What is the difference between self-righteousness and the Mercy of God?
Two Men Petitioning God at the Temple
Copyright © 2000-2006 Atlantis Station - www.tribulation.com - All Rights Reserved
Understanding Bible Doctrine
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector
November 19, 2006
Click Here for a Version of this Page
And He (Jesus)
also told this parable to some people
who trusted in themselves that they were righteous,
and viewed others with contempt
(Luke
18:9 NASB)
Two Men Praying at the Temple of God Luke 18:9-14 (NASB)
Jesus contrasted two very different men praying at the Temple of God. One man espouses his "virtues" while another man seeks the Mercy of God:
9
And He also told this parable to some
people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others
with contempt:
10 Two
men went up into the Temple to pray, one a Pharisee
and the other a Tax Collector.
11 The
Pharisee
stood and was praying this to himself:
'God, I thank You that I am not like other
people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this Tax
Collector.'
12 'I
fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'
13 But
the Tax Collector,
standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to Heaven,
but was beating his breast, saying, 'God,
be merciful to me, the sinner!'
14 I
tell you, this man (Tax Collector)
went to his house justified rather than the other
(Pharisee); for everyone who exalts
himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.
The Humble Acceptance of Free Salvation Acts 4:11-13 (NASB)
The Mercy of God is available now to everyone who asks, but is only available through His Son, Jesus Christ. The New Testament of the Bible makes this absolutely clear:
11 This is the Stone
which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the Head
of the Corner.
12 Neither is there Salvation
in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby
we must be Saved.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that
they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of
them, that they had been with Jesus.
How to be Freely Saved and Become a Christian in Jesus Christ
The Biblical Portrait of Jesus Christ
The Grace of God in Jesus Christ
Art image © 1999 Duncan Long - Used by Permission
Click Here for a Version of this Page
MIDI Music: "Put Your Hand in the Hand"