Proverbs 11:19
Righteousness and Life
1. Solomon is making another comparison… righteousness and evil and life and death.
2. The comparison runs like this: A is to B as C is to D.
a. Note the italicized words… delete them and the verse reads like this: “As righteousness to life; so he that pursues evil to his own death.”
b. The verb is only used once—but only needs to be used once. It seems best to understand that the author means the same verb in both cases.
c. As A is to B so is C to D. A and B hold the same relationship to each other as do C and D.
d. In other words—righteousness and life hold the same relationship to each other as do pursuing evil and death…namely, one naturally follows the other!
3. The one who pursues righteousness does so unto LIFE…
a. The one who pursues righteousness enhances his life… causes his life to flourish… experiences an abundant life…
b. The one who pursues righteousness promotes life… advances life… LIVES life
4. Solomon spoke often of this principle: righteousness tendeth to life…
a. Prov.10:16 – the labor of the righteous tends to life…
» This speaks of that for which a righteous man WORKS…
» Everybody works for something… righteous men and evil men…
» But there is a difference between that for which righteous and unrighteous men work… even though they may work side by side in the same office.
» The things a righteous man labors for tends to life…
» His labor provides food for his natural life… to keep himself and his family alive…
» His labor enhances his spiritual life…
» He labors in the local church… and that promotes life… the preaching of the Word of life… and the salvation of souls… eternal life…
» His labor enhances his home life… by providing food and shelter…
» He labors in the Word and that too enhances life… his spiritual life… and it enhances his home life… and his attitude at work…
» He labors with his hands—that he might give—and that helps advance the life of others in need…(Eph. 4:28)…
» He supports missionaries and that supports their life…
» The LABOR of a righteous man tends to life… life in the fullest sense.
» The man who is a hard worker… and whose labors are motivated by standards of righteousness tends to life… to promote life in every way…
» the labor of the righteous tends to life
b. Prov. 12:28 – the way of righteousness is a tree of life… (way = path; road)
• The way or road of a righteous man is a tree of life… sprouting all kinds of good fruit…
• The tree of life is a source of that which aids life… good things come from trees: apples, pears, bananas, coconuts, wood for building and burning for heat; branches for shade; shelter for animals and birds; — trees have been a symbol of life for centuries.
• The WAY of righteousness is a source of good things necessary for life… for an abundant life.
• The ROAD a righteous man travels promotes life…
• Jesus lived on earth and left us an example to follow… to follow His path… the way of that righteous Man is a tree of life!
• But in a lesser sense, the way of any righteous man is a tree of life… a pattern of good works and faith to follow.
• Jesus also used a similar expression when He said that the narrow road (of righteousness) leads to life… not salvation by works, but nevertheless, showing a relationship between righteousness and life.
• If someone possesses eternal life, the QUALITY of his life will change—forever!
c. Prov. 11:30 – the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life…
• This is a similar principle… the labor, way, and now FRUIT of a righteous man is a tree life…
• Fruit = that which a man produces… and a righteous man produces the fruit of the Spirit… (the fruit of the flesh is certainly not a tree of life!)
• The fruit of a righteous man’s life is godliness… God-likeness.
• Psalm 1:2-3 – the righteous man produces fruit…
d. Everything about the man who pursues righteousness tends to life… his labor, his way, and his fruit…
5. Another relationship between righteousness and life is that righteousness preserves life.
a. The one who does things RIGHT tends to live longer.
b. Cf. Prov. 4:4 – same principle. (Disobedience resulted in death—either directly or indirectly or judicially)
c. The one who does not do things right… but lives in the fast lane… drinks… takes drugs… runs around with someone else’s wife—may not live so long. He may die young. His lifestyle does not promote life but death. (The second part of the verse teaches this).
6. There is a built in reward for pursuing righteousness.
a. This inference comes from the preceding verse: 18
b. Ps. 19:11 – in keeping God’s commandments (the way of righteousness) is great reward.
• There is great reward in this life—but especially in the life to come!
• Jesus said, “Behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” (Rev. 22:12)
• Pursuing righteousness in this life not only enhances and enriches our life on earth—it enhances and enriches our eternity!
c. Isa. 32:17 – The “effect” of righteousness is quietness and assurance… forever!
• In other words, the man who pursues righteousness can live in peace—his conscience is at rest… and he has assurance of his standing before the Lord.
• The one who pursues evil—believer or unbeliever—has no peace. His conscience will convict him… and he will be uneasy and uncomfortable before God—not poised and assured.
1. The same principles holds for pursuing evil: it tends toward death. He who pursues evil pursues it to his own death.
2. Prov. 7:22 – here Solomon gives one example of pursuing evil to his own death—like an ox going to the slaughter.
3. Men willingly chose to pursue evil things that they know can kill them… drugs, alcohol, immorality, cigarettes…
4. It is because as fallen creatures, apart from faith in Christ, men normally choose the here and now over the by and by.
a. It is the same kind of twisted thinking of Esau: I want my porridge now—and I don’t care about tomorrow.
b. Men want to feel good right now and don’t want to even think about the long term consequences of their actions.
c. This is why most men reject Christ. They simply want to pursue their FUN now… and don’t care or believe there will be any eternal consequences to their actions.
d. They do so to their own death!
e. Prov. 11:17 states the same principle: cruel men trouble their own souls!
f. Prov. 8:36 – those who reject God’s wisdom and pursue evil do so at their own peril.
g. How we wish we could instill this truth in our kids—so that they might AVOID harming themselves… troubling their soul… being forced to eat the fruit of their own ways… maybe even save their life… save them from pursuing that which tends toward death!
5. Isaiah 3:10 – Isaiah put it this way: the righteous shall eat the fruit of his own doing… but woe to the wicked. He too shall eat of the fruit of his own doings.
a. Each tendeth to his own end… the righteous to life… and the wicked to sin and death.
b. This principle is inescapable… and has been proven over and over again.
c. Every man will EAT of his own fruit… he will reap what he has sown.
d. Whatever a man sows or pursues in life, he will receive… that which promotes an abundant life… or that which stifles one’s Christian life…
e. Some men pursue that which advances his own death… physical death, spiritual death, and the second death in the Lake of Fire.
f. Prov. 11:5-6 – the same principle — the wicked fall because of his own wickedness; the transgressor is taken in his own sin.
g. In other words—the evil he pursues catches up to him in time… and takes over his life. He becomes ensnared… entangled… overcome… defeated… and it may result in death.
h. All pursuits in life lead in one of two possible directions: life or death.
i. Be careful what you pursue in life.