If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man’s religion is vain (empty).

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.*  James 1:26 & 27

*Friendship with the world is the practice of fulfilling legitimate human needs outside the clear commands and boundaries of Scripture.

*From blog article entitled “Overcoming the World” in the August 2016 archives.

…let the word of Christ dwell (take up its life) in you richly…

Romans 1:18 mentions both ungodliness and unrighteousness in the same sentence.  What is the difference between the two?  Are they not the same?

Ungodliness means without piety (reverence, devotion) or to be impious. It is a dismissive attitude toward God. It is wickedness by implication.[1]

Unrighteousness has to do with wrongfulness of character, injustice, and iniquity. It is more than an attitude, it is action. It is active wickedness.[2]

The Hebrew word for wicked is rasa which means; ungodly or guilty. Rasa is a legal term meaning wrongdoing or being in the wrong. The person who has sinned against the law is guilty.[3]

(For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23)

Rasa also denotes the category of people who have done wrong, who are still living in sin, and who are intent on continuing with wrongdoing.[4]

The first Psalm exhorts the godly not to imitate the deeds and behavior of ungodly, wicked people. The wicked does not seek God. The wicked loves violence. The wicked oppress the righteous and the wicked does not pay his debts. The wicked lays a snare to trap the righteous.[5]

For contrast between God’s dealings with the wicked and His dealings with the righteous*, see Psalm 37.[6]

*the righteous – those to whom God has imputed the righteousness of His Son. Impute means to reckon, to put down to a person’s account.[7]

For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.  Romans10:3

And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:  Philippians 3:9

…let the word of Christ dwell (take up its life) in you richly…

[1] The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible by James Strong, Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA, p. 16, #763 asebeiav

[2] Ibid. , p. 8,  #93 adikiav

[3,4,5,6&7] Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words – copyright 1984,1996, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, TN,  p. 287.

Break Thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word!

Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me,
As Thou didst bless the bread by Galilee;
Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall;
And I shall find my peace, my all in all.

Thou art the bread of life, O Lord, to me,
Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me;
Give me to eat and live with Thee above;
Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love.

Oh, send Thy Spirit, Lord, now unto me,
That He may touch my eyes, and make me see:
Show me the truth concealed within Thy Word,
And in Thy Book revealed I see the Lord.

Break Thou the Bread of Life
Mary A. Lathbury, 1877
v. 3-4 by Alexander Groves, pub.1913

copyright status is Public Domain

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.     John 6:35

Before I became a Christian, I always thought that I would get right with God as I lay dying. What a presumptuous thought! That is the way it happens in the movies.

Scripture says today is the day of salvation.

The truth of the matter is, death will come when we least expect it.  When God says it is time to go, will you be ready?

The more one engages in self justification, the less likely that one will ever know the joy of God’s justification.