Is it because of your reverence that He punishes you,
That He enters into judgment against you?
Is your wickedness not abundant,
And is there no end to your guilty deeds? (vv. 4-5)

In this chapter, Eliphaz accuses Job of wrongdoing and concludes that Job is being punished by God.

If you return to the Almighty, you will be restored;
If you remove injustice far from your tent,
And put your gold in the dust,
And the gold of Ophir among the stones of the brooks,
Then the Almighty will be your gold
And abundant silver to you. (vv. 23-25)

God made Job suffer not because Job did something wrong.

The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:8)

God did not make Job suffer as if He was tricked by the devil. Before the suffering, Job had the same idea about suffering as his three friends.

I too could speak like you, If only I were in your place. I could compose words against you And shake my head at you. (Job 16:4)

Job and his three friends had the wrong idea about righteousness. Righteousness does not come from one’s actions. Righteous people love God’s law, and their actions reflect their love for God. However, their actions do not make them righteous. This is why we reject the doctrine of the Active Obedience of Christ. Our righteousness does not come from perfectly keeping the law.

Christ has always been blameless before the law because He is God. God is not judged by His own law. He is not like the kings of the earth. Christ did not need to earn righteousness through works—neither for Himself nor for us. If He had, our righteousness would come from the law.

Christians go through various trials and sufferings. These are part of the training we must endure as children of God. The new world is coming, and we will live forever with God. And we are already living forever with God.

The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (vv. 16-17)

We do not lose our righteousness because of our actions. By the seal of the Holy Spirit, we are confirmed as God’s children. The Holy Spirit rebukes and admonishes us if we go astray.

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is a first installment of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:13-14)

No one was given the promise of eternal life based upon his/her actions. However, theologians and ministers believe and preach that Adam could earn it by his actions. This theory is called the Covenant of Works, which the Bible denies.

Every day, we are reminded that we received eternal life through Jesus’ resurrection through the words of God. The Roman Catholic Church and most (if not all) Protestant churches deny this. While they gather money and celebrate Easter, they do not preach the true gospel. They believe in the human will to earn grace. Grace of God is freely given to anyone God has appointed before birth. If I have the knowledge of God, I did not earn it by reading many theology books or spending time on church activities. The knowledge of God is given to God’s people through His words.

“For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord: “I will put My law within them and write it on their heart; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. They will not teach again, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their wrongdoing, and their sin I will no longer remember.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34)