All Actions are not Equal
Some actions are weightier and count more than others
👏Hey! I’m Azubuike, and welcome to Biblion Newsletter. This June I’m exploring a 3-part Essay on the concept of Hearing before Doing. The first part was published last week, see a brief recap below. Thereafter, we go straight to this week’s post…
Last Week on Biblion
Success cannot be achieved without Actions.
An Actions Vector is a collection of micro-steps required to move from a problem state to the goal state.
Actions must be Effective, Right, and Performed consistently for success to be enduring.
There is a need to scrutinise Actions before recommending or performing them.
My Hypothesis —
Identifying the Action Vector for enduring success is not simple;
When actions are identified, performing them consistently may be difficult.
Something must occur before Actions that make it Effective, Right, and enables consistent performance.
Read the full Essay here.
Now, this week on Biblion.
Success for the Christian has Eternal Implications
It is possible to see immediate results and judge the effectiveness of an action. The results might materialise in minutes, hours, weeks, months, or even years.
In the short term (minutes to a few weeks), one might gamble with just any action(s) with the hope of adjusting the course later if the results are not favourable. But for results that mature in years (e.g. raising a child), gambling becomes risky.
Likewise, the rightness of an action will be measured at the judgment — post-death. Waiting till the afterlife to know if one has done things right is a riskier gamble.
Guessing or gambling on which action is effective or right will result in a wasted life. For there is a way that seems right unto a man, and the ways thereof are the ways of death (Pro 14:12). Death connotes that the result obtained is zero or poor, or no rewards for the results obtained.
We cannot afford to waste our most valuable resources (our life); because everything will be accounted for, including all idle words and actions (Matt 12:36). Idle here connotes words and actions that did not yield the intended results — there were inactive, unprofitable, and barren.
Jesus gave us a template to hedge our valuable resources — He introduced the shortcut of Hearing.
I can of myself DO nothing. I decide (or Act) based of what I HEAR; and my Decision (or actions) is RIGHTEOUS, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. — John 5:30 (Paraphrased)
Since a Christian’s success has eternal implications, let me lay the foundation for why I think Righteousness is vital and later, I’ll show how Hearing produces righteousness.
God’s Success Metric
For non-believers identifying success actions vector may be relegated at best to philosophy and psychology or worse, use common sense.
As Christians, it’s not enough to determine action vectors using philosophy and psychological principles and definitely very naive to rely on common sense.
I have heard people say, “success doesn't require as much spiritual investment as some Christians claim”. They then point to supposed unbelievers who are doing massive things in the world — Zuckerberg, Gates, or Musk would be cited as examples.
Again, let me reiterate that Success for the Christian has eternal implications.
From my studies of the Scriptures, I understand that God’s standards for and expectations of success are different for Christians. The Righteous Judge (God) uses a Success Metric different from human or worldly standards.
1. God's Standard for our Actions is Righteousness
Righteousness is a legal term. It connotes that an action has been thoroughly scrutinized and deemed to have met all the legal requirements with a seal of divine approval. It goes beyond checking off a list of rights and wrongs.
The above definition raises the bar of expectation for a Christian’s actions.
For example, the New Testament recorded some folks who had accomplished great things in their lifetime; and possibly received awards and recognitions for their exploits. Appearing before the Righteous Judge, they sensed they weren't recognized as they should. They immediately reminded the Judge, “Sir, in your name we accomplished so and so” — listing their achievements. The Judge replied, “depart from me, ye workers of iniquity; I never knew you.” The complete account is available in Matt 7:17-23.
Paul warned, “I have laid the foundation as a wise master builder; everyone should be careful how they build on it” (1 Cor 3:10-15). The building process refers to the action vectors we engage throughout our lives; while the structure itself is the resultant effect of the action vectors - our successes or accomplishments.
Paul outlined a variety of building materials — gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, and straw. Today, we can add man-made building materials to the list, like plastic, glass, ceramics, and other metals (e.g. Aluminium). Regardless of the material used, Paul concluded that each man's work (or accomplishments or successes) would be tried by Fire to ascertain its Value.
Imagine setting a house on fire, some of the materials will be burnt up and turned into rubbles; some others will endure and be refined by the Fire.
Consequently, every man will be rewarded for what makes it through the Fire.
In the world’s assessment, it may not matter how results are obtained — so long the individual passed the exam, got that business breakthrough, reached the apex of their career, or dominates their industry. But to the Righteous Judge, what survives the Fire is what counts.
2. The Opposite of Righteousness is Sin
Based on its root word, Sin connotes that something is not to be counted, and therefore forfeited because it misses the quality mark, i.e., it is highly substandard and falls below the expected quality.
Unfortunately, many actions will not meet the quality mark, and ultimately, the wages (salary, reward, or pay) of Sin will be Death (Rom 6:23).
Because only righteous actions get rewarded in the afterlife, we must Optimize our Successes — by minimizing Sin and maximizing Righteousness.
That an action vector is effective doesn't mean it is righteous — Here, men give Awards, but there, the Righteous Judge gives Rewards. Awards are good; they carry a measure of emotional sentiments that sponsors a sense of accomplishment or fulfilment. However, the Christian’s quest should be to receive Rewards there, for all the Awards they may receive here on earth.
3. Righteousness is NaturallyUnattainable
There are 613 laws recorded in the old testaments, including Moral, Civil, and Ceremonial laws. Likewise, some sources have identified about 1050 New Testament commands1. Combined, a Christian has at most 1663 commands or laws to abide by. These laws are the basis for judging righteousness — the quality mark.
The implication is that, one must evaluate their thoughts, words, and actions by checking off 1663 boxes before acting — this is laborious and highly unsustainable!
This is why Righteousness cannot be attained by following rules or checking off some boxes. It’s standard so complex that human psychology and the study of ethics in philosophy cannot cover its entire dimensions.
4. The Purpose of the Law
Scripture taught us that the Law’s purpose was to expose the extent of man’s Sinfulness — the law brought Sin to the spotlight! (Rom 3:20, Rom 4:45).
Although the law was given during the time of Moses, people were declared Righetoeus before the law. For example, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph lived before Moses, and they all had testimonies of Righteousness.
So, by what mechanism were these men declared Righteous?
For Abraham, it was written that he Believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3).
The word counted, imputed or credited means to Reckon. Reckon is an accounting word that means reaching an established amount by computation or calculation.
It means Abraham believed God and the computed value of his faith was esteemed to be equal to Righteousness. So his account was credited with Righteousness.
Apparently, God had introduced a system that enables Righteousness in our everyday walk with Him and journey towards Success.
That system is called Faith, and Paul confirmed that whatever is not of Faith will be reckoned as Sin (Rom 14:23).
5. Two Systems of Righteousness
Paul showed the two systems of righteousness in Romans 10 — Righteousness by the Law and Righteousness by Faith.
Paul accused the Jews of his time of having a zeal not according to knowledge (Rom 10:3). He further stated that being ignorant of God's Righteousness, those Jews wanted to establish their own righteousness. Moses described the righteousness by the law that a man is required to Do something (Rom 10:5).
Can you imagine memorising and checking 1663 commands before deciding what direction to act? Thank God that the Righteousness that is by Faith works differently!
In the system, Righteousness by Faith, a person would need to Hear to attain Righteousness.
Paul described the system like this:
6 But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) 7 or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): 9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation — Romans 10:6-9
Hearing before Doing
Paul revealed the way to this Faith as Hearing God's Word (Rom 10:17). This means the Righteousness by Faith is attained by Hearing.
Elsewhere, Paul challenged the Galatians who were overly concerned about doing something to get God’s blessings. He reminded them that they got supplied with God’s Spirit and received miracles by the Hearing of Faith and not the Works of the Law (Gal 3:5).
Paul's admonition can be summarized as Before you Do, first ensure you Hear.
At the end of Paul’s Life, he testified —
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the Faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. — 2 Tim 4:6-8 (NIV, Emphasis Mine)
Paul kept the Faith throughout his life journey, and he was assured of a Crown of Righteousness — the reward for his accomplishments on earth. He didn’t guess or gamble his way through life; he was sure that he actually Succeeded.
Therefore, the following position is valid:
The Hearing of Faith activates Righteousness;
Righteousness sponsors (underlies) Action Vector in the quest for enduring or acceptable success.
The Question Remains:
If Hearing impacts my quest for enduring Academic, Business, Career, Marital, Health and Social Success, in what practical ways can I use Hearing to:
Identify effective and right Action Vectors?
Enable consistent performance of identified actions towards success?
I’ll answer these questions in the next Essay. Look out for it 🔭.
Word: Bı̂yn (Understanding)
My Perception of its Meaning: The ability to — Separate mentally; Break things into their components or constituents and reassemble them into the whole part or into something else; Perceive things effectively with the senses (eyes, ears, touch, taste); Be attentive to and ability to uncover opportunities, signals and trends in the environment by a diligent consideration; Intelligence and insight into how things work in an industry or sector;
Strong’s Number: H995
169 Occurences in the Old Testament
Interesting Usage (KJV)
Genesis 41:33 — (Joseph Speaking) Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.
Genesis 41:39 — And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:
Deuteronomy 1:13 — Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.
Deuteronomy 4:6 — Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.
1 Samuel 3:8 — And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the Lord had called the child
1 Samuel 16:18 — Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.
1Kings 3:9 — Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Psalms 119:100 — I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts.
Ecclesiastes 9:11 — …nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
Commentary
The quality needed in the man that would effectively implement the solutions to the impending famine in Egypt. It is also an important quality needed to govern and lead a people.
Its source is the word, commands and instructions of God, that quality will distinguish God's people from others in results and manifestations. It is required to discern when and what God is saying as in when God called Samuel and Eli perceived God was the one calling.
This quality or ability was a listed credential on David’s CV. Solomon asked for it from God shortly after he became King and God was impressed with his request.
This quality is so powerful that it makes a newcomer disrupt an established sector or industry, generating more results than what is existing. It is also the active ingredient in Wealth generation and retention.
🎯You can read up on what to expect as a Biblion Subscriber and also follow inspiring posts on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Thank you for reading Biblion. If you find this post valuable, share it with friends and family and encourage them to subscribe. We have a goal to reach 200 Subscribers by June 30, 2022🙏
Azubuike, ✌️
https://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201407/r1308729_17984331.pdf
This is unusual insight really... waiting for the next content!