This article is not intended to cause discourse even though it will.
Having been a Pharisee at one time in my Christian life I am more than qualified to write about it.
a Pharisee has little to no knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor do they want to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their main preoccupation is with the law and what they can do to please a holy God, as though that were possible. The Pharisees in Jesus's day were champions of religion. Some even tithed down to the mint in their gardens, Matthew 23:23. It was all about the law and pleasing God by doing or keeping the law.
When the modern day Pharisee is told that "The Just Shall Live By Faith" they believe that means faith in the law or faith in their ability to please God. It is unconceiveable to the modern day Pharisee that living by faith means to live by faith in Christ and his Gospel apart from the works of the law and religion.
Paul said to the Pharisees, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves into the righteousness of God" Romans 10:3. There you have it in one scripture. The true Christian will readily confess that he has no righteousness of his own because he is a sinner. His righteousness is in heaven at the right hand of God. Paul understood this principal when he referred to himself as "The Chief of Sinners" 1 Timothy 1:15. If Paul taught holiness or obedience it was for the sake of the Gospel. One cannot be a good witness for Christ and his Gospel if they are not living a holy life.
The modern day Pharisee does not care to hear that they have been reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. They want to know what they can do to reconcile themselves to God by their own works and obedience to the law. To say that the modern day Pharisee is anti-Gospel may be an understatement. There is no room in their religion for the Gospel that justifies the ungodly, Romans 4:5 and reconciles the world unto God, 2 Corinthians 5:19.
When told that all one has to do to be saved is to believe and have faith in Jesus, they will promptly refer you to the book of James where it says "Faith without works is dead". Which of course is true. All that have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit will do good works, but this does not justify the Christian, nor should the Christian trust in his good works for acceptance with God. To say that good works and obedience justifies, is to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is worthless. What it comes down to is what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in what you are and in what you have become, or are you trusting in what Christ has done to save you?
Having been a Pharisee at one time in my Christian life I am more than qualified to write about it.
a Pharisee has little to no knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nor do they want to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their main preoccupation is with the law and what they can do to please a holy God, as though that were possible. The Pharisees in Jesus's day were champions of religion. Some even tithed down to the mint in their gardens, Matthew 23:23. It was all about the law and pleasing God by doing or keeping the law.
When the modern day Pharisee is told that "The Just Shall Live By Faith" they believe that means faith in the law or faith in their ability to please God. It is unconceiveable to the modern day Pharisee that living by faith means to live by faith in Christ and his Gospel apart from the works of the law and religion.
Paul said to the Pharisees, "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves into the righteousness of God" Romans 10:3. There you have it in one scripture. The true Christian will readily confess that he has no righteousness of his own because he is a sinner. His righteousness is in heaven at the right hand of God. Paul understood this principal when he referred to himself as "The Chief of Sinners" 1 Timothy 1:15. If Paul taught holiness or obedience it was for the sake of the Gospel. One cannot be a good witness for Christ and his Gospel if they are not living a holy life.
The modern day Pharisee does not care to hear that they have been reconciled to God by Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 5:18, 19. They want to know what they can do to reconcile themselves to God by their own works and obedience to the law. To say that the modern day Pharisee is anti-Gospel may be an understatement. There is no room in their religion for the Gospel that justifies the ungodly, Romans 4:5 and reconciles the world unto God, 2 Corinthians 5:19.
When told that all one has to do to be saved is to believe and have faith in Jesus, they will promptly refer you to the book of James where it says "Faith without works is dead". Which of course is true. All that have been indwelt with the Holy Spirit will do good works, but this does not justify the Christian, nor should the Christian trust in his good works for acceptance with God. To say that good works and obedience justifies, is to say that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is worthless. What it comes down to is what are you trusting in? Are you trusting in what you are and in what you have become, or are you trusting in what Christ has done to save you?
