To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 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.’ I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14)

Self-righteous people are those who are confident of their own righteousness or who trust in themselves that they were righteous (ESV). Non-Christians certainly need this teaching. They believe that they are good in themselves, and teach others to believe in themselves. When the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into hellfire. But Christians, or those who call themselves Christians, need this teaching as well. There are Christians of all ranks and from all traditions who confuse true righteousness and self-righteousness, and who cannot distinguish pride and humility, or who think that self-deprecation is a sure sign of humility, if not the essence of it. This kind of humility is often a camouflage for the most evil and deep-rooted arrogance.

The self-righteous person is not just anyone who is confident of his righteousness, or that he is righteous, without stating its basis. Rather, the self-righteous person is confident in his own righteousness and who trusts in himself that he is righteous. The basis for this estimation is his own works: “I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.” He judges his own works as good and meritorious by his own standard. Although the Pharisees selected rules to live by that happened to coincide with some of God’s laws, as least in appearance, they did not in fact have his laws as their standard. As Jesus pointed out, they invented many traditions to subvert the laws of God, and they ignored the weightier matters like justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Thus it was mere delusion that allowed them to be confident in their own righteousness, and to have based this confidence in their perceived obedience to God’s laws. Then, on this shaky foundation, they “looked down on everybody else.”

The tax collector was the opposite. He had no religious façade. He spoke to God with shame, but also with candor. He said, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” He admitted that he was a sinner. He did not say, “At least I am not a hypocrite like the Pharisee!” He trusted not in himself, but turned completely to someone other than himself. He depended on nothing in himself, but leaned on a quality in this other, namely, his mercy. This is the difference between a righteousness that comes from self, which counts as wickedness under divine judgment, and a righteousness that comes from God. The tax collector went home justified before God, but the Pharisee remained in line for everlasting punishment.

A Christian who thanks God that he is a Christian, who affirms the benefits that he has received from Jesus Christ, and thus his utter superiority to the non-Christian, is different from the Pharisee. First, a Christian admits his total depravity. He declares that he was born evil, and that he transgresses the laws of God many times each day. He affirms that in himself he deserves to suffer everlasting punishment in hell, along with all the sinners and non-Christians. Second, he depends on God’s mercy. He insists that in himself he has no basis to expect pardon, no ability to attain redemption, and even no willingness to attempt or request it. But God, because of his own decision and kindness, rescues sinners from their condition, as from the very pit of hell. Third, a Christian trusts in the work of Jesus Christ, that because God has established an association between Christ and the believer, he is accepted before the heavenly throne on the basis of Christ’s perfect righteousness.

Many Christians are weak in faith and steeped in false humility, or to put it another way, in great arrogance, because they fall short when it comes to the third item. They fail to consistently affirm Christ’s righteousness and all his benefits as they are applied to those who believe. Instead of looking to the treasures of Jesus Christ, they still answer spiritual questions on the basis of self, on how good or bad they feel about themselves, and on how much they think they have accomplished or failed to accomplish. If you are a Christian, then Christ has made you better than when you were a non-Christian, and this means that you are now superior to a non-Christian. If this is not true, then you are either saying that you are still a non-Christian, still doomed to hell, or you are saying that Christ has done nothing for you, which makes you a blasphemer, and probably still an unbeliever.

Ask a Christian if he is superior to a non-Christian and watch him stutter. He is bound by tradition and unbelief. Ask me the same question and I will say, “Yes! In myself I was nothing and I am still nothing apart from Christ, but I am not without Christ. He has made me better, far superior than before. I was darkness, now Jesus Christ is my light. I was unrighteous, now he is my righteousness. I was filthy, now he is my sanctification. I was stupid, now he is my wisdom. I am superior to a non-Christian because Jesus Christ is superior to any non-Christian. I have renounced myself and speak about him who dwells in me. I dare not insult the Lord by suggesting that he has made no difference in me.”

But even forty or fifty years from now, you will not hear me say, “I am confident in the Lord, because I have faithfully served him for many decades. I never wavered, but labored with diligence, courage, and sacrifice. Look at all these books that I have written, all these sermons that I have preached, all these people that I have taught and converted!” No, no, no, no. Perfection always eludes us, but even if we have done all we were commanded, we could only say, “We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.”

Rather, I will tell you, “Many years ago, Christ took hold of me, and formed a permanent association with me. I am assured of my place because he saved me. I know I am righteous before God, because I know that he is righteous before God. I was lost at sea, drowning, then even dead in the water, but Christ pulled me out and breathed new life into me. True, since then I have served on his vessel, but it is not because of my work that I will be granted entrance to the heavenly harbor. I will enter because it is Christ’s ship, and he calls out to his Father to open the gates. The Father accepts and loves him, and a friend of Christ is a friend of the Father. I have no doubt that Jesus Christ is righteous, and therefore I have no doubt that I am righteous. I have no doubt that Jesus Christ is accepted, and therefore I have no doubt that I am accepted. And although I have this confidence, I do not look down at other people, because I know that they are also accepted because of Christ. However, non-Christians do not have Christ, and they are despised, not because I am better than they are in myself, but because Christ is better, and they do not know him. This makes them inferior.”

In Paul’s letters and other places, the Bible repeatedly emphasizes the difference between Christians and non-Christians, and how Christ has elevated his people far above where they were before. It tells us that Christians are superior in intellect, that the minds of unbelievers are darkened, and although they think they are wise, they have become morons. But Christ has enlightened believers. It tells us that Christians are superior in character. For all their flaws, they love God and the Lord Jesus; otherwise, they would not be Christians at all. And they continue to increase in faith, love, patience, courage, and so on. It tells us that Christians are superior in destiny. Non-Christians are without God and without hope, but Christians have received abundant life on this earth, and will enter into glory in the life to come. This is what the Bible teaches. Why is there any hesitation to speak like this? Unbelief.

This shows us why self-deprecation is not necessarily humility: “God, I thank you that I am more humble than other Christians. I condemn myself twenty times a day, and reject ninety percent of all the redemptive benefits that belong to me, and refuse to speak as if they were true in my life.” Unless one is making a point about the saving power of Christ, as when Paul referred to himself as the chief of sinners whom Christ had converted, he is still speaking on the basis of self-perception, not very different from the Pharisee who praised himself. Thus we may refer to ourselves in ourselves to illustrate Christ’s mighty salvation, but the self should no longer be our primary point of reference.

Self-righteousness often manifests itself in self-deprecation, because no matter how outrageous, self-righteousness is always limited. But a person who trusts in Christ will quickly turn the attention to him, his benefits, and the changes that he has wrought. And as Christ is unlimited, so is this person’s confidence, because the object of his confidence is unlimited. A Christian who knows this can speak boldly, as if he has unlimited righteousness, precisely because he has overcome pride and because he has long renounced his own righteousness as evil and worthless, and he speaks on the basis of Christ’s perfect righteousness.

Pride is indeed an epidemic in the church. It often assumes the form of self-deprecation and an implicit denial of the work of Christ, or a failure to personalize his benefits. It is false humility, cheap humility, lazy humility, non-Christian humility. What a disgrace we are, if we shout “Amen!” to “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27), but stumble over “All things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:24), and even oppose those who affirm it. May God teach his people to distinguish between true and false righteousness, true and false humility, and to boast about Jesus Christ and all his benefits. Apart from Christ we are nothing, but when we abide in him, we will bear much fruit.