30 Bible Verses about Self Deception

If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. None who are immoral, or idolaters, or adulterers, or catamites, or sodomites, or thieves, or avaricious men, or drunkards, or foul-mouthed men, or extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

If we say, "We have not sinned," we are making him a liar, and his word is not in us.

For you keep saying, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and do not know that you are the wretched one, and pitiable and beggared and blind and naked.

"But woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces; for you do not enter, yourselves, nor do you permit those who are about to come in, to enter. OMITTED TEXT. "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you scour sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is gained, you make him twofold more a son of hell than you are, yourselves.

"But woe unto you Pharisee! for you tithe mint and rue and every herb, and disregard justice and the love of God; but these you ought to have done, and not leave the other undone. "Woe unto you Pharisee! for you delight in the best seats in the synagogue, and in the salutation in the market-places. "Woe unto you! for you are like the tombs which are hidden, and men walk over them unsuspecting."read more.
Hereupon one of the lawyers exclaimed, "But teacher, in saying such things you are also reproaching us also." "Woe unto you lawyers also!" said Jesus, "for you load men with irksome burdens, and you yourselves will not touch the burdens with one of your fingers. "Woe to you! for you are building the tombs of the prophets whom you ancestors killed. "So you are witnesses, and you consent to the actions of your ancestors. for they killed them, and you build their tombs. "For this reason also said the Wisdom of God. 'I will send them prophets and apostles; some of them they will kill and some they will persecute; "so that the blood of all the prophets which was shed from the foundation of the world may be required from this generation, "from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah, who perished between the alter and the sanctuary; yes; I tell you, it shall be required of this generation! "Woe to you lawyers, for you have taken away the key of knowledge!' You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who are trying to enter."

"We are descendants of Abraham," they replied, "and have never been in slavery to any man. What do you mean by saying, 'You shall become free'?" "In solemn truth I tell you," Jesus replied, "every one who commits sin is a slave

And become doers of the Word, and not merely hearers, deceiving yourselves. Because if any one is a hearer of the Word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for after he has looked carefully at himself, he goes away, and at once forgets what he is like.read more.
But the man who looks closely into the perfect law??he law of liberty??nd continues looking, this man will be blessed in his deed because he is not a hearer who forgets, but a doer who does. If a man thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue, but deceives his own religion,

Go to now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we shall journey to such a city and spend a year there, and trade and make money," when all the time you do not know what will happen on the morrow. For what is your life? You are but a mist, appearing for a brief time, and then vanishing. You ought instead to say, "If the Lord wills it, we shall live and do this or that."read more.
But now you are glorying in these insolent boastings of yours; all such glorying is evil.

Then he spoke to them in a parable. "The ground of a certain rich man bore heavy crops. "So he debated with himself saying, 'What shall I do? for I have no place in which to store my crops.' "And he said to himself. 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns and build larger ones in which I will store all my wheat and my goods.read more.
"'And I will say to my soul, "'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years! Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry.' "But God said to him. 'Foolish man! This very night your soul is wanted! And these things you have prepared, whose shall they be?

Then bring forth fruit worthy of repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father'?? tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise up descendants for Abraham.

Then bring forth fruit befitting your penitence, and do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that God is able to raise up sons to Abraham out of these stones.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. "Many in that day will say to me, "'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name done many mighty works?' "Then I will tell them plainly, "'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of iniquity.'

"when once the master of the house is risen up and has shut the door. You will begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, crying, "'Lord, open to us.' "'I do not know were you came from,' he will reply. "Then you will begin saying, 'But we have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets.' "But he will answer. "'I tell you I do not know were you came from;

"Then he will say to those also at his left hand. 'Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; "for I was hungry, and you gave me no food; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; "I was a stranger, and you took me not in; naked, and you clothed me not; sick, or in prison, and you visited me not.'read more.
"Then will they also answer, 'Master, when did we ever see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister to you?' "But he will reply, 'In solemn truth I tell you that inasmuch as you did not do it unto one of these least, you did not do it unto me.' "And these will go away into eternal punishment; but the righteous into eternal life."

"Abraham is our father," they answered. "If you are indeed Abraham's children," said Jesus "do the deeds of Abraham. "But now you are seeking to kill me?? man who has told you the truth which I heard from God. Abraham did not do that. "You are doing the deeds of your father." "We were not born of adultery," they said; "we have one Father, God."read more.
Jesus said to them. "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and am now come from God. I did not come on my own authority, but God himself sent me. "How is it that you do not understand what I say? It is because you cannot listen to my message. "You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do what your father desires. He was a man-slayer from the very beginning; and he has no standing place in the truth, because truth is not in him. Whenever he utters a lie, he speaks from his nature, for he is a liar and the father of lying. "But as for me, it is because I speak the truth to you that you do not believe me. "Which one of you convicts me of sin? Why then, if I am speaking the truth, do you not believe me? "He who is from God listens to God's words. For this reason you do not listen, because you are not from God."

Now if you bear the name of a Jew, and rely upon law, and boast yourself in God, and know his will, and can test the things that differ; if you are instructed out of the Law, and are confident that you yourself are a darkness,read more.
an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of the young, because you have in the Law the form of knowledge and of the truth??ell then, you who are teaching others, do you ever teach yourself? You who are preaching that a man should not steal, do you practise theft? You who keep saying that a man should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who hold idols in abhorrence, are you plundering their temples? You who are making your boast in the Law, do you habitually dishonor God through your transgressions of the Law? For the name of God is continually blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, even as the Scripture itself says. Circumcision does indeed profit, if you are obedient to the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision is become uncircumcision. So if the uncircumcised keeps the ordinance of the Law, shall not his uncircumcision be reckoned equivalent to circumcision. And shall not those who are physically uncircumcised, but who keep the Law, condemn you who are a breaker of the Law, although you have a written law and circumcision? For the real Jew is not the man who is one outwardly, and the real circumcision is not outward in the flesh; but the real Jew is one inwardly, and real circumcision is heart??ircumcision, spiritual, not literal, praised not by men, but by God.

Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God's commands in everything.

Beware of "these dogs," these mischievous workers, beware of the concision! For we are the true circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and make our boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in outward rites, although I myself might have confidence in outward rites. If any one else claims a right to trust in them, far more may I;read more.
circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew sprung from the Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which comes through law, blameless. But what was once gain to me, that I have counted loss for Christ.

Let no one deceive himself. If any one of you supposes that he is wise in the philosophy of the present age, let him become foolish, so that he may be wise. For the philosophy of this world is foolishness in God's sight. It is written, He snares the wise in their own craftiness, and again, The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, how futile they are.

"If they all stumble and fall away from you," answered Peter, "I will never do so!" Jesus said to him, "In solemn truth I tell you that on this very night, before cockcrow, you will deny me three times!" But Peter said to him, "Even if I must die with you, I will never deny you." And so said all the disciples.

And Jesus said to them. "All of you are about to stumble, for it is written, 'I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered abroad.'" "But after my resurrection I will go before you into Galilee." "Although they all stumble and fall, yet will not I," answered Peter.read more.
Jesus said to him, "I tell you in solemn truth that you yourself, today on this very night, before the cock crow twice, shall three times disown me." But Peter kept protesting passionately, "Though I must die with you, I will not disown you!" And they all kept saying the same.

"Lord," Simon said to him, "I am ready to go with you, both to prison and to death." "I tell you, Peter," he answered. "the cock will not crow this day until you will three times deny that you know me."

"Why cannot I follow you now, Master?" said Peter. "I will lay down my life for you." Jesus answered him. "Your life you will lay down for me? In solemn truth I tell you, the cock shall not crow before you have three times disowned me."

I have not indeed the audacity to class myself among, or compare myself with, certain of the self-commenders; yet they are not wise in measuring themselves by one another and in comparing themselves with one another.

If a man fancies himself to be somebody when he is really nobody he is deceiving himself.

"And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the corners of the avenues, in order that men may see them. In solemn truth I tell you that they have their reward in full.

He said to them. "You are those that justify themselves in the eyes of men; but God knows you hearts; for that which is lofty in the eyes of men is abomination in the eyes of God.

Moreover he spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves because they were righteous, and looked down upon the rest. "Two men are going up to the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, the other a tax-gatherer. "The Pharisee stood apart and thus began to pray by himself. "'O God, I thank thee that I am not like the rest of men, extortioners, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax gatherer;read more.
"'I fast twice a week, I pay tithes of all my possessions.' "But the tax-gatherer, standing far back, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but kept beating his breast and saying, "'O God be merciful to me, the sinner!' "I tell you that this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself shall be humbled; but he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

For ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his everlasting power and divinity, has been clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made. So they have no excuse. For although they knew God, yet they did not glorify him as God, nor give him thanks; but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless minds were darkened. While they professed to be wise, they became fools,read more.
and exchanged the majesty of the imperishable God for an idol, graven in the likeness of perishable man, or of birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things.