The Deadly Sin of Self-righteousness Part 2

“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart,  I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the  north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” –Is 14:12-14

It was a deadly mix of pride, hypocrisy and self-righteousness that, in the beginning, caused the created to revolt against his Creator. Lucifer, the most beautiful of covering cherubs, the one whose honour it was to defend the law of God and who stood in the very presence of God, was by reason of his beauty corrupted. He did not glorify God for having made him perfect, but instead attributed all perfection to himself.

The sins of pride, hypocrisy and self-righteousness usually occur in a subtle, but explosive and dangerous mix that  results in division in the Body of Christ and unnecessary hurt and anger. The worst sins are often the ones that leave no physical scars, the invisible sins of the heart that manifest in all manner of evil and wickedness. Like a noxious weed, they grow in the heart of man bringing out the worst in himself and others.

Self-righteousness is the only sin that one can be totally guilty of , yet never know it. To be self-righteous is to reject the righteousness of Christ which is our only means of salvation, yet many are guilty of this sin of omission. It’s very tempting and easy to just “look like a Christian”. Many people have admitted having successfully pulled off the façade, but unless the seed of self-righteousness is put away, Christ will not reign in a person’s heart. The one who is guilty of self-righteousness prefers to keep Christ on the Cross and his own desire on the throne. Every man who would leave self-righteousness behind must surrender the throne of his heart to Christ, and himself be crucified daily that he may live only for Christ. Until then, a person may preach and even teach on the righteousness of Christ, yet never experience its power.

No one enjoys the company of a self-righteous person, for the topic of discussion is usually the faults and failures of others. Self-righteous people seldom apologise for , or admit their own mistakes and, because they fail to do so, do not experience the joy of great spiritual growth. Self-righteousness focuses on the outward appearance and lives by the law of works, while those who truly surrender to Christ live by the law of faith, revealing a heart circumcised on which is found engraved the royal law of God. Self-righteousness exalts in  seeing others fall short of the glory of God, and satan uses the self-righteous as active “accusers of the brethren”,  as his trusted deputies.  A self-righteous person enjoys pleasure by seeing himself as superior to others. He enjoys seeing them fall because, by default, it makes him look good with minimal effort. Self-righteousness has the tendency to creep up on you unnoticed. Ask Christ to remove the hypocrisy, self-righteousness and pride from your heart so that you can serve Him in spirit and truth and escape from the prison of living a double life.

The Deadly Sin of Self-righteousness

Would you be surprised to learn that the deadliest of sins, self-righteousness is not as obvious as one may think? It’s curious and decadent wrapping makes it all the more dangerous. Having its roots in hypocrisy, it manifests in myriads of ways that are not often viewed for what they really are.

Examine the story of the blind man healed by Jesus in John 9. The Pharisees, critical of all Jesus’ works, sought occasion to accuse Him of breaking the Law of God. They did not see the fruit of His work in the confident, young man that stood before them eloquently sharing the testimony of how he had marvelously received his sight.  Blind to their own sin, they accused the once blind man of “being altogether born in sins.” The fact that they were not physically blind like he had been, they held as proof that they themselves were not sinners. After all, only a sinner would deserve to be born blind, right?

Jesus made an interesting statement to the Pharisees after they asked the question: “Are we blind also?” He  said that if they were blind, they would have no sin. Their blindness would excuse them. They, however, claimed NOT to be blind. As Pharisees and teachers of the law, they held themselves in high regard and harboured an unteachable and ungrateful spirit. Their sin therefore remained. They may not have been physically blind , but they refused to come out of their spiritual blindness.

Paul makes an interesting statement in 1 Cor 4:3-4. He says that the Gospel is hid to those that are lost. Satan, the god of this world, has blinded them in the hope that he would prevent them from truly partaking of the glorious light of the Gospel, which is the image of God. Hypocrisy and self-righteousness has that effect on people who are caught unawares in the deadly trap. They focus on what EVERYONE ELSE is supposedly doing wrong according to their own opinion, but never focus on themselves and their relationship with God. Sadly, hypocrisy and self-righteousness lurks in every church. There are people who are lost who are sitting in church. They come to the sanctuary under the pretense of worship, but really all they do is find fault with everything and everyone. Can one truly worship with that kind of spirit? Can you really worship if your eyes are open, trawling the crowd and looking for faults to report on and gossip about after Divine service? Is that a reverent attitude or are you being irreverent whilst accusing others of the very same sin?

It was the same in Jesus’ day. The Pharisees looked very “holy” in their long robes and phylacteries, judging others. However, what did Jesus have to say about them? The answer can be found in Matt 23:3-8. Jesus, in Matt 23:27,  also called them “vipers”, “hypocrites” and “whited sepulchres which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones and of all uncleanness.”  Be careful that you see the sin right  in front of your nose, before you accuse your brother of sinning (Matt 7:1-5). In fact, you may have to look harder because it’s very hard to see the tip of your nose!