Tag: who could stand

5.f. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

Job 10:14  If I sin, you watch me and do not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am guilty, woe to me! If I am in the right, I cannot lift up my head, for I am filled with disgrace and look on my affliction.

Psalms 139:1    O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

Psalms 130:3    If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

  Exodus 34:7    keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Ecclesiastes 7:20   Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Isaiah 53:6    All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

Romans 3:23-24     for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

Throughout scripture, we see men of God who speak of the sin of man.  We read of it from Genesis through Revelation.  We see the history of man’s sin in light of God’s Holiness.  We catch a glimpse of man’s choice to honor and reverence his Creator or not.  We see men and women who have intentionally chosen to seek after and live to honor God.  We also see those who have intentionally chosen to reject God and only seek to live to please and honor themselves.  We read of both God’s steadfast love toward His creation and those who seek to honor, glorify, and worship Him and His anger and wrath towards those who reject Him and live for self-interests, self-gain, self-satisfying, and self-centered reasons.

We live in an age where technological advances have far outstripped our ethics; we have a lot of “power,” but no clear moral benchmarks to aid us in the use of such power. One reason we lack the moral foundation is that we have left the doctrinal foundation of creation and who we are before a Holy and Wise Creator. We seem to lack the desire to search our heart, mind, and soul for that which is not pleasing to Him (sin).  We intentionally choose to neglect His word and seek the Holy Spirit to lead us in sin awareness.  For the record, neglecting His word and not being aware of sin does not mean we are guiltless.  It just means we have turned our back and hardened our hearts to the true things that honor and glorify Jesus Christ.

When we choose to be in His word and seek and desire to do that which is God-honoring and glorifying we will see more and more of our sinful nature and His grace and mercy.  We will see more clearly that which honors Him.  We will continue to grow and mature in this understanding and knowledge.  We will begin to understand love and hope that is found in trusting, obeying, relying on, clinging to, and living for Jesus Christ.

5.c. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him”

Job 9:1   Then Job answered and said: “Truly I know that it is so: But how can a man be in the right before God? If one wished to contend with him, one could not answer him once in a thousand times. He is wise in heart and mighty in strength —who has hardened himself against him, and succeeded?—

Psalms 130:3    If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Psalms 143:2    Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.

Romans 3:20    For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Hebrews 11:6   “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

When you read these verses of men of God you can see the depth of their devotion to and seek Him. They had to be deep in thought about life in the present and death in the future.  In their thoughts, they were able to touch the edge of God’s Holiness and Righteousness.  In this touch, they were given a glimpse of their sinfulness and asked questions concerning their ability to live and die in such a way to bring honor and glory to God.  They rightly asked “Who could stand”, “how can a man be right before God?”, and if a person was able to stand before God and speak “one could not answer him once in a thousand times.”  Can you imagine the depth of thought these men were in and coming to a place in this thought where they began to understand it was all in God’s hands and by faith they would try to walk in His ways?  Yet, each day they would see time and time again that they failed in this walk.  Time and time again they were left with the question of how to be right before God and always falling short.

In God’s perfect plan He brought His law to man to show them of their sin.  He showed them the need for forgiveness.  He showed them how to be right in His eyes and how to have their sin cleansed. He showed them that is was not the sacrifice that cleansed them but faith in His acceptance of the sacrifice.  He showed them it was by faith and not by what they did.  Time and time again God did this.

In the fullness of time God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  A once and for all sacrifice that covers all sin if a person believes in the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ, confessing their sin, repenting of their sin, turning away from walking in sin, and trusting in, clinging to, and relying on Jesus Christ.

Think about this, there was a time when man knew of their sin and carried the weight of their sin until they could come and make an acceptable sacrifice. They would be trying every single day to walk in such a way to not sin but would fall short of this goal having to wait until the next time they made a sacrifice.

We are walking in a time of God’s great awesome grace, mercy, and love.  Our heart, mind, and soul should be humbled, thankful, and ever seeking to walk in such a way to honor, glorify, follow, trust, and obey.