What if?
“Isn’t God looking, observing how I live? Doesn’t he mark every step I take?“ – Job 31:4 MSG
What if I were in Job’s shoes? What if I found myself in a similar situation? Could I respond the way Job did? Would I be able to claim my innocence with unwavering confidence? No, I would probably be able to come to come up with more than a handful of reasons for why I was going through what I was going through. I could find plenty of things for which I was guilty and deserving of some kind of punishment. But not Job. Just take a look at his speech in chapter 31. Job continues to claim his innocence, and he does it by giving a list of possible options for sins that might result in the kind of suffering he is enduring.
If I have stolen…
If I have coveted…
If I have lusted…
If I have taken advantage of…
If I have been selfish and unmerciful…
If I have not been generous…
If I have showed no compassion…
If I have abused the defenseless…
If I have been greedy…
If I have made prosperity my god…
If I have enjoyed watching others fail…
If I have not shared with those in need…
If I have tried to hid my sins…
If Job had done any of these things, he would have understood why he was suffering. But he stood before God and men as innocent. Could I say the same thing? No, I’m afraid not. I would be guilty. In fact, I would never have played the “What if” game that Job played. Too dangerous. Too risky. Too condemning. I have done all of those things and more. I know it and God knows it. Because, just as Job stated in his rhetorical question at the beginning of his little speech, “Isn’t God looking, observing how I live? Doesn’t he mark every step I take?” (Job 31:4 MSG). God knew every detail of Job’s life and He knows every detail of my life. But what is amazing for us as believers is that we get to stand before God as righteous – justified and pure – all because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. God looks at me through the blood of His Son and sees me as righteousness. I have had Christ’s righteousness imputed to my account. He sees me as guiltless and therefore, He does not condemn me. I am positionally righteous. But we both know I still sin. Which is why I am called to become progressively righteous. Paul commands us to “lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God” (Ephesians 4:1 NLT). In Colossians he tells us, “So if you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, [act] like it. Pursue the things over which Christ presides. Don’t shuffle along, eyes to the ground, absorbed with the things right in front of you. Look up, and be alert to what is going on around Christ–that’s where the action is. See things from his perspective. Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your [real] life–even though invisible to spectators–is with Christ in God. [He] is your life” (Colossians 3:1-3 MSG).
Yes, God is watching us. But He is also indwelling us and empowering us. He is providing us with all we need to live the life of righteousness to which we have been called. Peter reminds us, “Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!” (2 Peter 31:3 MSG). We have all we need to live a life of righteousness. And even when we fail and fall, which we will, we have the right to bring our sins before the throne of God and confess them. And “if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong” (1 John 1:9 NLT). So in actuality we can stand before God just as Job did and say, “If I…” The key is confession and repentance. Our sins have been paid for in full on the cross. There is no more punishment for sin. We confess our sins not so we can incur God’s wrath and judgment, but so that He can cleanse us and make us more into the likeness of His Son. He progressively makes us more righteous. Over in 1 Peter 1:16, we are told by God to “Be holy, because I am holy.” God is not telling us to become something new. He is not telling us to change who we are. He is telling us to become what we already are – holy, set apart, and uniquely His. Peter tells us, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:10 NIV). We are to live like what we are. We have the power within us to change everything about us. So that we can actually stand before God and say, “If I…”
Father, thank You for the indwelling presence of Your Holy Spirit. If I did not have Him living in me I would have no hope. I would be sin-riddled and guilty as charged – with no hope for ever standing before You as righteous. But because of what Jesus did on the cross, I have a new power within me that allows me to recognize my sin and then confess it to You so that You can cleanse me from it. So as I confess those sins, I can stand before You as Job did and claim my innocence. That is amazing! Amen.
Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org
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