SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS FEELS GOOD!

[Viligant_Warrior]

Throwing this out there for everyone. Is self righteousness a form of blasphemy?

::: Bump :::

Whoa! God just gave me some incredible insight!

Jesus' strongest denunciations were directed at those who were self-righteous, rather than those who were self-acknowledged sinners.

Luke 18, NASB
9 And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
10 "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
13 "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling * to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'
14 "I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."​

Just as Jesus condemns the Pharisee and uplifts the tax collector here, He often condemned the scribes and Pharisees. Take, for example, Matthew 23, which has parallels in Mark 14 and Luke 20. He says they:

• Don't practice what they preach (vv. 3-4)
• Lay guilt trips on others (v. 4)
• Do good works for show (vv. 5-7)
• Keep people away from God (v. 13)
• Devour widows' houses (v. 14)
• Evangelize for hell (v. 15)
• Reason perversely (vv. 16-22)
• Major on the minors (vv. 23-24)
• Emphasize externals (vv. 25-28)
• Honor dead saints who would have condemned them (vv. 29-33)
• Mistreat saints of their own times (v. 34)
• Will be condemned for all these things (vv/ 35-36)

Self-righteousness keeps those who practice it from entering heaven, because they can't admit their own sin and need of a Savior -- even though they may claim Christ as Savior and Lord! They may appear to be very evangelistic, but their converts are also going to hell. They keep others from even coming to God, because they identify self-righteousness with godliness.

We must ask ourselves, do we ...

• ... trust in ourselves and view others with contempt? (Luke 19:9; Romans 2:17-19)
  
• ... substitute teaching for "doing"? (Matthew 23:3; Romans 2:19-23)
• ... lay guilt trips on others for not "doing" but instead relying on faith, hope and trust in Christ? (Matthew 23:4)
• ... emphasize externals, and outward reform? (Matthew 23:5-7; 23-28)
• ... misuse the funds and gifts provided at great sacrifice by others? (Matthew 23:14)

To the extent we are self-righteous, we certainly blaspheme the Holy Spirit when we deny it is solely His action that sanctifies us but that our efforts are necessary to cling to salvation. We also blaspheme Him when we claim His convicting activity is Satan's temptation, and especially when our self-righteousness brings slander and defamation upon Christ from unbelievers.

Let us all examine our own hearts.

 

[MikkoAinasoja]

2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

what is sound doctrine?

2Ti 1:13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

The flesh loves to glory in itself, self-righteousness is like a drug. Why will some refuse the gospel and the obedience of faith and love, that brings glory to Christ alone and go about to seek their own righteousness by the law? Because it "feels" good to the flesh!

Php 3:9 ¶ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

By the law, do you mean by the Jewish law? because the Jewish law is the only law which some may claim that it's leads to the salvation by just doing the act's of that law.

And in the Bible when our dear brother Paul writes about that not by act's of the law, he means the act's of the Jewish law.

 

[WheresEnoch]

John 14
“If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

Here Christ tell us what we do IF we love Him, not if we say a sinner's prayer.
We obey Him. And again, this is how we know IF we love Christ... We walk as He walked, not in sin but by obeying God in love:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.


Cost of Discipleship
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.


So if we think we can be saved with out loving God more than ourselves and our sin, we are fooling ourselves.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.


I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’


IF we do not love Christ and do not follow Him, then we are not abiding in Him, and we will not produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Then this is our fate:

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”


I wish we would start basing our theology on the teachings of Christ and of love
Because without true self-sacrificing love for God and people we have nothing at all, not even salvation. None of the Bible will be understood properly. How do we know IF we have love for Christ... We obey Him.


1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

[Mitspa]

By the law, do you mean by the Jewish law? because the Jewish law is the only law which some may claim that it's leads to the salvation by just doing the act's of that law.

And in the Bible when our dear brother Paul writes about that not by act's of the law, he means the act's of the Jewish law.

The law of moses...every jot and tittle of it....

Ro 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 ¶ What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

 

[p_rehbein]

Colossians 3:1 .) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 .) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 .) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 .) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 .) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 .) For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 .) In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 .) But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 .) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 .) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 .) Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 .) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 .) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 .) And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 .) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 .) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 .) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.


[in reference to the original post]

 

[Mitspa]

John 14
“If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.

Here Christ tell us what we do IF we love Him, not if we say a sinner's prayer.
We obey Him. And again, this is how we know IF we love Christ... We walk as He walked, not in sin but by obeying God in love:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.


Cost of Discipleship
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.


So if we think we can be saved with out loving God more than ourselves and our sin, we are fooling ourselves.

James 1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.


I Never Knew You
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’


IF we do not love Christ and do not follow Him, then we are not abiding in Him, and we will not produce fruit in keeping with repentance. Then this is our fate:

6 And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. 7 And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ 8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”


I wish we would start basing our theology on the teachings of Christ and of love
Because without true self-sacrificing love for God and people we have nothing at all, not even salvation. None of the Bible will be understood properly. How do we know IF we have love for Christ... We obey Him.


1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

So is your righteousness by faith or from your obedience to the law?

 

[WheresEnoch]

So is your righteousness by faith or from your obedience to the law?

It is by faith/love.
If we do not love Christ, it will be obvious to all. For we will not obey His commandments

 

[Mitspa]

Colossians 3:1 .) If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 .) Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 .) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 .) When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 .) Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 .) For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 .) In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
8 .) But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
9 .) Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
10 .) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
11 .) Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
12 .) Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 .) Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 .) And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 .) And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 .) Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 .) And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.


[in reference to the original post]

Yes its wonderful how God through giving us His righteousness and His Spirit works through us who walk in faith and love...Its good that we can glory in God and His goodness in us and not in our own ability....right?

 

[Mitspa]

It is by faith/love.
If we do not love Christ, it will be obvious to all. For we will not obey His commandments

Yes and they are to believe and to love.... according to Gods ability and Spirit at work in us....no room for boasting in what we have received as a gift.

 

[WheresEnoch]

Yes its wonderful how God through giving us His righteousness and His Spirit works through us who walk in faith and love...Its good that we can glory in God and His goodness in us and not in our own ability....right?

Mitspa, have been been raised among pharisees or something?
I get the impression you hate commandments.
Hopefully not the commandments of Christ.
If you hate commandments, you despise the one who gave them.
If you do not obey the commandments, then you do not love the one who gave them.

 

[mailmandan]

Galatians 6:14 - But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

 

[Mitspa]

Mitspa, have been been raised among pharisees or something?
I get the impression you hate commandments.
Hopefully not the commandments of Christ.
If you hate commandments, you despise the one who gave them.
If you do not obey the commandments, then you do not love the one who gave them.

I hate ..hate, and legalism...hypocrisy ...just like Jesus did
And what I know is that true obedience is empowered from God, not man....Its obedience to the Spirit not a legal code. No boasting in anything but God, when true obedience is done.

What part of obey in faith and love sounds like I don't agree with the Lords commandments? Unless you think legalism is obedience, do you?

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Here Christ tell us what we do IF we love Him, not if we say a sinner's prayer.
We obey Him. And again, this is how we know IF we love Christ... We walk as He walked, not in sin but by obeying God in love:

Then why on Earth did He give us "another Advocate" if we could walk as He walked?

So if we think we can be saved with out loving God more than ourselves and our sin, we are fooling ourselves.

How have we been saved -- note, past tense, not "will be" or "may be" but "been saved"? " ... through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Salvation has already been accomplished: "For it is by grace ... " Not your useless works, not your useless efforts, not your fake self-righteousness. By His grace! And that alone.

IF we do not love Christ and do not follow Him, then we are not abiding in Him, and we will not produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

First, let's deal with "follow." I posted this elsewhere today. Obviously I need to repeat it. The Greek akolouqeo (akoloutheo) which is translated "follow" is not a "doing" command but a "learning" command. The word means to join with the rabbi who has chosen you to become his disciple -- maqeteß (mathetes, "learner, pupil" -- and to learn from Him, a command Jesus gives in Matthew 11:28.

Now, about that word "abide." The self-righteous, works-based salvation folk on here use the word as though it means to "do" or to "work" at something. So very, very wrong! The Greek is meno (meno), and not only does it simple mean "be" in a place -- simply be, not "do" -- but it also means "to be held, kept, continually." It isn't something we do, it is something Christ does for us, and that reflects back to Ephesians 2:8 when Paul specifically places salvation in the past tense!

Moreover, as to time, meno means "to continue to be, not to perish, to continue to be present," and again, not by our power or ability, but by HIS!!

How do we know IF we have love for Christ... We obey Him.

Brother, this is so close to right, but as wrong as going the wrong direction on a one-way street! We obey Him because we love Him, and our obedience is in that love! Why do you want to make it so hard, and rely on your own worthless, useless efforts?

 

[WheresEnoch]

I hate ..hate, and legalism...hypocrisy ...just like Jesus did

This I can follow.


But where you lose me is this...
Nobody can claim to have salvation without obeying Christ.
Because if we love Christ we obey His commandments.
So I do not understand where legalism comes in to this.
Unless you are talking about people who do not love Christ, yet obey His commandments...
But I'm not entirely sure that is even possible.

 

[Mitspa]

This I can follow.


But where you lose me is this...
Nobody can claim to have salvation without obeying Christ.
Because if we love Christ we obey His commandments.
So I do not understand where legalism comes in to this.
Unless you are talking about people who do not love Christ, yet obey His commandments...
But I'm not entirely sure that is even possible.

Your missing the gospel! Faith in Christ is obedience ...love as He loves us...is obedience ...trying to earn salvation by works of the law is not obedience ... your not obeying Christ if your trying to "earn" His Salvation.

 

[michael56]

I don't think I have ever come across a person who stresses literal commands must be obeyed in order to retain ones salvation, who at the same time insists the glory is God's alone for what is achieved in the individual, they can take no credit themselves. and yet, that is what God wants:

Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him John 7:18

 

[WheresEnoch]

Then why on Earth did He give us "another Advocate" if we could walk as He walked?

We can walk as He walked, and we are expected to. The Holy Spirit enables us to do that and become obedient internally, from the heart. Taking even our evil fleshly thoughts captive into obedience to Christ.

It is easy when we are born again and love God and people more than ourselves.
If we love ourselves and our sin more than God and people, than it is impossible

 

[WheresEnoch]

Your missing the gospel! Faith in Christ is obedience ...love as He loves us...is obedience ...trying to earn salvation by works of the law is not obedience ... your not obeying Christ if your trying to "earn" His Salvation.

Ok, but you cannot live in sin and say you are obedient to Christ.
You cannot live in sin and say that you love Christ. The two are mutually exclusive

As long as we agree on that, than we agree on everything.

Those who profess Christ, yet do not obey/love Him will be chopped down and burned up.
We do not earn our salvation, it is free for those who love Christ more than themselves.

Cost of Discipleship
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

 

[Mitspa]

Ok, but you cannot live in sin and say you are obedient to Christ.
You cannot live in sin and say that you love Christ. The two are mutually exclusive

As long as we agree on that, than we agree on everything.

Those who profess Christ, yet do not obey/love Him will be chopped down and burned up.
We do not earn our salvation, it is free for those who love Christ more than themselves.

Cost of Discipleship
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.

Well who is saying to live in sin? The law is the strength of sin...go tell them to not live in sin, and self-righteousness.

How is faith and love sin?

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

Nobody can claim to have salvation without obeying Christ.
Because if we love Christ we obey His commandments.

This statement flies in the face of Scripture, makes your salvation based on works, and means you should now examine yourself and seek after God for your own assurance of salvation, given your view of salvation would disqualify you from it.

Romans 3, NASB
28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.

Romans 4
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,
6 just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

Romans 5
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

Galatians 2
16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no * flesh will be justified.
​

So I do not understand where legalism comes in to this.
Unless you are talking about people who do not love Christ, yet obey His commandments...
But I'm not entirely sure that is even possible.

Legalism comes into it when you insist, against all biblical evidence, that you must "obey His commandments." The Law, clearly from the Scriptures above, does not justify anyone. Our faith does not even come from within us, but from the grace of God the Father. Flesh cannot be justified by the Law.

So what are you left with as His "commandments" that constitute obedience? Jesus teaching, Paul's teaching, all New Testament teachers jerk the rug of "obedience to His commands" right out from under you as doing nothing, leaving you with nothing but empty words that contradict God's word. I pity you. You are lost in your own self-righteousness. Come out of the darkness and into the Light. Realize He has done the work for you, and your work therefore becomes the work of gratitude, not justification, righteousness, nor your salvation.