Shall mortal man be more just than God?
&c.] Poor, weak, frail, dying man, and so sinful, as his
mortality shows, which is the effect of sin; how should such a
man be more righteous than God? who is so originally and
essentially of himself, completely, perfectly, yea, infinitely
righteous in his nature, and in his works, both of providence and
grace; in chastising his people, punishing the wicked, and
bestowing favours upon his friends, even in their election,
redemption, justification, pardon, and eternal happiness: yea,
not only profane wicked sinners can make no pretensions to
anything of this kind, but even the best of men, none being
without sin, no, not man in his best estate; for the
righteousness he had then was of God, and therefore he could not
be more just than he that made him upright. This comparative
sense, which our version leads to, is more generally received;
but it seems not to be the sense of the passage, since this is a
truth clear from reason, and needed no vision or revelation to
discover it; nor can it be thought that God would send an angelic
spirit in such an awful and pompous manner, to declare that which
every one knew, and no man would contradict; even the most
self-righteous and self-sufficient man would never be so daring
and insolent as to say he was more righteous than God; but the
words should be rather rendered, "shall mortal man be justified
by God, or be just from God?" or "with" him, or "before" him
F20, in his sight, by any righteousness
in him, or done by him? shall he enter into his presence, stand
at his bar, and be examined there, and go away from thence, in
the sight and account of God, as a righteous person of himself?
no, he cannot; now this is a doctrine opposed to carnal reasoning
and the common sentiments of men, a doctrine of divine
revelation, a precious truth: this is the string of pearls
Eliphaz received, see ( Job 4:12 ) ; that mortal
man is of himself an unrighteous creature; that he cannot be
justified by his own righteousness in the sight of God; and that
he must look and seek out for a better righteousness than his
own, to justify him before God; and this agrees with Eliphaz's
interpretation of the vision, ( Job 15:14 ) ; with the
sentiments of his friend Bildad, who seems to have some respect
to it, ( Job 25:4 )
; and also of Job himself, ( Job 9:2 ) ; and in like
manner are we to understand the following clause:
shall a man be more pure than his Maker?
even the greatest and best of men, since what purity was in Adam,
in a state of innocence, was from God; and what good men have, in
a state of grace, is from the grace of God and blood of Christ,
without which no man is pure at all, and therefore cannot be
purer than him from whom they have it: or rather "be pure from",
or "with", or "before his Maker" F21, or be so accounted by him;
every man is impure by his first birth, and in his nature state,
and therefore cannot stand before a pure and holy God, who of
purer eyes than to behold iniquity; or go away his presence, and
be reckoned by him a pure and holy creature of himself; nor can
any thing that he can do, in a moral or ceremonial manner,
cleanse him from his impurity; and therefore it is necessary he
should apply to the grace of God, and blood of Christ, for his
purification.