Category: self-righteousness

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #10

Friday, September 19, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Romans 3:4 forms part of God’s case against sinful man as presented in the opening three chapters of Romans: “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.” Although Paul alludes to Psalms, the Holy Spirit through him changed the original quote slightly so as to view the same situation from a different angle. In Psalm 51:4, it was: “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” Psalms has God judging the sinner (“when thou judgest”), whereas Romans has the sinner judging God (“when thou art judged”).

When God accuses the sinner of wrongdoing, the sinner seeks to question/challenge/discredit God by judging Him. That is, as God judges the sinner, God is righteous or fair and thus cleared of all wrongdoing. The sinner, not God, has the problem. God has not falsely indicted the sinner, or made a big deal out of nothing—yet the sinner falsely accuses God of inappropriate conduct (“You are a liar!”). This clever reversal is nothing but a repeat of Genesis 3:12… blame-shifting so God appears to be at fault!

Go to Romans 3:19,20, where guilty man shuts his mouth (for he likes to prattle on and on about his “goodness”): “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” The Law of Moses serves as an indisputable standard of the glory of God: everything that He is, we are not. Here is man’s fundamental flaw. What the Law says not to do, we do… and what the Law says to do, we do not do. Here is sin….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #9

Thursday, September 18, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Although unbelievers immediately go to Hell upon physical death, Hell (even with all its suffering) is but a holding cell before formal sentencing to an even worse fate (the Lake of Fire). Their sin debt accumulates long after they have left this world because they still negatively influence human society—the books they wrote, the recordings they made, and the religions they started all continue to lead others astray, thereby increasing their sentence’s severity. At the Great White Throne Judgment, the final tally will be staggering for all. They had more of an effect on people than they ever realized!

For example, those who lived in earlier points of history will share the blame in accounting for the lies all subsequent generations believed. The religious leaders and spiritual teachers will experience some of the harshest penalties of eternal judgment. “My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1). Those who had the most exposure to Bible truth will be handed some of the worst sentences too.

“Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable [bearable] for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Matthew 10:15). “But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you…. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee” (Matthew 11:22,24). “And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city” (Mark 6:11). “But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city…. But it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment, than for you” (Luke 10:12,14).

Indeed, they will not get away….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #8

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Yea, in our world of unchecked injustice and corrupt human judicial systems, we can rest assured there is a court higher than man’s. The God of the Bible will not be silenced, intimidated, bribed, or assassinated. He keeps immaculate, meticulous records and untainted evidence for millennia. The strength of the Christian worldview is that there is an immutable (absolute) standard of right and wrong—the Holy Bible. Sinful man so dreads that answerability!

As it was written 2,000 years in Koine (Common) Greek, so we read in our English Bible: “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). The Lord Jesus Christ knew what it was to preach to sinners so desperately trying to “get away” from accountability before God. Doubtless, they worshipped their works-religion centered in their beautiful Jerusalem Temple. It was a dead theological system. There was no life of God in ancient Judaism… just sinful sons and daughters of Adam attempting to compensate for their shortcomings by praying, giving, fasting, and so on, as well as pointing sanctimonious fingers at “heathen dogs” in Gentile religions.

The score is settled forever in Revelation 20:11-15: “And I saw a great white throne, and him [Christ Himself!] that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Behold, the future day of which sinful man is terrified….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #7

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Keep reading chapter 2 of Romans: “[11] For there is no respect of persons with God. [12] For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; [13] (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. [14] For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: [15] Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another; ) [16] In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.”

Whether a sinning Jew or a sinning Gentile, one falling short of His glory, God does not play favorites. Neither one will escape His justice that enforces His offended righteousness. In time past, the Law of Moses was given to the nation Israel, not the Gentiles. Lost Israelites will be judged according to that Law at the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. The Gentiles had conscience, an internal system of standards and norms that gave them some sense of right and wrong. God will judge lost Gentiles according to this when they face Him at the Great White Throne Judgment.

In Romans 2:16, Paul announces how God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to his (that is, Paul’s) Gospel. No matter what they did or believed in religious or philosophical circles, it did not have the spiritual value of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection as sufficient payment for their sins. Since they failed to believe the words of God to them (whenever they lived on Earth), God’s righteousness was not imputed to them by personal faith, which is what led to the doom and sentencing they now face in Revelation chapter 20….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #6

Monday, September 15, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

“Busy in ministry” in early Acts, Saul of Tarsus was a Hell-bound, self-righteous Jew, obsessed with his own “goodness.” Filled with religious pride, he nonetheless finally gave up his “dung” and “filthy rags,” and came to faith in Jesus Christ as his personal Saviour (check Philippians 3:1-9). Through his subsequent years as an Apostle, Paul encountered many other such lost Jews in synagogues in the Roman Empire (Acts chapters 9–28). These were the very Christ-rejecting Jews about which he wrote in Romans chapter 2 (the same sinful Jews who looked down upon the “sinful” Gentiles of chapter 1).

Romans chapter 2: “[1] 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. [2] But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. [3] 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? [4] Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? [5] But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; [6] Who will render to every man according to his deeds: [7] To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: [8] But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, [9] Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;….”

Try as hard as they might, the Bible thunders how no one without the righteousness of God will “get away” from the righteous judgment of God….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #5

Sunday, September 14, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Another useful method of evading culpability before God is known as “relative righteousness.” In this scenario, someone points to another and declares, “I am not as bad as that person.” They, of course, are probably referring to people such as inmates confined to the cells of maximum-security prisons—prostitutes, drug dealers, pedophiles, murderers, rapists, thieves, and so on. We can summarize their boast with the ditty, “I neither smoke nor chew, nor run with the girls who do!” They puff out their little chests and lift their noses up high. Many such goody-goodies could be found in ancient Judaism.

The classic Biblical example of this is Luke 18:11,12: “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 [tax collector]. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.” Unfortunately, there are people who are better than we, so, our bragging must cease when they come into the picture. Moreover, the fact of the matter is, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). No one is as good as He is or sinless like He is!

I once had an “intellectual” friend and college classmate who joined a strange Eastern religion. The topic came up as we were eating lunch in the school cafeteria one day. I had never heard of this philosophical system before, so I asked him quite bluntly an extremely simple question, “What will you do with your sin?” After a brief pause to think, he replied, “I will get back with you on that.” Some 15 years later, I am still waiting for an answer from him—and I know one will never be forthcoming. To my knowledge, he is still dodging accountability before God, trying to achieve a state of “spirituality” without coming through Calvary’s cross.

Alas, time is running out for him and all lost sinners, and they will not get away….

I Just Wanted to Get Away! #4

Saturday, September 13, 2025

“And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself” (Genesis 3:10 KJV).

Will sinners “get away” from accountability before God?

Perhaps the simplest way to avoid accountability before God is just to deny His existence. This is the atheist’s preference. If there is no higher authority beyond the sinner, the sinner can believe and do as he or she pleases without fear of ultimate scrutiny or eternal punishment. In that case, “being good without God” is as self-righteous as those who attend church and boast of their religious rites, rituals, ceremonies, and commandment-keeping (“I am good enough! I do the best I can!”). Both classes are struggling to “get away” from answering to God.

Let us go over to John 3:16-21 now: “[16] For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. [18] He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. [21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

Did you notice how sinners avoid the light? They do not want their deeds to be “reproved” (criticized), so they hide in darkness, where they think no one can see them and their evil activities. This matches what Adam and Eve did when they “hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden” (Genesis 3:8). Like their parents, they will either blame God or blame Satan when the light shines upon them and their nakedness….

Asset or Liability to the Establishment? #9

Monday, August 4, 2025

“[Our Lord Jesus Christ] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:…” (Galatians 1:4 KJV).

Are we assets or liabilities to Satan’s Establishment?

Ephesians 4:17-21: “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus:….”

When a Christian lives in the energy of the flesh, he or she is just as useful to God as a lost person (non-Christian) is. Why? Both people are separated from God’s life. An ignorant Christian is just as useful to God as a lost person (non-Christian) is. Why? Both people are isolated from God’s thoughts. The separations are positional for the lost person and practical for the Christian. Moreover, the Christian living “at Corinth” is no bother to Satan. The Christian living “at Galatia” is no bother to Satan either.

A Corinthian will readily see the error of the Galatian, but not his own faults. A Galatian will spot with ease the error of the Corinthian, but not his own faults. The mature Christian recognizes both. Living apart from Christ’s life, the Corinthian engages in human evil—idolatry, theft, fornication (habitual sexual misconduct, especially outside of marriage), coveting, reviling (insulting language), extortion, drunkenness, homosexual behavior, and so on (see 1 Corinthians 5:11; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Living apart from Christ’s life, the Galatian participates in human “goodness”—rites, rituals, ceremonies, self-righteousness, commandment-keeping, including holy meals, confession of sins, fasting, water baptism, physical circumcision, kosher food laws, prayer recitation, and so on (see Galatians 3:1-3; Galatians 5:1-3).

Neither Corinthian living nor Galatian living is Christian living—both are man living, Adam living, not Christ living. If it is not Christ living, it is no bother to Satan, for Adam living enhances and extends Satan’s work. Christ is set aside, and man gets all the attention. It is man’s efforts, man’s intellect… man, man, MAN….

Asset or Liability to the Establishment? #5

Tuesday, July 29, 2025

“[Our Lord Jesus Christ] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:…” (Galatians 1:4 KJV).

Are we assets or liabilities to Satan’s Establishment?

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith” (Galatians 5:1-5).

Whereas the Galatians inclined toward the bondage and strictness of works-religion, the Corinthians wanted the other extreme of human nature—wild, crazy, loose living. If asceticism (giving up worldly pleasures), self-righteousness, and human “goodness” characterized the Galatians; then lasciviousness (unbridled conduct), entertainment, and human evil described the Corinthians. Like the Galatians, the Corinthians assumed they could live the Christian life—and, like the Galatians, the Corinthians failed miserably. Supposing they were “free,” the Corinthians were slaves to sin practically.

“And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal [fleshly, governed by sin or the Adamic nature], even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal [fleshly]: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal [fleshly], and walk as men? For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal [fleshly]?” (1 Corinthians 3:1-4). As the Galatian saints needed Christ to be formed in them (Galatians 4:19), so the Corinthian believers were also Bible babies or spiritually immature. Both had failed to walk in grace as in Romans chapter 6, thereby becoming spiritual prisoners practically (the failure, disappointment, and misery of Romans chapter 7), thereby needing to be re-taught Romans chapter 8….

Asset or Liability to the Establishment? #4

Monday, July 28, 2025

“[Our Lord Jesus Christ] Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:…” (Galatians 1:4 KJV).

Are we assets or liabilities to Satan’s Establishment?

The Lord had used Paul’s ministry to call the Galatians out of idolatry and heathen works-religion. “Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods. But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?” (Galatians 4:8,9). They returned to the bondage of works-religion—except, now, it was Judaism (God’s religion through Moses). “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?” (Galatians 4:21).

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1-3). In short, “Why have you believed this perverted gospel of Christ? Has someone lied to you, being Scriptural but not dispensational? Do you think your daily Christian living depends on your flesh [your performance in religion to make God happy], when your Christian life began by faith in Christ’s performance? Can your fleshly efforts enhance the Holy Spirit’s work in you? Of course not!”

Galatians chapter 6: “[12] As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. [13] For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. [14] But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” There will be no “glorying [boasting, bragging]” in any human performance. The only performance worth finding value in is Christ’s finished crosswork on Calvary….