Note: Devotion taken from sermon on Ecclesiastes 7:19-29.
For there is not a just
man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not (Ecclesiastes 7:20).
The theme of this portion of Ecclesiastes is sin. The
catechism defines sin as “any want of conformity unto or transgression of the
law of God.” The theme is expressed in v. 20. Compare the opening of Psalm 14
(cf. Ps 53):
Psalm 14:1
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are
corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. 2 The Lord looked down from
heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand,
and seek God. 3 They are all gone
aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no,
not one.
The
apostle Paul picked up on those words in Romans 3 to describe the condition of
unregenerate man:
Romans 3:10 As it is
written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11 There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12 They are all gone out of the way, they are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Solomon did not have
to look far for illustrations for this assertion. He could look at the life of
his father David, who had been a man after God’s own heart, and yet also a notorious
sinner. And the apple had not fallen far
from the tree. Solomon could look in the
mirror and declare, there is not a just man upon the earth.
Solomon is here
demolishing two falsehoods:
First, he is destroying
the idea that the unregenerate man is basically good and that he can do good
things which please God, including seeking out and deciding for God. He is
demolishing the viewpoints later expressed in what is called Pelagianism (man
is basically good) and Semi-pelagianism (man is only slightly damaged by sin,
but still basically good), as well as Arminianism.
This point was also made
by the prophet Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 13:23 Can
the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil.
It is also
affirmed by Paul in Romans 7:18a: “For I know that in me (that is, in my
flesh,) dwelleth no good thing.”
Second, he is also destroying the notion of
Christian perfectionism, the idea that the regenerate man can attain complete
holiness in this life. Surely, there
were saved men in Solomon’s time (himself included), but he can say there is no
just man on the earth who does good and sins not. This is just what John said
in 1 John 1:8: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us.”
In this verse
Solomon sounds very much like the apostle Paul. He is describing the depths of man’s
condition in sin, so that he might point to the solution in Christ.
Solomon knew of
no just men in his times. Yet, there would
come, in the fullness of time, one of whom it would be rightly said, “Certainly
this was a righteous [just] man” (Luke 24:47). He would suffer for sinner, “the
just for the unjust,” to bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18).
Grace and peace, Pastor Jeff Riddle
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