Job 33:9 I am clean without transgression, I am innocent; neither is there iniquity in me.
Elihu quotes Job’s words, wherein he protests his innocence. This protestation is a part of the theme of the book: “Why am I being punished?” Job was right in this, that he was a good man by every measure that man makes. He feared God and avoided evil. He was innocent by human standards and he did not deserve the depth of suffering as punishment for his sins.
Job was a little right. His punishment was not commensurate with his deeds. However, Job does not yet (until God shows him) realize that he is a sinner who deserves death. We all deserve suffering like Job’s for all have sinned. It is only by the grace of God that we still have life at all. The sinful human condition earns suffering, loss, and death.
Instead of protesting our innocence and claiming that we are basically good, we need to humbly repent, beg for mercy, and cling to the cross. This is what Job finally did after God spoke to him and showed him that he was not God and could not understand His ways. Even if God told him that was all just the result of a bet between God and Satan, it would not help.
The only thing we can do is humbly repent of sin, trust God’s mercy, surrender to His will, and receive His absolution. All because of Christ. Then let God renew.