Print Friendly, PDF & Email

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?

Yahwehs 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)

Yahwehs 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.

 

See Part 2.

 

Related posts:

Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness

Yah’s Laws: Are They For Today?

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

 

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.

  1. Bob says:

    The complete bible love story; plan & servanthood & righteousness unto death to his standards Ex21.33 obedience (among others) required His moral code to be enforced as it was. If only people could read the contract law (bible) as it is – like the best and highest paid attorney’s knowing ALL the intricate meanings of the legal words – their structure, force, inclusions, exclusions et al – their implications.