Job 25:4 “How then can a mortal be righteous before God?
    How can one born of woman be pure?”

This is an existential question for mankind as a whole, and different religions have tried to answer it in different ways. I don’t know how Hinduism explains it, but Buddhism dispenses with the whole idea of a Creator, and says that human perfection comes from discarding human impulses. Islam brings it all down to submission, with martyrdom being the only guaranteed route to acceptance. Judaism of course knows the God of the Bible, but presents good works, that is, obedience to the Law of Moses, as the way to salvation. Various “Christian” groups have gone the same route, ignoring the two councils of the Church in Jerusalem, recorded in Acts 11 and 15, that agreed that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by genetic lineage or external rules. That seems like good news, and it is, but human pride stubbornly wants to take credit for our own salvation. That’s why Paul had to expressly deny the possibility of our doing that, in Ephesians 2:8-9. But then we come back to Bildad’s question here. He was essentially saying that the gap between God and man is so great, there’s no use trying. That’s another lie of the devil. In His incredible wisdom, love, grace, and mercy God created a bridge for that gap in the person, death, and resurrection of His Son. Without that act of judicial reparation for our sins, faith alone would have been empty. We aren’t saved by wishful thinking, we are saved by believing that God loved us so much that He indeed sent Jesus to die for us, as it says in John 3:16. That is the ultimate answer to Bildad’s question.

This is something I had to answer in my own life, and it is what I have devoted my life to sharing for the past 50 years. At one point I thought my genetic heritage put me in a pretty good place, and God had to very firmly correct me in that error. I have been incredibly blessed with a heritage of faith, but it has to be my faith to be effective for my salvation. Now, some people look at me and think, “Of course God loves him. Look at how he is living!” What I try to get across to them is that He loves them just as much as He does me, and the key to receiving that love is humble repentance. Jesus died for all mankind, but that salvation must be believed to be received. I can’t save anyone myself, but I can share the good news of salvation by faith, and pray that the Holy Spirit will work it into people’s hearts to produce the repentance and faith necessary, for their salvation and God’s glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for the various personal encounters we had yesterday, some of them quite deep, and others largely surface. I pray that our every interaction with people would point them, draw them, to You, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!