30 Bible Verses about Self Deception

If we say that there is no sin in us, we are deceiving ourselves, and the Truth has no place in us.

Do not you know that wrong-doers will have no share in God's Kingdom? Do not be deceived. No one who is immoral, or an idolater, or an adulterer, or licentious, or a sodomite, Or a thief, or covetous, or a drunkard, or abusive, or grasping, will have any share in God's Kingdom.

If we say that we have not sinned, we are making God a liar, and his Message has no place in us.

You say 'I am rich and have grown rich, and I want for nothing,' and you do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, naked!

But alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You turn the key of the Kingdom of Heaven in men's faces. For you do not go in yourselves, nor yet allow those who try to go in to do so. Alas for you, Teachers of the Law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You destroy widow's houses, even while pretending to make long prayers; therefore you shall receive greater condemnation. Alas for you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! You scour land and sea to make a single convert, and, when he is gained, you make him twice as deserving of the Pit as you are yourselves.

But alas for you Pharisees! You pay tithes on mint, rue, and herbs of all kinds, and pass over justice and love to God. These last you ought to have put into practice without neglecting the first. Alas for you Pharisees! You delight to have the front seat in the Synagogues, and to be greeted in the markets with respect. Alas for you! You are like unsuspected graves, over which men walk unawares."read more.
Here one of the Students of the Law interrupted him by saying: "Teacher, when you say this, you are insulting us also." But Jesus went on: "Alas for you, too, you Students of the Law! You load men with loads that are too heavy to carry, but do not, yourselves, touch them with one of your fingers. Alas for you! You build the monuments of the Prophets whom your ancestors killed. You are actually witnesses to your ancestors' acts and show your approval of them, because, while they killed the Prophets, you build tombs for them. That is why the Wisdom of God said--"I will send to them Prophets and Apostles, Some of whom they will persecute and kill, in order that the 'blood' of all the prophets 'that has been spilt' since the creation of the world may be exacted from this generation-- From the blood of Abel down to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the House of God." Yes, I tell you, it will be exacted from this generation. Alas for you Students of the Law! You have taken away the key of the door of Knowledge. You have not gone in yourselves and you have hindered those who try to go in."

"We are descendants of Abraham," was their answer, "and have never yet been in slavery to any one. What do you mean by saying 'you will be set free'?" "In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "every one who sins is a slave to sin.

Put that Message into practice, and do not merely listen to it--deceiving yourselves. For, when any one listens to it and does not practice it, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror. He looks at himself, then goes on his way,read more.
But he who looks carefully into the perfect Law, the Law of Freedom, and continues to do so, not listening to it and then forgetting it, but putting it into practice--that man will be blessed in what he does. When a man appears to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue, but imposes upon his own conscience, that man's religious observances are valueless.

Listen to me, you who say 'To-day or to-morrow we will go to such and such a town, spend a year there, and trade, and make money,' And yet you do not know what your life will be like to-morrow! For you are but a mist appearing for a little while and then disappearing. You ought, rather, to say 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'read more.
But, as it is, you are constantly boasting presumptuously! All such boasting is wicked.

Then Jesus told them this parable-- "There was once a rich man whose land was very fertile; And he began to ask himself 'What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops? This is what I will do,' he said; 'I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them;read more.
And I will say to myself, Now you have plenty of good things put by for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself.' But God said to the man 'Fool! This very night your life is being demanded; and as for all you have prepared--who will have it?'

Let your life, then, prove your repentance; And do not think that you can say among yourselves 'Abraham is our ancestor,' for I tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!

Let your lives, then, prove your repentance; and do not begin to say among yourselves 'Abraham is our ancestor,' for I tell you that out of these very stones God is able to raise descendants for Abraham!

Not every one who says to me 'Master! Master!' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven. On 'That Day' many will say to me 'Master, Master, was not it in your name that we taught, and in your name that we drove out demons, and in your name that we did many miracles?' And then I shall say to them plainly 'I never knew you. Go from my presence, you who live in sin.'

When once the master of the house has got up and shut the door, while you begin to say, as you stand outside and knock, 'Sir, open the door for us.' His answer will be--'I do not know where you come from.' Then you will begin to say 'We have eaten and drunk in your presence, and you have taught in our streets,' and his reply will be-- 'I do not know where you come from. Leave my presence, all you who are living in wickedness.'

Then he will say to those on his left 'Go from my presence, accursed, into the 'aeonian fire which has been prepared for the Devil and his angels.' For, when I was hungry, you gave me no food; when I was thirsty, you gave me no drink; When I was a stranger, you did not take me to your homes; when I was naked, you did not clothe me; and, when I was ill and in prison, you did not visit me.'read more.
Then they, in their turn, will answer 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or ill, or in prison, and did not supply your wants?' And then he will reply 'I tell you, as often as you failed to do it to one of these, however lowly, you failed to do it to me.' And these last will go away 'into aeonian punishment,' but the righteous 'into aeonian life.'"

"Our father is Abraham," was their answer. "If you are Abraham's children," replied Jesus, "do what Abraham did. But, as it is, you are seeking to put me to death--a man who has told you the Truth as he heard it from God. Abraham did not act in that way. You are doing what your own father does." "We are not bastards," they said, "we have one Father--God himself."read more.
"If God were your Father," Jesus replied, "you would have loved me, for I came out from God, and now am here; and I have not come of myself, but he sent me as his Messenger. How is it that you do not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to listen to my Message. As for you, you are children of your Father the Devil, and you are determined to do what your father loves to do. He was a murderer from the first, and did not stand by the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he lies, he does what is natural to him; because 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 of you can convict me of sin? Why then do not you believe me, if I am speaking truth? He who comes from God listens to God's teaching; the reason why you do not listen is because you do not come from God."

But, perhaps, you bear the name of 'Jew,' and are relying upon Law, and boast of belonging to God, and understand his will, And, having been carefully instructed from the Law, have learned to appreciate the finer moral distinctions. Perhaps you are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in the dark, an instructor of the unintelligent,read more.
And a teacher of the childish, because in the Law you possess the outline of all Knowledge and Truth. Why, then, you teacher of others, do not you teach yourself? Do you preach against stealing, and yet steal? Do you forbid adultery, and yet commit adultery? Do you loathe idols, and yet plunder temples? Boasting, as you do, of your Law, do you dishonor God by breaking the Law? For, as Scripture says-'The name of God is reviled among the Gentiles because of you'! Circumcision has its value, if you are obeying the Law. But, if you are a breaker of the Law, your circumcision is no better than uncircumcision. If, then, an uncircumcised man pays regard to the requirements of the Law, will not he, although not circumcised, be regarded by God as if he were? Indeed, the man who, owing to his birth, remains uncircumcised, and yet scrupulously obeys the Law, will condemn you, who, for all your written Law and your circumcision, are yet a breaker of the Law. For a man who is only a Jew outwardly is not a real Jew; nor is outward bodily circumcision real circumcision. The real Jew is the man who is a Jew in soul; And the real circumcision is the circumcision of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal thing. Such a man wins praise from God, though not from men.

Circumcision is nothing; the want of it is nothing; but to keep the commands of God is everything.

Beware of those 'dogs'! Beware of those mischievous workers! Beware of the men who mutilate themselves! For it is we who are the circumcised--we whose worship is prompted by the Spirit of God, who exult in Christ Jesus, and who do not rely upon external privileges; Though I, if any man, have cause to rely even upon them. If any one thinks he can rely upon external privileges, far more can I!read more.
I was circumcised when eight days old; I am an Israelite by race, and of the tribe of Benjamin; I am a Hebrew, and the child of Hebrews. As to the Law, I was a Pharisee; As to zeal, I was a persecutor of the Church; as to such righteousness as is due to Law, I proved myself blameless. But all the things which I once held to be gains I have now, for the Christ's sake, come to count as loss.

Let no one deceive himself. If any one among you imagines that, as regards this world, he is a wise man, let him become a 'fool,' that he may become wise. For in God's sight this world's wisdom is folly. Scripture tells of-'One who catches the wise in their own craftiness,' And it says again-'The Lord sees how fruitless are the deliberations of the wise.'

"If every one else falls away from you," Peter answered, "I shall never fall away!" "I tell you," replied Jesus, "that this very night, before the cock crows, you will disown me three times!" "Even if I must die with you," Peter exclaimed, "I shall never disown you!" All the disciples spoke in the same way.

Presently Jesus said to them: "All of you will fall away; for Scripture says--'I will strike down the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.' Yet, after I have risen, I shall go before you into Galilee." "Even if every one else falls away," said Peter, "yet I shall not."read more.
"I tell you," answered Jesus, "that you yourself today--yes, this very night--before the cock crows twice, will disown me three times." But Peter vehemently protested: "Even if I must die with you, I shall never disown you!" And they all said the same.

"Master," said Peter, "with you I am ready to go both to prison and to death." "I tell you, Peter," replied Jesus, "the cock will not crow to-day till you have disowned all knowledge of me three times."

"Why cannot I follow you now, Master?" asked Peter. "I will lay down my life for you." "Will you lay down your life for me?" replied Jesus. "In truth I tell you, the cock will not crow till you have disowned me three times.

We have not indeed the audacity to class or compare ourselves with some of those who indulge in self-commendation! But, when such persons measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they show a want of wisdom.

If a man imagines himself to be somebody, when he is really nobody, he deceives himself.

And, when you pray, you are not to behave as hypocrites do. They like to pray standing in the Synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. There, I tell you, is their reward!

"You," said Jesus, "are the men who justify themselves before the world, but God can read your hearts; and what is highly esteemed among men may be an abomination in the sight of God.

Another time, speaking to people who were satisfied that they were religious, and who regarded every one else with scorn, Jesus told this parable-- "Two men went up into the Temple Courts to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax-gatherer. The Pharisee stood forward and began praying to himself in this way--'O God, I thank thee that I am not like other men-- thieves, rogues, adulterers--or even like this tax-gatherer.read more.
I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of everything I get to God.' Meanwhile the tax-gatherer stood at a distance, not venturing even 'to raise his eyes to Heaven'; but he kept striking his breast and saying 'O God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' This man, I tell you, went home pardoned, rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, while every one who humbles himself shall be exalted."

For ever since the creation of the universe God's invisible attributes-his everlasting power and divinity-are to be seen and studied in his works, so that men have no excuse; Because, although they learned to know God, yet they did not offer him as God either praise or thanksgiving. Their speculations about him proved futile, and their undiscerning minds were darkened. Professing to be wise, they showed themselves fools;read more.
And they transformed the Glory of the immortal God into the likeness of mortal man, and of birds, and beasts, and reptiles.