vassal of the King

The Upright of Heart as a Metaphor for Integrity Psalm 11.2 says that the wicked seek to destroy those who are “upright in heart” ( לְיִשְׁרֵי־לֵב). The LXX renders the Hebrew phrase as: τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ (“the straight ones [=upright] of heart”). The Aramaic Targum renders the phrase in its oft-expanded way:  תקיני  לתריצי לבא (“the firm stability of the upright ones in heart”). Why is this language used to speak about integrity? Why does this describe the godly? I want to offer a few observations concerning this phrase. 1. This phrase refers to the godly person being one who is unbending and standing straight up for the Lord and for His Word. The Hebrew root for “upright” (יָשָׁר) speaks of that which is straight and right. So then, the person who is upright in heart is one who is straight in his life, straight in his course, unbending in his convictions, unswerving in his conduct. Joshua was told not to turn away from the Law of God either to the right or the left (Josh 1.7;

From John MacArthur: Christians must remember that sanctification is God's priority for their lives. It is His will for them (1 Thess 4.3; cf. Heb 12.14) and the result of Christ's death on their behalf — "who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2.14). All believers are to live for sanctification. They have no other goal in life than to be like Jesus Christ: "The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked" (1 John 2.6). From: John MacArthur, 1 & 2 Thessalonians , MNTC, p.210.

What's the gospel? Puritan Thomas Manton gives a very helpful summary: "The sum of the gospel is this: that all those who by true repentance and faith do forsake the flesh, the world, and the devil, and give themselves up to God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as their Creator, redeemer, and sanctifier shall find God as a Father, taking them for his reconciled children, and for Christ's sake pardoning their sin, and by his Spirit giving them his grace; and if they persevere in this course will finally glorify them and bestow upon them everlasting happiness; but will condemn the unbelievers impenitent and ungodly to everlasting punishment." Thomas Manton, The Complete Works of Thomas Manton , II:102-3.

From JI Packer's introduction to John Owen's The Death of Death in the Death of Christ : There is no doubt that Evangelism today is in a state of perplexity and unsettlement. . . . Without realizing it we have during the past century bartered the gospel (the biblical gospel) for a substitute product which, though it looks similar enough in points of detail, is as a whole a decidedly different thing. The new gospel conspicuously fails to produce deep reverence, deep repentance, deep humility, a spirit of worship, a concern for the church. Why? We would suggest that the reason lies in its own character in content. It fails to make men God-centered in their thoughts and God-fearing in their hearts because this is not primarily what it is trying to do. One way of stating the difference between it and the old gospel is to say that it is too exclusively concerned to be "helpful" to man — to bring peace, comfort, happiness, satisfaction — and too little concerned to g