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Monday, September
22, 2008
Holier Than Thou
Isaiah 65:3-5 A people that provoketh me
to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth
incense upon altars of brick; (4) Which remain among the graves, and lodge
in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things
is in their vessels; (5) Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me;
for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that
burneth all the day. (KJV)
You know that phrase that is spoken of so
much, well it is actually from the Bible, and as we see God is not
impressed by people who think they are better than everyone else.
Salvation, our way of escape has come from the Lord and not of our works,
so that none can boast or think more highly of themselves than they should.
It’s the grace of God through faith that got us into His kingdom, and it is
only that grace and our giving ear to His message is what will keep us in
good standing in that realm, nothing more.
Luke 18:9-14 And he spake this parable
unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others: (10) Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a
Pharisee, and the other a publican. (11) 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. (12) I fast
twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. (13) 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 to me a sinner.
(14) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the
other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that
humbleth himself shall be exalted. (KJV)
I had to laugh the other day because
while watching one of these silly religious programs, the guy actually had
the title of ‘the most reverend’. He may be the most, but the reality is
the most conceited, the most deceived, and in many cases the most self
righteous; or in laymen’s terms a legend in his own mind. Your works,
especially all these outward rituals, mean nothing to our Lord. God looks
at the heart and the motives of it; so if you are doing anything for any
other reason than what He is asking and what is pleasing in His sight then
it is all for naught, empty, vain, and worthless. If you wish to be exalted
then try some humility rather than this religious holier than thou self
righteous nonsense that pleases people but displeases our Father in heaven.
Ecclesiastes 7:16-17 Be not righteous
over much; neither make thyself over wise: why shouldest thou destroy
thyself? (17) Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why
shouldest thou die before thy time? (KJV)
With everything there is a just balance,
and finding that is vital with all believers. There is nothing sadder to
see than people who bury their own identity or personality, and rather than
just be themselves they turn into some silly religious puppet, sounding
more like Mr. Rogers than a true man/woman of God. Actually it is a real
turn off to many that are seeking truth only to find out that what man
portrays as being a Christian is best termed a ‘Jesus freak’. It’s the sin
the Lord would like you to get rid of, the unbelief; not who you are, but
rather who He would have you be. There is liberty to those that don’t try to
impress others by their self righteous acts, but rather keep that
uniqueness of who God made them and how they can relate to others because
of that. So Christian believer, don’t walk on eggshells all your life, and
don’t turn into some useless zombie, but learn who you are in Christ and be
yourself in Him, and walk in the liberty He intended for His people.
2 Corinthians 10:12-13 For we dare not
make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend
themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing
themselves among themselves, are not wise. (13) But we will not boast of
things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which
God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. (KJV)
Just because it is a big denomination and
lots of people attend it, doesn’t mean it is approved of God. In fact Paul
was warning the people not to get caught up in numbers, or as many of these
organizations which are more concerned with head counts then teaching the
people how much the Head of the Church counts. Or when you try to compare
yourself to other people by keeping some silly scorecard; well folks, that
don’t cut it either with God. Lately, to add insult to injury, some of
these silly organizations have the marketing mentality, using the world’s
methods to get the people into their buildings. If you have to come up with
gimmicks to get them in then it will take gimmicks to keep them around,
which makes you more of a people pleaser than a God one.
Romans 3:22-24 Even the righteousness of
God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe: for there is no difference: (23) For all have sinned, and come
short of the glory of God; (24) Being justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (KJV)
Sometimes people keep scorecards of their
deeds, thinking they are better than others because in their carnal minds
they think they are ahead. The truth be known though, no matter how well we
think we are doing, or where our little scorecards have us ahead, we all
sin and still fall short, which puts us back in our place again, like we
saw earlier with those that exalt themselves end up fallen, while it’s the
humble that are exalted. The only righteousness God gives credence to is in
Christ; those that give ear to His message and walk in obedience to Him,
seeking His approval above and beyond man’s.
2 Corinthians 3:1-2 Do we begin again to
commend ourselves? or need we, as some others, epistles of commendation to
you, or letters of commendation from you? (2) Ye are our epistle written in
our hearts, known and read of all men: (KJV)
You know other people’s approval, other people
taking credit for God’s plan of salvation just doesn’t work, and you won’t
find peace because it is not what God intended. The proof is in the Spirit;
the truth that is written in the heart so that God can be known personally
and not just by a selected few who think their works far exceed that of the
common believer, those that they look down upon instead of building up.
When they spend more time seeking man’s approval rather than God’s then
obviously they are catering more to the flesh than the Spirit, and it may
do you well to move on, dusting your feet on the way out.
Romans 10:2-4 For I bear them record that
they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. (3) 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.
(4) For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth. (KJV)
Many have a zeal for God but not
according to the knowledge which is from above; rather they keep trying to
relate to Him according to their own limited fallen knowledge because they
stay in the realm of the flesh which is not pleasing to God. When you go
out to establish your own righteousness, which many times is just your own
self righteous works, you in essence have sinned and fell short, back into
the fallen realm of man. Knowing who Christ is will put an end to all the
silly self righteous vain works, religion is another word that comes to
mind. You can have all the religion you want, it is the devil’s playground
and he has been playing man for a chump for a long time; but teach the
doctrine of Christ and it will end all these silly holier than thou
attitudes, all these works that may please man but have nothing to do with
God.
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