Elihu lit into Job again: "Does this kind of thing make any sense? First you say, 'I'm perfectly innocent before God.' And then you say, 'It doesn't make a bit of difference whether I've sinned or not.'
"Well, I'm going to show you that you don't know what you're talking about, neither you nor your friends. Look up at the sky. Take a long hard look. See those clouds towering above you? If you sin, what difference could that make to God? No matter how much you sin, will it matter to him? Even if you're good, what would God get out of that? Do you think he's dependent on your accomplishments? The only ones who care whether you're good or bad are your family and friends and neighbors. God's not dependent on your behavior. Job 35:1-8 The Message
Do not do good deeds in order to impress God and do not pretend that your actions will change God’s attitudes. Whatever we do, God remains the same (Hebrews 13:6).
God is always good. God is always kind. God is always fair.
Perhaps Job imagined that because of his good deeds he would never have to suffer. If so, the idea was wrong. Many Christians suffer.
Some people imagine that they can earn the right to go to heaven by their good deeds. The Bible teaches that this idea is wrong (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Heaven is God’s gift. To go to heaven, we must confess our evil deeds to God. And we must invite Jesus into our lives.
Job had forgotten the reason for his good deeds. Job did these things because he was a servant of God. A servant carries out his master’s work. Job was doing God’s work.
The things (good deeds, etc) we do should be done out of our love for God and not self-gain and promotion.
"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, for all the people you can, at all times you can, for all the people you can" John Wesley
I might add . . . do it for the right reason.
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