30 Bible Verses about Self Deception

If we say, "We are without any sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and there is no truth in our hearts.

Do you not know that wrongdoers will not have any share in God's kingdom? Do not let anyone mislead you. People who are immoral or idolaters or adulterers or sensual or given to unnatural vice or thieves or greedy??runkards, abusive people, robbers??ill not have any share in God's kingdom.

If we say, "We have not sinned," we are making him a liar, and his message is not in our hearts.

Because you say, "I am rich, I have become wealthy, I need nothing," and you do not know that it is you that are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked,

"But alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you lock the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces, for you will neither go in yourselves nor let those enter who are trying to do so. OMITTED TEXT Alas for you, you hypocritical scribes and Pharisees, for you scour land and sea to make one convert, and when he is converted you make him twice as fit for the pit as you are.

But alas for you Pharisees! For you pay tithes on mint, rue, and every tiny herb, and disregard justice and the love of God. But you should have observed these, without neglecting the others. Alas for you Pharisees! For you love to have the front seat in the synagogues and to be saluted with respect in public places. Alas for you! For you are like unmarked graves which men tread upon without knowing it."read more.
At this, one of the experts in the Law said to him, "Master, when you say that, you affront us too." But he said, "Yes, alas for you experts in the Law too! For you load men with burdens they can hardly carry, and you will not touch them yourselves with a single finger. Alas for you! For you build monuments for the prophets, whom your forefathers killed. So you testify to what your fathers did and approve it, for they killed them and you build their monuments. This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send prophets and apostles to them, and some of them they will kill and some they will persecute'??50 so that this age may be charged with the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the creation of the world, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who perished between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you! This age will be charged with it all! Alas for you experts in the Law! For you have taken the key to the door of knowledge, but you have not entered it yourselves, and you have kept out those who tried to enter."

They answered, "We are descended from Abraham, and have never been anyone's slaves. How can you say to us, 'You will be set free'?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

Obey the message; do not merely listen to it, and deceive yourselves. For anyone who merely listens to the message without obeying it is like a man who looks in a mirror at the face that nature gave him, and then goes off and immediately forgets what he looked like.read more.
But whoever looks at the faultless law that makes men free and keeps looking, so that he does not just listen and forget, but obeys and acts upon it, will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue, but deceives himself, his religious observances are of no account.

Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we are going to such and such a town, to stay a year and go into business and make money," when you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow! You are just a mist, which appears for a little while and then disappears. This, instead of saying, "If it is the Lord's will, we shall live to do this or that."read more.
But, as it is, you pride yourselves on your pretensions. All such pride is wrong.

And he told them this story: "A certain rich man's lands yielded heavily. And he said to himself, 'What am I going to do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?' Then he said, 'This is what I will do; I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and in them I will store all my grain and my goods.read more.
And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have great wealth stored up for years to come. Now take your ease; eat, drink, and enjoy yourself." ' But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul will be demanded of you. Then who will have all you have prepared?'

Then produce fruit that will be consistent with your professed repentance! Do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones!

Then produce fruit that will be consistent with your professed repentance! And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our forefather,' for I tell you, God can produce descendants for Abraham right out of these stones!

It is not everyone who says to me 'Lord! Lord!' who will get into the Kingdom of Heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that Day, 'Lord! Lord! Was it not in your name that we prophesied, and by your name that we drove out demons, and by your name that we did many mighty acts?' Then I will say to them plainly, 'I never knew you! Go away from me, you who do wrong!'

when the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock on the door, and say, 'Open it for us, sir!' Then he will answer you and say, 'I do not know where you come from,' Then you will go on to say, 'We have been entertained with you, and you have taught in our streets!' And he will say to you, 'I do not know where you come from. Get away from me, all you wrongdoers!'

Then he will say to those at his left, 'Begone, you accursed people, to the everlasting fire destined for the devil and his angels! For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, and when I was thirsty you gave me nothing to drink, when I was a stranger, you did not invite me home, when I had no clothes, you did not supply me, when I was sick and in prison, you did not look after me.'read more.
Then they in their turn will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or in need of clothes, or sick, or in prison, and did not wait upon you?' Then he will answer, 'I tell you, in so far as you failed to do it for one of these people who are humblest, you failed to do it for me.' Then they will go away to everlasting punishment, and the upright to everlasting life."

They answered, "Our father is Abraham." Jesus said to them, "If you are Abraham's children, then do what Abraham did. But instead you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth he has heard from God. Abraham would not have done that. You are doing as your father does." They said to him, "We are not illegitimate children. We have one father, God himself."read more.
Jesus said to them, "If God were your father, you would love me, for I have come from God. I have not come of my own accord, but he has sent me. Why is it that you do not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my message. The devil is the father you are sprung from, and you want to carry out your father's wishes. He was a murderer from the first, and he has nothing to do with the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in his true character, for he is a liar and the father of them. But because I tell the truth you will not believe me. Who among you can prove me guilty of sin? But if I tell you the truth, why do you refuse to believe me? Whoever is sprung from God listens to God's words. The reason you refuse to listen is that you are not sprung from God."

Suppose you call yourself a Jew, and rely on law, and boast about God, and can understand his will, and from hearing the Law read can tell what is right, and you are sure that you can guide the blind, enlighten people who are in the dark,read more.
train the foolish, teach the young, since you have knowledge and truth formulated in the Law??21 why, then, will you teach others and refuse to teach yourself? Will you preach against stealing, and yet steal yourself? Will you warn men against adultery, and yet practice it yourself? Will you pretend to detest idols, and yet rob their temples? Will you boast of the Law and yet dishonor God by breaking it? For, as the Scripture says, the very name of God is abused among the heathen, because of you! Circumcision will help you only if you observe the Law; but if you are a lawbreaker, you might as well be uncircumcised. So if people who are uncircumcised observe the requirements of the Law, will they not be treated as though they were circumcised? And if, although they are physically uncircumcised, they obey the Law, they will condemn you, who break the Law, although you have it in writing, and are circumcised. For the real Jew is not the man who is one outwardly, and the real circumcision is not something physical and external. The real Jew is the man who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart, a spiritual, not a literal, thing. Such a man receives his praise not from men, but from God.

Being circumcised or being uncircumcised does not make any difference; all that matters is keeping God's commands.

Look out for those dogs, those mischief-makers, with their amputation! We are the true circumcision, who worship God by his Spirit, priding ourselves only on Christ Jesus, and not relying on physical advantages, though I at least am entitled to rely on them. If anyone thinks he can rely on his physical advantages, still more can I!read more.
I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a descendant of Israel. I belong to the tribe of Benjamin. I am a Hebrew, and the son of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee; as to my zeal, I was a persecutor of the church; and by the Law's standard of uprightness, no fault could be found with me. But for the sake of Christ I have come to count my former gains as loss.

Let no one of you deceive himself. If any one of you imagines that he is wiser than the rest of you, in what this world calls wisdom, he had better become a fool, so as to become really wise. For this world's wisdom is foolishness to God. For the Scripture says, "He who catches the wise with their own cunning," and "The Lord knows that the deliberations of the wise are fruitless."

Peter answered, "If they all desert you, I will never do it!" Jesus said to him, "I tell you, tonight, before a cock crows, you will disown me three times!" Peter said to him, "Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you!" All the disciples said so too.

And Jesus said to them, "You will all desert me, for the Scriptures say, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' But after I am raised to life again I will go back to Galilee before you." But Peter said to him, "Even if they all desert you, I will not!"read more.
Jesus said to him, "I tell you, this very night before the cock crows twice you yourself will disown me three times!" But he persisted vehemently, "If I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And they all said the same thing.

Peter said to him, "Master, I am ready to go to prison and to death with you!" But he said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow today before you deny three times that you know me!"

Peter said to him, "Master, why cannot I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered, "You will lay down your life for me? I tell you, before a cock crows, you will disown me thrice over!

I do not indeed venture to class or compare myself with certain individuals who approve of themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they do not show good sense.

For if anyone thinks he is somebody when he is really nobody, he is deceiving himself.

"When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they like to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the squares, to let people see them. I tell you, that is the only reward they will get!

And he said to them, "You are the men who parade your uprightness before people, but God knows your hearts. For what men consider great is detestable in the sight of God.

To some who were confident of their own uprightness, and thought nothing of others, he used this illustration: "Two men went up to the Temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. The Pharisee stood up and uttered this prayer to himself: 'O God, I thank you that I am not like other men, greedy, dishonest, or adulterous, like that tax-collector.read more.
I fast two days in the week; I pay tithes on everything I get.' But the tax-collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, and said, 'O God, have mercy on a sinner like me!' I tell you, it was he who went back to his house with God's approval, and not the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the man who humbles himself will be exalted."

Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible nature??is eternal power and divine character??ave been clearly perceptible through what he has made. So they have no excuse, for, though they knew God, they have not honored him as God or given thanks to him, but they have indulged in futile speculations, until their stupid minds have become dark. They called themselves wise, but they have turned into fools,read more.
and for the splendor of the immortal God they have substituted images in the form of mortal man, birds, animals, and reptiles.