BEING OR BECOMING RELIGIOUS SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS:

 

BEING OR BECOMING RELIGIOUS SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS:

Welcome to Apostle James & Betty R Winfree Sr., America & International Global Kingdom Social Media Ministries, a God-ordained establishment of the Lord Jesus Royal Believers Way Fellowship Assemblies Churches, without human-made walls. We are a network of Ministers, Saints, God's Sons & Daughters with a shared mission: to glorify Jesus Christ and reach believers and people for Christ by providing biblical answers to spiritually related Jesus Christ's New Way. We are Jesus Royal Believers Way, a non-religious, non-denominational ministry. As a free love and grace Church Fellowship Ministry, our purpose is to come alongside God's leaders and Believers in Jesus Christ, joining in the Great Commission Jesus entrusted to His followers, by offering support and answers to those seeking clarity on spiritually related Bible questions.

By the Lord's grace and the sweet anointing of the Holy Spirit, let's get started in Jesus' Name, Amen.

1 Corinthians 3:3-5

New King James Version

3 For you are still carnal. For where there is envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not carnal?

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one?

So today, many of you are already self-righteous within your personal religions, churches, and denominations. You are also divided by skin tones, the haves and have-nots, the educated and uneducated, the rich and the poor, to name a few.

Self-righteousness is a sin that distorts a right view of ourselves. It leads to pride, whereas we are called to remember that we are righteous because of what Christ did for us, which should lead us to humility.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

Self-righteousness can mean two things that often go hand in hand: seeking to save oneself through works, and a certainty that one is morally superior to others. People often think that righteousness is measured by what we do or the values we hold. For example, if someone obeys the law and lives a morally pure life, they are considered righteous. However, the Bible tells us that since people are sinful by nature, we cannot earn our own righteousness (Romans 3:10, 20, 23). God hates self-righteousness because it is a lie. It drives people to pride rather than love, and ultimately, it separates us from God. For this reason, we must continually humble ourselves before God and rest in the assurance of His grace.

FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT, ONESELF through works, and a certainty that one is

Proverbs 30:12 reveals how self-righteousness can lead people to falsely believe they are pure, blinding them to their need for God’s cleansing.

Even our best deeds fall short of God’s standards. Righteousness cannot be earned by our works (Isaiah 64:6).

“Though I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, yet if he trusts in his righteousness and does injustice, none of his righteous deeds shall be remembered, but in his injustice that he has done he shall die” (Ezekiel 33:13). We cannot trust in our own righteousness.

The Bible tells us that people are sinful by nature and that we cannot earn our own righteousness (Romans 3:10, 20, 23).

The Bible teaches that because Adam and Eve sinned, all of their descendants are corrupted by sin: "just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned" (Romans 5:12).

Every human has a sinful nature (Psalm 51:5; 1 John 1:8), and therefore any good a person does cannot save him or make him better than anyone else. There is no true righteousness to be earned by self-effort. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23); therefore, apart from Jesus Christ, all are in the same position before God—separated from Him and deserving of death (Romans 6:23; John 3:16–18).

We cannot save ourselves from our corrupted state, so God sent His Son, Jesus, to die for us, that He might impute upon us His own righteousness: "he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21). We do not have to work for our righteousness. Rather, we simply need to put our faith in Jesus, and God sees Christ's righteousness when He looks at us:

"Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness" (Romans 4:4 5).

Our salvation is not based on our works; it is based on God's grace received through faith (Ephesians 2:8–10), "for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose" (Galatians 2:21). Once we understand that we are sinful by nature and cannot earn righteousness by works, we can rest in God's grace towards us. This is the cure for self-righteousness.

Even those who have been saved by grace can fall into the trap of feeling morally superior due to the changes Christ has made in them. This self-righteousness is a dangerous path.

Jesus illustrates this with a parable: a religious leader and a sinner praying in the temple. The Pharisee boasts of his righteousness, while the tax collector humbly asks for mercy. The parable shows that humility brings justification, while pride leads to destruction. We must always remember that our salvation is a gift of God's grace, not our own works, and that He transforms our hearts. ONLY THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ( HE ALONE ) IS OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS BY AND THROUGH FAITH IN GRACE BY LOVE. AMEN.

We are connected with the Kingdom of God, an influential group of Jesus' Royal Believers. This connection offers greater blessings, access to opportunities, and resources to those within the Jesus Royal Believers family. Simply put, we are God's very own, special, and precious chosen people, following by faith our Lord God, blessed King, and Savior, Jesus Christ, in His Churches built and established without human hands.

Sincerely, in the Lord God Jesus Christ's Kingdom purpose,

His Serving Founder, Presiding Senior Apostle, Messenger Elder James Winfree Sr., & Elect Lady Betty R Winfree

We can be contacted and reached at apostlejrwinfree@gmail.com or apostle.winfree@yahoo.com]

The Lord, for He is God, our One and only Heavenly Father: