Last Friday I posted on TGINL, and how we tend to minimize the Gospel by being self-righteous. I get it. It’s hard to recognize and see how self-righteous we’ve become. We all tend to give ourselves very favorable ratings in what’s right. I was greatly helped then, this week, when I read over these questions again from Jerry Bridges’ Bookends of the Christian Life.
When you analyze your Christian walk: 1) Do you tend to live by a list of dos and don’ts? 2) Is it difficult for you to respect those whose standards aren’t as high as yours? 3) Do you assume that practicing spiritual disciplines should result in God’s blessing? 4) Do you feel you’re better than most other people? 5) Has it been a long time since you identified a sin and repented of it? 6) Do you resent it when others point out your “spiritual blind spots”? 7) Do you readily recognize the sins of others but not your own? 8) Do you have the sense that God owes you a good life? 9) Do you get angry when difficulties and suffering come into your life? 10) Do you seldom think of the cross?
Bridges concludes:
If you found yourself answering yes to at least half of these questions, it’s likely you’re living under the stronghold of self-righteousness toward God. You need to see this for what it really is — a hideous enemy disguised as a satisfying glory. It will let you down and leave you hanging. Its satisfaction is as short-lived as an ice cube in the blazing sun; its glory has all the appeal of a well-dressed corpse. And at the end of the day this fact remains: no amount of personal performance will ever gain the approval of a holy God. (pp.49-50)
The remedy is to repent of our self-righteousness by depending on the finished work of Jesus Christ. We need to truth of the Gospel to saturate us in such a way that our living is informed by the Gospel, not by our self-righteous, religious performance. Run to Jesus today, He’s your refuge and crushed your self-righteousness on the cross and through His resurrection.