March 5, 2023

Passage Read: Job 13-16
Meditation Verses: 15:14-16

Thought

Wow! This is what we teach and believe today! There is no hope for man, he is utterly hopeless in his wickedness! But this isn't what Job says, these are the words of Eliphaz, who got God wrong! In fact, the whole point of this book rebukes this idea! Job was declared righteous in God's eyes by God Himself. Without the death and resurrection of Jesus! Without the the Holy Spirit living in him! God was bragging on Job to Satan! (Setting this whole thing up, testing and trying Job to see if he would renounce God, curse God—and Satan lost the bet!) For all Job's complaints, he ultimately trusts in God's fairness and justice and mercy! Man is not hopelessly wicked, but has great capacity for goodness and righteousness and holiness. How much more when washed of sin, purified by the blood of Jesus and indwelt by God's own Spirit?

Application

The hopeless depravity of man is not a concept that is supported by all Scripture. Yes, God says that all our thoughts are only evil from childhood...until we realize we need to change, until we hear and understand the truth, until we recognize the holiness of God and the fear of Him falls on us! Then some of us gain a desire to change our ways, and even work diligently at it! The humble and contrite are the ones God delights in, because they tremble at His Word and seek to honor and obey it! And it is those people who are among the first to recognize their need of an advocate and trust that God Himself is their advocate! They are the first to accept Jesus as Savior, because they recognize despite all their effort, how desperately they need this Intercessor! They are not self-righteous, but humble and teachable to God! The whole idea that we cannot do anything good has become an excuse whereby many of us don't even seriously try. It comes not from God, but from those who misunderstand God.