I still remember this sermon by Pastor Kwan about 2 weeks ago. Think the topic was on "Self-Righteousness And Its Condemnation", taken from Luke 18:9-14. In a nutshell, it's a parable about this Pharisee who prayed about himself, like how good he was before God, and about a tax collector who pleaded with God for mercy.
I guess for me, there have been many instances when I have been rather judgemental about others and thought myself to be better than them. Ok, at least I don't make my judgements known to others openly, but still, who am I to judge? It's this sin of pride within me that has caused me to start elevating myself above others and think that I'm better than them. The point is, I'm actually deceiving myself, because I'm equally bad and wretched inside. To even think I'm better than everyone else, like woah, makes me even more wretched, but pride blinds me to it.
And yet, though I'm more wretched than anyone else, Jesus Christ still chose to love me as I am, UNCONDITIONALLY. Now I truly understand why salvation belongs to our God, and it was never what we do that can bring us to heaven. For you see, we humans are just sinful from birth (Psalm 51:5) and even when we think we are righteous enough when we compare ourselves to others, we fall and sin. You can try and be as righteous as you can, but trust me, you'll somehow fall/sin inevitably.
Knowing that we silly humans can NEVER be holy and righteous enough to enter heaven (Romans 3:23), God chose to send His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to be the Sacrificial Lamb for us. That is, we do not need to follow the old system of giving sacrifices for our sins----- Christ IS the Lamb sacrificed for us. And this Lamb is rather 'special', for all of our sins (past, present, future) are laid on this Lamb, so that, based on the old system, our sins are imparted onto the Lamb, and we ourselves are now considered to be free from sin, and hence we become righteous.
Thus we see that it is really none of our efforts or works that can earn us a place in heaven, for:
1) We are sure to fall and sin at some point of our lives
2) The sacrifice was provided by GOD, NOT us. All we did was to accept God's gift of the Sacrificial Lamb (who had to die because of all our sins that were imparted on Him, as commanded under the old system)
Ephesians 2:8-9 sums it up well. That salvation is not by one's works, so that no one can boast about his salvation or compare himself to others and say, "I'm better than you!"
Guess we should continually remember to always confess our sins and beg God for mercy and forgiveness with a sincere and humble heart, just like the tax collector. Never should we be proud, just because of our works for God. Don't forget, that 1) we are still wretched; 2) by thinking you are better, you have already sinned.
Christ says: " For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled (or abased in other versions), and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:14b)
At the end of it all, the Pharisee prayed a very nice and eloquent prayer, but he never entered the prescence of God because of his pride. The tax collector, who humbled himself and prayed sincerely from his heart, found God and received justification. He went home with peace in his heart.
Haha bit long argument so to speak. Hope you lasted all the way to here.
May the Lord bless you as He continues to reveal to you more understanding about His great gift of salvation that's so freely available, thanks to His great love for us.
God bless ya!! =)
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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.'
- Luke 18:13
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