Job 25

“Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said: ‘Dominion and fear belong to Him; He makes peace in His high places. Is there any number to His armies? Upon whom does His light not rise? How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is a maggot, and a son of man, who is a worm?’” Job 25:1-6 (NKJV)

Whenever one steps away from God’s Word and attempts to establish righteousness apart from it, they eventually have to deal with two opposing factors: 1) God’s complete holiness and 2) man’s incurable spiritual inadequacy.

If we say mankind can earn his salvation through some system of good works, we exaggerate man’s righteousness and humiliate God’s holiness. If we say, God is holy and impossible for man to please, then mankind is hopeless. So, here is humanity’s dilemma: How can imperfect people commune with holy God? Every major religion errs in one of these two perspectives.  

So, what distinguishes the follower of Jesus in such a way that we can confidently say, “We are saved!”? The distinguishing factor is God’s grace and mercy. Grace, in that He offers humanity a salvation we could not afford and do not deserve.  

“For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 (CSB)

Mercy, in that God offers to not give us the punishment we deserve for our sins.

“…But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Romans 5:8 (HCSB)

In today’s passage, which is actually the entire 25th chapter, Bildad’s theology contradicts his earlier arguments, along with those of his friends. Up to this point, the arguments have been simple: If a man is righteous, God will bless him; if he is unrighteous, God will judge him. Today, Bildad says it is impossible for anyone “born of a woman” to be considered righteous before God! That’s what we call a flip-flop, which is always the ultimate intellectual end of religion, apart from God’s Word. Only in the Bible do we find a God who imputes righteousness on the basis of faith, as opposed to works. Only in the Bible do we find a Messiah who is fully God and fully man, who becomes our sin offering and offers salvation, free of charge, to all who would accept it.

Satan’s argument (spoken through Job’s friend Bildad) cuts to the righteousness and deity of Jesus. Notice his language, “How can those born of a woman be clean?” The fact is that Jesus was born of a woman; the Word made flesh. And He walked among us in human form. (John 1:14) God bridged the gap between Himself and mankind through the God-man, Jesus, distinguishing as “saved” those who follow His Son.