THE SNARE OF SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS.
There are many ways to speak about the subject of self-righteousness from the Scriptures. The religious Jews of Christ's day were full of Self-righteousness. Job had some self-righteousness that needed to be worked out of him and indeed, all believers have some self-righteousness still in them. We may be guilty of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. (Rom. 12:3)
We know that Scripture teaches, that as believers, we must wholly lean on the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. WE must be clothed in His Righteousness to cover the lack of our own true righteousness before God. Mankind's righteousness, subsequent to the fall, is seen by God as filthy rags:
Isa. 64:6 For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
By God's Grace, true believers are made righteous by the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. His Righteousness, as worked out upon the cross, is imputed to the believer's account. This does not make us self-righteous but enables us to do righteous acts before God and men. Those in the Faith will do righteous works. This is promised in the Scriptures:
Eph. 2:8-10 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. According to James' Epistle, one who claims to have faith but does not demonstrate righteous works, only posses a dead faith and a form of self-righteousness. James 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
However, this type of self-righteousness is not the topic of my discussion. My topic, explores the error of believers thinking they should be more righteous in light of their sins. Becoming caught in the snare of anxiety and doubt because of sin. What do I mean by this?
Have you ever looked at your sinful life and asked yourself: "Is it possible that one who is truly saved can sin like this?" -- "Shouldn't a believer be more righteous?" If you have, then you have been snared by the error of Self-righteousness. You are looking upon your own righteousness, rather than upon your Righteous Savior. Looking erroneously in ourselves will lead to anxiety, doubt and loss of joy. You MUST keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord and upon the things above.
By God's Grace, He has given the believer a tender conscience and that conscience weighs in when the believer commits sin. It brings the believer to his/her knees and before the Mercy Seat of the Lord. There, one seeks forgiveness of sin - whether it be in thought or in deed. We must seek forgiveness of our sins everyday, (1 John 1:9) but we must not let the pain of sin cause us to think we should be more self-righteous. As said earlier, any righteous thoughts, any righteous deeds that we may have or do, is by the Grace of God and the Righteousness of His dear Son worked out for the Saints.
As a Christian matures, in knowledge of God and His purpose - the Christian matures in knowing his/her faults and wretched condition apart from God's Grace and even could be said, with God's Grace. Any good in us, as believers, is by God's doing and not our own. (1 Cor. 15:10). Therefore, in ourselves, we possess no righteousness that would be acceptable to God. We are constituted righteous because we are hidden in Christ. So let not sin make you think you should be more righteous because apart from the savior you have no righteousness. Are we called to pursue righteousness? Of course we are. Christians should pursue a life of righteousness everyday of their temporal existence. So why are my sins causing me such doubts? Stay with me here. Maturity of the Christian brings another realization before his/her eyes. The realization that sin is increasing in their lives.
What!! Does not Scripture say that we should be bringing sin under control? Should not sin, in my life, be going down and not up?
As one matures as a believer, individual sin will be more often defeated. However, as one matures and gets ever closer to God, that one gets closer to His Holiness. For God is described as being thrice Holy, (Isa. 6:3). The closer a believer gets to the Holy God, the more sin that one will see in his/her life. The believer is not truly becoming more sinful but is seeing more of the sin as God sees it. When you were a babe in Christ, you probably only recognized the major sins of the Law - like: Lies, stealing, murder, improper desires or hate but as one matures and grows in Truth and Grace, that one begins to see sins that were always there but were not seen as sin. Let me give you an example:
In these passages of Scripture, we are told to think upon and talk about the things of God from sun up to sun down:
Deu. 6:5-9 and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
This same thing can be found in the New Testament: Eph. 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Both of these texts, speak of not wasting time. If a believer, is wasting time, on things not of God - it would be constituted as a sin because we are commanded not too. A mature Christian begins to see these kinds of sin and there are many, many more.
It is in this way, true believers can begin to feel anxiety and doubt about their standing before God. Concerned we are falling short in our war against sin and we are but believing we should be able to do better. As we continue to mature, we will see even more of our sins. However, do not fall into the self-righteousness trap. You have all the righteousness and forgiveness you will ever need in Jesus Christ. Instead, strive against sin by putting on the Whole Armor of God and keeping your eyes firmly affixed upon Jesus Christ and praying constantly for more mercy, more compassion and more forgiveness. Lay hold of the joy that has been given to all in the faith and be assured that Christ will carry us all the way.
There are many ways to speak about the subject of self-righteousness from the Scriptures. The religious Jews of Christ's day were full of Self-righteousness. Job had some self-righteousness that needed to be worked out of him and indeed, all believers have some self-righteousness still in them. We may be guilty of thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. (Rom. 12:3)
We know that Scripture teaches, that as believers, we must wholly lean on the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. WE must be clothed in His Righteousness to cover the lack of our own true righteousness before God. Mankind's righteousness, subsequent to the fall, is seen by God as filthy rags:
Isa. 64:6 For we are all become as one that is unclean, and all our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment: and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
By God's Grace, true believers are made righteous by the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. His Righteousness, as worked out upon the cross, is imputed to the believer's account. This does not make us self-righteous but enables us to do righteous acts before God and men. Those in the Faith will do righteous works. This is promised in the Scriptures:
Eph. 2:8-10 for by grace have ye been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not of works, that no man should glory. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God afore prepared that we should walk in them. According to James' Epistle, one who claims to have faith but does not demonstrate righteous works, only posses a dead faith and a form of self-righteousness. James 2:26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead.
However, this type of self-righteousness is not the topic of my discussion. My topic, explores the error of believers thinking they should be more righteous in light of their sins. Becoming caught in the snare of anxiety and doubt because of sin. What do I mean by this?
Have you ever looked at your sinful life and asked yourself: "Is it possible that one who is truly saved can sin like this?" -- "Shouldn't a believer be more righteous?" If you have, then you have been snared by the error of Self-righteousness. You are looking upon your own righteousness, rather than upon your Righteous Savior. Looking erroneously in ourselves will lead to anxiety, doubt and loss of joy. You MUST keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord and upon the things above.
By God's Grace, He has given the believer a tender conscience and that conscience weighs in when the believer commits sin. It brings the believer to his/her knees and before the Mercy Seat of the Lord. There, one seeks forgiveness of sin - whether it be in thought or in deed. We must seek forgiveness of our sins everyday, (1 John 1:9) but we must not let the pain of sin cause us to think we should be more self-righteous. As said earlier, any righteous thoughts, any righteous deeds that we may have or do, is by the Grace of God and the Righteousness of His dear Son worked out for the Saints.
As a Christian matures, in knowledge of God and His purpose - the Christian matures in knowing his/her faults and wretched condition apart from God's Grace and even could be said, with God's Grace. Any good in us, as believers, is by God's doing and not our own. (1 Cor. 15:10). Therefore, in ourselves, we possess no righteousness that would be acceptable to God. We are constituted righteous because we are hidden in Christ. So let not sin make you think you should be more righteous because apart from the savior you have no righteousness. Are we called to pursue righteousness? Of course we are. Christians should pursue a life of righteousness everyday of their temporal existence. So why are my sins causing me such doubts? Stay with me here. Maturity of the Christian brings another realization before his/her eyes. The realization that sin is increasing in their lives.
What!! Does not Scripture say that we should be bringing sin under control? Should not sin, in my life, be going down and not up?
As one matures as a believer, individual sin will be more often defeated. However, as one matures and gets ever closer to God, that one gets closer to His Holiness. For God is described as being thrice Holy, (Isa. 6:3). The closer a believer gets to the Holy God, the more sin that one will see in his/her life. The believer is not truly becoming more sinful but is seeing more of the sin as God sees it. When you were a babe in Christ, you probably only recognized the major sins of the Law - like: Lies, stealing, murder, improper desires or hate but as one matures and grows in Truth and Grace, that one begins to see sins that were always there but were not seen as sin. Let me give you an example:
In these passages of Scripture, we are told to think upon and talk about the things of God from sun up to sun down:
Deu. 6:5-9 and thou shalt love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates.
This same thing can be found in the New Testament: Eph. 5:16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Both of these texts, speak of not wasting time. If a believer, is wasting time, on things not of God - it would be constituted as a sin because we are commanded not too. A mature Christian begins to see these kinds of sin and there are many, many more.
It is in this way, true believers can begin to feel anxiety and doubt about their standing before God. Concerned we are falling short in our war against sin and we are but believing we should be able to do better. As we continue to mature, we will see even more of our sins. However, do not fall into the self-righteousness trap. You have all the righteousness and forgiveness you will ever need in Jesus Christ. Instead, strive against sin by putting on the Whole Armor of God and keeping your eyes firmly affixed upon Jesus Christ and praying constantly for more mercy, more compassion and more forgiveness. Lay hold of the joy that has been given to all in the faith and be assured that Christ will carry us all the way.
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