It is being declared righteous before God based on the merits of Christ. Often overlooked is the fact that when the Pharisee prayed he was thanking God. He was not saying how great he was by himself. He knew he was not able to do good works on his own, but felt that this infused righteousness he worked with justified him. God does indeed develop righteousness in everyone to whom He imputes righteousness, but we never achieve perfection in this life (Philippians 3:4-19). Works are the fruit, not the root of justification (Ephesians 2:10). This is the great danger, the teaching that the imparted righteousness whereby we can indeed do good works is the grounds of our justification, instead of the imputed righteousness of Christ to our account.
For some to justify means to make righteous rather than to declare righteous (cf. our sermon A Nail Pierces the Darkness). The Roman Catholic Church talks of grace and being saved by the merits of Christ alone. However, they teach that we receive the grace of God, and the merits of Christ, and are made righteous based on our participating in the sacraments of the church. Yet the Bible is clear that the gospel which saves the soul (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) does not include sacraments such as water baptism (1 Corinthians 1:17).
Also the Roman Catholic version of Communion (Eucharist) is turned into a righteous act on the part of the participant in which they maintain or continue their saving relationship with God. They believe that the real physical presence of Jesus is in the bread and wine and that it is the continuing sacrifice of Christ over and over to assist the participant in the continued removal of personal sin. The Bible is clear that this cannot be the case (Hebrews 9:24-28). The Bible clearly teaches that we receive the grace of God by faith alone, and not faith in any work, including a sacrament (John 5:24 / Romans 3:20-24 / Galatians 2:16 / Ephesians 2:8-9).
The difference is the difference between a saving faith that relies on an external atonement for sin and a misplaced faith that relies in an internal abatement of sin. We should be thankful that we have been given a measure of freedom from the power of sin in this life, but we must be careful to never equate this with our righteous standing before God.
Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. (Luke 8:55 – NIV)
Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26), but Jesus is the giver of life. He spoke to her as if she was alive because God “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).
Notice that she was given meat to eat; you see, although Jesus performed in the supernatural realm that did not mean that natural means were not used as well. She was brought back to life, but her life was not now supernaturally different, it would have to be lived as it was before she died. She had not eaten for a long time and she needed food. Likewise Elijah was given super speed by the hand of the Lord (1 Kings 18:46), but he probably needed a drink of water afterwards!
Applying this to our lives is important. For example, after we have received a healing or deliverance, say from cancer caused by smoking, we cannot just go back to our habit and expect to still remain unhurt. A supernatural intervention does not negate all the laws of physics from that point on, because a “miracle”, or God moving in an overtly providential way (healing, deliverance, etc.) is for a specific thing and a specific time. You get a second chance, another choice, but not a permanent vacation from responsibility.
Consider that the Israelites still had to walk across the Red Sea, and later they still had to look up at the brazen serpent, otherwise they would have died. It is not hard to imagine that some saw this provision as foolishness, and died as a result of not obeying God. Similarly we must cooperate with God and not fall back to our old ways and make the grace of God of none effect.
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, let us not run back to the jail cell, or be so hasty to place the shackles back on our feet. When we are set free from bondage, we are only setting ourselves up for more problems if we do not turn to something else. How terribly often have we heard of or known someone (or been someone!) that has overcome an addiction, only to pick it back up again worse than before. This is why we should listen to Peter (2 Peter 2:20-22) talk about the passage in Proverbs 26:11 that says the dog returns to his vomit again.
We need new food. We must feed on Christ, and not just be free from Satan. We need to be released from the enemy’s power, for sure, but we must not become a “dry place” that is, we must stay “wet” with the overflow of the Spirit in our lives (John 7:37-39). This is why we must trade our old habits for newer, godly ones, we must spend our time not idle, but engaging in spiritual disciplines such as bible study and prayer, and have an accountability factor in our lives to assure us that we don’t slide back into sin. This is a powerful reason to understand why we need to be plugged in to a local body of believers. God often shows His providential provision thorough conventional channels, His supernatural power through natural means.
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (Luke 1:6 – ESV)
When the bible speaks of men like Noah as blameless or perfect it does not mean that they were without sin, and it does not mean that they were good enough to be saved apart from God’s grace. Verses such as Luke 2:25 and Acts 10:2 point to people who were devout followers of God, but this doesn’t mean that they were saved because of their own merits. They were doing all they knew to do, but they were not sinless, and they still needed atonement. Considering the Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:6 shows that although Paul was blameless according to the Pharisaical understanding of the Law, he knew it still wasn’t enough to make him truly righteous, he needed the righteousness of faith in Christ (3:9).
1 Timothy 3:2, in giving the qualifications for being a church leader, also gives us the point about the idea of being blameless. The meaning of blameless is not sinless, but irreproachable. We also see Paul instructing those wanting to be a deacon to be tested first and to be found blameless before taking that office (3:10). It is not about being perfect, but about being proved and being proper. 1 Timothy 5:7 gives additional evidence of this.
Friends, no one is without sin, and yet there are people without blame. In situations where you are not guilty of any offense, say in some other event across the world, it is easy to see that you are without blame in that matter. Put this in the realm of known rebellion. If you are not in any way bringing reproach to the name of Christ by harboring sin, and you have no cause to hide your life were it to be seen before all, then in that sense you can be said to be blameless. This is what is meant by our text above. They were not sinless, and yet they were blameless. To say blameless is to say that nobody could charge them with any open rebellion, no scandalous sin. They were living honestly and without offense, and this is as ministers are supposed to do, that the ministry be not blamed by their blame.
Now being blameless doesn’t mean that no one is ever going to accuse you falsely, or misrepresent or you, or misconstrue what you have said. It means that you will be proven over time, you will be shown to have been blameless. When 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says “Abstainfrom all appearance of evil” we must take into consideration that some only have the evil eye, and we cannot avoid looking bad to them. To those we would say this: if you look for sin, you will find it, but how about looking in the mirror first, you will find all you can handle right there.
“Who are you to tell me?” “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.” “Judge not lest ye be judged.” How often do we hear someone rationalize their rebellion by using the excuse that no one is without sin, and so therefore no one has the right to do anything about said rebellion? The truth is that a rebellious attitude is different from a repentant one. There must be a minimum standard of faithfulness for a certain standard of fellowship. Just because we have no sinless doesn’t mean we have no standards. We cannot be sinless, but we should be blameless.
Listen to the audio or you might get the wrong idea. The New Testament teaches grace giving. We will first look at the concept of tithing as seen in the Old Testament, and then discuss how this relates to the New Testament, and what it teaches about giving and stewardship in general.
For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42 – ESV)
How many times have you wondered, or heard someone else wonder if they were supposed to “tithe” based on net or gross income? Well, without even considering whether or not the tithe is a New Testament ideal, we need to discuss something. Regarding your giving, the “net or gross” question shows you are in the wrong ballpark altogether – it is not a question of a duty to be discharged but of a devotion to be discovered (2 Corinthians 9:7).
You don’t have to try and find out exactly the line where you need to start; most are doing that so as to know what they can avoid doing. It’s like the parable of the Good Samaritan, the lawyer wanted to know who his neighbor was, not so he could know who to love, but so he could know who he didn’t have to. The same happens when it comes to the matter of giving to the church. It’s not that people don’t want to give too little; it’s that they don’t want to give too much! You could give whatever it is that you feel is your “obligation”, and discharge your “duty” and God still not have your heart. You are commanded to give, but even if you found some imaginary line where God was happy with, it is only a start, not a finish (Luke 17:10).
Okay, now, for those of you just looking for a fight: does the New Testament teach that we must tithe? No, it doesn't. But let me tell you that it does teach that we should give and that we should be cheerful givers. Those that want to wrangle over not having to give or about some imaginary line or limit are not the most cheerful people to be around.
It is about faithfulness, but the bigger item, and the one that you never seem to hear the preachers and teachers talk about, or when they do you go temporarily deaf, is that giving is also a matter of worship. Not obligation, like, “you better give off the gross, dude, or God’s gonna be mad.” No. Giving is worship.
If we love a sports team, we watch their games, we pay to see them at the stadium, we buy their souvenirs, and we wear their apparel, which we paid for. We even dress our little kids in their little team clothes. We wear the shoes that the big stars are wearing, and we learn all the new buzzwords and catch phrases of those whom we worship.
Now follow me here, and realize that giving is a form of and a part of worship. It doesn’t mean that everything we give to we worship, but what is put foremost in our minds, that thing we will give our utmost to. Think about sports teams that you see people love and how they defend and promote them, and don’t you just wish we would do it for Jesus? We root for them even when their season isn’t going so well. We praise them when it is, and we aren’t ashamed of it when they lose a game, we speak of how they will eventually bounce back. We give our money, our time, our energy, and our devotion. Where we give is where we worship. Jesus said that where your treasure is, that is where your heart is (Matthew 6:21). How can you say you don’t have to give and still believe that God has your heart?
I’m not asking you to give more money. Giving more doesn’t necessarily mean you are more devoted. It isn’t the quantity but the quality. So if you are down in cash this month but have an extra amount of time, then give what you have to give. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), what do you talk about the most, Jesus or the football team, or your favorite movie star, or hit song? Whatever it is that has the majority of your attention, that is what has your devotion. What do you think of first thing in the morning?
Let’s get practical, then. Don’t give the church the money for your light bill, but don’t neglect the church just to buy a fancy new light fixture. Own stuff; don’t let it own you. Better yet, realize that you don’t own stuff; it is on loan to you. We do not need to debate whether or not tithing is commanded or even recognized in the New Testament; all that is doing is wrangling over a disputed idea (1 Timothy 6:4).
It isn’t a matter of doctrine; the truth is that for many the simplest way to be disciplined is by giving the first 10 percent right off the top, and that is why we see this principle used in the church today. We don’t have to argue, but if you were to look at those that would teach “against” tithing, or those who try and justify why they don’t need to give you might be surprised at what you see and the lack of discipline in their lives. If you are giving more than 10 percent but not “tithing” per se, wonderful, but in any event make sure you are honoring God by giving Him your heart, and that would include your wallet.
Sowing out of a desire for gain will get you the gain all right, but it won’t be what you expect (Galatians 6:7 / 1 Timothy 6:5-10). Don’t use tithing as a means to an end, the end being your own desire for wealth (Ezekiel 33:31). Don’t turn tithing into a work and don’t use giving to the church to dismiss your obligations to the IRS or from taking care of your sick relatives or paying your bills and think that God is pleased with this, He isn’t (Isaiah 29:13 / Mark 7:6-13).
The concept of giving in the New Testament is not some rule we have to keep in order to keep God off our back or to curry favor with God, but so we will put first things first, and God will help us take care of the rest. It shouldn’t make you give less, but want to give more.
Giving is a blessing not a burden, but please don’t give out of compulsion. You can’t give because you feel forced and expect God to understand. As long as you see it as a burden it will not have the effect you desire. God knows your heart, and you can give and give and give, but if you don’t do it out of love, it will profit you nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). We can give without loving but we can’t love without giving.
…everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14 – ESV)
Humility is God’s dress code standard for the church. Those that come before God clothed with humility can wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness (cf. Jeremiah 23:6), and leave justified in God’s sight. As an illustration, Luke 18:9-14 is the quintessential summary of the difference between those whom God will justify and those that seek to justify themselves.
I am often asked what the dress code of our church is. “Can we wear jeans, can ladies wear pants, do we have to wear a tie, and will we feel out of place if we don’t dress up?” I am thankful for this because it gives me an opportunity to address the real issue. I say, “The only thing we ask is that you come clothed with humility.”
Pride was the first sin, the sin of Satan. It was the “genesis” of sin if you will (cf. Isaiah 14:12-14 / Ezekiel 28:11-19). This mother of all sins has filtered down to our age and remains as the great wall between man and God (1 John 2:16), between a righteousness that saves and one that doesn’t. It is a lack of humility that keeps the great mass of people from faith and salvation.
The Scriptures are replete with the notion that God hates pride and loves humility. Pride is an abomination to God (Proverbs 6:17), and humility is absolutely necessary for salvation. Many teachings touch on this theme in varying ways (cf. Luke 10:25-37 / Psalm 34:2 / Isaiah 57:15, 66:2). Certainly this is true of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Self-righteous sin takes the form of a two-pronged pride. Firstly, like the people who are using the standards of others to determine what to wear to church, the self righteous use a comparison with others as the standard of their own righteousness. The Pharisee looked at other people and determined he was doing the Lord’s will.
Many in the church today, as well as those who don’t think they need God, think that because they are “ahead of the pack”, that this makes them righteous. But the standard for righteousness to which the Bible directs us is not that of other people but that of God. The focus is wrong.
Secondly, while comparing ourselves with others is not right, neither is comparing one’s self with his own self. Even if we have made great strides in our walk with God, and lived a more holy life, it is not that life that will justify us before God. Again, the focus is wrong.
The world follows suit. Self-help, self-improvement, self-empowerment, self-esteem, self-awareness, self-actualization, “self” magazines, it goes on and on, the great focus of humanity is on self. Even in the church we often see teaching geared toward becoming a better or more successful person rather than on the person of Jesus Christ.
It seems to be about what God has done in us, rather than on what God has done for us. We feel as if we “do our best” that this sincere effort is what justifies us. This is precisely what the Pharisee thought. The world would applaud this man today, probably calling him a “true saint” or “one of God’s choice servants”.
No matter how good we are, however, it can never be good enough. What the Pharisee said about himself was true, but the Bible says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The standard is the perfect righteousness of Jesus, who said, “Be ye perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).”
Paul spoke to both sides of self-righteousness when he said, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).”
Often overlooked is the fact that when the Pharisee prayed he was thanking God. He was not saying how great he was by himself. He had a sense of humility, but not true humility. He knew he was not able to do good works on his own, but felt that these justified him. God does indeed develop righteousness in everyone to whom he imputes righteousness (Romans 8:1-4 / Philippians 1:6), but we never achieve perfection in this life. Works are the fruit, not the root of justification (Ephesians 2:10).
This is the great danger, the teaching that the imparted righteousness whereby we can indeed do good works is the grounds of our justification, instead of the imputed righteousness of Christ to our account. Our good works give evidence to our faith (Matthew 7:20 / James 2:18) but they do not save us (Romans 3:20). This is subtle but is explained by saying that for some to justify is to make righteous rather than to declare righteous. The difference is the difference between a saving faith that relies on an external atonement for sin and a misplaced faith that relies in an internal abatement of sin.
The snare of self-righteousness makes many feel or claim to be sanctified when they are only sanctimonious. The truth is we must continue to walk in repentance and faith even after we have been justified. Martin Luther, in writing the first of his ninety-five theses said that the whole life of a believer should be repentance.
We should be thankful that we have been given a measure of freedom from the power of sin in this life, but we must be careful to never equate this with our righteous standing before God. You are not to thank God for your righteousness compared to others, but thank Him for His righteousness accredited to you because of the Atonement.
In Christ we are righteous, yes, but being “in Christ” is the key. Considering our spiritual state, it has been said that the more light we have, the more dust we see. It isn’t about self-loathing. The Church’s dress code deals with whether we see with our true condition before God or does the lens we view ourselves from have a “wrong focus”.
The question is, simply, “Are you wearing the right glasses?”
Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. (Luke 10:21)
Jesus rejoiced “in the Spirit” it is rendered in some translations, which fits our discussion here. Whenever we are praising God for His sovereign will having being done, we can rest assured that we are doing this “in the Spirit”, for no man calls Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3 / Matthew 16:17).
Here Jesus reveals one of the principles of the Kingdom, that God’s spiritual laws are unlike man’s laws. We think that we can and that we must become wise in our own fleshly ways, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). A person can quote every single scripture ever written, but only if the Spirit has opened their heart will they ever understand the spiritual truth contained in them.
Most never come to the realization that God’s economy works inversely to man’s laws (such as give and it shall be given to you, you must die to live, etc.) because no man can understand the things of God but by the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). The carnal mind is enmity toward God (Romans 8:7), and is not subject to (read: submitted to) God’s spiritual laws, and so only benefits by them through circumstance, not through a purposeful seeking after God.
The key to understanding the laws that govern God’s Kingdom is to realize that the processes of the kingdom are inverted; they are exactly the opposite of what the world teaches, and at first glance, they seem to be counter-intuitive. To obtain what we desire, we have to do the opposite of what we would normally do. When the world says stop, Jesus says go. When the world says go for it, Jesus says no. The laws of inversion are actually the fruits of a Christ-centered life, and this, as Christians know, is diametrically opposed to the world’s views.
The world says that tolerance is the highest virtue, it says “don’t fence me in”, and “don’t tread on me”, or “it is my right to do with my body what I want”. Jesus says that our bodies are not our own. The world says that you must have self-esteem, build up your self-image, and be self-actualized. Jesus says that you must empty yourself to be truly fulfilled by Him. The world says that you have to “grab all you can, can all you grab, sit on the can, and poison the rest”. Jesus says that you must give things away before you can truly have anything worthwhile.
The world says you have to be aggressive, that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, that you must be a self promoter to get ahead, that you have to step over people, or step on them, to advance in life. Jesus says that we must humble ourselves, and God will lift us up. The last shall be first, He says. The world says that we must stay on the cutting edge of technology, be at the vanguard of New Age thinking and postmodern philosophy, and go with the flow. Jesus says that we must become fools to the world’s ways to become truly wise. The world says that might makes right, but Jesus says that when we are weak we are strong. The world says you have got to “go for the gusto”, and have a “lust for life”. Jesus says that we must lose our lives if we are to find them. Jesus truly wants to turn your life upside down, and inside out.
The right way for the people in the church to treat the pastor
Galatians 4:12-20 ·Their attitude must not be determined by his personal appearance or personality. ·Their attitude must not be determined by their own theological fancies or desire for advancement. ·Their attitude should be determined by his loyalty to the apostolic message in the Bible. ·They should love him with tender mercies and listen to him with eager ears.
The right way for the pastor to treat the people in the church
Galatians 4:12-20 · He must be willing to serve and sacrifice for them. · He must tell them the truth, even if it seems to make him an enemy. · He must love them deeply, but never for a selfish motive (unlike Judaizers). · He must desire to see more than mere excitement, but zeal for good things. · He must desire to see Jesus formed in them, not himself in them.
Responsibilities of congregants to elders
1 Corinthians 16:15-16 ·In subjection to servant leaders (support their service)
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 ·Know them (Respect them) ·Esteem them
1 Timothy 5:17-19 ·17 – honor all elders, special emphasis on teaching elders ·18 – Those that labor to teach are to be remunerated so as to make their living from it and not have to worry about money but focus on the Word (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:11-14 / Luke 10:7 / Galatians 6:6). ·19 – No accusation is to be listened to against an elder unless there is evidence from 2 or 3 witnesses, they are always in public eye and accusation can be common. This also shows us importance of making sure elders are truly called and installed as elders, that they meet and live out the qualifications.
Hebrews 13:7, 17 ·Watch their walk and imitate their godliness ·We should be in submission to our spiritual leaders because they have to give an account (cf. James 3:1) ·We should attempt to be a blessing not a burden
What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!" (Luke 11:11-13 – ESV)
People often say that if we ask God for something good He won’t give us something evil, and they use this text as proof. This is true. However, we might ask God for something, and yet receive something else from someone else and think it is God who gave it. Just because we ask God for something doesn’t mean anything we get is from God. True, if you ask the Father for a fish, the Father is not going to give you a snake. But that is the test – if you get a snake, you know it wasn’t God who gave it to you.
Instead of looking at your own desires for it to be something good, look at what is produced. You may want a fish, but you may be asking the wrong source. It is not “look at what is given and it must be good”, but “look at what is given and you can know where it came from”. It is not that whatever comes must be deemed as good, but that whatever comes must point to the source.
What we receive must be consistent with whatever else God has already revealed. If God doesn’t give it, you don’t want it, no matter how “good” it may seem. James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
You may be wanting and hungering and needing something God isn’t going to give, but Satan will, and so when you get it you automatically think it is from God because you asked for it. To your mind it was good to ask for it, and so whatever you got was good, it was from God, or so you think. But there is the problem, we may have thought we wanted something good, but we have actually asked amiss, for our own desire to be an instrument in an area God doesn’t want us to deal with others in. We may be asking for something God isn’t giving, like some made up mantle or whatever, then when something else comes we think we got what we asked for but what we got was some counterfeit.
We must be wary at all times, not knowing the extent to which God will allow the enemy to influence our lives. If we leave a foothold to Satan, God may allow him to use it to test us to see if we are truly faithful or not. It is as if we come asking and waiting and we will wait till we get something, but perhaps God isn’t the one who gave it. As if all the asking seeking and knocking means we can always get what we ask for, even when it isn’t what God wants for us. There are things, even good things, which God in His providence does not desire for us to have. It is not about our desire it is about His.
Our motives are not what we think they are and too often we judge them by our feelings and so then God becomes a projection of our best feelings, our inclinations to do “good”.
So when we ask God for something good, it is true He won’t give us something bad, but that doesn’t mean we will get anything at all, and it isn’t true that He will prevent us from receiving something bad from someone else just because we “claim” this verse as our protection. You can “get’ something, and it not be from God.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4 – But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
We can be Christians and receive the ideas of false spirits, not necessarily possession, but false doctrine and false signs and wonders and teachers, and false systems, etc. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
We must be diligent and on guard against counterfeits. We cannot just wait around till we get something and then declare that it is of God. We must learn to discern, to test what is going on. How can we do that if the something we are waiting on is some anointing that some prophet claims we can have if we ask for it or receive it when it isn’t found in scripture or it is twisted out of its context and made to seem like something we can have when it isn’t? That is the problem when using Luke 11:11-13 as some sort of defense against counterfeit gifts; when we ask for something God doesn’t allow, doesn’t want us to have, or simply doesn’t exist. So you may have this verse memorized, and that is good, but you cannot have it as an unbeatable weapon in your arsenal against deception.
Some think that their motives are pure, saying, “I just want to be used by God”. Well then just be used by God right now in whatever you are normally doing. Oswald Chambers said, “Drudgery is the test of genuine character. The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life is that we will only look for big things to do” (My Utmost For His Highest: June 15).
Now what we often mean when we say “I just want to be used by God” is that we want the excitement of being used by God in some mighty way, or what we think is mighty. However, anyone who can go about the daily life giving God the glory and being excellent in whatever they are doing now, that is the person who is being used by God.
If you are growing in grace, not gifts, but fruit and holiness, in repentance and faithfulness, God is using you. If you are evangelizing out there everyday without those power gifts, God is using you. Remember those in Matthew 7:21-23, they thought that doing God’s will was using power gifts to do His work. They had the power but they didn’t have Christ.
…and the rough places shall become level ways (Luke 3:5 – ESV)
Sandpaper people. You know, those folks that seem to always rub you the wrong way. We may not understand, but they are there for a reason. And guess what; you are a sandpaper person for someone else. We are all sandpaper people. We are all rough around the edges. So why do we need or have so much scraping going on? Lets try and shed some light on this subject.
Consider first how an oyster makes a pearl. The formation of a pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. Something gets under its skin, as it were. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create its own shell. This eventually forms a pearl. So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of nacre.
Spiritually speaking, we can relate the nacre to our love for one another. When someone is an irritation, when someone gets under your skin, cover them with the mantle of love. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8 – ESV).
Some people may seem like nothing but a thorn in your side. Remember what Paul said about his thorn, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 – ESV). Sandpaper people help you develop the pearl of patience.
Now think about diamonds. The transformation of a lump of coal into a diamond also involves a mantle. Diamonds are formed deep in the Earth, most likely in the upper mantle, and far below the level at which coal is found. Coal is never turned directly into diamonds. Diamonds are found only when brought up through volcanic action.
You see it takes some fiery trials to turn your lumps of coal into multifaceted, sparkling diamonds. We may believe that some people have nothing to offer us but heartache, headache, and bellyache. However, the poorest of the poor (even in attitude) have something of value for you to receive; it is our pride that hinders us. In his epistles, when Paul says he is praying “for you all” he means even sandpaper people have value.
Spiritually speaking, the mantle that fires those lumps of coal, the mantle that covers those irritants, and turns them into diamonds and pearls is the mantle of God’s love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).
The environment of believers will always be imperfect, but their rough edges will help to smooth out your wrinkles. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). People are like “mirrors” in which we can see ourselves as we really are. Through others we can see attitudes and characteristics of our own immaturity – weaknesses in us that need to be perfected. If there is bitterness or a lack of love, it will become exposed. This is why some people run from church to church – because it exposes their bad side. But when you hide from church, you are exposed.
Sandpaper people are there to help us shine up, and for us to see our own rough spots. If a person remains an “island” to themselves they will never have to face up to the spiritual immaturity within them. But exposing themselves to the sandpaper people will cause them to face conflicts that must be overcome in order to grow up. A sign of a spiritually mature person is that they can be loving and patient with anyone (1 John 2:10 / Galatians 5:22-23). Sandpaper people may not even realize it, but God has them doing you a favor.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29)
The parable of the Good Samaritan has been taught on countless times, and it has much to show us with regards to the presumption of faith. There are several things that we need to point out here. First, the lawyer obviously had the wrong motive for asking Jesus this question anyway, as it says he tempted him and that he wished to justify himself.
Don’t be too quick to dismiss yourself from this aspect of the passage, however. Many times we presume upon what God means by the law, pouring our own righteousness into it. We also may at times question the rightness of what God seems to be saying, or twist the text to mean something it doesn’t by trying to read into it, like this lawyer was doing. This lawyer, in trying to justify himself, sought an exact meaning of “neighbor”, so as to have a formula for righteousness.
Imagine him at the judgment: “But I loved my neighbor, just like you said to; I followed your commands to the letter”. Of course, this shows that what he was really trying to do was get a license to be able to love only those he must in order to inherit eternal life, and to necessarily exclude all others, at his personal discretion. Again, we see the results of trying to develop an exact method using the scriptures in an overly literal, all encompassing way.
Think about the child whose mother tells her that she cannot ride her bike to the park; she goes anyway, and when her mother scolds her, she cries, “I didn’t ride my bike, I walked”. Can you see how childish and utterly ridiculous this lawyer is being in this passage now?
Still, we see that today many have not taken this lesson from Jesus. They will take one or a few verses, and then dogmatically assert that this is the prescription for righteousness, instead of comparing these verses with others, using the clear, overall teaching of the Bible as a guide. All this is doing is the same thing the lawyer (and all religions apart from true Christianity) was attempting: to bring a measure of works to the kingdom of God. Christians have been deceived into jumping through spiritual hoops. Place your faith in Christ alone as your hope, not only of salvation, but also of sanctification. Only a justified sinner can battle effectively against sin. Overcoming sin comes from a relationship not for a relationship.
Salvation is not a process, where we do this, then achieve that type of deal. There is no must do order of salvation, it is of grace alone. This does not mean that we will not do these things that are evident in a true Christian life. Yes, we repent, get baptized in water, read our Bibles, pray, and pursue sanctification. But these are measures of obedience, not means of saving grace. These things are a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.
This fact points beautifully to the next aspect of Christ’s teaching here in this parable: the idea of duty. By showing us the priest and the Levite specifically, Christ was definitely trying to convey something even more than the fact that being a neighbor means more than your own kind.
Imagine the priest; he was on his way to the service; he had no time to help; he was already going to go help his parishioners, and there were hundreds of them, not just one man. Besides, how can he be expected to care for everyone he came across that needed help, he had his own flock to care for, and God put him in charge of these people, so God would want him to take care of his own? He had a prior commitment: there will always be people that need help; his job was to help those already entrusted into his care. Christ is putting his second commandment above prior duty. Those parishioners will still be there; this man may have died, and he needed help immediately.
Imagine the Levite; he was heading to the temple; no way could he touch this man, he had consecrated himself. The temple service he was going to happened only once a year; God would be furious if he defiled his hands just to help one soul, he was sacrificing for the sins of a whole community. Again, obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Jesus destroys the self-righteous lawyer’s, and many believers’ attitude.
Never are we to presume that we have the right way; we must continue to seek God, not trust in our own inventions, justified by our own pathetic knowledge of God gained by scripture twisting. Duty and prior commitment, even about church matters, can be no excuse to ignore the calling by God to demonstrate Christ-likeness.
And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. (Luke 1:6 – ESV)
When the bible speaks of men like Noah as blameless or perfect it does not mean that they were without sin, and it does not mean that they were good enough to be saved apart from God’s grace. Verses such as Luke 2:25 and Acts 10:2 point to people who were devout followers of God, but this doesn’t mean that they were saved because of their own merits. They were doing all they knew to do, but they were not sinless, and they still needed atonement. Considering the Apostle Paul, Philippians 3:6 shows that although Paul was blameless according to the Pharisaical understanding of the Law, he knew it still wasn’t enough to make him truly righteous, he needed the righteousness of faith in Christ (3:9).
1 Timothy 3:2, in giving the qualifications for being a church leader, also gives us the point about the idea of being blameless. The meaning of blameless is not sinless, but irreproachable. We also see Paul instructing those wanting to be a deacon to be tested first and to be found blameless before taking that office (3:10). It is not about being perfect, but about being proved and being proper. 1 Timothy 5:7 gives additional evidence of this.
Friends, no one is without sin, and yet there are people without blame. In situations where you are not guilty of any offense, say in some other event across the world, it is easy to see that you are without blame in that matter. Put this in the realm of known rebellion. If you are not in any way bringing reproach to the name of Christ by harboring sin, and you have no cause to hide your life were it to be seen before all, then in that sense you can be said to be blameless. This is what is meant by our text above. They were not sinless, and yet they were blameless. To say blameless is to say that nobody could charge them with any open rebellion, no scandalous sin. They were living honestly and without offense, and this is as ministers are supposed to do, that the ministry be not blamed by their blame.
Now being blameless doesn’t mean that no one is ever going to accuse you falsely, or misrepresent or you, or misconstrue what you have said. It means that you will be proven over time, you will be shown to have been blameless. When 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says “Abstainfrom all appearance of evil” we must take into consideration that some only have the evil eye, and we cannot avoid looking bad to them. To those we would say this: if you look for sin, you will find it, but how about looking in the mirror first, you will find all you can handle right there.
“Who are you to tell me?” “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.” “Judge not lest ye be judged.” How often do we hear someone rationalize their rebellion by using the excuse that no one is without sin, and so therefore no one has the right to do anything about said rebellion? The truth is that a rebellious attitude is different from a repentant one. There must be a minimum standard of faithfulness for a certain standard of fellowship. Just because we have no sinless doesn’t mean we have no standards. We cannot be sinless, but we should be blameless.
Listen to the audio or you might get the wrong idea. The New Testament teaches grace giving. We will first look at the concept of tithing as seen in the Old Testament, and then discuss how this relates to the New Testament, and what it teaches about giving and stewardship in general.
For you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. (Luke 11:42 – ESV)
How many times have you wondered, or heard someone else wonder if they were supposed to “tithe” based on net or gross income? Well, without even considering whether or not the tithe is a New Testament ideal, we need to discuss something. Regarding your giving, the “net or gross” question shows you are in the wrong ballpark altogether – it is not a question of a duty to be discharged but of a devotion to be discovered (2 Corinthians 9:7).
You don’t have to try and find out exactly the line where you need to start; most are doing that so as to know what they can avoid doing. It’s like the parable of the Good Samaritan, the lawyer wanted to know who his neighbor was, not so he could know who to love, but so he could know who he didn’t have to. The same happens when it comes to the matter of giving to the church. It’s not that people don’t want to give too little; it’s that they don’t want to give too much! You could give whatever it is that you feel is your “obligation”, and discharge your “duty” and God still not have your heart. You are commanded to give, but even if you found some imaginary line where God was happy with, it is only a start, not a finish (Luke 17:10).
Okay, now, for those of you just looking for a fight: does the New Testament teach that we must tithe? No, it doesn't. But let me tell you that it does teach that we should give and that we should be cheerful givers. Those that want to wrangle over not having to give or about some imaginary line or limit are not the most cheerful people to be around.
It is about faithfulness, but the bigger item, and the one that you never seem to hear the preachers and teachers talk about, or when they do you go temporarily deaf, is that giving is also a matter of worship. Not obligation, like, “you better give off the gross, dude, or God’s gonna be mad.” No. Giving is worship.
If we love a sports team, we watch their games, we pay to see them at the stadium, we buy their souvenirs, and we wear their apparel, which we paid for. We even dress our little kids in their little team clothes. We wear the shoes that the big stars are wearing, and we learn all the new buzzwords and catch phrases of those whom we worship.
Now follow me here, and realize that giving is a form of and a part of worship. It doesn’t mean that everything we give to we worship, but what is put foremost in our minds, that thing we will give our utmost to. Think about sports teams that you see people love and how they defend and promote them, and don’t you just wish we would do it for Jesus? We root for them even when their season isn’t going so well. We praise them when it is, and we aren’t ashamed of it when they lose a game, we speak of how they will eventually bounce back. We give our money, our time, our energy, and our devotion. Where we give is where we worship. Jesus said that where your treasure is, that is where your heart is (Matthew 6:21). How can you say you don’t have to give and still believe that God has your heart?
I’m not asking you to give more money. Giving more doesn’t necessarily mean you are more devoted. It isn’t the quantity but the quality. So if you are down in cash this month but have an extra amount of time, then give what you have to give. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), what do you talk about the most, Jesus or the football team, or your favorite movie star, or hit song? Whatever it is that has the majority of your attention, that is what has your devotion. What do you think of first thing in the morning?
Let’s get practical, then. Don’t give the church the money for your light bill, but don’t neglect the church just to buy a fancy new light fixture. Own stuff; don’t let it own you. Better yet, realize that you don’t own stuff; it is on loan to you. We do not need to debate whether or not tithing is commanded or even recognized in the New Testament; all that is doing is wrangling over a disputed idea (1 Timothy 6:4).
It isn’t a matter of doctrine; the truth is that for many the simplest way to be disciplined is by giving the first 10 percent right off the top, and that is why we see this principle used in the church today. We don’t have to argue, but if you were to look at those that would teach “against” tithing, or those who try and justify why they don’t need to give you might be surprised at what you see and the lack of discipline in their lives. If you are giving more than 10 percent but not “tithing” per se, wonderful, but in any event make sure you are honoring God by giving Him your heart, and that would include your wallet.
Sowing out of a desire for gain will get you the gain all right, but it won’t be what you expect (Galatians 6:7 / 1 Timothy 6:5-10). Don’t use tithing as a means to an end, the end being your own desire for wealth (Ezekiel 33:31). Don’t turn tithing into a work and don’t use giving to the church to dismiss your obligations to the IRS or from taking care of your sick relatives or paying your bills and think that God is pleased with this, He isn’t (Isaiah 29:13 / Mark 7:6-13).
The concept of giving in the New Testament is not some rule we have to keep in order to keep God off our back or to curry favor with God, but so we will put first things first, and God will help us take care of the rest. It shouldn’t make you give less, but want to give more.
Giving is a blessing not a burden, but please don’t give out of compulsion. You can’t give because you feel forced and expect God to understand. As long as you see it as a burden it will not have the effect you desire. God knows your heart, and you can give and give and give, but if you don’t do it out of love, it will profit you nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). We can give without loving but we can’t love without giving.
…and the rough places shall become level ways (Luke 3:5 – ESV)
Sandpaper people. You know, those folks that seem to always rub you the wrong way. We may not understand, but they are there for a reason. And guess what; you are a sandpaper person for someone else. We are all sandpaper people. We are all rough around the edges. So why do we need or have so much scraping going on? Lets try and shed some light on this subject.
Consider first how an oyster makes a pearl. The formation of a pearl begins when a foreign substance slips into the oyster between the mantle and the shell, which irritates the mantle. It's kind of like the oyster getting a splinter. Something gets under its skin, as it were. The mantle covers the irritant with layers of the same nacre substance that is used to create its own shell. This eventually forms a pearl. So a pearl is a foreign substance covered with layers of nacre.
Spiritually speaking, we can relate the nacre to our love for one another. When someone is an irritation, when someone gets under your skin, cover them with the mantle of love. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8 – ESV).
Some people may seem like nothing but a thorn in your side. Remember what Paul said about his thorn, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:10 – ESV). Sandpaper people help you develop the pearl of patience.
Now think about diamonds. The transformation of a lump of coal into a diamond also involves a mantle. Diamonds are formed deep in the Earth, most likely in the upper mantle, and far below the level at which coal is found. Coal is never turned directly into diamonds. Diamonds are found only when brought up through volcanic action.
You see it takes some fiery trials to turn your lumps of coal into multifaceted, sparkling diamonds. We may believe that some people have nothing to offer us but heartache, headache, and bellyache. However, the poorest of the poor (even in attitude) have something of value for you to receive; it is our pride that hinders us. In his epistles, when Paul says he is praying “for you all” he means even sandpaper people have value.
Spiritually speaking, the mantle that fires those lumps of coal, the mantle that covers those irritants, and turns them into diamonds and pearls is the mantle of God’s love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Galatians 5:14).
The environment of believers will always be imperfect, but their rough edges will help to smooth out your wrinkles. As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend (Proverbs 27:17). People are like “mirrors” in which we can see ourselves as we really are. Through others we can see attitudes and characteristics of our own immaturity – weaknesses in us that need to be perfected. If there is bitterness or a lack of love, it will become exposed. This is why some people run from church to church – because it exposes their bad side. But when you hide from church, you are exposed.
Sandpaper people are there to help us shine up, and for us to see our own rough spots. If a person remains an “island” to themselves they will never have to face up to the spiritual immaturity within them. But exposing themselves to the sandpaper people will cause them to face conflicts that must be overcome in order to grow up. A sign of a spiritually mature person is that they can be loving and patient with anyone (1 John 2:10 / Galatians 5:22-23). Sandpaper people may not even realize it, but God has them doing you a favor.
Her spirit returned, and at once she stood up. Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat. (Luke 8:55 – NIV)
Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. The body without the spirit is dead (James 2:26), but Jesus is the giver of life. He spoke to her as if she was alive because God “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were” (Romans 4:17).
Notice that she was given meat to eat; you see, although Jesus performed in the supernatural realm that did not mean that natural means were not used as well. She was brought back to life, but her life was not now supernaturally different, it would have to be lived as it was before she died. She had not eaten for a long time and she needed food. Likewise Elijah was given super speed by the hand of the Lord (1 Kings 18:46), but he probably needed a drink of water afterwards!
Applying this to our lives is important. For example, after we have received a healing or deliverance, say from cancer caused by smoking, we cannot just go back to our habit and expect to still remain unhurt. A supernatural intervention does not negate all the laws of physics from that point on, because a “miracle”, or God moving in an overtly providential way (healing, deliverance, etc.) is for a specific thing and a specific time. You get a second chance, another choice, but not a permanent vacation from responsibility.
Consider that the Israelites still had to walk across the Red Sea, and later they still had to look up at the brazen serpent, otherwise they would have died. It is not hard to imagine that some saw this provision as foolishness, and died as a result of not obeying God. Similarly we must cooperate with God and not fall back to our old ways and make the grace of God of none effect.
Whom the Son sets free is free indeed, let us not run back to the jail cell, or be so hasty to place the shackles back on our feet. When we are set free from bondage, we are only setting ourselves up for more problems if we do not turn to something else. How terribly often have we heard of or known someone (or been someone!) that has overcome an addiction, only to pick it back up again worse than before. This is why we should listen to Peter (2 Peter 2:20-22) talk about the passage in Proverbs 26:11 that says the dog returns to his vomit again.
We need new food. We must feed on Christ, and not just be free from Satan. We need to be released from the enemy’s power, for sure, but we must not become a “dry place” that is, we must stay “wet” with the overflow of the Spirit in our lives (John 7:37-39). This is why we must trade our old habits for newer, godly ones, we must spend our time not idle, but engaging in spiritual disciplines such as bible study and prayer, and have an accountability factor in our lives to assure us that we don’t slide back into sin. This is a powerful reason to understand why we need to be plugged in to a local body of believers. God often shows His providential provision thorough conventional channels, His supernatural power through natural means.
But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10:29)
The parable of the Good Samaritan has been taught on countless times, and it has much to show us with regards to the presumption of faith. There are several things that we need to point out here. First, the lawyer obviously had the wrong motive for asking Jesus this question anyway, as it says he tempted him and that he wished to justify himself.
Don’t be too quick to dismiss yourself from this aspect of the passage, however. Many times we presume upon what God means by the law, pouring our own righteousness into it. We also may at times question the rightness of what God seems to be saying, or twist the text to mean something it doesn’t by trying to read into it, like this lawyer was doing. This lawyer, in trying to justify himself, sought an exact meaning of “neighbor”, so as to have a formula for righteousness.
Imagine him at the judgment: “But I loved my neighbor, just like you said to; I followed your commands to the letter”. Of course, this shows that what he was really trying to do was get a license to be able to love only those he must in order to inherit eternal life, and to necessarily exclude all others, at his personal discretion. Again, we see the results of trying to develop an exact method using the scriptures in an overly literal, all encompassing way.
Think about the child whose mother tells her that she cannot ride her bike to the park; she goes anyway, and when her mother scolds her, she cries, “I didn’t ride my bike, I walked”. Can you see how childish and utterly ridiculous this lawyer is being in this passage now?
Still, we see that today many have not taken this lesson from Jesus. They will take one or a few verses, and then dogmatically assert that this is the prescription for righteousness, instead of comparing these verses with others, using the clear, overall teaching of the Bible as a guide. All this is doing is the same thing the lawyer (and all religions apart from true Christianity) was attempting: to bring a measure of works to the kingdom of God. Christians have been deceived into jumping through spiritual hoops. Place your faith in Christ alone as your hope, not only of salvation, but also of sanctification. Only a justified sinner can battle effectively against sin. Overcoming sin comes from a relationship not for a relationship.
Salvation is not a process, where we do this, then achieve that type of deal. There is no must do order of salvation, it is of grace alone. This does not mean that we will not do these things that are evident in a true Christian life. Yes, we repent, get baptized in water, read our Bibles, pray, and pursue sanctification. But these are measures of obedience, not means of saving grace. These things are a result of salvation, not a requirement for it.
This fact points beautifully to the next aspect of Christ’s teaching here in this parable: the idea of duty. By showing us the priest and the Levite specifically, Christ was definitely trying to convey something even more than the fact that being a neighbor means more than your own kind.
Imagine the priest; he was on his way to the service; he had no time to help; he was already going to go help his parishioners, and there were hundreds of them, not just one man. Besides, how can he be expected to care for everyone he came across that needed help, he had his own flock to care for, and God put him in charge of these people, so God would want him to take care of his own? He had a prior commitment: there will always be people that need help; his job was to help those already entrusted into his care. Christ is putting his second commandment above prior duty. Those parishioners will still be there; this man may have died, and he needed help immediately.
Imagine the Levite; he was heading to the temple; no way could he touch this man, he had consecrated himself. The temple service he was going to happened only once a year; God would be furious if he defiled his hands just to help one soul, he was sacrificing for the sins of a whole community. Again, obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), and Jesus destroys the self-righteous lawyer’s, and many believers’ attitude.
Never are we to presume that we have the right way; we must continue to seek God, not trust in our own inventions, justified by our own pathetic knowledge of God gained by scripture twisting. Duty and prior commitment, even about church matters, can be no excuse to ignore the calling by God to demonstrate Christ-likeness.
…everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:14 – ESV)
Humility is God’s dress code standard for the church. Those that come before God clothed with humility can wear the robe of Christ’s righteousness (cf. Jeremiah 23:6), and leave justified in God’s sight. As an illustration, Luke 18:9-14 is the quintessential summary of the difference between those whom God will justify and those that seek to justify themselves.
I am often asked what the dress code of our church is. “Can we wear jeans, can ladies wear pants, do we have to wear a tie, and will we feel out of place if we don’t dress up?” I am thankful for this because it gives me an opportunity to address the real issue. I say, “The only thing we ask is that you come clothed with humility.”
Pride was the first sin, the sin of Satan. It was the “genesis” of sin if you will (cf. Isaiah 14:12-14 / Ezekiel 28:11-19). This mother of all sins has filtered down to our age and remains as the great wall between man and God (1 John 2:16), between a righteousness that saves and one that doesn’t. It is a lack of humility that keeps the great mass of people from faith and salvation.
The Scriptures are replete with the notion that God hates pride and loves humility. Pride is an abomination to God (Proverbs 6:17), and humility is absolutely necessary for salvation. Many teachings touch on this theme in varying ways (cf. Luke 10:25-37 / Psalm 34:2 / Isaiah 57:15, 66:2). Certainly this is true of the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Self-righteous sin takes the form of a two-pronged pride. Firstly, like the people who are using the standards of others to determine what to wear to church, the self righteous use a comparison with others as the standard of their own righteousness. The Pharisee looked at other people and determined he was doing the Lord’s will.
Many in the church today, as well as those who don’t think they need God, think that because they are “ahead of the pack”, that this makes them righteous. But the standard for righteousness to which the Bible directs us is not that of other people but that of God. The focus is wrong.
Secondly, while comparing ourselves with others is not right, neither is comparing one’s self with his own self. Even if we have made great strides in our walk with God, and lived a more holy life, it is not that life that will justify us before God. Again, the focus is wrong.
The world follows suit. Self-help, self-improvement, self-empowerment, self-esteem, self-awareness, self-actualization, “self” magazines, it goes on and on, the great focus of humanity is on self. Even in the church we often see teaching geared toward becoming a better or more successful person rather than on the person of Jesus Christ.
It seems to be about what God has done in us, rather than on what God has done for us. We feel as if we “do our best” that this sincere effort is what justifies us. This is precisely what the Pharisee thought. The world would applaud this man today, probably calling him a “true saint” or “one of God’s choice servants”.
No matter how good we are, however, it can never be good enough. What the Pharisee said about himself was true, but the Bible says that all our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). The standard is the perfect righteousness of Jesus, who said, “Be ye perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48).”
Paul spoke to both sides of self-righteousness when he said, “For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).”
Often overlooked is the fact that when the Pharisee prayed he was thanking God. He was not saying how great he was by himself. He had a sense of humility, but not true humility. He knew he was not able to do good works on his own, but felt that these justified him. God does indeed develop righteousness in everyone to whom he imputes righteousness (Romans 8:1-4 / Philippians 1:6), but we never achieve perfection in this life. Works are the fruit, not the root of justification (Ephesians 2:10).
This is the great danger, the teaching that the imparted righteousness whereby we can indeed do good works is the grounds of our justification, instead of the imputed righteousness of Christ to our account. Our good works give evidence to our faith (Matthew 7:20 / James 2:18) but they do not save us (Romans 3:20). This is subtle but is explained by saying that for some to justify is to make righteous rather than to declare righteous. The difference is the difference between a saving faith that relies on an external atonement for sin and a misplaced faith that relies in an internal abatement of sin.
The snare of self-righteousness makes many feel or claim to be sanctified when they are only sanctimonious. The truth is we must continue to walk in repentance and faith even after we have been justified. Martin Luther, in writing the first of his ninety-five theses said that the whole life of a believer should be repentance.
We should be thankful that we have been given a measure of freedom from the power of sin in this life, but we must be careful to never equate this with our righteous standing before God. You are not to thank God for your righteousness compared to others, but thank Him for His righteousness accredited to you because of the Atonement.
In Christ we are righteous, yes, but being “in Christ” is the key. Considering our spiritual state, it has been said that the more light we have, the more dust we see. It isn’t about self-loathing. The Church’s dress code deals with whether we see with our true condition before God or does the lens we view ourselves from have a “wrong focus”.
The question is, simply, “Are you wearing the right glasses?”
Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. (Luke 10:21)
Jesus rejoiced “in the Spirit” it is rendered in some translations, which fits our discussion here. Whenever we are praising God for His sovereign will having being done, we can rest assured that we are doing this “in the Spirit”, for no man calls Jesus Lord but by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3 / Matthew 16:17).
Here Jesus reveals one of the principles of the Kingdom, that God’s spiritual laws are unlike man’s laws. We think that we can and that we must become wise in our own fleshly ways, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). A person can quote every single scripture ever written, but only if the Spirit has opened their heart will they ever understand the spiritual truth contained in them.
Most never come to the realization that God’s economy works inversely to man’s laws (such as give and it shall be given to you, you must die to live, etc.) because no man can understand the things of God but by the Spirit of God, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14). The carnal mind is enmity toward God (Romans 8:7), and is not subject to (read: submitted to) God’s spiritual laws, and so only benefits by them through circumstance, not through a purposeful seeking after God.
The key to understanding the laws that govern God’s Kingdom is to realize that the processes of the kingdom are inverted; they are exactly the opposite of what the world teaches, and at first glance, they seem to be counter-intuitive. To obtain what we desire, we have to do the opposite of what we would normally do. When the world says stop, Jesus says go. When the world says go for it, Jesus says no. The laws of inversion are actually the fruits of a Christ-centered life, and this, as Christians know, is diametrically opposed to the world’s views.
The world says that tolerance is the highest virtue, it says “don’t fence me in”, and “don’t tread on me”, or “it is my right to do with my body what I want”. Jesus says that our bodies are not our own. The world says that you must have self-esteem, build up your self-image, and be self-actualized. Jesus says that you must empty yourself to be truly fulfilled by Him. The world says that you have to “grab all you can, can all you grab, sit on the can, and poison the rest”. Jesus says that you must give things away before you can truly have anything worthwhile.
The world says you have to be aggressive, that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, that you must be a self promoter to get ahead, that you have to step over people, or step on them, to advance in life. Jesus says that we must humble ourselves, and God will lift us up. The last shall be first, He says. The world says that we must stay on the cutting edge of technology, be at the vanguard of New Age thinking and postmodern philosophy, and go with the flow. Jesus says that we must become fools to the world’s ways to become truly wise. The world says that might makes right, but Jesus says that when we are weak we are strong. The world says you have got to “go for the gusto”, and have a “lust for life”. Jesus says that we must lose our lives if we are to find them. Jesus truly wants to turn your life upside down, and inside out.
Luke 18:9-14
