1Co_11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
How many times does self-righteousness separate us from God and what effect does it have.
- Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.
- They were taken out of the Garden of Eden.
- Moses struck the rock instead of speaking to it.
- He was refused entry into the Promised Land.
- Achan kept some of the spoils of war.
- The army of Israel lost a battle.
The Knowledge of Good and Evil.
When we see the word “Evil” it conjures up in our minds things that are extremely bad.
This leaves us with a place in between, bad.
We tend to see bad as things that are wrong, but not too wrong, such as white lies.
This place does not exist.
A better translation would be “The Knowledge of Good and Bad” or “The Knowledge of Right and Wrong.”
In God’s righteousness there is perfection.
There are no half rights or not too bad’s, things are right or wrong, good or bad.
Self-righteousness lets us deceive ourselves and accept the in between as right.
We tend to judge ourselves by the Ten Commandments, but look at them in a legalistic way.
- I have not committed adultery so I am OK
- I have not physically killed anybody so I am OK.
- I have stolen anything so I am OK.
Jesus said that to think about committing adultery is just as bad as doing it.
- We kill people in our minds when they do wrongs against us, just as bad as doing it physically.
- We borrow and never return that is theft.
- We use other people’s things as our own without permission that is theft.
In our lives we should be judging ourselves in all that we do by the things of the world.
1Jn 2:15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1Jn 2:17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The lust of the flesh – I need.
The lust of the eyes – I want.
The pride of life – I am.
These are the fruits of sin. Jesus overcame each one after fasting for forty days at the start of His ministry.
These are the things that we should judge by when we examine ourselves.