Ecclesiastes 7:16 Commentary and Bible Study

Did you ever think you would find this in the Bible? It seems to advise a middle-of-the-road approach to righteousness, but to take it at face value is impossible, given all that the Bible says about striving after holiness. He is talking about self-righteousness which kills the soul. ‘No,’ he says, ‘I will tell you why we are so superficial: because men and women have no idea of their true state. Some actually put on a show of righteousness. They are so shallow in their grasp of their own hearts that they think they produce acceptable works before God; that is utterly unrealistic. Don’t be ridiculous’, Solomon says. ‘If you think you succeed, all you do is show how little you know yourself. Both are an insult to God: the idea that you can have true righteousness, and the opposite – sheer abandon to wickedness.’ Don’t be an atheist on the one hand and become insensible to God, but neither be self-righteous on the other hand. Both are an illusion and cut you off from the grace of God. Depend on mercy and grace.Solomon warns the seeker of a false path by which he can be side tracked, a path which masquerades as true religion but is really something very different. This false form of religion comes in different guises, but all involve the pursuit of a righteousness of our own, and all fall into the trap of self-righteousness. It is of course impossible to have genuine righteousness to an excess, but those he has in mind here are seek righteousness for completely the wrong reason. They want to parade their righteousness before the world and use it to gain praise from men. Their eye is on themselves not on God. They do not love righteousness for its own sake but for what it will give them in this life, and it is really just a means to an end, an end focused on human praise. This sort of righteousness leads to destruction because, while it is completely unacceptable to God, it nevertheless convinces the individual that he has been accepted in heaven, and so he never exerts himself to obtain the righteousness that comes from God. This righteousness leads to hypocrisy while the true wisdom leads to humility and meekness before God and men.