It is human to aspire to our own righteousness by comparing ourselves to others.
We can become very proud that we do not behave like others, especially when the behaviors of others are looked down upon by society.
But what happens when the behaviors of society are no longer looked down upon?
Excessiveness down through history has been frowned upon. In the fifties and sixties, when I was growing up, drunkenness, gambling addiction, adultery, pregnancy outside of marriage, playboys, loose women, lying and dishonesty, were behavior patterns that one was taught to avoid at all costs. These character traits used to bring shame on the individual, and on the whole family. They called these people sinners.
The flip-side of this was that those who didn’t engage in these behaviors thought of themselves as superior to anyone that was known to engage in the sins of the flesh. They called these people self-righteous.
Then, of course, there were those who engaged in these shady activities secretly, but publicly they made sure they presented another picture to those around them. They called these people hypocrites.
The problem compounded for the worse.
Sinners, self-righteous ones, and hypocrites still populate our modern world; we just, for the most part, have quit labeling everybody, in the name of Tolerance. We have become just one big wave after another on the sea of humanity, all crashing against the shores of time, as we erode them away into unmarked signposts; leaving us all in a quagmire of confusion, without anchors for our individual unseaworthy vessels, and unsure of what is right or wrong anymore. So, we just call everything right and allow everyone to live however they want. After all, isn’t this true freedom? Or is it?
Isn’t this how all great empires have fallen?
They allowed foreign gods and foreign belief systems to infiltrate and to dominate. They overspent and relied on the working class slaves to carry the load. They allowed corruption and fraud at the highest levels of society to permeate the lowest levels of society. They allowed the moral compass of society to be attacked and thrown aside. They overextended themselves into all areas of the world. In other words, the sinners, the self-righteous, and the hypocrites all became one amalgamation of conflicting beliefs and world views. Our Nation and our world can now be labeled, ‘Babel the Great’. Babel means ‘confusion’, and the Tower of Babel is what God judged, and the Babylonian System is what is going to be judged again, in the Book of Revelation chapter eighteen.
These truths are still absolutes in a confused world.
There is one God; and the devils of hell know this and tremble as they await their day of judgment. This one God will call for each individual soul to stand before Him for accountability. This one God, Yahweh, the eternal self-existent one, has given us the Law to show how sinful and unholy we are. This one God has manifested Himself in the body of Christ to show us how much He loves us, enough to die for each one of us and to forgive every sin named against us. This one God in Christ conquered death, hell, and the grave, as He descended, first, into the lower parts of the earth, to take those keys away from Satan. He then ascended to the throne of God, where He sits and waits until the time comes to put all things under His feet, and be subject to His authority again. This one God has poured out of His Holy Spirit into the hearts and spirits of those who believe in Him. This one God promises to be with each of His believers in whatever circumstances of life they find themselves in. This one God promises to return for those who are looking for His coming. This one God has set a day to judge the nations of the world, separating the sheep from the goats. All, who are granted eternal life, will obey the teachings of His Kingdom, on a new earth and in new heavens.
The solution to the dilemma.
We have to acknowledge our sinfulness, our helplessness, our hopelessness, in trying to make our own salvation; as we surrender our independence and self-will to His Divine purpose for each of our lives. We have to see ourselves as sinners, without any redeeming qualities, and in need of a Savior who can and did pay our ransom to our slaveholder: Satan. We have to humbly ask for His help to transform our thinking into that which agrees with His Word and with His Kingdom. We have to come to grips with the fact that we are no better than our neighbor who has fallen into a life of crime, sin, or addiction. ‘But for the Grace of God, there go I!” We have to be willing to discipline our bodies and our minds to think and act in ways that please our Creator, instead of pleasing our own selfish desires.
I acknowledge these fallen traits in my very nature:
I am a sinner. I have practiced self-righteousness. I have lived the life of a hypocrite.
I am capable of uncontrolled anger. I am capable of coveting, envy and lust (Thoughts of coveting, envy and lust are the same as actions with Jesus). I am capable of pride and looking down on others. I am capable of keeping certain thoughts and behaviors secret from others. I am capable of stealing and cheating and lying and deceit. I am capable of drunkenness. I am capable of addiction to one thing or another; whether it be food, shopping, alcohol, drugs, pain pills, nicotine, soap operas, Hollywood Celebrities, games, sports, work, education, pornography, chocolate, sex … and the list goes on and on. I am capable of murder and holding a grudge in an unforgiving heart (Murder and grudges are the same with Jesus). I am capable of being mean, and abusing others with my authority, both verbally and physically. I am capable of hoarding certain material possessions. I am capable of being stingy, and not sharing what I have with others.
I am a sinner. I have been, or I am presently, self-righteous. I have been, or I am presently, a hypocrite.
Therefore, I need to repent and humble myself before my God; as I ask Him for mercy and grace to be changed into His likeness, with the help and power of the Holy Spirit in my heart, mind and human spirit.
I need to feed my spirit-man with the living Word of Christ, in His Bible, and allow it to shed light on the dark places of my soul, and give me the desire to change and be more like Him.
I need to pray for all people, no matter what nation, tribe, or tongue, and no matter what sins and addictions and crimes they are entangled in; knowing that I could be that person if God and His angels had not kept me from those sins, crimes and addictions. We are sinners, and we all need to be saved by His Grace; always remembering where we have come from and how long it took us to get to where we are today, and where we could have been if our path had diverged just a little from the one we chose to take.
Paul Understood that he was capable of murder and only God’s Grace changed his heart.
“But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me–and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.” I Corinthians 15:10
John Bradford understood the Grace of God, as he stated these words in humility.
Preacher and Martyr, John Bradford (circa 1510–1555), is said to have uttered the variant of the expression – “There but for the grace of God, goes John Bradford”, when seeing criminals being led to the scaffold. He didn’t enjoy that grace for long, however. He was burned at the stake in 1555, although, by all accounts he remained sanguine about his fate and is said to have suggested to a fellow victim that “We shall have a merry supper with the Lord this night”.
Judge not, so that you have no need of judgment, for how we judge, we will be judged. The only one qualified to judge anyone is Jesus Christ, and His Word, which He speaks to each heart. His spoken Word into each heart will judge each soul at His soon coming. We judge ourselves by His Word, spoken to our hearts from the pages of His Word, for they are Spirit and they are living Words of life.
Father, I pray that you open the eyes of our understanding to the knowledge that is only found in you and in your Word. Please help us to allow your Word to judge our own hearts as we repent of all that displeases you and draw closer to you in daily prayer and study of your Word. Please help us to pray for all others that you may reveal yourself to each soul in a personal soul-changing way; knowing that with just a slight change of circumstances, we could be walking in their shoes and living their life. Only your Grace is able to change and keep us close to you, so that you can bless us with all good things and strength to overcome the bad things in this life. Thank you for the hope of eternal life with you where there will be no more sinners, self-righteous, or hypocrites; but we all shall be clothed with your light and likeness. I ask these things in Jesus Name. Amen!
