“Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor. Woe to the wicked – it will go badly for them, for what they have done will be done to them” (Isaiah 3.10-11).

There aren’t many kinds of people in our world today. There are only two in God’s economy: the righteous and the wicked. Today, righteous people are those who have placed their trust in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They have no righteousness of their own. They see that. So, they come to Christ for the gift of His righteousness. Therefore, they are accepted by God and given the righteousness of Christ – a righteousness they would have never been able to earn or deserve.

The wicked are ignorant of God’s righteousness. They seek and establish their own righteousness (see Romans 10.2-4). They will not submit to the righteousness of God. “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” So, the wicked are often moral and religious but only because they are seeking to establish their own righteousness. As Isaiah said, “It will go badly for them.”

God’s message to both kinds of people remains constant. If you are righteous, it will go well for you. You will enjoy the fruit of your labor in the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 15.58). But if you are wicked, it will go badly for you. Everything you have built will come tumbling down in this life only to meet eternal ruin and torment. Come to Christ and then live for Christ. Then, it will go well with you.