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Job 4:17-19
Shall mortal man be more just than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? …

Job 9:2
I knowit is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God?

Job 15:14-16
Whatis man, that he should be clean? andhe which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous? …

how can

Job 14:3,4
And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? …

Psalm 51:5
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Zechariah 13:1
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.

How can one born of woman be pure?
This phrase underscores the inherent impurity and sinfulness of humanity due to the Fall, as described inGenesis 3. The reference to being "born of woman" highlights the natural human condition, emphasizing that all people inherit a sinful nature from birth (Psalm 51:5). The question of purity is central to the biblical narrative, as purity is required to stand in the presence of a holy God. This need for purity is addressed through the sacrificial system in the Old Testament, which foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who, being born of a woman (Galatians 4:4) yet without sin, provides the means for believers to be made pure and righteous before God (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Job records Bildad’s sobering question, and the words strike at the heart of every reader. Scripture consistently teaches that no human effort can produce the standing God requires.

• The psalmist confesses, “If You, O LORD, kept a record of iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3).

• Paul echoes the same verdict: “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10).

• Even the faithful patriarch Abraham was declared righteous only because “he believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; cf.Romans 4:3).

So, when Bildad asks his rhetorical question, the expected answer is, “No one can, by his own merit.” The law exposes sin (Romans 3:20), leaving every mouth silenced and every heart aware of its need for grace. Yet the gospel reveals God’s remedy: “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28). The very inability highlighted in Job prepares us to embrace God’s provision—justification through faith in the finished work of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Bildad’s second question tightens the net: not only are our deeds insufficient, our nature itself is fallen.

• David admits, “Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; in sin my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5).

• Paul explains the inherited problem: “Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, so also death was passed on to all men” (Romans 5:12).

Left to ourselves, impurity is our default. Yet God provides a new birth and a cleansing that overturn the old condition.

• Jesus declares, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3).

• John comforts believers that “the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

• Hebrews celebrates that Christ’s sacrifice “purifies our conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Hebrews 9:14).

The question “How?” finds its answer in the One who was miraculously born of woman (Isaiah 7:14;Matthew 1:23) yet without sin (Hebrews 4:15). By union with Him, the impure are washed, sanctified, and justified (1 Corinthians 6:11).

Job 25:4 confronts the reader with humanity’s deepest dilemma: we cannot make ourselves righteous or pure. All of Scripture agrees—our works and our very nature fall short. Yet the same Bible immediately points to God’s gracious solution: justification by faith and purification through the blood of Jesus. What Bildad posed as an unanswerable problem, God answered at the cross, offering every believer full acceptance and a new, clean heart.