Job CCLVI

 Do you not possess enough discernment to know the difference between the wicked and the righteous? Do you not possess enough understanding of God, His will, and His purposes, that you would confuse those who hunger and thirst after Him with those who despise and reject Him? Can you not see the difference between those who feed the hungry, shelter the fatherless, comfort the widow, and those who shun them, exploit them, and hurt them? He did not say it quite as poignantly or directly, but this is what Job was asking his friends.

You know what the wicked do, and it should come as no surprise when they do it. They seize flocks violently and feed on them. They drive away the donkey of the fatherless. They push the needy off the road. They do abhorrent, repugnant, inhuman things and justify them every day, but the children of God do not!

This is why it comes as such a shock to the system when you hear of men who claim to be godly, who are in positions of authority requiring godliness, doing the selfsame things they condemned those of the world for doing. It’s because, while they claimed to be different, were expected to be different, and were commanded by God to be different, they were only pretending when others were watching, but in their hearts wickedness abounded.

Yes, there is a difference between the godly and the ungodly. Yes, there is a difference between those who know Him and those who do not. The difference must be clear, discernible, unambiguous, and well-defined. They do those things; those who know God do not. At least that’s the way it should be, biblically speaking, morally speaking, and logically speaking. It goes beyond projecting an image, and since I’m a jaded sort of soul, people who try too hard to project a certain image are suspect from the jump, but to the core of one’s nature, to what they have been transformed into by the salvific power of Christ.

Why so jaded? Because I’ve seen enough, heard enough, witnessed the aftermaths, and helped pick up the pieces one too many times to allow for the childish notion that every guy in a suit with gel in his hair is what he claims to be. You will know them by their fruit. If there is no fruit, there is no power. If there is no fruit, there is no righteousness. If there is no fruit, there is no authority. You can claim all these things, but the absence of fruit is proof enough that your goals are something other than furthering the Kingdom of God or rightly dividing the Word.    

The difference between the wicked and the godly should be so vividly evident as to be undeniable. We are not of the dark; we are of the light, but if we are of the light, why are so many of those claiming to be of the light so comfortable in the dark?

If you can’t tell the difference between the two, you’re still in the dark. One keeps you blind, the other illuminates everything, including the corners, nooks, and crannies of one’s heart, exposing everything and leaving nothing in the shadows. When the light of the gospel shines in the heart of man, it exposes everything and reveals it for what it is. You don’t get to pick and choose what stays and what goes. Everything goes! The carpets get ripped out, the cupboards get replaced, a new coat of paint is applied because a new tenant is moving in, and He will not abide the filth, dirt, and cobwebs left by the previous tenant.

If your new life is no different than your old life, if you are still doing all the things the wicked are known for doing, then your new life is a lie. If you are in Christ, you are a new creation. Old things have passed away. You no longer identify with they, or them, those who would gladly starve widows if it meant a little extra coin in their pocket, or needlessly burden the poor in exchange for an easier life.

Job makes it very clear that wicked men existed in his day, and this is what they did, but he could stand before both God and man and adamantly declare that he had never done such things.

We were once like them, but they were never like us. We, too, were once dead in our sins and trespasses, but no longer. It’s why we have compassion on the lost and go out of our way to consistently point the way to Jesus. Anyone who exudes spiritual elitism rather than compassion when it comes to those yet in darkness forget that they too were once slaves to sin. They forget that they, too, were once shackled with chains of their own making, and it took Jesus to set them free. They didn’t do it on their own; they didn’t discover the key to their prison in a corner somewhere, but another who had once worn similar shackles took the time to tell them that there is freedom, there is light, there is life, and there is hope in Christ.

But you don’t get it, preacher man. I dug my way out of my prison Shawshank Redemption style. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps, poured all the booze down the drain, joined AA, and took a shower. All that did for you was transfer you from solitary confinement to the general population. Unless Jesus sets you free, you’re still in prison. Unless He washed you and made you clean, you still reek of death and despair.

John 8:34-36, “Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.’”

Only Jesus gives true freedom. Anything else is either an illusion of freedom or a temporary pause on one’s journey to destruction. One may stop their self-destructive ways for a season, but they will never truly be set free until Jesus makes them free.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.