Self-righteousness is the worst disease to ever afflict the human race. Self-righteousness will keep you from grace and lock you out of the kingdom.
For this reason, great preachers like Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon made a habit of preaching against self-righteousness.
But do you know what self-righteousness is?
Self-righteousness is trusting in your own righteousness (Luke 18:9). It is believing there are things you can do to make yourself right with God.
Self-righteousness is sometimes manifested in feelings of superiority towards others. “I am right, you are wrong. My way is better than your way.”
But self-righteousness can also be reflected in:
- a low sense of self-worth (“God can’t possibly love me”)
- an inflated sense of self-importance (“I need to do more for God”)
- outright unbelief (“I am beyond the reach of his grace”)
The defining ingredient of self-righteousness is that you are providing your own standard of righteousness.
When you decide what is good and right, perhaps on the basis of your own moral judgment or the law, you are eating from the wrong tree and usurping God’s role as the Righteous Judge.
True righteousness comes from trusting in Jesus, the Righteous One (2 Cor. 5:21).
By Dr. Paul Ellis