“Have you considered and reflected on My servant Job?
For there is none like him on the earth,
a blameless and upright man,
one who fears God [with reverence]
and abstains from and turns away from evil [because he honors God].”
(Job 1:8 AMP)
My Bible Recap plan has me reading in Job right now. If you’ve ever read (much less studied) Job, you know it’s not an easy book. His life is great; then the adversary convinces God to test Job’s faithfulness. For the next 40 chapters Job cries out to God – “why am I suffering if I am sinless, blameless, and innocent?” – and Job’s friends try to convince him his trials are because of his wrongdoing. Finally (I’m foreshadowing here), God steps in to settle the score. The final but brief “happy ending” comes after many long, grinding, miserable chapters of lament, accusation, frustration, and rebuke. It’s not an easy book. In fact, the moderator of this Bible Recap plan made the comment that you can’t quit in the middle. Either you don’t start it or you finish it; if you start it, don’t stop. If you quit reading in the middle you miss much of what God is trying to teach us in this book. One of the things that has caught my attention is how Job wrestles with the concept of sin.
The Book of Job is at least as old as the Book of Genesis, making it one of the oldest books in the Bible. Long before God’s call to Abram to “go to the place I will show you” or Moses’s receiving of the Ten Commandments, Job had an understanding of the God of the Universe who Created all things, oversees all things, and knows the difference between His Way and evil. Job 1:1 (NIV) begins, “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” If he was blameless and upright, fearing God and shunning evil, Job understood that sin – anything that is against God’s will and way and brings death and separation from God – did exist. We are told that,
“[Job’s] sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, ‘Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.’ This was Job’s regular custom.” (Job 1:4-5 NIV). Job regularly interceded with God for his children just in case they had sinned.
Fast forward several thousand years and we are in a world that doesn’t necessarily believe there is sin. Many people have an “anything goes” or “everything is acceptable” attitude and would claim that to label something “sinful” is to be intolerant or mean or hateful. Yet, the Bible tells us that Jesus came to save us from our sin because otherwise we could never be in relationship with God, much less spend eternity in heaven with God. The Apostle Paul spends most of the book of Romans fleshing out the theology of sin, salvation, and redemption.
“For God in heaven unveils his holy anger breaking forth against every form of sin, both toward ungodliness that lives in hearts and evil actions. For the wickedness of humanity deliberately smothers the truth and keeps people from acknowledging the truth about God. In reality, the truth of God is known instinctively, for God has embedded this knowledge inside every human heart. Opposition to truth cannot be excused on the basis of ignorance, because from the creation of the world, the invisible qualities of God’s nature have been made visible, such as his eternal power and transcendence. He has made his wonderful attributes easily perceived, for seeing the visible makes us understand the invisible. So then, this leaves everyone without excuse.
“Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. Although claiming to be wise, they were in fact shallow fools.” (Romans 1:18-21 TPT)
Paul understand that humanity’s wickedness (or “total depravity” or “sinfulness by nature,” depending on your theological vein) is real, but so was God’s revelation within us and within the world. God’s nature, eternal power, and transcendence can be easily perceived, leaving humanity without an excuse for knowing God. Unlike many of today’s world, Job knew his God, knew his own heart, and knew that he was blameless in the face of accusations of sin.
May our confession and Jesus’s subsequent forgiveness cleanse us from sin.
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your lovingkindness; according to the greatness of your compassion blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly from wickedness and guilt and cleanse us from our sin, for we are conscious of our transgressions and we acknowledge them. Against you, and you only, have we sinned and done that which is evil in your sight so that you are justified when you speak your sentence and are faultless in your judgement. You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part of our hearts; you will make us know wisdom. Purify and wash us so we are clean – whiter than snow. Make us know your joy and gladness and be satisfied. Hide your face from our sins and blot out all out our iniquities. Create in us clean hearts, O God, and renew a right and steadfast spirit within us. Do not cast us away from your presence or take Holy Spirit from us, but restore to us the joy of your salvation. Sustain us with a willing spirit so we can teach your ways and sinners will be converted. May our broken spirits be an acceptable sacrifice to you. May our broken and contrite hearts – broken in sorrow for sin and thoroughly penitent – be an appropriate confession to you. And may our earnest confession of sins remove the guilt of our rebellious actions from us. May we, like Job, be known as blameless and upright. And may we have true, unbroken fellowship with you and with each other because Jesus has cleansed us from sin in all its forms and manifestations. May the joy of our forgiveness bear us up this day and forever. Amen and amen!
“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness [of sin], we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we [really] walk in the Light [that is, live each and every day in conformity with the precepts of God], as He Himself is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another [He with us, and we with Him], and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin [by erasing the stain of sin, keeping us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations]. If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude ourselves and the truth is not in us. [His word does not live in our hearts.]” (1 John 1:6-8 AMP)
“As far as the eastern horizon is from the west, so he removes the guilt of our rebellious actions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 NET)
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness and guilt
And cleanse me from my sin.
For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them;
My sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned
And done that which is evil in Your sight,
So that You are justified when You speak [Your sentence]
And faultless in Your judgment.
was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].
Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being,
And in the hidden part [of my heart] You will make me know wisdom.
Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Make me hear joy and gladness and be satisfied;
Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a right and steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners shall be converted and return to You.
Rescue me from bloodguiltiness, O God, the God of my salvation;
Then my tongue will sing joyfully of Your righteousness and Your justice.
O Lord, open my lips,
That my mouth may declare Your praise.
For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
My [only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin, thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalm 51:1-17 AMP)