The self-righteousness, or man's goodness, are a major hindrance in experiencing God. Self-righteousness is a poison that lets us think that we do not need God.
Self-righteousness but is often linked to deep inner pain of the soul. You try always to do what is good and you are troubled when you could not. Some people may have fear that when they fail or sin they are not loved by God anymore. They strive their whole life for approval and acceptance by God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit. This can lead to a feeling of own goodness which is an abomination in God's sight. God hates it and it is so dark and full of pride.
Jeremiah 2:33-35 (I paraphrase these verses): God said to the people why do you try be good and say that you have not done anything wrong and with this mask you do more and more evil. More than that you even kill the innocent and poor souls at all places. But you say: I am not guilty, why is HE angry with me? Behold I want to argue with you for you say I have not sinned. Due to their goodness they were even worse than normal and killed innocent and poor people, because they have no feeling of real guilt. This is what God hates! He has to judge us and He wants us to see our sin.
Jeremiah 3:12-13 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.
The only requirement of God in this verse was that the people of Israel should acknowledge their iniquity. God says if you would only see your sin. I cannot help you when you do not see your sin. God also said in Jeremiah 2, 22 that Israel could try the best cleansing material for them but it would not make them righteous. None of our good works can make us righteous only the blood of Jesus.
What Prevents Good in our Lives?
In Jeremiah 5:25 God says that the only thing which prevents the good from our life is the iniquity and sin. He cannot give the life more abundantly because of our sin, because we have left the living source and have made wells with holes in it.
Isaiah 40:6-8 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.
The flower on the field is the goodness of man. The flower fades, because the spirit of the LORD blows upon it. Can we see this? God says here that if the Holy Spirit blows in a place the goodness of man cannot stand, because there is nothing good in us. This is powerful. May the Holy Spirit blow in our lives that we may see our sin (see John 16 and the commission of the Holy Spirit was to convict us of our sin, to show us that we are sinners, that we alone acknowledge our iniquity- Jeremiah 3:13)!
Furthermore it is written: Nahum 1:3 The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
Exodus 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Here we see that all are guilty before the Lord and that God will by no means clear the guilty. We all, even the most self-righteous person on this planet is guilty. We see this in Job. How "perfect" he was. God liked him so much.
Job 29:14-17 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.
This is just an excerpt of all what Job did. You cannot think of any better person than Job. He was not selfish, he was honored by all men and helped the poor, orphans and widows. But one thing this "perfect" life caused him to think was that he is better than others.
Job 30:1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock.
Can we see that? He would have disdained these fathers. He thought of him better than these guys. This is the sting and the bad smell that comes from self-righteousness. It stinks! If we could see our self-righteousness we would like to vomit. It is a disgusting smell from our pride. To think we are righteous and good, it is worse than so many sins we commit! There is a feeling of self-security and own goodness. There is no such thing than own goodness! I may be repeating myself but just to the urgency of this matter.
Self-righteousness is a Spiritual Sin!
There is so much more in the Word of God. There is another good example in the Bible for people who had this own goodness in them. In Luke 18:18-30 there is a story of a young rich ruler who came to Jesus and said to Jesus: Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life. We see he wanted to do something to inherit eternal life and he said good master to Jesus. Jesus replied: Why do you call me good. There is none good except God. And Jesus went on to say that he should keep all the commandments to inherit eternal life. The young ruler said that he kept all of the commandments from his youth on. We see he was similar to Job. He did everything correct. But then Jesus that one thing is need and that is to sell all his possessions and follow him. He could been the 13 disciple. But then he was sad and left Jesus, because he was rich.
People with self-righteousness want only to be honored for what they do. Often there is no real love behind their good deeds. There are still bound and attached to this world. There is a limit in their "good" life. They just want to be good as far it does not touch their pride. The pride of this young man was his possessions and maybe the honor and respect he got from men through his riches.
Maybe with us it is that we do not want to be embarrassed before people when we help people outside the society or handicapped people. What may the people think? We ask us then. So these can be limits for our goodness. Do we see why this is so abominable in God´s sight? The real intention behind the good works is not love but either fear or pride. It is not self-denying but lets people think it is. This is why it is so dangerous.
Luke 18:9-14 (paraphrasing) Jesus spoke to people who thought they are righteous by themselves. There was a pharisee that fasted twice a week and prayed and gave alms. He gave thanks to God that he was not like these sinners, these drunken people, these thieves, these unrighteous, these adulterous. And there was publican who did not dare to look to heaven and who simply cried out with all his heart: God, have mercy with me, such a sinner. Jesus said of him that he went justified to his home and the pharisee not. For whoever humbles himself shall be exalted and whoever exalts himself shall be abased.
By the way Paul, the best Jew you could imagine, could have boasted in his flesh for his great self-righteousness. But in the end of his life he said: I am the least of all sinners. And: 1Cor 15:9 - For I am the least of all apostles. Why did Paul change? Because he saw the beauty of Christ (Phil 3:7:11, just side note)
Romans 3 and Psalm 14 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
Romans 2:1-3 Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Romans 7:14-25 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
There is no one that does good! In our flesh there is nothing good! We all are guilty before God! We alone need to acknowledge our iniquity! We are inexcusable! We are only saved by the grace and mercy of God through HIS divine blood! So let us thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord and not our own goodness!
Benedikt Schwabe
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