Constitution Mythbusters |
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Posted: 25 Oct 2013 12:47 PM PDT
Shall mortal man be more just [righteous] than
God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? (Job 4:17)
As Christians, I hope we would respond to
those questions with a resounding “No!” But is this really how
Christians answer?
Yahweh’s inalterable nature
For I am YHWH, I change not…. (Malachi 3:6)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no
variableness, neither shadow of turning [no slightest hint of change, NET].
(James 1:17)
Yahweh1 does not change. He is
perpetually the same. But what about Him doesn’t change? He changes
forms. He changes in, some respects, how He deals with man, per the different
covenants. But one thing about Yahweh doesn’t change.
In Hebrews 13:8, we’re informed Jesus (Yeshua
or Yah who saves) is “the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” In other
words, in whatever aspect it is that He doesn’t change, He’s eternally the
same. This aspect is something fixed, inflexible, and inalterable. It’s
everlasting:
Thy righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness, and thy law is the truth. (Psalm 119:142)
But the mercy of YHWH is from everlasting to
everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s
children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his
commandments to do them. (Psalm 103:17-18)
Yahweh’s everlasting
righteousness
In addition to His mercy, His righteousness
transcends not only the covenants but time itself. This is true because His
righteousness is the very essence of His being:
YHWH is righteous in all his ways, and holy in
all his works. (Psalm 145:17)
Possibly more than anything, this everlasting,
immutable aspect of the infinite, time-transcending God is what sets Him
apart from fickle, finite man. Whereas Yahweh is eternally righteous, “there
is [no man that is] righteous, no not one,” for “all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory [righteousness] of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). Yahweh’s
righteousness transcends time. Man has no righteousness by which to transcend
anything.
But what exactly is Yahweh’s
righteousness? The Complete Word Study Dictionary uses the words
“right,” “justice,” “ethical,” “blameless conduct,” and “integrity” to define
the Hebrew words translated “righteousness” in Psalm 119:142.2 The
Theological Workbook of the Old Testament declares, “This root
basically connotes conformity to an ethical or moral standard.”3
In other words, Yahweh’s everlasting
righteousness embodies or is exemplified by His ethics, His justice, and His
morality. If Yahweh’s righteousness is everlasting, then His justice and
ethics, as defined by His morality, must also be perpetual.
Yahweh’s moral disposition transcends the
covenants and time itself. Therefore, His triune moral law (His commandments,
statutes, and judgments), which reflects His righteousness and therefore His
morality, also transcends all four major covenants (Adamic, Abrahamic,
Mosaic, and Christian).
But what’s this have to do with whether we
live our lives as if we’re more righteous than Yahweh? For the answer, stay
tuned to Part 2.
Related posts:
1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the
Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew
name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in
the Old Testament. Regrettably, it was deleted by the English translators. In
obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to
proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast
to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and
in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons
for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”
2. The Complete Word Study Dictionary, tsedeq,
tsidqaat-kaa, Copyright © 2003 by AMG Publisher, quoted in PC Study
Bible.
3. The Theological Workbook of the Old
Testament, tsedeq, tsidqaat-kaa, Copyright © 1980 by The
Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, quoted in PC Study Bible.
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