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Self Righteousness By JERRY W. JONES SR, Ph.D. Biblical Transcribing Service 29525 442nd AVE. IRENE, SOUTH DAKOTA 57037 PHONE: 605.263.3043 E-Mail – prakteis@iw.net If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse (Job 9:20). If I justify myself… Perhaps the greatest barrier to a person who is being witnessed to concerning his need for the Savior would be his own self-justification. We shall see through this study that it is this very thing that shall condemn me. Man will do anything to deny his own need for salvation, and this is the very thing that he must face before he can realize his lost condition and his need of the Savior.
Self-Righteousness Contradicts Itself: If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me… Job realized that he could not justify himself, because in so doing he stood on the grounds of condemnation before Almighty God. Man’s first means of attempting to justify himself is by his actions of saying he has no sin. "I have kept the commandments of God from my youth up." This was the very thing the rich young ruler claimed when he came to Jesus and asked what was the one thing he must do to inherit eternal life. (Mark 10:17; Luke 10:25; 18:18). Jesus told him that to inherit eternal life, if he was depending on his works to get to Heaven, and that was to keep the commandments. To this, the leader made the remark, All these have I kept from my youth up (Luke 18:21). For you to plead this self-righteousness could be a contradiction itself in presumption, which is high and arrogant. The Bible tells us, As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one (Romans 3:10). To say you have not sinned is to call God a liar, because He tells us, All we like sheep have gone astray… (Isaiah 53:6). He also tells us in the New Testament, If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (I John 1:6-10). First we have the self-righteous man who has not been sinning. Then we have on the second hand the one who said he is not sinning. Then lastly, there is the arrogance of saying he has never sinned. All these are attempts to justify why God should let us into Heaven, and none has ever been without sin, except Jesus Christ Himself, the perfect, sinless Lamb of God. 2. The Plea In Comparative Righteousness: Secondly, the self-righteous man will compare himself to the sin of others. "I am no worse than my neighbor. In fact, I am a great deal better." You are, in fact, pleading that you are not perfectly righteous, but that there is some sin in you. In this, you plea that you deserve some judgment, but not as much as others, that there is some sin in your life, that you may have robbed God some, or broken some of the laws, but not as much as others, so you should not be judged as badly as they. My friend, a thief is a thief. You are a sinner. A liar is a liar, whether what you may call "a little white lie," or a big boner. They are all lies. What others may have done will not acquit you of your own guilt. You will give an account for your own sins, not those of others. "Nah! I’m not interested in your church. Look at all the hypocrites that go there. They go to church on Sunday and live like the devil the rest of the week. If they are the example of a Christian, I don’t want it." That may be true, that there are hypocrites in church, but again, you can’t use that excuse when you bow before Almighty God. He is not going to judge you by the actions of others, whether they are saved or lost. That excuse is not going to be valid when eternity stares you in the face. God does not look down at the motives or the actions of others. He looks at what you have done with your opportunity to accept or reject His grace, mercy and peace through the Lord Jesus Christ. Only one life; ‘twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ Will last.
Righteousness: A self-righteous man can only claim partial righteousness. But where there is only a partial righteousness, there is also unright- eousness, and God has said that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), and again we read in the New Testament, All unrighteousness is sin… (I John 5:17). In this, you will claim you have committed only a "few" sins, and your good deeds cover up all your wrongs you have committed in your life. But the problem is, if you have committed only one sin, you are a lost soul. Think of this, my friend. If you would commit only one sin per day, and you lived to the average age of seventy, in your lifetime you will have sinned 25,500 times, and it takes only one sin to send you to Hell. "Well, I’m not any worse than the next fellow." That may be true, but the "next fellow" is a sinner also, and needs the Savior just as much as you. Don’t claim self-righteousness based on what someone else has done. The Word of God tells us, Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). If you have taken one paper clip from work and know it was wrong, you are a sinner, because the Bible tells us, Thou shalt not steal (Exodus 20:15). If you have wanted something that belongs to another, you are a sinner, because the Bible says, Thou shalt not covet (Exodus 20:17). If you just look at another person of the opposite sex with a thought of lusting after them, you are a sinner, because Jesus tells us, …whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28). Remember, one sin is being guilty of breaking the whole law, because again, the Scriptures tell us, For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all (James 1:10). The man who uses this plea condemns the plea itself. It is a plea used as a vain refuge. The conscience itself tells you that you deserve the wrath of God. I remember my older sister telling me of the time when I was a little baby and my mother had placed me between two chairs and set me outside while she was hanging up some cloths. My mother told my sister, "Now don’t you bother Jerry or open his eyes." She had been fascinated by my blue eyes, and in opposition to what my mother said, that is exactly what she did, waking me and starting me to crying. Mother yelled, "Are you bothering Jerry?" My sister yelled, "No Mom," and IMMEDIATELY knew she had lied. She was only about three at the time, but knew she had violated the "law" of her mother, and knew she had done wrong. What told her that? It was her guilty conscience. And remember, one guilty sin is enough to send us to Hell. Bragging about how good you are only proves to the world that you have an uneasy conscience. As one preacher stated it, "When a man laughs at the Holy Scriptures, you need not argue with him: he is either a fool or a knave – perhaps both." When a person gets alone by himself, there is no more boasting, no more claiming to goodness. It is not easy for someone to lie on his bed, seeing the naked face of death, feeling he must pass through the iron gate of death alone, then to plead his self-righteousness.
Evidence Against The Pleader: For a person to plea self-righteousness means that they have never been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, but that they remain in the attitude of ignorance. Again, he cannot be saved who does not know that he has been living in filth and is not willing to confess that he is guilty before God. We read again in First John 1:9-10, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. God will pardon all who repent, but if we cast ourselves on the justice of God, and not His mercy, God will give us justice, and no mercy. We will receive nothing but the full vial of His wrath and indignation, forever and forever. The moment you say you have done something which can recommend you to God only proves that you are not a believer. A self-righteous man does not and cannot trust Christ, therefore cannot see the face of God. 2. The Plea Will Ruin The Pleader Forever: Someone once said that there are two different types of suicides. The man with a sharpened dagger and the sick man who refuses to be helped. But there are two more suicides. There is the man who lives in sin and refuses God, although he knows he is a sinner, and the self-righteous man who knows the plan and seeks Heaven by his own merits. We cannot claim Heaven because of our "alms" giving. We cannot claim Heaven because of feeding the hungry or clothing the poor. We cannot claim Heaven because we "keep" the commandments (which, by the way, the "keep" there is to guard and preserve from destruction or decay), because we have already seen that offending just one point of the law is being guilty of breaking the whole law. We cannot claim Heaven because we reject Christ and claim there is no Hell. Jesus Himself spoke more of Hell than He did of Heaven. Someday you will kneel before Almighty God, because Philippians 2:10-11 says, That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Romans 14:11-12 tells us, For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Where then will be your courage, as you call upon the rocks and hills to hide you from the face of God and His wrath? So you may ask, What must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30). The Bible tells you that you must understand:
Then you will enjoy the bliss and blessings of eternal life, instead of the penalty and pain of eternal damnation. Jesus has promised you His presence and the joys of eternal life. If you have read this and asked Jesus Christ to come into your heart as both Lord and Savior, I would like to know. Please write or call. V |
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