Job defended his integrity. Continued.
Occasionally, Job affirms that his hope is in the Lord, but because his friends insist he has sinned, he quickly defends his integrity and self-righteousness. He even dares to challenge God to a dialogue. “Only grant me these two things, O God, and then I will not hide from you: Withdraw your hand from me, and stop frightening me with your terrors. Then summon me and I will answer, or let me speak, and you reply. How many wrongs and sins have I committed? Show me my offense and my sin.” Job 13:20–23. Job fails to realize that a mere mortal, a sinner, cannot become righteous simply by doing good deeds or speaking the right words. Even if a fallen human, a sinner, performed the noblest acts, he could not make himself righteous. Righteousness cannot come from a sinner, no matter what he does.
Before Job’s experience, another wise man wrote, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). Because fallen human beings are born sinners, even their best efforts cannot change their sinful nature. Once a sinner, always a sinner. Sinful human beings must have their sins removed to be made righteous, which they cannot do through perfect speech and obedience. If sin remains, the sinner cannot be justified; therefore, his self-righteous behavior would be evil in God’s eyes. The prophet Isaiah said the same: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isaiah 64:6).
Job insisted until the very end that he was righteous. He claimed that God had no reason to punish him. “Let God weigh me in honest scales, and he will know that I am blameless.” Job 31:6. “So these three men stopped answering Job because he was righteous in his own eyes.” Job 32:1.
Finally, God, as Job requested, spoke to him and questioned him. Job was confident he could answer God’s questions and prove his self-righteousness. However, he couldn’t find the right words to respond. When God finished questioning him, Job declared, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5, 6. Job repented of his self-righteousness because he finally understood that God, and only He, is the source of all righteousness.
The only source of righteousness. Read the next blog.