Indeed, the light of the wicked goes out,
And the spark from his fire does not shine. (v. 5)

We read in the Book of Psalms about wicked people, those who live immoral lives and hate God’s law. In this chapter, Job’s friend Bildad talks about the life of the wicked.

Certainly these are the dwellings of the wicked,
And this is the place of him who does not know God. (v. 21)

Indeed, there is no place for wicked people in the kingdom of God. However, we must remember that God does not hate sinners who repent. God hates hypocrites who pretend to know Him and lead others astray. Their destination was set even before they were born, like Judas Iscariot.

Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” (John 6:70)

These hypocrites claim to know God, yet they deny that righteousness comes from the cross of Christ. They overemphasize the law, as if keeping it perfectly makes us righteous. When criticized, they say that Christ has kept the law for us to make us righteous. In doing so, they nullify the power of the cross. They preach a false doctrine called the “Active Obedience of Christ.” Anyone questioning this doctrine is accused of being a heretic, when in fact they are the heretics.

These wicked people in churches live relatively pain-free lives. They boast about their positions in their churches and do not care if wrong messages are preached. They pretend to know and serve God, but in fact, they are their own masters.

For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even as I weep, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who have their minds on earthly things. (vv. 18-19)

Job did not understand that God created the world to train His people for His kingdom. Job focused on life on earth, and God gave him suffering to show that earthly life is only a shadow. Righteousness does not come from works. Job’s three friends rebuked him, but they also did not know God. In God’s eyes, they were worse because they pretended to be righteous but were not.

True prophets suffer from deprivation (not depravity—I apologize that it was mistyped in the previous post) and mockery. Prophets do not always understand what is happening to them or why. False believers pretend to know God. They appear to be kind to us, but they make us feel more miserable.

In this evil age, we must rely solely on God’s words. It sometimes takes time to understand what is going on, but we learn through suffering and our mistakes. I regret my former days. I spent too much time participating in church activities. I put my time, money, and effort into church life. But I now know that it was necessary for me to go through that in order to understand why God is angry at the churches.

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free. (John 8:31-36)