What does First B Jackson teach about self righteousness?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on self-righteousness starts with an honest observation: it is more natural for human beings to be self-righteous than to be righteous. Pastor John made this point when he followed Jesus through John 8, where the Pharisees pressed Jesus on questions of testimony and identity while being entirely blind to their own condition. The self-righteous person is not usually someone who thinks of themselves as proud. They are often someone who has a list of things they do right, or things they have never done at all, and they treat that list as their standing before God.
Pastor Ray pressed the same point from Romans 2:1, where Paul turns from the catalog of sins in Romans 1 and aims his warning directly at the person who heard all of that and felt safe. The one who judges others while doing the same things, even subtler versions of them, is not in a better position. Jesus's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount extends the charge: anger without cause is the same family as murder, lust in the heart is the same family as adultery. The subtle sins do not get a pass. And the kindness and patience God shows to that person is not a sign that nothing needs to change. It is precisely what is meant to lead someone to repentance.
The remedy the teaching keeps returning to is the same one Jesus held out to the tax collector in Luke 18 and to Matthew in Matthew 9. The kingdom of God is a gift, and it can only be received the way a child receives something, with no prior claim on it. The Pharisee in the parable presented God with a list of his own good deeds and went home unchanged. The tax collector came with nothing but the truth about himself and went home justified. The self-righteous person is not disqualified by the severity of what they have done. They are blocked by their unwillingness to stop presenting their own record as the reason God should accept them.
Taught from Romans 2:1 · Luke 18:10-14 · John 8:12 · Romans 2:4 · Matthew 5:22
The passage taught · 1 Timothy 5:19
19 Don’t receive an accusation against an elder, except at the word of two or three witnesses.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- November 27, 2022 Before Abraham Was Born, I Am Jesus declares "I am the light of the world" in John 8, and the preacher challenges us to ask honestly: are we trusting in our own righteousness, or in Christ alone?
- March 6, 2016 Thou Art Inexcusable, Oh Man Romans 2:1 shows no one escapes God's righteous judgment by pointing at others. Pastor Ray walks through Paul's hard words about self-righteousness and God's kindness.
- December 1, 2015 Monday Nights @ First B (18) Jesus says no one enters the kingdom of God unless they receive it like a child. But what does that mean? Luke 18 shows us through the stories around it.
Mentioned along the way
- July 26, 2015 Jesus Came for Sinners A tax collector, a recovering addict, and a Pharisee walk into Scripture. Pastor Blake explores Matthew 9 and who Jesus actually came for.