Self Righteous

I recently wrote this to a friend and pray it will be a blessing and exhortation to those who read it:

“…I respect what you said about how seeking after God takes time and people don’t become super holy overnight.  I totally agree.  Though, it isn’t an issue about being “super holy”.  That is how the world views religion:  either “Christians” are named as holier than thou or as self righteous.  While many supposed Christians (by name only) are a superb example of being self righteous and portraying an attitude of “holier than thou”, being super holy isn’t the issue.  Our own righteousness won’t make us clean before God.  I am not saying there aren’t good people in the world or people who accomplish noble things.  What I am saying is nobody can deny that the human heart is selfish, shameful (or in some cases, shameless), and we all try to earn our way to heaven by good deeds to a lesser or greater degree.  Proof of this is how many people have turned away from Biblical doctrine and how the Bible makes it clear that God is perfect and pure and we are NOT.  And thus the salvation Jesus accomplished on our behalf reconciles us to a righteous & just God.  And did you know…that the statement is true which says, “Hate the sin, not the sinner”?  It is understandable why God hates sin…sin ruins lives, steals our joy, brings self-loathing/condemning guilt, and hinders us from moving forward because we are so wrapped up in regret.  I strongly encourage you…to not go along with popular belief that says, “The Bible is irrelevant.  It is only an ancient book written by men.”  I question…how you came to that conclusion?  Did you know that the Bible contains prophecy passages which scholars will agree were actually written before Jesus appeared on the scene?  Did you know there are more manuscripts of portions of the Bible than even works by Homer, Plato, Caesar, and Tacitus?  There ARE reliable resources available to study…  Quite frankly, you can check into them or choose to go by what the “willfully ignorant” world has to say who are often taking the Bible at face value and are not willing to look into the facts.  You like Josh McDowell…he used to be an atheist (or agnostic) who became a Christian because he checked into the facts of history.  Remember the book by him called, “Evidence That Demands a Verdict”?  Josh McDowell has written an updated version of this book in recent years with even more evidence. …”