“FAULTLESS,” “BLAMELESS” SERVANTS OF GOD

Yes, the Bible speaks of Noah as being “faultless among his contemporaries” and of Job as being “blameless and upright.” (Gen. 6:9; Job 1:8) The same Hebrew words translated “faultless” and “blameless” may also be rendered “perfect,” for anything without fault is “perfect.” Obviously this does not mean these persons were without sin, for they were all descended from the sinner Adam. So, in what sense were they “faultless” and “blameless”?

They could be spoken of in this way because they measured up fully to what God required of them and God did not require of them more than they could attain. As Micah 6:6-8 shows, God does not make unreasonable demands upon his servants. “He has told you, O earthling man, what is good. And what is Jehovah asking back from you but to exercise justice and to love kindness and to be modest in walking with your God?”

Yes, Jehovah mercifully and reasonably took into account the imperfection and disabilities of his earthly servants.

In his Notes on the Gospels, Albert Barnes, Bible scholar of the nineteenth century, makes somewhat similar observations about the “blamelessness” (or “perfection”) of such men. Of the word “perfect” he says: “Originally it is applied to a piece of mechanism, as a machine that is complete in its parts. Applied to men, it refers to completeness of parts, or perfection, where no part is defective or wanting. Thus, Job (i. 1.) is said to be perfect; that is, not holy as God, or sinless​—for fault is afterward found with him (Job ix. 20; Job xlii. 6); but his piety was proportionate​—had a completeness of parts—​was consistent and regular. He exhibited his religion as a prince, a father, an individual, a benefactor of the poor. He was not merely a pious man in one place, but uniformly. He was consistent everywhere.