CLAIM: Job 1:1 states, “There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.” However, Romans 3:23 states that all have fallen short of God’s moral perfection.

RESPONSE: Job himself didn’t believe that he could stand before God based on his own righteousness (Job. 9:1). He wasn’t blameless before God; he was blameless before man. Job “was righteous in his own eyes” (Job 32:1). He was a relatively righteous compared to the others in his day and age. Job himself admits that he does have transgression (8:21; 38; 42:6), but he is still considered righteous. Today, we might speak of the “righteous party” in a divorce settlement. By this, we do not mean that the spouse was sinless, but that they were relatively righteous by comparison.