Miscellaneous Quotes about Self-Righteousness
Repentance from Self Righteousness
Psalm 138:6 "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly."
"I think, that a man never passes the verge of moral humility, till self-righteousness be dethroned, till the high and towering imaginations of the man's own righteousness by the law be levelled by the mighty weapons of the gospel, and he brought to submit to the righteousness of God for justification, which is, in the gospel revealed 'from faith to faith."
Ebenezer Erskine
SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS (Romans 10:3)
Ken Wimer
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
Most of us, if asked, would deny being self-righteous. And yet, if we're honest with ourselves, we must admit that self-righteousness clings to us like Lazarus' grave clothes. One of the hardest things for a sinner to shed is his self-righteousness. This one fact alone has condemned many a sinner.
Self-righteous people think little of the righteousness of God. Rather than seeing themselves in the light of God's holy character, many are comparing themselves with one another. Comparing one's self with another is a deadly game. It makes people feel good but it blinds them to the true standard, which is God's righteousness. In light of God's righteousness, our best righteousness is but filthy rags. This is true no matter how good one looks next to his neighbor.
Self-righteous people think highly of themselves. There are many going about to establish their own righteousness. As someone once wrote, "To many, righteousness is a 'matter of attainment: an ascent to a difficult height where the climber might exult in his success.'"
Self-righteous people think nothing of Christ. They will not humble themselves to receive by faith the righteousness which God gives freely to sinners in Christ. Christ's righteousness alone satisfies the holy character of God. We must submit ourselves to Him, seeking to be made righteous by Him. Apart from His righteousness we have no righteousness.
Those that would be found in Christ must renounce their own righteousness: they who have attained the excellent knowledge of Christ will not rely upon it, rest in it, or make it the ground of their confidence. The apostle in this respect counts it loss, calls it dung; and those that have truly learned Christ will be like-minded. Though personal righteousness, observance of the law, be necessary and useful in other respects, yet in point of confidence it must be renounced, it must in no case be relied on; it is commendable and advantageous in its own place, when made use of for those ends, and in that way which God requires; but if it be relied on, it may prove dangerous, pernicious; it will be found a broken reed, deceive the soul that puts confidence in it. The reason is, because personal righteousness of any man since the fall is defective, and comes far short of that righteousness which should be the ground of our confidence.
David Clarkson
"All
our righteousnesses are like filthy rags"
Isaiah 64:6
Daniel Parks I. What are "our
righteousnesses"?
A righteousness is that which perfectly and completely satisfies
the demands of God's law -- the fulfillment of "the righteous requirement
of the law" (Romans 8:4), "the law of righteousness" (Romans
9:31).It is that which is performed as perfectly and as sinlessly as God Himself
would perform it.
II. What are the "filthy
rags" to which our righteousnesses are compared? They are "menstruous cloths" associated with one of the most
extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness under the Law of Moses (Leviticus
15:19-33; 20:18).
They are of such a nature as to be treated with the greatest discretion by
the genteel, disposed of immediately, never reused. These "filthy
rags" are in our text joined with "an unclean thing," the leper
afflicted with another of the most extreme forms of ceremonial uncleanness
(Leviticus 13:45f).
III. What does the truth here
declared teach us? Every
thing we do falls short of satisfying the demands of God's law. "There
is none righteous, no, not one .... They have together become unprofitable"
(Romans 3:10, 12).
2. Every word we utter is
unrighteous. This is true because, with regard to
our Adamic nature, "Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they
have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is
full of cursing and bitterness" (Romans 3:13f). How can a word
uttered therefrom be righteous?
3. Every thought we imagine is
unrighteous. "Then
the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every
intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis
6:5). "[T]he imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth"
(Genesis 8:21).
4. Every act of worship we render to God is unrighteous.
Every aspect of our worship is tainted by our Adamic nature. We
never fully repent of our sins. Our faith in Christ is mixed with unbelief.
There is a lack of sincerity in observing His ordinances, praying to Him,
and singing His praises. We question His providence. We do not fully
believe His promises nor appreciate His blessings. There is pride in all
that we do publicly, even in preaching His gospel. There is sin in our
holiness, and hatred in our love. There is enough sin in our performance
of each aspect of worship of God to condemn us to a thousand hells! Paul the
apostle spoke for all the saints when he declared, "For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but
how to perform what is good I do not find. ... O wretched man that I am!"
(Romans 7:18-24). And John Newton spoke for all the saints when he wrote, If
I pray, or hear, or read, / Sin is mixed with all I do. Furthermore, when we
repent of tainting our worship through our unrighteousness,we then find it
necessary to repent of even our repentances!
IV.
What must be our acceptable response to this truth?
1.
We must forsake any hope of self-righteousness.
The self-righteous lay upon the table of "free
will" the menstruous cloth of their "salvation through works,"
and sew to it the menstruous cloths of their law observance / baptism / sabbath-keeping
/ church attendance / tithing / soul-winning / et.al. They then in their
self-delusion dare to don their filthy garment upon their leprous bodies and
boast of how holy and righteous they are, and of how gloriously they are
clothed. Let us not compound our guilt before God by acting so abominably.
2.
We must flee to Christ for righteousness.
Having forsaken any hope of self-righteousness, we must
acknowledge Christ alone as our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6; 1 Corinthians
1:30f) and receive the imputation of His righteousness through faith alone
(Romans 3:21-4:8). We must desire to "be found in Him, not having my
own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith" (Philippians 3:9).
No wonder if such persons look upon imputed righteousness as the shadow of a dream, who esteem those things which evidence its necessity to be but fond imaginations. And small hope is there to bring such men to value the righteousness of Christ, as imputed to them, who are so unacquainted with their own unrighteousness inherent in them. Until men know themselves better, they will care very little to know Christ at all.
John Owen
(1616-1683)
"Beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees"
Matthew 16:6
Daniel Parks
Behold what paragons of religion were the Pharisees!
They were noted for their steadfastness. The name Pharisee in its Semitic form means "separated one, separatist." Pharisees were known also as the Hasidim, meaning "loved of God" or "loyal to God." Of all the Jewish sects (including also Sadducees, Herodians, Zealots, Essenes, et.al.), this was acknowledged as the most separated and steadfast to God, the "strictest sect" of the Jewish religion (Acts 26:5).
They were noted for their knowledge. The Jewish historian Josephus acknowledged them as "the most accurate exegetes of the law." They were associated with the scribes, "teachers of the law" (e.g. Luke 5:17). Christ said, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do" (Matthew 23:2f).
They were noted for their exactness. They would even "pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin" (Matthew 23:23), stringently ascertaining that their tithing extended even to the leaves grown in their herb gardens.
They were noted for their soul-winning. Christ acknowledged that "you travel land and sea to win one proselyte" (Matthew 23:15).
They were noted for their works. Their charitable deeds, prayers, fastings, and all other religious duties were highly lauded by their countrymen (Matthew 6:1ff).
They were noted for their righteousness. When Saul of Tarsus exemplified them, he was "concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless" (Philippians 3:5f). They had well earned the honor of being distinguished as the most righteous people in their religion.
Jesus Christ nevertheless warns us to "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees" (Matthew 16:6).
The "leaven" of the Pharisees was their "doctrine" (v.12). Jesus Christ here used "leaven" as an emblem of an impurity which permeates and makes unacceptable all with which it comes in contact (as in Exodus 12:15, 19). As we have already observed (as in Matthew 23:2f), the doctrine of the Pharisees was in many ways orthodox. But it erred with regard to what they believed about free will and personal righteousness. They were foremost among those of whom it is written, "For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:3). Christ therefore warns us that "unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). Pharisees would acknowledge that God's Word teaches native depravity and unrighteousness (Psalm 51:5; Ecclesiastes 7:20). (But the doctrine of total depravity they would never acknowledge.) They would acknowledge also that it teaches that the only righteousness is of Jehovah alone (Jeremiah 23:6; Isaiah 54:17).
But they erred in believing that His righteousness had been imparted or infused into themselves, and that this enabled themselves in their "zeal for God" to keep His law and thereby "establish their own righteousness" - a personal and/or self-righteousness through God. This accounted for their "holier than thou" attitude (Isaiah 65:5), as Pharisees were "the holiest of the holiers." To such persons Paul the apostle declares, "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes" (Romans 10:4). We cannot keep the law of God (Romans 3:10-20). But Christ did (Matthew 5:17). Through faith in Him, His righteousness is imputed unto us in an act of forensic justification (Romans 3:21-4:8). Christ's imputed righteousness is therefore the only righteousness which entitles sinners to the benefits of salvation and to entrance into glory and eternal bliss (Philippians 3:7-9; Revelation 19:8; 1 Corinthians 1:30f).
The justified therefore confess that "all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6), and of being in and of themselves "chief of sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15), a "wretched man" (Romans 7:24), "a maggot" and "a worm" (Job 25:6). And they confess to God, "I will make menstion of Your righteousness, of Yours only" (Psalm 71:16). But this confession would never be uttered from the lips of self-righteous Pharisees. They must boast of at least some degree of personal righteousness. But even this little degree is damning. As the tiny bit of yeast eventually permeates the whole loaf, a tiny bit of self-righteousness permeates the whole of one's religion, thereby polluting it in its entirety. (Now read the contexts of all the texts formerly cited which named the traits for which Pharisees were noted.)
Therefore, in spite of being such paragons of religion, Christ in Matthew 23 calls the Pharisees "hypocrites," "sons of hell," "blind guides," "fools and blind," "whitewashed tombs," "sons of those who murdered the prophets," and "serpents, brood of vipers." It is with good reason that Christ admonishes us to "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees." The only righteousness ascribed to the saints in Holy Scriptures is the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. Take heed and beware of him who speaks of any other.
The Publican and the Pharisee
The best argument that believers in false gospels can come up with in defense that their beliefs do not take any glory away from God, let alone leave room for a man to boast, is, ‘though salvation is conditioned on man to some degree, it does not give man room to boast or glory and does not take away any glory from Christ, because anything man does to meet any of the conditions is attributed solely to Christ and His enabling a man to meet the criteria.' This sounds so reasonable but it is devilish to the core, and could only come from the depths of a man's depraved heart and his fleshly insistence that he play some part in his salvation. Listen to how Christ Jesus, in a few short verses, wipes out this type of thinking: "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I THANK THEE, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I FAST twice in the week, I GIVE tithes of all that I possess.' And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful unto me a sinner.' I tell you THIS man went down to His house justified rather than the other: for everyone that EXALTETH HIMSELF shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Lk.18:11-13). Notice here that the Pharisee thanked God that he was not like other men. He then proceeded to boast of what he did, obviously believing, in light of his attitude towards the publican, that his acts of obedience in some way contributed to his gaining God's favor, even though he evidently attributed all the good he did, not to himself, but to God. The publican, however, did not mention even one ‘good' deed that he had done. He brought none of his righteousness with him, but humbly asked for God's mercy, not seeking or expecting to be justified by any of his own works, whether he attributed them to God or not. He did not expect his works to make the difference between Heaven and Hell, but only God's Mercy. And Christ said this man, rather than the Pharisee, was justified. Notice also that Christ referred to the Pharisee, who attributed his good deeds to God, as one who exalted himself. Be not deceived. Those who claim that salvation is conditioned on man to some degree, yet say that they do not take any of the glory for salvation away from Christ because they attribute their meeting certain conditions to God's enabling power, are exalting themselves, according to Scripture. Their gospels teach a salvation by works, for they leave room for a man to boast even when he is attributing all his obedience to God. Such people are LOST. By this we see that boasting is not excluded by a gospel which teaches that salvation is conditioned on a man's works, but it is only excluded by THE Gospel Message which teaches that salvation is by grace through faith in the Person and Works of Christ Jesus the Lord (see Rom.3:24-28). Such a Gospel leaves a man no room in which to boast. Faith in this Gospel seeks not to exalt the believer but humbles the believer, excluding all boasting, for it conditions all of salvation on Christ. (See Rom.3:24-28).
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