Is it a sin to strive to "be like the most high God"?

reneweddaybyday · Feb 2, 2017

PeterJens said:

Actually, Grace made a very good point. Read 2 Cor 3, starting in verse 7.

In verse 14, we read about the vail being upon the hearts of those who read Scripture unless and until the heart is turned to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Once the heart is turned to the Lord Jesus Christ (verse 15) and we read all of Scripture with Him in mind, the vail is removed, the mind is no longer blinded to great truths concealed in Scripture.

Truly amazing how that works.

Then continue reading in 2 Cor 4 about the gospel being hid to them that are lost because the god of this world has blinded those who do not believe lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them (vss 3,4).

That section of Scripture (2 Cor 3-4) is very eye opening.

PeterJens · Feb 2, 2017

reneweddaybyday said:

There is a real truth about the veil being lifted from our understanding of who we
are in Christ and Him being the fulfillment of scripture.

The problem has always been this desire to ignore righteous behaviour and ignore
obedience to Christs commands.

But we have made real progress on our ability to walk in obedience to Christ,
by walking in the Spirit and knowing His healing in our hearts.

Love through the cross is everything, and if people can see this they have
seen Christ. And that is what matters, not the person through whom these
truths are spoken.

It is in this I rejoice. The key revelation to my heart is people having an open
emotional heart to God, not being afraid of what is within, but letting Jesus
walk with them in this place and know His healing hand and victory.

So much has changed in the conversations here and in peoples lives with this
reality coming home to them. Upon this the gospel rests. Without an open heart
it is all to waste.

DustyRhodes · Feb 2, 2017

know1 said:

As most of you know, this is one of the things Lucifer said he will be, and in a sense, he accomplished what he said. But is it a sin for us to want or strive to be like God? And when I say "like God", I mean to walk as Jesus walked, do as He did [like to pray as He prayed, seek God as He did, command the wind and waves to be still, as He did, and the like], think as He thought, and to speak as He spoke, with the same confidence and authority in our thoughts and actions? Or should we be as servants? Not doing anything but waiting to be told, what to do, what is good for us and what is not, what we will have and what we will not, and the like?
Any thoughts on the matter?

We will never achieve perfection in this world. However, that should never keep us from striving for perfection. Not only is it not sin, it is a must.

FreeNChrist · Feb 2, 2017

I strive to stop striving and truly rest in Christ, the Perfect One.

phil36 · Feb 2, 2017

Grace777x70 said:

To answer, it would be best to look at what you said first of and then softened in your above post.

I think your view of Job is a little low on him as a person and his knowledge of God (why you take that view I don't know). How do you come to this conclusion? were in scripture do we see this (it's not in the book of Job). Certainly as all OT saints they did not know what God's plans were in regards to his ultimate redemptive plan in Christ, but they did live by faith, by God's grace.

All scripture is truth... again we need to go to scripture for the proof of this:

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" 2 Tim 3:16

The book of Job is part of God's definitive truth that God has allowed us to know - as with all scripture from Genesis to revelation.

Lets have a look at what the website you link to really says about Job and I can only assume you agree with them:

In my view scripture disagrees with you and the website ministry you like to post links to (using this post to cover both above).

Here is what God says about Job -

"And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? Job 1:8."

And this hits the spot!!

"And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. [FONT=&quot]In all this Job did not sin or charge God with [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT][FONT=&quot]wrong[/FONT] (Job 1:21-22)."

Yes Job had a hard time and could not comprehend why he was suffering horrendously. When we suffer as Christians we may all at times have the same thoughts and fears that Job had.. in fact that seems to be the experience of those who have suffered. Yet Job did not curse his God and die Job was steadfast in his faith in God. And if you do not believe that lets have a look at what scripture says:

"Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful (James 5:11)."

Job was not self righteous in the sense you are trying to convey, yet he was sure he was not suffering because of sin as his fellows were saying. God himself agrees with this. Job felt injustice was being done to him through his suffering and humiliation - something I am sure ''''If we are honest'''' Thats not self righteous in the sense of 'working the law' Job was as God tells us blameless and upright. He hadn't quite grasped something yet (discussed below).

Jobs friends seemed to believe that calamity was only sent from God onto the wicked and not the righteous aswell (remember God allowed this to happen, infact God said to Satan 'have you considered my servant Job ... A BLAMELESS AND UPRIGHT MAN). Your friends at escape to reality, have seemed escaped from reality in disagreeing with God.

Without the book of Job Christians would not have the same benefit of understanding the the infinite perfections of God as a sure ground of confidence.. Job learned this through his suffering as we see at the end of the book. This is why the book of Job is an important book to Christians (as with all the books). Yes we can now look at it through the finished work of Christ and this gives us even more confidence to be steadfast, for He is steadfast.

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

phil36 said:

Actually when you spend time reading closely what Job was actually saying you will see that he was self-righteous. His young friend whom God did not say he was speaking wrongly said this about Job and about his older 3 friends.

Job is an excellent book showing the fallen human nature that was in Adam and how we can think things without much accurate knowledge of the true character of God. All scripture is indeed profitable for us!

Job 32:1-3 (NASB)
[SUP]1 [/SUP] Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

[SUP]2 [/SUP] But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God.

[SUP]3 [/SUP] And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

I know that some thoughts expressed in the Job articles offered is against some of our church traditions about Job but those articles looking at Job through grace and Christ's work are for others that are interested in seeing what is being said and how does what happen to Job stack with us in the New Covenant.

Perhaps there is a conflict with our church traditions on how we viewed Job and thus we are not really dis-agreeing with God at all but just with some interpretations that some have said concerning some aspects of Job.

You have stated good things which on the surface can be deceiving but which are all addressed in the light of the New Covenant in the articles of the website cited. You are entitled to your views just the same as others are...

Anyway I will leave it all in the hands of the Holy Spirit as He teaches us what He wants us to know about the Lord.

I'm sure others if interested in this subject will find them enlightening and they will see the beauty of the Lord's love and grace for them in Christ when they get so see what their loving Father is really like.....

.

PeterJens · Feb 2, 2017

Job.

Job is about Job is righteous because he loves God despite what happens to him.
When he finally breaks this goes awry.

God declares him a good example, and satans argument is it is just because God has
blessed him.

Some hate the idea anyone could be righteous even following God, empowered by
His grace and love, so they will turn this example into Job and his sinfulness and
hypocracy.

phil36 · Feb 2, 2017

Hi Grace777,

You are wrong about this statement:

Job 32:1-3 (NASB)
[SUP]1 [/SUP]Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

[SUP]2 [/SUP]But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God.

[SUP]3 [/SUP]And his anger burned against his three friends because they had found no answer, and yet had condemned Job.

(Verse 3's anger is Elihu's against the 3 friends)

It is plain that it is the young man who says Job is righteous in his own eyes, not God. God said Job was blameless and upright. And the young man was angry simply because they rambled and had not found an answer to Job's suffering.

Elihus angered was against the three elder men because the condemned Job and yet could not refute him V3. Elihu became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God v2. This does not mean that Job was not saved as your article says. Nor does it say he was self righteous in the sense that you derive..

Job was not ''self righteous' as the way you mean, and the website you offered says he was infact an unbeliever are untenable eisegetical statements.

Job was mistaken in overstating his rightouesness, and in the case of Elihu the young friend, he was speaking truth about God (that he brings calamity on the good and bad for His Holy purposes and Glory) and not friends the syllogism of his 3 friends.. who were wrong in condeming Job (427-9).

So do you think that God was wrong in saying this about Job:
“Have you considered my servant Job?There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” Job 1:8.

As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. JAMES 5:11

So Job was not an unbelieving self righteous person (I take it this is what you believe because 'Escape to reality' say this about Job, and it is the website you posted).

Job was a believer, an upright an just man.. who in the depths of the darkest suffering could not understand what on earth was going on (42:3). When God speaks to him at the end Job realise's he was wrong about God, that God is perfectly in control and brings about calamity even on the '''righteous'''.

Your posts are starting to soften and now no mention of 'escape to reality' which says Job is an unbeliever..so thats a good thig from this discussion..hopefully you will see that Job was a faithful steadfast man of God. not perfect but then what Christian is....are you?

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

I really have no interest in debating Job and all that was said as it is covered on all the articles along with people asking questions like you have which is great! I find I learn more from people asking legitimate questions being asked at the bottom of the articles.

Here is one of the articles just as a sampler if any one is interested in Job. I just got finished reading the book of Job and liked the humanity part of it and how God no matter what showed His lover and grace towards Job. His friends weren't that good of friends - that's for sure. It was a great look at human nature and wrong thinking about God.

Job’s Grace Encounter

Tradition has taught that Job endured unimaginable suffering with poise and noble patience. He was a giant of the faith who never said anything wrong, and he is a great example for us all to follow.Baloney.

As we have seen in this series, Job was, at times, a self-righteous whiner who complained to high heaven. He blamed God for his troubles and even accused the Lord of being unjust.

Yet somehow this makes me like Job more because I have gone through tough times and when I did I wrestled with the same sorts of thoughts he had.

“God where are you? Lord, do you hate me? Why have you forsaken me? Do you even care?!”

Silly stuff really, but understandable. In our moments of weakness we are all tempted to speak like this.

The Book of Job records the dumb things people say when they go through hardships, ignorant statements like “God gives and takes away.” Sadly, we have paid more attention to the words of hurting men than the healing words of the Lord, and what he says in the Book of Job is, quite simply, amazing.

What did God say?

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8, KJV)

As we have seen, Job was far from perfect, yet God calls him “a perfect and upright man.” Job was fearful and superstitious, yet God says, “That’s my guy.” A few verses later the Bible – God’s book – makes one of the most outrageous statements in history:

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:22)

Are you kidding me?!

Job charged God with wrongdoing again and again. He said God was unjust (Job 27:2), had shot him full of poison arrows (Job 6:4), and made his life bitter (Job 27:2). He said so much dumb stuff that Elihu called him a nonsense-spouting ignoramus (see Job 34:35 and 35:16, especially in the Message Bible).

Yet the official verdict, according to the Judge of all men and as recorded in scripture for all to see, is that Job said nothing wrong. According to the Bible Job didn’t blame God, even though he did.

What’s going on? Is God mistaken in his assessment of Job? Is the Bible in error?

Grace rewrites history

God sees all things from the perspective of eternity. He sees the end from the beginning and he knows that Job is going to come through his trial and be radically changed by grace. Job is not righteous and perfect because his behavior is impeccable or because he speaks well or sacrifices animals. Job is righteous because God says so and what God says comes true.

Think of Gideon cowering in the wine-press. “Mighty warrior,” says the angel of the Lord and even though it’s not true it becomes true because God says so.

Why does God’s Word say Job did not sin even though he sinned again and again? Because love speaks to our true identity rather than our circumstances. Clothed with the righteousness that God gives, Job is not judged a sinner but a righteous man, even though his deeds were far from righteous.

(If you find this hard to swallow, the Bible does the same thing in Hebrews 11 when it looks back on a bunch of murderers and adulterers and calls them heroes of the faith and makes no mention of their sins. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5))

Job did not sin… (Job 1:22)

This verse says little about the flawed character of Job and much about the gracious character of God whose story this really is.

God does not treat Job as his sins deserve but relates to him on the basis of grace. This is good news for those of us who have sinned, like Job, and missed the mark. Your story may be one big disaster movie – one epic fail after another – but grace will change your story and give you a better ending than the one you deserve.

Religion versus grace

Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God. (Job 1:22, MSG)

There are two ways to read this passage. DIY religion says, “See Job. Study Job. Be like Job.” But that way lies self-trust and disaster. Job wasn’t the self-made hero religion makes him out to be and neither are you. You’re simply not strong enough to face life’s trials on your own.

But read this passage through the lens of grace and the message is, “See the love of God! Look what God does for sinners like Job!”

It’s important you get this because if you put Job on a pedestal you’ll miss the grace of God. Sadly, that is what has happened in much of the church. By turning Job’s story into a flesh-glorifying pep talk, we have cut ourselves off from Christ and positioned ourselves for failure.

To the degree we exalt Job we diminish grace.

If Job was a perfect man, he had no need of God’s aid. But Job was an imperfect man with a very great need and when he finally saw this – after 40 long chapters of introspective pity-partying – he was greatly blessed. What the devil stole, God restored twofold. Don’t you love this? The devil knocked Job down, but God lifted him up. The devil sifted Peter, but God made him into an apostle.

The devil may take your job, your health, your life, but God has the last word and ALL THINGS work out good for those who know his love. How do I know? Because God said so.

The Book of Job isn’t about a good man going through bad times, but a good God who loves us through thick and thin and who desires to bless us no matter what we’ve said or done.

That’s the real message of Job and that’s the good news of grace.

Here is the link below with the questions at the bottom.

https://escapetoreality.org/2015/11/04/jobs-grace-encounter/

reneweddaybyday · Feb 2, 2017

Job 42:

7 And it was so, that after the LORD had spoken these words unto Job, the LORD said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.

8 Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job.

9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the LORD commanded them: the LORD also accepted Job.

God was angry with Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar because they had not spoken the thing which is right, like my servant Job (vs 8).

God had Job pray for these men. And in vs 9, the Lord accepted Job.

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

reneweddaybyday said:

Yes.....it's funny that God says He doesn't believe in what the 3 guys said in the previous 30 some chapters about God. People will quote from those verses in Job that talk about God and think they are true because it is in the bible.

I wonder what it means when it says " And God accepted Job?" I wonder what the "right thing "" is that God mentioned?

phil36 · Feb 2, 2017

Grace777x70 said:

I really have no interest in debating Job and all that was said as it is covered on all the articles along with people asking questions like you have which is great! I find I learn more from people asking legitimate questions being asked at the bottom of the articles.

Here is one of the articles just as a sampler if any one is interested in Job. I just got finished reading the book of Job and liked the humanity part of it and how God no matter what showed His lover and grace towards Job. His friends weren't that good of friends - that's for sure. It was a great look at human nature and wrong thinking about God.

Job’s Grace Encounter

Tradition has taught that Job endured unimaginable suffering with poise and noble patience. He was a giant of the faith who never said anything wrong, and he is a great example for us all to follow.Baloney.

As we have seen in this series, Job was, at times, a self-righteous whiner who complained to high heaven. He blamed God for his troubles and even accused the Lord of being unjust.

Yet somehow this makes me like Job more because I have gone through tough times and when I did I wrestled with the same sorts of thoughts he had.

“God where are you? Lord, do you hate me? Why have you forsaken me? Do you even care?!”

Silly stuff really, but understandable. In our moments of weakness we are all tempted to speak like this.

The Book of Job records the dumb things people say when they go through hardships, ignorant statements like “God gives and takes away.” Sadly, we have paid more attention to the words of hurting men than the healing words of the Lord, and what he says in the Book of Job is, quite simply, amazing.

What did God say?

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? (Job 1:8, KJV)

As we have seen, Job was far from perfect, yet God calls him “a perfect and upright man.” Job was fearful and superstitious, yet God says, “That’s my guy.” A few verses later the Bible – God’s book – makes one of the most outrageous statements in history:

In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:22)

Are you kidding me?!

Job charged God with wrongdoing again and again. He said God was unjust (Job 27:2), had shot him full of poison arrows (Job 6:4), and made his life bitter (Job 27:2). He said so much dumb stuff that Elihu called him a nonsense-spouting ignoramus (see Job 34:35 and 35:16, especially in the Message Bible).

Yet the official verdict, according to the Judge of all men and as recorded in scripture for all to see, is that Job said nothing wrong. According to the Bible Job didn’t blame God, even though he did.

What’s going on? Is God mistaken in his assessment of Job? Is the Bible in error?

Grace rewrites history

God sees all things from the perspective of eternity. He sees the end from the beginning and he knows that Job is going to come through his trial and be radically changed by grace. Job is not righteous and perfect because his behavior is impeccable or because he speaks well or sacrifices animals. Job is righteous because God says so and what God says comes true.

Think of Gideon cowering in the wine-press. “Mighty warrior,” says the angel of the Lord and even though it’s not true it becomes true because God says so.

Why does God’s Word say Job did not sin even though he sinned again and again? Because love speaks to our true identity rather than our circumstances. Clothed with the righteousness that God gives, Job is not judged a sinner but a righteous man, even though his deeds were far from righteous.

(If you find this hard to swallow, the Bible does the same thing in Hebrews 11 when it looks back on a bunch of murderers and adulterers and calls them heroes of the faith and makes no mention of their sins. Love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor 13:5))

Job did not sin… (Job 1:22)

This verse says little about the flawed character of Job and much about the gracious character of God whose story this really is.

God does not treat Job as his sins deserve but relates to him on the basis of grace. This is good news for those of us who have sinned, like Job, and missed the mark. Your story may be one big disaster movie – one epic fail after another – but grace will change your story and give you a better ending than the one you deserve.

Religion versus grace

Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God. (Job 1:22, MSG)

There are two ways to read this passage. DIY religion says, “See Job. Study Job. Be like Job.” But that way lies self-trust and disaster. Job wasn’t the self-made hero religion makes him out to be and neither are you. You’re simply not strong enough to face life’s trials on your own.

But read this passage through the lens of grace and the message is, “See the love of God! Look what God does for sinners like Job!”

It’s important you get this because if you put Job on a pedestal you’ll miss the grace of God. Sadly, that is what has happened in much of the church. By turning Job’s story into a flesh-glorifying pep talk, we have cut ourselves off from Christ and positioned ourselves for failure.

To the degree we exalt Job we diminish grace.

If Job was a perfect man, he had no need of God’s aid. But Job was an imperfect man with a very great need and when he finally saw this – after 40 long chapters of introspective pity-partying – he was greatly blessed. What the devil stole, God restored twofold. Don’t you love this? The devil knocked Job down, but God lifted him up. The devil sifted Peter, but God made him into an apostle.

The devil may take your job, your health, your life, but God has the last word and ALL THINGS work out good for those who know his love. How do I know? Because God said so.

The Book of Job isn’t about a good man going through bad times, but a good God who loves us through thick and thin and who desires to bless us no matter what we’ve said or done.

That’s the real message of Job and that’s the good news of grace.

Here is the link below with the questions at the bottom.

https://escapetoreality.org/2015/11/04/jobs-grace-encounter/

Hi Grace777,

I'm not concerned so much about people having differing views that are mainstream. Most actually are in agreement about the scope and purpose of Job.. just read what has been said throughout Christian history on Job (very easy to do nowadays with internet). That's why we have forum were we can debate.. Over the last 8 years (in ten days) i have had some great debates and learned a lot..some good things and some strange things.

I do have concerns about the articles and links you provide on cc. Like the guys you post above at 'escape to reality' here is what they say about Job:

“But Job was a righteous man.” Actually, he was a self-righteous man and basically an unbeliever, as we shall see. (https://escapetoreality.org/2015/10/...cts-about-job/)

This is blatantly false.. and not what God himself said about Job.

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

phil36 said:

I too have had some good debates and seen some good points raised but Job is a complex book with a lot of religious traditions attached to it and it can cause trouble with some people because of emotions can run high. I'd rather just let the Holy Spirit lead those that He thinks may benefit from looking at Job from a grace and New Covenant perspective - then to discuss all the different aspects of it.

I do understand your concerns for things that go against some of our church traditions and that is ok. I have some grave concerns about some of our church traditions that have been taught as do many others now in the world. But the Lord will sort them both out...

Here is the full quote about Job the author makes about Job. It's a fact that Job was not a born-again Christian with a covenant so he is an unbeliever in that sense.

God says that Job was righteous in the 1st chapter before anything happens from the devil to try to destroy Job - but God says something different at the end of the book concerning Job.

The fact that he was self-righteous is very obvious when you read what he says but maybe people have a different view. That's ok if people do.

Quote:

“But Job was a righteous man.” Actually, he was a self-righteous man and basically an unbeliever, as we shall see. I’m not knocking Job. My purpose is to show you how grace changes broken people like you, me, and Job. By the time we get to the end of this short series, you’re going to be amazed at some of the good things God says about this imperfect man. But to finish well we must begin with a proper understanding of Job’s state apart from God. So here are ten little known facts about Job:

Unquote:

He does explain at that out about Job pretty thoroughly and gives others a chance to ask him questions about the things he says - this is the part that I like.

As I said Phil....the people can ask questions at the bottom of the articles and they are great questions and at the end people are free to decide what they want after they look at all that is written. Personally I find that the questions at the bottom help me a lot to decide what I believe on a subject.

Anyway..have a good night and bless you. I am off to do some studying.

reneweddaybyday · Feb 2, 2017

Grace777x70 said:

Job … speaking to God:

Job 42:

5 I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

6 Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

Vs 5 – Job had "heard" of God, but after his time of trial, Job now "saw" God for Who He Is.

Vs 6 – Job repented. God accepted Job.

Interesting, though, that God spoke of Job early on as a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil (Job 1:8).

Then, satan went after Job (Job 1:13-19). Job's response? He fell down upon the ground, and worshipped (Job 1:20) and Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly (Job 1:22).

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

reneweddaybyday said:

Thank you.....that was a good observation.

Isn't that just like us - when we see our loving Father for who He really is - we repent.

Yes. Job did start out really well with the limited knowledge he had of God at the time. Job 1:22

Then God says of Job at the end and puts Job straight on some things.

Job 38:1-3 (NASB)
[SUP]1 [/SUP] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said,

[SUP]2 [/SUP] "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?

[SUP]3 [/SUP] "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!

(I like general questions like this but I am not interested in talking about the suffering part and whether God is the one causing sicknesses to come to His children - that just causes strife and division and we could end up being like Job and his friends - I'd rather let the Holy Spirit guide the people to the things that He wants them to think about. )

stonesoffire · Feb 2, 2017

I was just thinking about calling those things that be not as though they are. Apparently God calls us as He sees what He is creating in us.

samuel23 · Feb 2, 2017

I have always found it hard to accept a bible teacher who is not afraid to contradict the actual story. The bible does not say that Job was self righteous in any sense of the word. The Pharisees were self righteous, was Job like one of them? At the time of the story of Job, God said of him, none like him in the earth, perfect and upright. If you could condense the message of Job, it could be that Job maintained his integrity despite overwhelming pressure from all directions. Another message would be that we should always keep our faith in God even when everything that we thought about God seems to be falling apart.

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

samuel23 said:

Well - the book of Job was written in Abraham's time period when they didn't have much knowledge of God and had no covenants with God.

Obviously there were no Pharisees back in Job's time. But this statement below was truly spoken of him "after" God said he was righteous in chapter 1. 32 chapters later things have "changed" it would seem.

Job 32:1-2 (NASB)
[SUP]1 [/SUP] Then these three men ceased answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.

[SUP]2 [/SUP] But the anger of Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram burned; against Job his anger burned because he justified himself before God.

This is what Jesus said about the Pharisees who also justified themsleves.

Luke 16:14-15 (KJV)
[SUP]14 [/SUP] And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

[SUP]15 [/SUP] And he said unto them,Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

reneweddaybyday · Feb 2, 2017

Grace777x70 said:

Right. All I know is that I cannot imagine what I would do in Job's situation, how I would react and do/say things for which I would need repentance. satan had a field day in his attack on Job. satan would like nothing better than to wipe out all mankind off the face of the earth. that's his ministry --- steal, kill, destroy (John 10:10). Thank God for His unspeakable gift.

Grace777x70 · Feb 2, 2017

reneweddaybyday said:

Amen....I agree. Most of us would have said much worse things then Job did with the stuff the enemy did to him.

I love how the love and grace of God for Job prevailed despite what the situation said. For all of us going through a "Job experience" the outcome of Job is what comes from all that mess.

What the enemy does to bring destruction - God makes good out of it and our end will be like Job's - greater than the beginning. That's something to hold on to in the midst of circumstances that are screaming at us the very opposite of that truth of the goodness and grace of our Lord for us.

Now that we have a New Covenant which is built upon better promises and the blood of Jesus that speaks of better things. We are in a much different position than old Job was.

Is it a sin to strive to "be like the most high God"?

Senior Member

Banned

Senior Member

FreeNChrist

Guest

Senior Member

Banned

Banned

Senior Member

Banned

Senior Member

Banned

Senior Member

Banned

Senior Member

Banned

Poetic Member

Banned

Banned

Senior Member

Banned