This is a lifetime mission that we pursue as if our life depended on it, as there have been countless others before us that have already died to give us our freedom to live righteously and justly before God, and history teaches that only constant vigilance will help keep us from needing to give our life for what is just and right.
Confronting Injustice and Evil
Isaiah 59:15-16, “The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene.”
Deuteronomy 16:19-20, “Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent. Follow justice and justice alone, so that you may live and possess the land the Lord your God is giving you.”
Ephesians 5:11-12, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.”
with God’s Truth and Love
The difficultly and danger in pursuing righteousness and justice lies in people’s as well as our own tendency to base what is right or just on what people are telling us. And what they tell us is based on their emotions or ideas that may sound good but cause so much harm in the long run. Proverbs 14:12 states that, “There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” And we have seen time and time again. Our goal is not to, “be on the right side of history” but to be aligned with truth, as truth will ultimately set people free. Be very weary of sayings like; ‘Truth is relative,’ ‘Morality is obsolete,’ ‘Honesty is for fools,’ or ‘The pursuit of truth is meaningless.’ The only foundation for understanding righteousness and justice is the word of God, 2 Timothy 3:16-17 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
In Ephesians 6:10-20, Paul writes about being strong in the Lord by putting on the ‘whole armor’ of God, this can be summed up to these things, know the Truth, live in righteousness, have a readiness to share the gospel of peace, have faith to withstand evil, have an understanding of salvation, and stand firmly in the word of God. And in all this, remember to be bold, 2 Corinthians 10:3-4, "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.”
Truly, god has not left us with out direction and light. We simply need to seek and pray for His guidance. Proverbs 2:6-11, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity, guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints. Then you will understand righteousness and justice and equity, every good path; for wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul; discretion will watch over you, understanding will guard you,”
If you want to gain practical advice on ways to pursue righteousness and confront evil, we encourage you to check out the resources below:
