- 8. Well with the Righteous
Isaiah 3:10 Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.
God promises the righteous man that it shall be well with him. The righteous people will eat the fruit of their doings. The conditional part of the promise is that if the righteous person does good things then he will reap the fruit of his righteous doings. The unconditional promise for the righteous person is that it shall be well with him. We know that we are accounted righteous for the sake of Jesus Christ; we are justified by faith. Faith is reckoned as righteousness. Therefore, the promise is for the believer in Jesus Christ: it will be well with him.
No matter what happens the believer will always be able to sing: “It is well with my soul.” That is a promise we can claim. First we make certain that we are justified by faith through repentance and faith in the Gospel. If we know we believe then we know we are righteous; and if we are righteous it is well with us. This promise is meant for all believers to be taken to heart in both good times and in bad times. The condition of being “well with me” does not depend on outward circumstances or on how I am feeling at the time. It is “well with me” all the time because God is good all the time. It is well with my soul always because Jesus loves me, this I know. It is well with me because I am declared righteous on account of Christ. By faith I always have the righteousness of God as a gift of grace.
Every time I hear the Gospel, I can say, “It is well.”And I can hear the Gospel any time I turn to God in faith and receive the forgiveness of sins afresh. When someone greets you by asking, “How are you?” you can say, “I am well; it is well with me.” Or, as I once asked a shopkeeper in passing, “How are you?” she responded, “I am loved.” Confess the righteousness of God, and confess, “It is well with me.” That is not pretending or faking it. It is truth and fact. God says so, and so it is.