Blameless before God
Who are the sinners in the world? The Bible answers the question unequivocally: everyone. As Paul notes in Romans, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.1 The universality of human sinfulness is made explicit in the Old Testament as well. There, Solomon tells us that Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, no one who does what is right and never sins.2 And in light of this plain teaching, we might wonder what the Bible means when it speaks of those who are blameless.
Noah, we are told, was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.3 When God called Abram, he said, I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless.4 At the very outset of the book of Job, the famous sufferer is said to be blameless and upright.5 And indeed, God has required this quality of all his people, saying You must be blameless before the Lord your God.6 But if we are all sinners, how can any of us be blameless before God?
In Psalm 26, David helps us resolve this seeming paradox. There, he describes the person who is blameless before God. He writes:
Vindicate me, Lord,
for I have led a blameless life;
I have trusted in the Lord
and have not faltered.
Test me, Lord, and try me,
examine my heart and my mind;
for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love
and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.7
David proclaims his own blamelessness in prayer to God. He even goes so far as to ask that God vindicate him. The Hebrew word here translated as vindicate is sapat, and it is an act of judgment. Thus, David begins his prayer by inviting God to scrutinize his character and confirm his own blamelessness! It seems quite bold, and certainly, this point is driven home: blamelessness before God is not sinlessness.
It cannot be. We have already noted that we are all sinners. David knew this full well, as his psalms of penitence attest: Hide your face from my sins, he pleads elsewhere, and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.8 Even here, in Psalm 26, David asks that God examine his heart and mind. The Hebrew here is sarap — a purifying action like the refining of precious metal. David's request to be examined is an acknowledgment of imperfection, and a plea to be purified. But still, he confidently asserts that he has lead a blameless life. What, then, does it mean to be blameless? How can we, who are all fallen sinners, stand blameless before God? David outlines three qualities of the blameless:
The blameless trust in the Lord
I have trusted in the Lord, David writes, and have not faltered.To trust in the Lord is to put our confidence in him, and not ourselves. When David says he has not faltered, he does not mean he has not sinned. It is quite the opposite: he has trusted God even in the wake of his gravest sins. In those times, David did not run away from God; he ran to him. This is the behavior of the blameless. When we have sinned against God, we make no pretense of hiding our failure from him. We bring all that to him, and lay it at his feet.
The blameless are mindful of God’s unfailing love
David continues, I have always been mindful of your unfailing love. The blameless person does not trust in their own righteousness. The blameless person does not trust in their own understanding. No, the blameless person trusts in this alone: the priceless, unfailing love of God. When God forgives and receives us, it is not for our sake; it is for the sake of his holy name.9
The blameless live in reliance on God’s faithfulness
Lastly, David tells us, he has lived in reliance on God’s faithfulness. A faithful person is who they claim to be. A faithful person does what they say they will do. A faithful person acts in accordance with their character, rather than their circumstances. God is unmatched in his faithfulness. From everlasting to everlasting, we are promised, the Lord's love is with those who fear him.10 I the Lord do not change, he assures us, So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.11
The blameless rest in God’s grace alone
To stand blameless before God is to deny ourselves and lift him up. The blameless heart trusts in the Lord. The blameless mind remembers his unfailing love. The blameless life is lived in the light of his faithfulness. God receives us, not on the basis of our righteousness, but for the sake of his name. Whoever comes to me, Christ promises, I will never drive away.12 This is the hope held out to us in the gospel: prepared for us in eternity past, forever securing our future, and freely offered to us today.
Now:
May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.13