Friday: Further Thought – The Character of Job

Further Thought: The Protestant Reformation reclaimed the great truth of salvation by faith alone. This truth was first intimated in the Word back in Eden itself (see Gen. 3:15) and then given fuller expression in the life of Abraham (see Gen. 15:6, Rom. 4:3) before being successively revealed in Scripture up through Paul. Yet, the truth of salvation by faith alone always included the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer, not as the means of salvation but as the expression of it.

Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com

In the life and character of Job we find a great example of what this work looks like. Theologians sometimes call this work “sanctification,” which means basically “holiness.” It is so significant in Scripture that we are told to strive “for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord” (Heb. 12:14, ESV). The basic meaning of sanctification is “set apart for holy use,” an idea seen, for example, when the Lord said to His covenant people, “ ‘ “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” ’ ” (Lev. 19:2, NKJV). Though the word and concept appears in various ways in both the Old and New Testament, it deals with what God does in us. It can be seen as a moral growth in goodness and toward goodness. It is “a progressive process of moral change by the power of the Holy Spirit in cooperation with the human will.”—Handbook of SDA Theology, p. 296. Though this work is something that only God can accomplish in us, we are not forced into sanctification any more than we are forced into justification. We give ourselves to the Lord, and the same Lord who justifies us by faith will also sanctify us as well, molding us, as He did with Job, into the image of God, at least to whatever degree is possible this side of eternity. So, Paul writes: “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (Gal. 4:19, NKJV), and Ellen G. White writes: “Christ is our pattern, the perfect and holy example that has been given us to follow. We can never equal the Pattern, but we may imitate and resemble it according to our ability.” — That I May Know Him, p. 265.

Discussion Questions:

What choices can we make that will influence the degree to which the Lord can work in us? We know that only God can change the heart, but we must cooperate. What does that cooperation look like? How is it manifested? Colossians 2:6 reads: “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him” (NKJV). How do these words help us understand what it means to live in faith and obedience? How can we as a church, not just as individuals, bring glory to the Lord before humans and before angels?