The Dangers of Self-Righteousness (Part 1)

Before we would be saved we were all questionable characters. God didn’t come to condemn you but to save you. The problem is that no one thinks they need to be saved. Pride is something that everyone is born with. If you allow yourself to run wild then your pride will grow. Our pride tells us we are just as good as the next man. Or better yet, we compare ourselves to others and say we are better than them. Self-righteousness will and is killing everyone. Sinner and saints can be guilty of self-righteousness. 

 

If you’re not careful your pride will turn on you. Your spiritual righteousness will turn into self-righteousness. We all should be filled with righteousness; Matthew 5:6, Matthew 6:33, Act 10:35, Romans 10:10. We are supposed to live, dress, act, etc right. Do not become self-righteous. If this takes place you are just as wrong as the Pharisee. Often times Jesus wouldn’t answer them or would give them a question and walk away. This was usually due to them not really wanting an answer. Before we were saved we were all sinful and dying in our trespasses. How did we ever get to the place where we could look into the mirror and think we were good? We have no righteousness apart from Jesus Christ. 

 

Most can’t see the self-righteousness in others, but it’s possibly still there. If your righteousness is not based upon Jesus then it’s of dirty rags and sin in the eyes of God. We ought not to elevate ourselves higher than anyone else and especially God. There is no person better or worse than the next. We all need Jesus in everything we do. 

 

From the book of Job, God said that he, Job was righteous. Job 1:1, do you know anyone like this man? God and the devil talked about Job and God removed His hedge of protection from Job. God controlled Job’s life/death but the devil did everything else to him. The devil took his family, took his wealth, took his health, and yet Job still honored God. Job’s friends came to him and said he had done something wrong. Job then defended his righteousness. Pride kicked in and his self-righteousness came out because of their accusations. Job was correct about not sinning but what fueled his pride was his self-righteousness. Then back and forth they argue about himself and how good he was. The obvious is that he was right in what he was saying but he was only building up himself. In Job 31, he reached the height of his self-righteousness. He then wanted God to come down so he could tell Him how good he was. What makes you think what your Savior went through was good enough for you. We could get a simple cold and think we didn’t deserve it. Do you feel like you deserve Heaven? Simple question but do you honestly think this is because of all the great things you’ve done for the church. We ALL deserve Hell. There is not a single person that deserves to go to Heaven. There is none good, no not one.

Job 32:1, in Job’s own eyes he was perfect. It was clear that Job was right in his own eyes. Yet there was a fourth friend in Job 32:2 who became upset with Job because he saw Job find justification in Job and not in God. Job was self-righteous and during this entire setting, God didn’t say a thing. Job went from the best God had to the best Job thought God had.

 

Jesus Christ never opened His mouth when they falsely accused Him. Never! He knew He wasn’t guilty but He didn’t open His mouth. If someone said a false accusation against you, you’re likely to quit church and talk bad about them that said it.

 

Job 38-42:6

God had to first deal with Job’s problem. All awhile Job never opened his mouth.

Once God was done explaining where Job messed up, Job abhorred himself and repented. This is the last recorded record we know of Job. It was at this point that God was faithful and forgave him.