Self-Righteousness

   One of the most subtle, deceiving, unreasonable, deadly, and domineering sins of our day, is the sin of self-righteousness. It is treacherous and blinding; thousands of the so-called modern church members are guilty of this sin. While Jesus was on earth, He spoke in sympathy and love, with tenderness to the sinners; but His most severe rebuke and denunciation were leveled at the self-righteous Pharisees, whom He called a "generation of vipers," hypocrites, saying unto them, "How can ye escape the damnation of hell?"---Matt 23:33. They were the ones who "hounded" His steps everywhere He went doing good, and they were not satisfied until He was hung on a tree.

We have people today who are so righteous in their own eyes that they think no matter what they do, they cannot sin at the point of even committing adultery and say it is alright. They justify themselves in their own eyes; they do all kinds of unrighteous deeds; they have pride, jealousy, hatred, cruelty, and murder in their hearts. They selfishly want all the benefits of the Christian life without paying the price they cost. God hates pretense, veneer, hypocrisy, whitewash, imitations and counterfeits. God struck Ananias and Sapphira dead for pretending they were one hundred percent Christian, while at the same time they held back a part of the land they sold.---Acts 5:1-11. They were self righteous. Judas sold His Lord for thirty pieces of silver, but afterwards, he acknowledge his wrong and returned the money to the priest, then took his own life. God did not strike Him dead as he did Ananias and Sapphira, which would bear out the thought that the self-righteousness of Ananias and Sapphira was greater sin than Judas. Ananias and Sapphira were living a lie, and they were determined to go to any length to protect it. Such is the case of most of the so-called church members today. Some will preach and teach a Sunday school class, but they will avoid coming in direct contact with God's eternal Word. When they know a message for them is in store, they will make excuses, such as, visit a sick relative, they are expecting company...etc. (any excuse will do) to keep from coming in contact with the truth. Such people are stumbling blocks and are standing in the way of sinners finding the Lord. They are likened unto the Pharisees of Jesus day of whom He said, "They won't go into the kingdom themselves and they hinder others from entering." Their little soul are so dried up that they cannot eat spiritual food, so they do not feast on the Word of God. Prayer is a by-product to them that must be gotten over with a quickly as possible, unless it is for the purpose of making a show. They are like an acre of stubble land; it cannot be hidden. Several cords of wood can be seen a long distance; and a haystack can be seen a mile. People become good supporters of those who make a big showing. They fail to consider that a nugget of gold is worth a thousand cords of wood; that a diamond ( which is smaller yet than a nugget of gold, occupies a small space, and must be seen at close range to be seen at all) is sometimes priceless. These self-righteousness ones are backslidden but still professing to know Christ! Yes, they know somewhat of the Christian language, but they have not the Spirit of God in their hearts. As long as they can have their way and have everyone patting them on the back, everything is all right. They get a big handshake and a "bear hug" and are running over with "love". But when the truth comes close and searching, they begin to squirm and twist, and their temper flares up. They become spiritual maniacs, with the wrong kind of spirit.

False doctrines are very bad. Sin in any form is very bad, but most forms of sin are earmarked and can with spiritual eye, be located and avoided. But Jesus told the self-righteous Pharisees, "Ye are as graves which appear not, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them." At the same time, as Matthew recorded it in the 23rd chapter,V27-28, He told them "You are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

Perhaps you are caught with this snare of self-righteousness and are not aware of your condition. Examine your life. Compare your life before you were "saved" with the life you now live. Paul tells us in 2 Cor5:17---"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." Some, before getting saved, drank, cursed, smoked, stole, lied, could not get along with their neighbors, were talebearers, gossipers, could not get along with their wife, fought, quarelled. Some could not keep their lustful eyes off the other man's wife or the other woman's husband. Some men could not leave the young women alone, lusting after them, choosing rather to be in their company than to be at home with their own wife and family. If you still have the old traits, and habits and are living in godliness and do not have control of your temper, you have not been made "new", you have not been "born again", you are not saved. We are told in Matthew 7:16-17 that we shall know people by their "fruits". In other words, we will be able to tell a Christian by the way he lives. A good tree cannot but bring forth good fruit. An evil tree can bring forth only evil fruit. Remember, God is going to bring us into judgment. Our works, our life, the example we set before others- all that pertains to us--will be weighed carefully at the judgment bar of God.