Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker?
The verse asks whether a dying man can be more right than God or more pure than the One who made him, setting frail humanity over against its Maker as the standard of rightness and purity. Mortal means liable to death, perishable and able to die, unlike God who alone has underived life and lives forever. By nature man is mortal and not inherently or unconditionally immortal, nor does he possess a deathless principle that lives on conscious after death. Immortality is not natural to man but conditional, to be sought by obedience and put on as a gift through the gospel, given to the righteous by resurrection or translation at the coming of Christ who abolished death. No mortal can exceed God in justice or his Maker in purity, for God does not set justice aside, and human sin and condemnation come from breaking His law which remains in force.
Language and Setting
The question is whether a mortal person can be more just than God or more pure than his Maker, setting humanity over against God who made it. God is the standard of justice and purity whom human beings cannot surpass, while human beings are presented as mortal in contrast to God who alone has immortality. Mortal means subject to death, perishable and able to die, subject to decay, unlike God who alone has immortality and lives forever.
The saying belongs to Eliphaz's speech within the debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions, a debate formed by three circles of speeches. It came after a spirit passed before his face, the hair of his flesh stood up, a form stood still that he could not discern, an image was before his eyes, and there was silence and then a voice. Its near context describes man as dwelling in houses of clay founded in dust, crushed before the moth, perishing and dying without wisdom.
That true fact about human mortality and God's superior justice and purity was appealed to in order to overwhelm Job in affliction, put in the mouth of a spirit, yet it was used wrongly to condemn Job whom God had not condemned. The friends' words are often generally true but can be misapplied, since suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure and God may use suffering for good. Statements about God and Job of this kind must therefore be tested against inspired Scripture, since the Lord said these speakers had not told the truth.
Human Mortality Affirmed
The verse teaches that man by nature is mortal, not naturally, inherently, unconditionally or by nature immortal. It calls human beings mortal in contrast with God their Maker, who alone has immortality. Their only hope of eternal life is in Jesus.
Mortal describes the man himself and the whole person without exception of parts, not merely a body that houses him. It means the thinking, intelligent, conscious, responsible part capable of being just or unjust and of transgression, for only that part can be just or unjust. That living soul is capable of transgression and subject to death, ceases to live and to act when the body dies, returns to dust, and at the resurrection all that is mortal belonging to a person puts on immortality. The soul or spirit understood as the real person is not inherently immortal, and what is immortal is exempt from death. That mortal man dwells in a house of clay creates desire for something better.
Mortal humanity is corruptible and frail, in contrast with God who is incorruptible, just and pure and superior to death. Fallen human beings are under the sentence of death because sin made them subject to death. After Adam disobeyed he was judged and appointed to die and was no longer fit to endure, and unlike God people do not possess life independently or inherently but depend on God for future life. God alone is inherently immortal, and there is no immortality apart from Christ. Being God's offspring or bearing likeness to God does not give man the Creator's immortality, and the contrast of mortal humanity with God its Maker rejects that inference.
Man does not now possess inherent immortality or eternal life and does not possess an inherent deathless principle or immortal soul that survives the stroke of death. At death he passes into unconsciousness until the resurrection, without uninterrupted consciousness after death. Sheol is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness, corruption and worms, where man dwelling in houses of clay founded in dust and crushed before the moth lies down in the dust, makes his bed in darkness, says to corruption Thou art my father and to the worm Thou art my mother and my sister, and does not rise, with hope going down to its bars when rest together is in the dust. Belief in natural immortality is mistaken and leaves no true hope, the universal love of life does not prove such an endowment, the doctrine of human consciousness living on after death is in absolute conflict with this plain positive teaching, and eternal life remains a future gift to be given at the revelation of Christ. Interpreting the plain declaration of human mortality to mean man is immortal reverses what it says. Claiming man is immortal contradicts the verse, proves human mortality is real and not a myth, and repeats Satan's first lie in Eden that sinners shall not surely die. The verse by itself does not prove that every part of man is mortal; it can describe the human organization formed from dust as mortal without proving that the breath of life added by God is mortal.
Immortality as Conditional Gift
Mortal humanity does not possess life independently, inherently or in a self-sustaining way, but depends on God for future life and continued existence. Human life continues only through connection with Christ as its source, was conditional on obedience, and sin brings death with subjection to death. Life and immortality are two different things, for by nature man is dead in trespasses and sins and has in himself neither life nor immortality. Life is received now through believing on Christ, while immortality will be bestowed later at the resurrection of the just when this mortal puts on immortality.
Immortality is not inherent in man but conditional, something that must be put on and sought through obedience. It is an attribute belonging to God alone by nature, who alone has immortality, in contrast to human beings as mortal and naturally mortal and subject to death. Human immortality is made possible only through the gospel and as a gift through faith in Christ. It is given to the righteous by resurrection or translation at the coming of the Lord and revelation of Christ, with most who receive it receiving it through the resurrection, and only those who have accepted Christ's spiritual character beforehand receiving it.
Job knew he would die, but his faith rested in God and his trust was not in himself. Being reminded of his dying nature as mortal, subject to corruption and death in contrast to God his Maker who is just and pure and superior to death, did not shake him. He believed that through his living Redeemer, One superior to death, he would one day receive immortal life as a gift and see God. Mortal human beings are not inherently immortal, and their only hope of eternal life is in Jesus. Though mortal and subject to death because they have sinned and were not created with a naturally immortal soul, man is given hope of immortality through the gospel, because Christ truly died and made atonement for sin, abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light.
God's Justice and Purity
No mortal can be more just than God or more pure than his Maker, for God himself is the standard of justice and purity which no human being can surpass. The regard for justice and purity planted in human hearts proves that God's own justice and purity are not less but infinitely greater and stricter. Those who come before him owe him greater respect than would be owed to a human commander, and should not knowingly bring bodily filthiness into his presence. The question was joined to Job's account of God speaking through dreams and night visions.
The gospel does not set aside or lessen justice, excuse it, or diminish it in the divine government. God does not commute justice for any reason, and the principles of justice recognized in human governments apply also to his government, and more so. Justification by faith does not release a person from works or from obedience to the divine law, but brings him to work, obligates him to work, and fits him to work. Since God planted regard for justice in human hearts, he himself regards it, and all is in favor of strict justice on his part.
God's condemnation is not unjust, for it results from violating his law, since without law there is no transgression, so the law remains in force and human sin and condemnation arise from breaking it. The comparison also shows that God's dealings are just, for it would be unreasonable to claim that God gives humanity a world without revealing its purpose or what is expected of people, since doing so would make human dealings seem more just than God's.
The question came after a spirit passed before the face, the hair of the flesh stood up, a form stood still that could not be discerned, an image was before the eyes, and there was silence and then a voice. Job thought he was about right until that close contact with God, when the awful silence revealed to him an infinitude beyond anything he had ever experienced of everything really desirable in purity and goodness and love. Learning this requires becoming still to listen and sensing helplessness and reaching out, for God can help only the one who senses his helplessness, and the proper response is to accept God's truth rather than reply against him. Mortal, sinful people cannot claim to be sinless or justify themselves before God, since their own condition condemns them, and they cannot rightly scorn God's law and expect pardon while defying it through disobedience and teaching others to disobey. Eliphaz appealed to this true fact to overwhelm Job in affliction, but used the truth wrongly to condemn Job whom God had not condemned.
Obedience and Human Pretension
Frail mortal men who dwell in houses of clay, founded in dust, crushed, perishing and dying without wisdom, cannot surpass God in rightness or surpass their Maker in purity. The question condemns men who in the name of the Lord command Sunday rest and worship which God in wisdom did not command. Such lawmaking attempts a work from which God refrained, as if clay dwellers could succeed where God would not act.
The same principle exposes the claim that God's Sabbath law was burdensome and had to be replaced or supplemented by human Sunday laws. God specified the seventh day, and human law cannot make an alternative day holy or correct God's provision. Such laws impose unequal burdens on those who keep the Sabbath God appointed, exposing the injustice of human claims to protect others' rights.
Human wisdom must not claim to improve on God's work by deciding that a humanly chosen observance would honor Christ better than obedience to God. Amending God's Sabbath command by making the first day a Sabbath on the grounds that Christ's resurrection is more important than creation is challenged by the question. Obedience to God is better than such a humanly devised act of worship.
No mortal can claim a stricter standard than God about taking collections or donations on the Sabbath, especially while careless about Sabbath conversation. God who made the Sabbath commanded special offerings on that day, so he is the proper authority on what is permissible. Jesus gave over three years of living examples of proper Sabbath observance, and zeal for God's house and day brings delight in proper Sabbath observance.
The meaning of God's law must not be altered, for the law by which humanity will be judged must be treated with greater care than human laws. Its meaning remains what it was when given, since no mortal can be more just than God. No human league or nation can outdo God in justice in choosing officers and making laws to bring in righteousness.
Seeking the reign of what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report through national citizenship cannot succeed. Even ancient Israel failed under the old covenant when God himself appointed its rulers and gave its laws directly from heaven. God as the standard of purity deserves greater respect than a human commander, so those who come before him should not knowingly bring bodily filthiness into his presence.
The verse asks whether a dying man can be more right than God or more pure than the One who made him, setting frail humanity over against its Maker as the standard of rightness and purity. Mortal means liable to death, perishable and able to die, unlike God who alone has underived life and lives forever. By nature man is mortal and not inherently or unconditionally immortal, nor does he possess a deathless principle that lives on conscious after death. Immortality is not natural to man but conditional, to be sought by obedience and put on as a gift through the gospel, given to the righteous by resurrection or translation at the coming of Christ who abolished death. No mortal can exceed God in justice or his Maker in purity, for God does not set justice aside, and human sin and condemnation come from breaking His law which remains in force.
Language and Setting
The question is whether a mortal person can be more just than God or more pure than his Maker, setting humanity over against God who made it. God is the standard of justice and purity whom human beings cannot surpass, while human beings are presented as mortal in contrast to God who alone has immortality. Mortal means subject to death, perishable and able to die, subject to decay, unlike God who alone has immortality and lives forever.
The saying belongs to Eliphaz's speech within the debate between Job and his three friends over his afflictions, a debate formed by three circles of speeches. It came after a spirit passed before his face, the hair of his flesh stood up, a form stood still that he could not discern, an image was before his eyes, and there was silence and then a voice. Its near context describes man as dwelling in houses of clay founded in dust, crushed before the moth, perishing and dying without wisdom.
That true fact about human mortality and God's superior justice and purity was appealed to in order to overwhelm Job in affliction, put in the mouth of a spirit, yet it was used wrongly to condemn Job whom God had not condemned. The friends' words are often generally true but can be misapplied, since suffering does not prove a person is under God's displeasure and God may use suffering for good. Statements about God and Job of this kind must therefore be tested against inspired Scripture, since the Lord said these speakers had not told the truth.
Human Mortality Affirmed
The verse teaches that man by nature is mortal, not naturally, inherently, unconditionally or by nature immortal. It calls human beings mortal in contrast with God their Maker, who alone has immortality. Their only hope of eternal life is in Jesus.
Mortal describes the man himself and the whole person without exception of parts, not merely a body that houses him. It means the thinking, intelligent, conscious, responsible part capable of being just or unjust and of transgression, for only that part can be just or unjust. That living soul is capable of transgression and subject to death, ceases to live and to act when the body dies, returns to dust, and at the resurrection all that is mortal belonging to a person puts on immortality. The soul or spirit understood as the real person is not inherently immortal, and what is immortal is exempt from death. That mortal man dwells in a house of clay creates desire for something better.
Mortal humanity is corruptible and frail, in contrast with God who is incorruptible, just and pure and superior to death. Fallen human beings are under the sentence of death because sin made them subject to death. After Adam disobeyed he was judged and appointed to die and was no longer fit to endure, and unlike God people do not possess life independently or inherently but depend on God for future life. God alone is inherently immortal, and there is no immortality apart from Christ. Being God's offspring or bearing likeness to God does not give man the Creator's immortality, and the contrast of mortal humanity with God its Maker rejects that inference.
Man does not now possess inherent immortality or eternal life and does not possess an inherent deathless principle or immortal soul that survives the stroke of death. At death he passes into unconsciousness until the resurrection, without uninterrupted consciousness after death. Sheol is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness, corruption and worms, where man dwelling in houses of clay founded in dust and crushed before the moth lies down in the dust, makes his bed in darkness, says to corruption Thou art my father and to the worm Thou art my mother and my sister, and does not rise, with hope going down to its bars when rest together is in the dust. Belief in natural immortality is mistaken and leaves no true hope, the universal love of life does not prove such an endowment, the doctrine of human consciousness living on after death is in absolute conflict with this plain positive teaching, and eternal life remains a future gift to be given at the revelation of Christ. Interpreting the plain declaration of human mortality to mean man is immortal reverses what it says. Claiming man is immortal contradicts the verse, proves human mortality is real and not a myth, and repeats Satan's first lie in Eden that sinners shall not surely die. The verse by itself does not prove that every part of man is mortal; it can describe the human organization formed from dust as mortal without proving that the breath of life added by God is mortal.
Immortality as Conditional Gift
Mortal humanity does not possess life independently, inherently or in a self-sustaining way, but depends on God for future life and continued existence. Human life continues only through connection with Christ as its source, was conditional on obedience, and sin brings death with subjection to death. Life and immortality are two different things, for by nature man is dead in trespasses and sins and has in himself neither life nor immortality. Life is received now through believing on Christ, while immortality will be bestowed later at the resurrection of the just when this mortal puts on immortality.
Immortality is not inherent in man but conditional, something that must be put on and sought through obedience. It is an attribute belonging to God alone by nature, who alone has immortality, in contrast to human beings as mortal and naturally mortal and subject to death. Human immortality is made possible only through the gospel and as a gift through faith in Christ. It is given to the righteous by resurrection or translation at the coming of the Lord and revelation of Christ, with most who receive it receiving it through the resurrection, and only those who have accepted Christ's spiritual character beforehand receiving it.
Job knew he would die, but his faith rested in God and his trust was not in himself. Being reminded of his dying nature as mortal, subject to corruption and death in contrast to God his Maker who is just and pure and superior to death, did not shake him. He believed that through his living Redeemer, One superior to death, he would one day receive immortal life as a gift and see God. Mortal human beings are not inherently immortal, and their only hope of eternal life is in Jesus. Though mortal and subject to death because they have sinned and were not created with a naturally immortal soul, man is given hope of immortality through the gospel, because Christ truly died and made atonement for sin, abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light.
God's Justice and Purity
No mortal can be more just than God or more pure than his Maker, for God himself is the standard of justice and purity which no human being can surpass. The regard for justice and purity planted in human hearts proves that God's own justice and purity are not less but infinitely greater and stricter. Those who come before him owe him greater respect than would be owed to a human commander, and should not knowingly bring bodily filthiness into his presence. The question was joined to Job's account of God speaking through dreams and night visions.
The gospel does not set aside or lessen justice, excuse it, or diminish it in the divine government. God does not commute justice for any reason, and the principles of justice recognized in human governments apply also to his government, and more so. Justification by faith does not release a person from works or from obedience to the divine law, but brings him to work, obligates him to work, and fits him to work. Since God planted regard for justice in human hearts, he himself regards it, and all is in favor of strict justice on his part.
God's condemnation is not unjust, for it results from violating his law, since without law there is no transgression, so the law remains in force and human sin and condemnation arise from breaking it. The comparison also shows that God's dealings are just, for it would be unreasonable to claim that God gives humanity a world without revealing its purpose or what is expected of people, since doing so would make human dealings seem more just than God's.
The question came after a spirit passed before the face, the hair of the flesh stood up, a form stood still that could not be discerned, an image was before the eyes, and there was silence and then a voice. Job thought he was about right until that close contact with God, when the awful silence revealed to him an infinitude beyond anything he had ever experienced of everything really desirable in purity and goodness and love. Learning this requires becoming still to listen and sensing helplessness and reaching out, for God can help only the one who senses his helplessness, and the proper response is to accept God's truth rather than reply against him. Mortal, sinful people cannot claim to be sinless or justify themselves before God, since their own condition condemns them, and they cannot rightly scorn God's law and expect pardon while defying it through disobedience and teaching others to disobey. Eliphaz appealed to this true fact to overwhelm Job in affliction, but used the truth wrongly to condemn Job whom God had not condemned.
Obedience and Human Pretension
Frail mortal men who dwell in houses of clay, founded in dust, crushed, perishing and dying without wisdom, cannot surpass God in rightness or surpass their Maker in purity. The question condemns men who in the name of the Lord command Sunday rest and worship which God in wisdom did not command. Such lawmaking attempts a work from which God refrained, as if clay dwellers could succeed where God would not act.
The same principle exposes the claim that God's Sabbath law was burdensome and had to be replaced or supplemented by human Sunday laws. God specified the seventh day, and human law cannot make an alternative day holy or correct God's provision. Such laws impose unequal burdens on those who keep the Sabbath God appointed, exposing the injustice of human claims to protect others' rights.
Human wisdom must not claim to improve on God's work by deciding that a humanly chosen observance would honor Christ better than obedience to God. Amending God's Sabbath command by making the first day a Sabbath on the grounds that Christ's resurrection is more important than creation is challenged by the question. Obedience to God is better than such a humanly devised act of worship.
No mortal can claim a stricter standard than God about taking collections or donations on the Sabbath, especially while careless about Sabbath conversation. God who made the Sabbath commanded special offerings on that day, so he is the proper authority on what is permissible. Jesus gave over three years of living examples of proper Sabbath observance, and zeal for God's house and day brings delight in proper Sabbath observance.
The meaning of God's law must not be altered, for the law by which humanity will be judged must be treated with greater care than human laws. Its meaning remains what it was when given, since no mortal can be more just than God. No human league or nation can outdo God in justice in choosing officers and making laws to bring in righteousness.
Seeking the reign of what is true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report through national citizenship cannot succeed. Even ancient Israel failed under the old covenant when God himself appointed its rulers and gave its laws directly from heaven. God as the standard of purity deserves greater respect than a human commander, so those who come before him should not knowingly bring bodily filthiness into his presence.