Humility, Grace, and the Danger of Self-Righteousness

You see, just about anything about a life of faith begins to break down when we bring God a little too low and lift ourselves a little too high. And it's that kind of self-righteousness that the apostle Paul is going to turn his attention to as we turn the page now into chapter two of his letter to the Romans. [00:04:03]

Paul's response, well, we find it on the next page when he says in Romans 2.1, he says, you may think you can condemn such people, but you, let me tell you, you, he says, are just as bad. You have no excuse. When you say they are wicked and should be punished, you know what? You are condemning yourself. [00:07:50]

The judgmental moralist judges God's grace by judging others. He will likely admit that he's not perfect sure he's made some mistakes but when compared to others well he's really not so bad in fact he's really quite good he's the prodigal son's older brother who refused to celebrate his return home because he's not good his deeds had been so far superior to that of his brothers. [00:11:09]

You judge those who do wrong, but you do wrong yourselves. Do you think that you will be able to escape the judgment of God? Well, the judgmentalist hopes so. He puts on the robe. He slides behind the bench. He picks up the gavel, and he says, here, God, let me help you with that. [00:12:46]

You see, it seems obvious to us that there are clearly bad people and good people in this world, and that God will surely give a pass to those who are above average on the goodness scale. The problem, of course, is that most people generally believe themselves to be better than average. [00:13:51]

And so when we realize that our pursuits, our actions, even our thoughts get held up against the holiness of God, well, that's when we begin to realize that we're not perfect. That's when we begin to realize the mess that we're in. That's when we begin to see so clearly that we don't measure up. [00:19:16]

Can you see that his kindness is not just a matter of time? is intended to turn you from your sin? You know, a lot of times I think that we feel that we're doing good because life feels good. You know, we feel comfortable in life and we feel that we're being blessed. And so God must be happy with us. [00:20:51]

But Paul is saying here, hey, don't confuse God's patience with his approval. You see, God, God doesn't change. He always has and always will have a constant holy hatred of evil. But because of his equal measure of love and mercy, he is holding back that wrath, keeping us from being wiped out by our own wickedness. [00:21:40]

Whereas circumcision was originally meant to be a symbol of submission or a heart surrendered to God, they had turned it into a symbol of superiority. And so Paul says in verse 28 to them, you are not a true Jew, just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. [00:27:48]

There is no tradition or sign or symbol that can save us. Only God can do that. Circumcision, of course, doesn't save a person any more than maybe some other Christian symbol that we might hold in high regard, such as baptism or communion. Maybe it's an altar call or an Easter service. Maybe it's church membership. [00:29:28]

Because none of us, by our own efforts, can make it to God. And so this is the warning to the legalist. Don't try to do what only God can do. The worship team can come on back up. You see, there is no way for us to make our way to God. And so he has made his way to us in the form of Jesus. [00:34:58]

Because we don't only put our trust in Jesus's sacrifice, but also in his resurrection. For new life. No amount of self-righteousness could ever save us. No amount of good could ever make up for our bad. Because a standard that we're measured by isn't compared to others or affected by our traditions or our symbols. [00:36:33]