“How then can man be justified with God? or how can he be clean that is born of a woman?” (Job 25:4).
TEXT — Job 25:1-6
Message
As an experienced senator tried to describe the bizarre wonder of the capitol to a new politician, he pointed his attention to an old deteriorating log floating on the river and said, “This city is like that log out there”. “How’s that?,” the fresh politician asked. The senator retorted, “Well, there are probably more than one hundred thousand grubs, ants, bugs and critters on that old log as it floats down the river. And I imagine every one of them thinks that he’s steering it”.
Bildad, Job’s friend, tried to burst such delusive thinking regarding self-righteousness. Although his message was ignorantly misapplied to Job’s situation, it holds true in life. His argument highlights the supremacy of God’s dominion and the extensiveness of his providence. In particular, he harps on the futility, by any natural man, to justify self before a perfectly holy God, before whose majesty the moon and stars lose their lustre.
Many people still wallow in the misplaced notion that their good works and personal discipline are enough to earn them good standing before God. Nothing can be farther from the truth because man, in his natural state, is depraved (Romans 3:23,12). The psalmist aptly captures this in his saying, “I was shapen in iniquity” (Psalm 51:2). The good works performed by the natural man do not measure up to God’s standard and are regarded by Him as filthy rags.
It takes the redemptive act of God to qualify us for justification before Him. No one can be justified without placing their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Only those whose sins have been forgiven on account of personal repentance and faith in Christ are justified before God and righteous before Him.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
The message is very inspiring and explanatory.
Merci c’est édifiant