Steadfastness

In this study of virtue, we come next to steadfastness. I am thinking of a collection of related virtue words like fortitude, courage, boldness, steadfastness, endurance, perseverance, patience, and diligence. Think of the daring by which you do something difficult or dangerous, as well as the perseverance you show in continuing to do something hard without giving up. The word I am going to generally use is steadfastness, but I will use some of those other words as well. 

The Call for Steadfastness

Revelation 14:12 says, “Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” This is the way in which we are to walk: the commandments of God and faith in Jesus Christ. It takes endurance and courage to hold fast to that course, to not be led astray, to not be pushed out of that way, but to endure to the end. So there is a call for the endurance of the saints. 

It is not merely a New Testament call. We can think of many examples in the Old Testament that called for courage and endurance. In Deuteronomy and Joshua and 1 Chronicles you can find an exhortation given in almost identical words each time. It goes something like this: "Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you" (Deut. 31:6). This exhortation is given from Moses to Israel, from Moses to Joshua, from God to Joshua, and from David to Solomon. Israel and Joshua were exhorted as they were about to begin the conquest of the land (Deut. 31, Josh 1). Solomon was exhorted as David was about to die and Solomon was about to build the temple (1 Chron. 22:13, 28:20). 

Some of these lines are picked up in the New Testament. Hebrews 13:5 picks them up in an exhortation to believers in the new covenant era. In both testaments we are exhorted to a courage that is anchored on God's promise and abiding presence. 

Christ has given the church a more intimidating task than was given Joshua or Solomon. What is the task that Christ gave the church? It is to go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all the nations. The Great Commission is a large task and will take multi-generational endurance. This is a difficult task and one that has to deal with persecution and opposition from the world, the flesh, and the devil. How does Jesus encourage his disciples when he gives them this commission? "I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 

Eleven times in the book of Acts, "boldness" or "boldly" is used to describe those who spoke the word of God. In Acts 4 the saints prayed for boldness, and then as they were filled with the Spirit they spoke the word with boldness. This trait marked the apostles and preachers in Acts. It took boldness to speak the word forthrightly, plainly, and publicly. Courage is required for preachers, and it is also required for the whole church as it pursues this mission. At the end of 1 Corinthians 16, not only does the Apostle Paul say, "let all you do be done in love," a virtue we looked at earlier, but he also says, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong" (1 Cor. 16:13). And so, the church is not called to be weak. The church is called to be strong. The church is told to stand firm in the faith. 

This courage and strength should be thought of both in terms of not running away from a position as well as in not turning aside from your course - continuing the work despite challenges. In other words, it is both defensive and offensive: do not abandon the Lord and go forward with your duty.

The Need for Steadfastness

The fact is we face challenges and temptations that make this virtue necessary. It is not enough to know and understand the faith. A person who knows the truth but is not steadfast might be swept away by the crowd. A person who knows the truth but is without self-discipline or patience can be distracted and led astray by the next flashy thing. A person who knows the truth but does not have strength of character may cave in against his better judgment. As Theodore Beza said, “In the midst of assailing adversity, steadfastness is among the greatest of the moral virtues.” 

There is a threefold enemy that seeks your destruction - the passions of the flesh that wage war against your soul, the devil that seeks to devour you, and the world that seeks to push you by carrot and stick out of the way. Without steadfastness, we are unstable and therefore easily deceived or cowardly. The unstable man will be driven and tossed by the wind (James 1:6, Eph. 4:14), deceived or deceiving himself (Col. 2:7, 2 Pet. 3:16-17). The man who is cowardly and faithless is in danger of eternal judgement (Rev. 21:8). 

Some people go astray. Not every gospel seed perseveres. Think of the parable of the sower (Matt. 13:1-9, 18-23). Not all of them had steadfastness or endurance. The seeds were all tested. The sun came out, some of them shriveled up and some of them did not. 

Furthermore, some Christians endure in the faith and yet cause great harm by their lack of steadfastness. They might be saved and have true faith, but because they swerved and made bad decisions, they sinned and hurt others and caused damage to the church of Christ. 

Additionally, I think our culture in particular is prone to flux. It does not encourage stability. It is good at providing many different choices and new things to replace the old. It is a mobile culture with a tendency to scorn old things.

The Doctrine of Perseverance 

But not only are there pressures and challenges, but there is also God's grace. We know the doctrine of perseverance, that all who are chosen by God and come to true faith in Christ will endure to the end. Those who depart, who fall away from us, John says, were not of us (1 John 2:19). They were not good soil to begin with. Those who are elect and do exercise true saving faith in Christ will endure to the end. John 6:37-40 teaches that all who are given by the Father to the Son (the elect) will come to the Son and will be kept by the Son and will be raised up to a glorious resurrection on the last day. Jesus will not loose any of them. Paul is able to say with confidence, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:6). 

Perseverance is a gift. Nevertheless, it is also something that we do using the means that God gave us. He works within us, so that we do his good pleasure. One mark of true faith is that it is a faith that endures. So keep in mind both preservation by God as a grace to give thanks for, and also the perseverance of the saints. Persevere in reliance upon the grace of God, praying for his strength, and giving him the praise for this work in your life.

Steadfastness Described

The Bible speaks of steadfastness, perseverance, and endurance as virtues which Christians ought to develop and practice. In fact, all three of these words are translations of the same Greek word, ὑπομονή (hupomoné), “the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance” (BDAG). As a verb it is “to maintain a belief or course of action in the face of opposition, stand one’s ground, hold out, endure” (BDAG). Aristotle contrasted the man of endurance (ὑπομονή) with the soft and effeminate man who is easily overcome by pain and difficulty (Ethics, 7.7).

Peter tells you to make every effort to supplement your faith with virtues, including steadfastness (2 Peter 1:6). Paul told Timothy to pursue steadfastness along with other virtues (1 Tim. 6:11) and Paul later commended Timothy for following his steadfastness (2 Tim. 3:10). In Titus 2:2 Paul taught that older men in particular are to be “sound…in steadfastness” (Titus 2:2). A mature man will be sober, sound, and steadfast. Steadfastness is important for every Christian and it is all the more important when others are looking up to you. It is especially important for leaders and others who carry weight in a community to be steadfast and dependable, to be a ballast to those around them.

Negatively, steadfastness is to not depart from the way of duty because of difficulty or temptation; to be stable, immovable. Joseph demonstrated steadfastness when he rejected the enticements of Potiphar’s wife, even though she persisted day after day (Gen. 39). Paul exhorted the saints to “continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting form the hope of the gospel” (Col. 1:23, see also 1 Cor. 15:58). 

Positively, steadfastness is to continue in the way of duty and faith in Christ, despite the natural tendency to grow weary and the hostile pressures to abandon course (Rev. 14:12, Gal. 6:9). It is to run the race to the end. Go forward with your calling and mission. Let us follow Christ and press on to the goal and the glory that awaits. 

Why is steadfastness a virtue? On the one hand, it is only a virtue when we are steadfast in the right course and the true faith. Courage and endurance, if directed by folly or evil, can do much harm. It is not good to be steadfast in your sin. You need the right goal. You need the right path. Yet this is a perversion of this virtue. 

On the other hand, it has long been noted that it is a vital support to all virtues. The others are not worth much if they fade away or disappear in a trial. Steadfastness turns other good traits into habits and makes them a part of your character. As Romans 5:4 says, “…endurance produces character…” Or as James 1:4 says, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Do you want to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing? Then value steadfastness.

Perseverance is also a requirement. Twice Jesus said, “the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22, 24:13). Endure, rather than fall away or be led astray. Do not deny Christ. Endurance is an essential part of the Christian life. Continuing in the faith necessary to receive the reward (Col. 1:23, Rev. 2:1).

Hebrews 10:36 says that "you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." In fact, the Epistle to the Hebrews as a whole, and Hebrews 10-12 in particular, is an extended exhortation to endurance. "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls" (Heb. 10:39). Hebrews 11 recounts those who persevered and endured by faith. Their faith supported their endurance. Because they had faith, therefore they endured. We look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who endured the cross (Heb. 12:1-2). Therefore let us run the race with endurance, looking to him. We have need of endurance, so let us have faith and therefore run with endurance, looking especially to Jesus, both the object of our faith and the example of endurance. 

James holds up another example. In his epistle, he mentions a person from the Old Testament. Job was an example of endurance. “Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job…” (James 5:11). Job suffered much. Everything was taken away from him and he endured pain, yet he did not turn from God. He certainly poured out his agony and struggled, but yet he ran the race with endurance despite all the afflictions that came even from his friends.  In the end, Job was restored. God did not abandon him.  "... and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful" (5:11).

Helps to Steadfastness 

We do have helps to perseverance. God has provided outward means to nourish this virtue. 

God has given us his word. When Joshua was encouraged to be strong and of good courage, he was also told to think upon the law of God day and night (Josh 1:8-9). God's word contains promises for us. As we receive them by faith, we have hope. This eager expectation leads to patience and steadfastness. Paul's discussion of the gospel and our future resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15 ends with an exhortation to steadfastness. In 1 Thessalonians 1:3, he speaks of "your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ." 

We are also told to assemble with the church. As Hebrews 10 calls us to "hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering" it goes on in this next verse to exhort us to "consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." We have been given the instruction, worship, discipline, and fellowship of the church for our good (Eph. 4:11-16, Acts 2:41-42). 

A right use of trials also produces steadfastness. Like other virtues, steadfastness is built up by consistently practicing it. Steadfastness is like a muscle that grows with use. Overcoming smaller trials builds up steadfastness. There are several passages in Scripture that encourage people in trials with this benefit - not that hardship in itself is a good thing, but that God uses hardship for the good of believers. We can rejoice at this benefit. "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds." Why? Why should we rejoice? "...for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness." In Romans chapter 5:3, we read "not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings." Why? "...knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character..." 

We also have prayer. Jesus told the disciples, "Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak" (Matt. 26:41). We are given prayer as a means of grace through which, and in response to which, God strengthens us against temptation. 

There is a need for steadfastness. The Christian life can be difficult. Perseverance is a gift of God. It is also a virtue which we ought to practice, supported by these means that God has given. At its end is glory. Its end is that gift of grace that we see by faith, the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord will not forsake us. So let us be steadfast and of good courage.

Righteousness

"For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Romans 14:17)

In Greek there is one word, δικαιοσύνη (dikaiosuné), that can be translated as righteousness, justice, or uprightness. (Our English words justice and just and justification come from Latin, and righteousness and righteous come from Anglo-Saxon.) In Hebrew, there are two words: צְדָקָה (tsedaqah), which is used for righteousness, and מִשְׁפָט (mishpat), for judgment or justice. These two words are often grouped together, because they are closely related, overlapping terms. "For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice, so that the LORD may bring to Abraham what he has promised him” (Genesis 18:19). What is it to keep the way of the Lord? To do righteousness and justice. 

Righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount

Jesus spoke of righteousness in the Sermon on the Mount. First, he mentioned it in the Beatitudes, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Matt. 5:6). Remember that the Beatitudes are not a buffet, as if you get to pick whichever you like. All of them describe Christ's disciples and their blessedness. Christ's disciples ought to be those, and are those, who hunger and thirst after righteousness. They are also described as those who are "persecuted for righteousness' sake" (Matt. 5:10). 

Then Jesus goes on to talk about the law and the prophets. He did not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. He said that "whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19). So he is talking about what should we do as well as affirming continuity with the Old Testament. In that context he says that "unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). Now, were the scribes and Pharisees righteous? At first this sounds like a really high standard, and it probably did to the people that Jesus was teaching. But their righteousness was hypocritical. In the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasts the righteousness of the hypocrites with the righteousness that his disciples should practice. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was just for show, merely external, out of accord with God's word, and done for the praise of man (Matt. 6:1). It did not originate in the heart. The righteousness of Christ's disciples is to be different, as Jesus explains in some detail. 

Then Jesus directs his disciples to not serve money or be worried about money and possessions, but rather to serve God, trust his fatherly provision, and "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). Jesus calls us to pursue righteousness. As his disciples, we are to learn to observe all his commandments (Matt. 28:18-20). This righteousness we practice is not the basis of our justification - I will get to that in a little bit - but it is something that as Christ's disciples we ought to be learning and pursuing.

The apostle Paul also told Timothy to pursue righteousness, along with other virtues. In 1 Timothy 6:11, he says, “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.” He gave a similar exhortation in 2 Timothy 2:22, “So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.” Pursue after these virtues, one of which is righteousness. We can tell that Paul is not talking about justification in this context, because once you are justified, you are justified. You do not have to keep pursuing it. You receive and rest upon Christ for being declared righteous, but beyond that, there is a pursuit and growth in practicing righteousness. 

Righteousness, Justification, and Sanctification 

I have mentioned justification. We can describe this act with the Latin-based term "justification" or by describing it as "declaring someone to be righteous." To justify someone is to declare them righteous. That can happen in an everyday situation. Perhaps you've been wrongfully accused of doing something, but then the evidence shows that you actually were in the right, and so the judge pronounces you to be righteous. The opposite of being justified is being condemned as guilty. 

But our justification before God is of grace, for by our works we would all be condemned (Ps. 143:2). God justifies the ungodly by his grace in Christ through faith (Rom. 4:5). God justifies by his grace those who who have sinned and who have fallen short of the glory of God. And the only basis for this declaration is the righteousness of Christ, imputed to you. I wrote about this some when discussing faith, because we are justified by faith alone. Faith is how we receive it. But the basis for it is in what Christ did. He was righteous and lived a righteous life. Our sins were imputed to him and he annihilated them by suffering for them and satisfying divine justice. Then he rose from the dead. His resurrection was his justification, God's declaration that he was righteous, that having paid for our sins there was no charge against him. His righteousness is imputed to his people who are raised to new life with him. And so we are declared righteous before God on account of Christ's righteousness imputed to us, received by faith alone. 

Yet that is not the end of the story. In what we call sanctification, God delivers us from the power of sin so that we who were slaves of sin become willing slaves of righteousness, presenting our members to God as instruments for righteousness. In Romans 3-5, Paul talks about being declared righteous in Christ. Then in Romans 6, Paul speaks of how we have become willing slaves of righteousness. We who have died to sin, who have been freed from sin, now are no longer tyrannized by sin, but are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life, so that we should present our our bodies as instruments for righteousness. They were instruments of sin. But now you have been delivered by Christ and have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching you have received. The work of transformation has begun. As he also says in Ephesians 4:22-24, you have been taught in Christ "to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

Thus, one of the graces infused into us from Christ is the virtue of righteousness, although this virtue within us, which is presently imperfect and growing, is not the grounds for our verdict and status before God. It is not the basis for our justification, but it is something that is present and growing in Christ's disciples.

What is Righteousness? 

What does it mean to live righteously? What does righteousness mean? It means obeying the moral law of God and fulfilling your obligations to others. Righteousness is sometimes described as giving everyone his due. God is the one to whom we have our primary obligation and we have his law that he has given us to obey. So righteousness is doing what he has commanded us, just as sin is breaking his law. 

When you look at what God's law tells us, you find that we have obligations to worship God alone, to not serve idols, to not blaspheme his name, to observe his holy day. You will find we also have obligations to other people, to give honor to whom honor is due, to not murder but to preserve life, to not commit adultery but to be pure and chaste, to not steal but to preserve and further our own and our neighbor's property, to guard the good name of our neighbor rather than defaming them or being dishonest, and to not covet our neighbor's stuff. We have obligations that we bear and ought to fulfill. 

We ought to fulfill them. The language of ought and duty and deserve and rights and fair comes naturally to us. You can be very young and have a sense that "that's not fair," or "I deserve this," or "you ought to do this." This is the language of righteousness. People who do not believe in God will still assume the existence of these moral obligations. In fact, this is one witness to the fact that there is a supreme lawgiver and judge to whom we are accountable, who has established the world in such a way that there are obligations that tie us to each other and to him. We are responsible beings created with an obligation to our Maker. We have the Ten Commandments as a summary of that moral law, a standard of righteousness. 

Righteousness involves not harming your neighbor, but it is more than that. How did Jesus put it? "So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets." (Matt. 7:12). It is not just "don't do what you wouldn't want others to do to you," but it is positive too. We ought to love our neighbor as ourselves. Do not do unjust harm and do positive good. As Proverbs 3:27–33 says, 

"Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,

when it is in your power to do it.

Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again,

tomorrow I will give it”—when you have it with you.

Do not plan evil against your neighbor,

who dwells trustingly beside you.

Do not contend with a man for no reason,

when he has done you no harm.

Do not envy a man of violence

and do not choose any of his ways,

for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD,

but the upright are in his confidence.

The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked,

but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous." 

Do not withhold what is due your neighbor when you have it. A righteous and just person will consistently seek to fulfill his obligations to his neighbor. As Aquinas wrote, the virtue of justice is "the perpetual and constant will to render each one his due." Likewise, do not plan evil against your neighbor who dwells trustingly beside you. 

Your obligations before God include the obligations of your calling. What is your position in your family, your work, your neighborhood, your society, your state? These relationships come with obligations that must be fulfilled. Serve God in these ways, leading the life to which he has called you (1 Cor. 7:17). For example, if your employer is paying you for your time and you do not do your work, you are defrauding your employer. That would be an injustice. You ought to fulfill these obligations by doing your duty. 

Also, you should fulfill your word. You create obligations for yourself when you give your word, when you say, "I'm going to do this." When you make an agreement with someone, when you make a contract, when you give a promise, you create an obligation and it would be unjust or unrighteous for you to not fulfill it. So a just person is honest and faithful, not defrauding anyone by dishonesty. He is steadfast in keeping his promises and agreements, follows through on his commitments, even to his own hurt (Ps. 15:4). A righteous person does his duty. 

Rectifying Unrighteousness 

Now when those obligations are not kept, a debt is created. Justice calls out for judgment, that justice may be restored. That is part of the idea of righteousness as well. When the obligation is not met, there is now a punishment that is required or a restitution that needs to be given. Unrighteousness deserves condemnation and punishment. Restitution is required to rectify the injustice. If you steal from another person, you ought to at least give back what was taken, and more as the situation calls for it (Lev. 6:1-7). The thief that is caught ought to pay back double (Ex. 22:4, 7, 9) or more, depending on the situation (Ex. 22:1).

So righteousness refers both to being righteous as well as correctly rectifying unrighteousness. If we call someone a just person, that means that he lives justly, doing his duty. If he is a judge, for example, it also means that he is going to judge justly and maintain righteousness in that office. The magistrate is equipped with the sword to carry out God's wrath on the wrongdoer (Rom. 13:1-7). He is to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good (1 Peter 2:13-14). As Moses said, he is to judge with righteous judgment, to follow justice alone, and to maintain the cause of the righteous (Deut. 16:18-20).

But the magistrate is not the only one who should rectify injustice. As a private individual, you should not take vengeance or enforce justice by dealing out punishment, but if you have done wrong, you should not wait for someone to tell you to do what is right. You should seek to make it right on your own. Also, you can help maintain righteousness by protecting others from unrighteousness. If someone is about to harm someone else, step in the way or to give assistance. If you see someone about to get ripped off, call attention to the fraud that is being practiced or to help them to seek redress from the proper authorities. 

Righteousness and Piety 

In an earlier post I described piety as dutiful devotion to God that springs from reverence and gratitude. I had said that piety can be considered part of justice. It is what we owe God. God has all authority and power, and so we should revere him. He has also given you life and breath and everything, and so we ought to be grateful to him. You should be devoted to him out of gratitude and reverence. This is just. Additionally, piety leads a person to be righteous and just, for we serve God by fulfilling his commands to do what is right not only with respect to him, but also to our neighbor. 

Piety and righteousness are related in that they require each other. Without piety, your good deeds are profane. You are in hostility towards God. There might be great right justice or fairness among pirates, right? But they are all treasonous. They are all condemned. They are outlaws because they are in rebellion to the king. Likewise, impious people might do works that are outwardly righteous, while yet being at enmity with God and under his condemnation. Likewise, without righteousness, piety is hypocritical. "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). The person who worships God but then steals from his neighbor is hypocritical. Piety and righteousness go together as we serve God. Let us give thanks to God for declaring us righteous in Christ by his grace and then also let us pursue after righteousness that we might practice it in our lives.