Thursday, September 26, 2013

The Plague of Self-Righteousness


“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.  All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:1-10 NIV)

Self-righteousness is an obvious plague among us.  All you have to do is go onto social media to see it played out in tweet after tweet, post after post.  Conservatives condemn liberals; Democrats lambast Republicans; gun control advocates deride the views of gun rights advocates and vice-versa.  For the most part, we think we are right and being right puts us on what we consider to be a superior platform.  Anyone who thinks or acts different than us is, in our minds, on a slightly lower level.  

This is true in the church as well.  It has been obvious for more than 20 centuries that many calling themselves Christians have felt morally superior to others.  This is the greatest and most frequent criticism of the church—Christians look down their noses at the world.  And it is easy to know why.  The church is afflicted by the same plague that affects the rest of human race—self-righteousness.  

It is obvious the church in Ephesus was afflicted with it because Paul reminds them of who they once were—people deserving the wrath of God for their sins.  They had fallen into the trap of thinking that because they had received God’s grace, they had somehow become better than everyone else.  Nonsense, Paul says.  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  
While our bent is toward self-righteousness, let us not be deceived.  Each one of us is deserving of God’s wrath.  There are no truly good people—all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  None of us have any claim to righteousness, only a claim on grace.  And that only because God first loved us. (I John 4:10

The church today is still criticized for being filled with hypocrites.  And that is mainly because, while continuing to struggle with sin, the people still view themselves as morally superior.  What is needed for this to change is the realization of our true position apart from the grace of God.  

Today, remember all have sinned and continue to sin.  You have no claim to righteousness apart from what has been given you through grace.  

© Jim Musser 20013

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