Self-Righteousness

This is something that I have had to confess and repent of and ask the Lord to forgive me of, to my shame.  I wonder how many other Christians have been caught up in this sin.

In our walk with the Lord we can fall into so many sins that we seem to be blind-sighted to.  I believe that a true born–again believer wants to live a sinless life, and by the way this is being taught in some churches.  I would like to meet someone that lives a sinless life so I could get some pointers on how this person accomplishes this in their life, it just doesn’t seem possible to me.

I know that the Apostle Paul said that we need to strive for perfection and I know that should be our goal but I also know that it seems much easier said than done.  Striving is one thing, never sinning is another.

I know that when we are born–again we have been set free of sin’s grip on our lives.  We are not enslaved by sin anymore, we have been covered and washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus, Praise God!

Then we also have the precious Holy Spirit living within us to help us to overcome sin and temptation in our lives.  Plus there is a scripture in the Bible that says something like this “That there is no temptation taken you that is uncommon to man, but with that temptation God will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to bear it.”  So what seems to be our problem, why are so many believers bound by sin?There is definitely more than one answer to this problem and it is a real problem something that needs to be addressed.

The first thing that comes to my mind is that many haven’t been taught the fear of the Lord.  If we don’t have a healthy fear of the Lord it will be easy to take Him for granted.  In Acts Chapter 5 verse 11 when Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter and the Holy Spirit it says they fell over dead and “Great fear gripped the entire church and all others who heard what happened!”  A healthy fear of the Lord will definitely help to keep us from falling into temptation and sin.

Another problem I see is that many preachers don’t preach on God being a consuming fire, a just God that has to judge sin whether it is in a believer’s life or a non-believer’s life.  The Bible says, “that judgment will start in the household of God.”  Brothers and sisters, God hates sin no matter who commits it.  God judged Ananias and Sapphira who belonged to the church, what about us when we sin.

Thank God for His love, mercy, grace and forgiveness which we seem to hear about most of the time, if not for that we would all be lost and on our way to Hell but we need to have balance in our teaching and the things we learn.

Many Christians and non-Christians alike don’t believe that there is a literal place called Hell.  They don’t believe that God will ever allow anyone to go there, but believe me He will if that is your choice.  And once you are there you will never escape the torment which goes on forever and ever.

I know this is a hard teaching but we all need to hear it and take it very seriously.

Read about some of the things that God did and allowed in the Old Testament.  Then think of this, the Bible says, “That God is the same yesterday, today and forever.  He is not a man that He should lie and He doesn’t change by turning.”

While I am typing this lesson God is speaking to me, as well as to whoever reads this.  I am not exempt just because I am typing this up with God’s help, no, if I sin I am as guilty as anyone else and I need to confess and repent also.

I think another problem is, we still have the sin nature in us, that is totally against what the Holy Spirit wants for our lives.  And many times we yield to the flesh instead of the Holy Spirit and when the temptation comes we don’t look for the way of escape that God has for us and then we sin.

Many Christians lack wisdom and knowledge because they hardly ever read their Bible and spend very little time in payer and they become stagnate, not growing in their faith.

Self-righteousness is the title of this lesson

This is a sin that I think runs rampant in the church.  Jesus said, “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees you cannot see the kingdom of Heaven.”  If you know anything about the New Testament, you know something about the Pharisees.  Most of the things they did, they did to be seen of men.  They thought they were better than the ordinary person.  They were the teachers of the Law but they didn’t keep many of the Laws, but they expected everyone else to.  When they were at a feast, they wanted the best seats.  When they prayed on the streets, it was more for show than anything else. 

There is a story in the Bible in Luke 18 verse 9–14 about a Pharisee and a tax collector.  These two were praying in the Temple.  The proud Pharisee stood by himself and prayed.  “I thank you God that I am not a sinner like everyone else. Especially like that tax collector over there.  For I never cheated, I don’t sin, I don’t commit adultery, I fast twice a week and I give you a tenth of my income.”

But the tax collector stood at a distance and dare not lift his eyes to Heaven as he prayed.  Instead he beat his chest in sorrow saying, “O God be merciful to me for I am a sinner.” Jesus said, “I tell you this sinner not the Pharisee returned home justified before God.  For the proud will be humbled but the humble will be honored.”

And what about you and me, do we compare and judge ourselves by other people?  And what about the things we do, are we doing it for a show?  Are we letting everyone else know how much we give?  And when we help people out, do we blow our own horn so everyone will know what we did? And do we think we are more important than we really are?

What are our real intentions, to get the glory for ourselves or are we doing what we do to glorify God?

Only you and God know about why you do things, or what your intentions are.

I confess, at times, I have been guilty of all these things and I have had to confess and repent, asking the Lord to forgive me and if you are guilty of all or any of these things you need to do what I did.

The word says in 1^st John 1: verse 9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”    

So if you are a Christian and confess and are really sorry for your sins you will be forgiven.  Praise God!  God bless you and have a great day.