Have I been self-righteous, or do I recognize that like every other man of dust, there is nothing good in me, apart from the Spirit of Christ?

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:  10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

INSIGHT:  One time I was walking in the woods asking the Lord to help me with a struggle I was having.  “Lord, I know that your Word says I’m supposed to see others as better than me (Phi 2:3), but how do I honestly do that when so few people seem to love and obey you like I do?  How can I possibly see myself as not as good as a lukewarm or disobedient believer?”  A few minutes later God brought to my mind, (2 Cor 4:7) and helped me to see that every chosen child of His is a jar made of the same exact clay, none better than the other.  Initially, He showed me that before He is in us, our “jars” are filled with the corruption of our sin nature, the lies of the devil, and the spirit of the world.  It is a level playing field and none of us can do anything to change our deplorable condition.  However, when a person, by God’s grace, recognizes the need for their jar to be cleaned, they can begin by pouring the obvious filthy contents out (repentance).  Then, as we remain in the obedience which comes by faith, Christ will continue cleansing our hearts with the water of His Word and Spirit (Heb 9:14, 10:22).  We are all equal in this respect, and the elect have this invitation, by faith, to first dump the filth from our “jar”, by turning our backs on our old sinful life.  Then God, not us, begins to fill our jar back up with His new life and righteousness, which comes to us through the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

When a man humbly chooses to first cleanse himself (2 Cor 7:1, 2 Tim 2:21), and then to be further cleansed and purified through sanctification in the Lord (1 Jn 1:9), he has not done anything that any other Christian can’t decide also to do.  Therefore, there is no reason to ever believe the lie of self-righteousness.

Even when our “jar” becomes cleaner than other jars, we still can’t take credit for any of it.   God helped me to see that I, of myself, am a worthless dirty jar, and there is truly nothing good in me apart from Him (Rom 7:18).  If I try to take credit (like a Pharisee) for any of the good in my heart or life, I am either guilty of robbing God of His Glory, or of trying to achieve righteousness apart from the Spirit of Christ.

And, even if we position ourselves, through devotion and obedience, to have our jar filled up more than others do, or if it happens because God has apportioned that extra grace to us, by His will (Eph 4:7), that still does not make us better than any other sinner or believer, but it does make us better off.  That is very important to understand and remember!

2024 Update: Self-righteousness is a double-edged trap we must guard against.  We can be tempted into sin by thinking too highly of ourselves, or we can be tempted into making a sinful accusation against someone else who is living a holy life.  I have seen God strike at a root of self-righteousness in my own heart, and I have also been slanderously called “self-righteous” quite a few times.  Any who wish to emulate the righteousness of Christ will be a rebuke to those who are not, and the quickest defense of their conscience is to cry “self-righteous”.  The simple truth is that we are all to be much more righteous than we are right now, but when we reach that righteousness, we must not suddenly forget where the root of that righteousness came from, Christ, not us!  The humility Christ demands, that will turn into our exaltation, comes from realizing we have no ability to even desire righteousness apart from Him, much less to achieve it!  Lisa and I both know that everything we love so much about each other, is only that which comes from our Lord Jesus Christ in us!  Have you already realized this about yourself?