Righteousness Is Expected

(Proverbs 1:3 KJV)  To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

I wish the Hebrew had punctuation to help us translate it.  I wonder if there should be a colon after “wisdom” (wise behavior NASB) (7919a).  That would make the following three qualities types of “wise behavior”.  That would make this say something like:

    We can teach wise behavior by teaching righteousness, justice and equity.

Either way these three qualities are related to wisdom.  We misuse and abuse these terms because we do not have wisdom and we accept the definitions of the world instead of the word.

We can, and must, be instructed in “justice" (righteousness NASB) (6664).  Unfortunately one of the results of the Protestant Reformation and the “grace alone, faith alone” crowd is rendering this an option instead of a requirement.  This group of words is usually translated "righteousness", over two hundred times in the OT and the only verse that seems to get quoted is denying its importance:

(Isaiah 64:6 KJV)  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Righteousness is not an option.  Time and time again it is assumed that we will walk the strait walk.  No one claims there will not be mistakes and times of weekness, but it can be done.  Wisdom acknowledges the need for righteousness and gives us insights into how to demonstrate it.  Wisdom knows that holy living is not something done in our own power to buy our standing before God.  Wisdom knows that righteousness is a matter of allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us so that we can live in obedience.