How would you define righteousness? I suppose there are any number of definitions you might use and if you were to look for one. Using a search engine, you would encounter many definitions that suggest righteousness is not inherent in man but is something that is attained through a relationship with God. This relationship at its core is based on faith and adherence to obeying God in word and deed. I am not talking about being “good’ as the world defines good, because our ‘goodness’ is as filthy rags. More on that later.
In a letter to the church at Rome (Romans 3:11-12), Paul addresses some of the attitudes that were prevalent among the Jewish brethren. One being a kind of superiority in their Jewishness, for having grown up under the Law of Moses. He cited circumcision, (a ritual requirement of all Jewish males) as an example of Jews keeping the letter of the law. He told them that if a person breaks that law, they become as if they were a person who did not observe the law. He went on to tell them that if a person who is not circumcised keeps the requirements of the Law. That person could then condemn (accuse) those who should know better. Paul’s point, was that merely obeying the law or its regulations (works) were not equivalent to righteousness or goodness. He went on to summarize Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3.
“There is no one righteous, not even one; 11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. 12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.” What Paul was saying to that congregation is that merely keeping the Law (works) will not make you righteous. I wrote earlier that declaring oneself to be ‘good’ or having good intentions are not what makes anyone ‘good.’ The prophet Isaiah (Isa 64:6 NIV, et al) said this: “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Isaiah was lamenting the circumstances that led to Israel being taken captive by the Babylonians. That tragedy, among other things, was precipitated by the refusal of Ahaz, king of Judah to receive wise counsel sent to him by God through the prophet Isaiah (Isa 7:10-12). Ahaz instead leaned on lessons learned from the law (Deut. 6:16) rather than hearing what God was plainly telling him.
The Narrow Gate
I want to cite something Jesus said which is not a definition, but a fundamental precept that you and I or anyone must accept if we choose to be righteous: Matt 7: 13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Did you notice that Jesus said many enter the gate that is wide with a broad ‘road that leads to destruction’ while ‘only a few find the narrow gate that leads to life’ (eternal)? Righteousness is not something obtained by following strict ritualistic rules or acting in a manner to give the appearance of piety.
It is important to bear in mind as you read any scripture in the Bible that there are no idle words written there. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).
Job’s Righteousness… not his Patience
God is the Creator of everything that is. His will reigns supreme over all his creations, most especially that of Satan (adversary) whom he named after his rebellion. The Book of Job is a challenging text of scripture with many believers and perhaps more doubters than any other book except Revelations. As you read the opening verses, you should be aware that the conversations taking place in heaven should not be taken as a contest among equals, but the Will of God Almighty reigning over a defeated former angel.
In what may seem like God responding to a challenge from Satan, God allows Satan to bring calamity upon Job, whom God says is righteous but Satan says it is only because God has protected him and his belongings. God allows Satan to bring loss to Job, but expressly forbidding any physical harm to Job. Despite the tremendous losses and utter terror brought on by Satan, we read, in (Job 1:22) “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” In Chapter 2 of Job, on a second occasion, Satan comes to heaven and God repeats his claim of Job’s righteousness. This time, Satan says it’s only because he was allowed to keep his life, once again God allows Satan to wreak havoc on Job but not take his life. Satan caused painful sores over his entire body. Even Job’s wife was demoralized at the sight of her husband’s body and the oozing sores covering it. She asked Job if he would still maintain his integrity in the face of all that had happened. Wouldn’t it be better she asked, if he just “cursed God and die?” Job’s reply to his wife is something we all must ask ourselves when we are faced with the worst possible situations, but most often don’t: “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?”
Friends in Need
Over the next twenty-eight chapters, Job is joined by three of his friends who have heard and knew of his troubles. After several days in silence they put forth to Job what each of them saw as the cause of his problems. Job deflects any and all criticism from his friends and laments his condition beginning with his birth and details how he has been upright in all his dealings, in other words righteous.
Although not mentioned in the beginning, but apparently sitting alongside through all the days that Job’s friends spent with him was a younger man named Elihu. He was full of emotion and disappointment in the older men for not getting to the root of what Job used as his defense, his justification for feeling wronged by God. He even quoteed back to Job some of his defense statements “But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words— 9 ‘I am pure, I have done no wrong; 10 Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy.11 He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.’ (Job 33:8-11). Over the next five chapters beginning in Chapter 32 and concluding in Chapter37, Elihu points out errors in Job’s reasoning and denials as much as the misdiagnosis of the older men. Finally, Elihu points out how far above man is God ways and that his love supersedes any fault-finding we think we have of God’s concern for mankind.
The Lord Speaks
A storm arises, and out of it, God speaks directly to Job. God questions Job over two chapters about his misunderstanding of the things that God does; things that only he understands. He then asks Job a series of questions concerning how creation came about and the decisions that were made in its planning. How much, how little, when, where and how often. He tells Job “Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!” God was telling Job that he was putting his feelings of loss above all else and had begun to place himself on a level equal to God. Something that Satan in his all-consuming vanity had done leading to his attempt to wrest control of heaven from God which ended in his utter defeat.
In Chapter 40:1 God says this to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!” At last humiliated not by conceit but his lack of understanding, 4 “Job said I am unworthy, how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more.” In this exchange, God speaks to all who complain about their Creator. How does the creation correct its Creator? In Chapter 41, God, continues to give the correction mentioned above in 2 Timothy3:16 to a righteous man who forgot how he became righteous in the first place, through faith and obedience in God’s decisions without casting aspersions on his reasons for doing what only God can.
God Restores
Job now understood that God is not human, subject to mistakes, poor judgement, and most important, lacking in faith and love for the ones whom he gave the precious gift of life. He wrote in Chapter 42, 3 “You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 You said, ‘Listen now and I will speak; I will question you and you will answer me.’ 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself and I repent in dust and ashes.” We should all take note of what Job is saying. Up to this point, righteous though he was, and blessed with material things in abundance, God existed between the pages of a book. When disaster struck through no fault of his own, he eventually succumbed to blaming God rather than the author of confusion, Satan, and his living the right life was of no value. Sound familiar?
The story of Job is the story of all of us at some point in our lives. Convinced that we’re something we’re not, claiming knowledge we don’t have and taking credit for things we didn’t do. This is not a condemnation, but confirmation that we are the descendants of Adam. God, in his infinite wisdom, sent Jesus to save us from ourselves.
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