Who Is Righteous Enough?
I’m going to keep things brief today brothers and make just one minor observation. We are reading through the Bible chronologically this year. I chose this reading plan because I wanted to get a better feel for how the stories of the Bible progressed one to another. After we finish reading the book of Ezekiel, we will read Joel and then Daniel. As I’ve mentioned before, Ezekiel and Daniel were contemporaries. Take a look at the following verses.
Ezekiel 14:12-14
“And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it and break its supply of bread and send famine upon it, and cut off from it man and beast, even if these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness, declares the Lord God.”
Daniel was prophesying in Babylon around the same time that Ezekiel was prophesying near a canal off the Euphrates River. The verses above make it clear that Daniel was already famous as a righteous man. Both Noah and Job had existed hundreds, if not thousands, of years prior. Daniel was a living contemporary. I find that rather spectacular. This is quite a testimony to Daniel’s character.
The point God is making in this Scripture is that the righteousness of mere men is not enough to cover the sin of a nation. As good as Noah was, as good as Job was, as good as Daniel was, their righteousness was not enough to save their own children. If you remember Sodom and Gomorrah, God was willing to save those towns if only 10 righteous people could be found within them. I don’t get the sense that even Lot himself was righteous let alone 9 others. There is only one individual in the entire history of the human race whose righteousness is enough to cover the sin of others. That individual is Jesus Christ. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but God gave His only Son so that those who believe in Him should not perish but have ever lasting life. His righteousness alone is sufficient to save you; nothing else.
Have a blessed day!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Your Arm’s Too Short To Box With God
Job 38-42
As I said earlier in my commentary on Job, you should be careful what you ask for. Job asked for the opportunity to make his case before God; to bring an accusation against God for a lack of “fairness”. Today, as we finish Job, God says “Okay big mouth, here’s your chance.” Back in the 1970’s there was a Broadway musical entitled “Your arm’s too short to box with God”. Ain’t that the truth!
God begins the dialogue by reminding Job of His greatness and power. He does this by rhetorically asking Job if he was there when God created everything, if he knew how God put His universe together and how it worked. Of course, Job was not there and knew little of God’s universe. After making His point God says “Okay little man, make your charge against me; take your best shot”.
Job 40:7-9
“Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.
Will you even put me in the wrong?
Will you condemn me that you may be in the right?
Have you an arm like God,
and can you thunder with a voice like his?”
Right about now I would wet my pants! Job was full of big talk with his friends but now that he has come face to face with the one and only holy God he has become a mouse; and rightly so. Remember that everything that has transpired in Job so far has been deliberate run up to this moment. Job, by human standards, was a righteous dude, but by God’s standard he had a sin problem. Job thought he could make himself right before God. Such a belief is an attempt to gain some kind of control over God – “I’ve done A, B, and C, so you have to do X, Y, and Z”.
Guys, the only way to come before God is with a sense of humility and with sorrow for your sin. If you think there is anything within you or anything you’ve done that puts you in the right you are a fool. It is only through what God has done that you have any hope of righteousness; His righteousness. You are not righteous. You need forgiveness. You need to acknowledge God’s righteousness and glory. You need to ask for His forgiveness through the shed blood of Jesus Christ and you need to turn every facet of your life over to Him. That is the only way to be right before a holy God.
Your arm’s too short to box with God. Through in the towel! Surrender! You’ll be glad you did!
Have a blessed day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
The Pain Of Being Redeemed
Job 36-37
You know, as we have read through Job I have spent most of my time commenting on the five men and their discourse. What I haven’t done is comment on God. All of these men are “godly” men. They all have a great respect for God as they should. Job, in his pain has lost sight of God’s righteousness and glory. Even this, however, is part of God’s plan. God intends to bring Job into a better relationship with Him. He intends Job to have a better understanding of Him.
Isn’t that amazing guys? God is all about redemption and even when we know Him and desire to serve Him He will continue to grow us into the full measure of the man He intends us to be. I wish I could say that no one said it would be easy to follow Jesus Christ but I’m afraid a lot of people do indeed say that. That, however, is not what Jesus said. He said it would be very hard to be His follower and it is.
All five of these men are “wise in their own conceit”. I don’t know how God will deal with four of them but we’ve seen how He has and is dealing with Job. Elihu, who says many right and reverent things about God got this wrong.
Job 37:21-24
“And now no one looks on the light
when it is bright in the skies,
when the wind has passed and cleared them.
Out of the north comes golden splendor;
God is clothed with awesome majesty.
The Almighty—we cannot find him;
he is great in power;
justice and abundant righteousness he will not violate.
Therefore men fear him;
he does not regard any who are wise in their own conceit.”
Many of us are wise in our own conceit, and yet God still has regard for us; He still wants to redeem us and transform us, and for those who are willing, He will do it!
Have a blessed day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Sometimes It Hurts When God Loves You
Job 33-35
Today we read some more on Elihu’s condemnation of Job. Elihu is this younger man who has been listening to his elder’s debate. Job and his three friends have debated back and forth about Job’s righteousness and God’s fairness. Elihu has become disgusted with all four of them and feels he can remain silent no longer. Now I’d like to say that Job and his three friends got a few things wrong about God but along came this young fellow and straightened everything out, and if I had to choose one of these five men with which to agree it might very well be Elihu, but he doesn’t get everything right either.
While all of these men rightly believe God will repay a man for his iniquities, their expectation that it will be during this lifetime is off the mark. While Elihu doesn’t say this exactly, there is certainly a sense of this in his argument. As I’ve said many times before, God sometimes “repays” a man for his iniquities in this lifetime but I find when He does it is typically intended to restore the man to right relationship with Him. A bad man can do well by human standards all the days of his life. In such a case payment for his iniquities will be made when he stands before the throne, just like it will for all of us. Even if a bad man does experience troubles in this life it is more likely the natural consequence of living contrary to God.
All of these men seem to miss the point that God’s plan is to restore as many of mankind as will come. Now, He already knows the end of the story; He knows who will come and who won’t. Still God is as gracious and merciful as He is just and righteous. Any who fall short of His perfection will face justice. He withholds final judgment until we stand before Him. Between now and then a man can be saved, and God sent His son to do just that. Sometimes He sends trouble as well.
How about you? We all have faced trouble that comes from living in a perverted world, but have you ever faced trouble that God intended as a call to right relationship with Him? That kind of trouble is very good news! It means that God loves you and He wants you to be saved. It means that there is hope for you. If you’ve already accepted Christ it means that you are indeed His child and He expects you to grow up. It means He is your Father and loves you enough to discipline you so that you will walk in the way everlasting.
How fortunate we are to have a just, righteous, gracious, and merciful God! May His name be praised forever and ever!
Have a blessed day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Don’t Lose Patience
Job 31-32
Guys, today we get more of Job’s self-righteousness. He just refuses to see that as good as he is, he just isn’t good enough. He tells us once more how great he is. Here is an example of his high opinion of himself.
Job 31:9-12
“If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor’s door,
then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.”
Job has a real blind spot and it is himself. Isn’t that true of you and me? It is real easy to see the failings of others but we can have a real blind spot when it comes to ourselves. Job’s friends got tired of trying to get through to him. They finally gave up on him.
Job 32:1
“So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.”
I hope I never become so obstinate that I refuse to see my failings (some may believe I’m already there). I hope I always have friends that love me enough to tell me the truth; to help me see my blind spot. May I never exhaust their patience. I pray the same for you. Brothers, let’s pull the plank from our own eyes before we attempt to take the speck out of our brothers eye but at the same time let us be willing to help each other grow in our relationship with God. This may mean that from time to time we will need to go to a brother, with a humble and loving spirit, to help him see his blind spot. That can be a very uncomfortable situation, and you don’t want to enter into it lightly. You’ll need to make sure you are correct in your assessment and that your motives are pure. If you are, then don’t lose patience. Show the love of Christ to your brother.
May you have a blessed day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
Do You Know The Truth?
Job 27-30
Boy, Job sounds like he was a regular “Red Cross”. He helped the widow and the orphan and wept for those who hurt and were in need. He was also E. F. Hutton; when he spoke people listened. His integrity was important to him as well and he wasn’t about to agree with someone did not tell the truth.
Job 27:2-6
“As God lives, who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,
as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
Far be it from me to say that you are right;
till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.”
Job was a righteous dude. He held fast to his righteousness. The problem is that he was holding fast to “self-righteousness”. Do you think Job was humble? I mean really humble not that fake humble we all pretend to possess. It may not be fair of me but I don’t think he was humble. I think he thought he had earned a wealthy comfortable life because he had managed to be righteous in his own strength; that my friend is a major mistake.
Do you remember Jesus saying that it was easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than a rich man to get into heaven? This isn’t because wealth is bad; it is because we cannot serve two masters and a man with wealth has a dictator living in his house. A wealthy man finds his heart drawn more and more to thoughts of wealth. I suspect that if you have enough money you probably think you can do anything; even make yourself righteous.
Brothers, I used to think I had all the answers. As I’ve gotten older and learned more I have come to realize that I know very little but I know the most important thing. I know truth. Truth is not subjective. Truth is not opinion or scientific fact. Truth is a person, Jesus Christ. We often find ourselves on the verge of blows arguing about truth. We argue about the meaning of the Bible, about the end times, about eating fish on Friday. None of it is truth. Only Jesus is truth. It is my prayer that you get to know truth better and better every day and that you look for your righteousness in him, not yourself.
Have a blessed day brothers!
Your brother and servant in Christ,
Bill
Dying to self, living to serve!
