January 26
Job 26:1-29:25
In the Matt Maher song, Lord, I Need You, the second stanza reads: "Lord, I need You, oh I need You. Every hour, I need You. My one defense, my righteousness. Oh God, how I need You." A guilty conscience is a tremendous burden to walk around with, and people love pointing out your shortcomings, or those areas that you could have done better with. But we often don't really need others, since knowing our sinful actions, our thoughts, our motives, we can create quite a list for ourselves to feel guilty about. Yet in the song above, our defense is our righteousness. If in a relationship with Jesus Christ, God may convict and discipline, as any loving Father does to His child, but He does not condemn or make you feel guilty. It is Satan, and those who Satan uses who seek to condemn you. Our righteousness is not because we are in any way perfect, but it is because God has imputed or ascribed righteousness to us based on the perfect and finished work of Jesus Christ, as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:21, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (NKJV)." Jesus came to free us from the bondage of a guilty conscience. When those guilty feelings creep in, remember Paul's words in Romans 8:1, "So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus." Notice God speaks in absolutes. He doesn't use words like probably, maybe, etc. He uses words like no, never, always, etc. So, there is "NO" condemnation. Guilt is not coming from Him. The sooner we realize this, the sooner we are freed up to be used by Him, instead of wallowing around licking our wounds that we or others are inflicting, not Him.
Besides losing nearly everything, Job is withstanding a steady stream of verbal attacks, accusing him of everything and anything. Look at the depths of the false accusations without any basis, as we read the words of Eliphaz in Job 22:6-11, "“For example, you must have lent money to your friend and demanded clothing as security. Yes, you stripped him to the bone. You must have refused water for the thirsty and food for the hungry. You probably think the land belongs to the powerful and only the privileged have a right to it! You must have sent widows away empty-handed and crushed the hopes of orphans.
10 That is why you are surrounded by traps and tremble from sudden fears. That is why you cannot see in the darkness, and waves of water cover you." Yet, despite all of these accusations, Job states in 27:5-6, "I will never concede that you are right; I will defend my integrity until I die. I will maintain my innocence without wavering. My conscience is clear for as long as I live." It wasn't that Job was perfect, it was that He was in a bona fide relationship with God and he knew that he was forgiven, loved, and secure in Him, even if he couldn't understand his current circumstances.
To prove oneself right people are capable of accusing you of anything. Some of what they say may be true. But if you are in Christ, you are not only forgiven, not only are your sins forgotten by God, but you are declared righteous. That is why Paul could say in Acts 24:16, "Because of this, I always try to maintain a clear conscience before God and all people." One of the many beautiful things about the Bible, is that, though artists like to place halos around the heads of these men in Scripture in their paintings, like Paul, we know their stories, both good and bad. This same Paul, had a large part to do with the stoning to death of Stephen. Yet, Paul is not burdened with a guilty conscience. No, he knows he is forgiven, and Christ's righteousness has been imputed onto him. It is not because he has become so good, it is because Christ's sacrifice was so sufficient and so good. So, if you are in Christ and feeling guilty, stop it. He didn't die so that you mope around feeling the weight of your guilt. He said in Matthew 11:28-29, "Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls." If you don't know Jesus, and have no idea what this peace feels like, please invite Him into your life today. Just repent of your sins, give an honest account of yourself , hold nothing back. Then admit your ways are wrong, and change your minds and accept that His ways are right. Then allow the peace that comes from accepting Jesus and His sacrifice as payment for all of your wrongdoing to wash over you and free you. Yes, it really is that simple.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: