Thematic Bible: Self-righteousness


Thematic Bible








The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.


No man, when he has lighted a lamp, puts it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a lampstand, that they who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye: therefore when your eye is sound, your whole body also is full of light; but when your eye is evil, your body also is full of darkness. Take heed therefore that the light which is in you be not darkness. read more.
If your whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp does give you light. And as he spoke, a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to eat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first washed before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You fools, did not he that made that which is outside make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. But woe unto you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over justice and the love of God: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are as graves which are not seen, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them. Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Teacher, thus saying you reproach us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, you lawyers! for you load men with burdens hard to be borne, and you yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for you build the sepulchers of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly you bear witness that you consent to the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and you build their sepulchers. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets and apostles, and some of them they shall slay and persecute: That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation; From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation. Woe unto you, lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge: you entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in you hindered. And as he said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to oppose him vehemently, and to provoke him to speak of many things: Lying in wait for him, and seeking to catch something from his mouth, that they might accuse him.

They answered him, We are Abraham's descendants, and were never in bondage to any man: how say you, You shall be made free? Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abides not in the house forever: but the Son abides ever. read more.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham's descendant; but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you. I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and you do that which you have seen with your father. They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus said unto them, If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man that has told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. You do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We are not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, you would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, you believe me not. Which of you convicts me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do you not believe me? He that is of God hears God's words: you therefore hear them not, because you are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him, Say we not well that you are a Samaritan, and have a demon? Jesus answered, I have not a demon; but I honor my Father, and you do dishonor me. And I seek not my own glory: there is one that seeks and judges. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keeps my saying, he shall never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and you say, If a man keeps my saying, he shall never taste of death. Are you greater than our father Abraham, who is dead? and the prophets are dead: whom make you yourself? Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honors me; of whom you say, that he is your God: Yet you have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Then they reviled him, and said, You are his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples. We know that God spoke unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from where he is. The man answered and said unto them, Why, in this is a marvelous thing, that you know not from where he is, and yet he has opened my eyes. read more.
Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshiper of God, and does his will, him he hears. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. If this man were not of God, he could do nothing. They answered and said unto him, You were altogether born in sins, and do you teach us? And they cast him out.


Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. read more.
Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

And the Lord said unto him, Now do you Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of extortion and wickedness. You fools, did not he that made that which is outside make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as you have; and, behold, all things are clean unto you. read more.
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over justice and the love of God: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Woe unto you, Pharisees! for you love the best seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are as graves which are not seen, and the men that walk over them are not aware of them.





Now when the Pharisee who had bidden him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him: for she is a sinner.

And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go and learn what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.






Who say, Stand by yourself, come not near to me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.


And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tested him, saying, Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?



Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; read more.
If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.


But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but rubbish, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: read more.
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;


Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.


Speak not you in your heart, after that the LORD your God has cast them out from before you, saying, For my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land: but for the wickedness of these nations the LORD does drive them out from before you.




And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be you of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.






And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.


Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.


I will declare your righteousness, and your works; for they shall not profit you.


And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be you of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. read more.
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what the LORD has said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you king over Israel? And the LORD sent you on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but did pounce upon the spoil, and did evil in the sight of the LORD? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD your God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king. And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray you, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with you: for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it tore. And Samuel said unto him, The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD your God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD.


And he spoke this parable unto certain who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. read more.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.




If I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean; Yet shall you plunge me in the ditch, and my own clothes shall abhor me.


For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.


Who say, Stand by yourself, come not near to me; for I am holier than you. These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day.


For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.






The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank you, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.




If I justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I say, I am blameless, it shall also prove me perverse.




For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.