Read
Elihu Continues
Are You Really Innocent?
1Elihu said:
2Job, are you really innocent
in the sight of God?
3Don't you honestly believe
it pays to obey him?
4I will give the answers
to you and your friends.
* 5Look up to the heavens
6 and think!
Do your sins hurt God?
7Is any good you may have done
at all helpful to him?
8The evil or good you do
only affects other humans.
9In times of trouble,
everyone begs the mighty God
to have mercy.
10But after their Creator
helps them through hard times,
they forget about him,
11though he makes us wiser
than animals or birds.
12God won't listen to the prayers
of proud and evil people.
13If God All-Powerful refuses
to answer their empty prayers,
14he will surely deny
your impatient request
to face him in court.
15Job, you were wrong to say
God doesn't punish sin.
16Everything you have said
adds up to nonsense.
Reflect
Elihu asks Job to think about his behaviour, good and bad. How does it affect God? Elihu asserts that God doesn’t benefit at all if we are righteous, nor does he suffer at all if we sin. He argues that we never put God in our debt by doing good things, and neither do we harm him when we do wicked things.
At the heart of Elihu’s argument is the transcendence of God. God is perfect, holy, and exalted. He is high above the world and its inhabitants. This is true. Yet what Elihu infers from God’s transcendence is false. He takes a true doctrine (God is transcendent) but then makes a tremendous mistake in its real world application. The picture he paints is distorted; it is truth misapplied. What is true is that God is transcendent: what makes Elihu’s doctrine false is his belief that God’s transcendence means he is not affected by human sin.
No, human sin does not affect God’s nature or character. Yes, God exists in a state of maximum perfection, beauty, and joy. But our sin affects God in the most profound of all ways. Our sin is what severed our relationship with God. The only way to restore our relationship with God, the only way for our sin to be taken away, and the only way for us to be forgiven was for God himself to take on human flesh, live a perfect life, and die on the cross in our place. Jesus Christ was God in human flesh and he lived, died, and was resurrected to cleanse us from our sins and grant us eternal life.
Yes, God is transcendent, but our sin does affect him. In fact, in the death of Jesus, we see just how much our sins affect God.
Respond
Majestic God, you are far above all my thoughts and ways. Yet you were willing to take on human flesh so you could die for my sins. Lord, help me to love and honour you for your sacrifice. Forgive me for my sins and help me live for you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Steve West
Steve West is the Lead Pastor at Crestwicke Baptist Church in Guelph, Ontario, as well as an adjunct professor at Heritage College and Seminary (Cambridge) and Toronto Baptist Seminary.