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RELIGIOUS BUT LOST OR PENITENT AND JUSTIFIED? — Part 2 "Also, He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.' And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house JUSTIFIED rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14). In the previous devotion, I stated that every false religious system that has ever positioned itself on this planet is a system that trusts in some combination of 'human achievement, human religiosity, or human merit'. However, the Lord Jesus declares a horrific truth that every moralist and religionist must face one day. They will encounter God's truth that "no man is right with God, because of their own inherent sinful nature. Furthermore, there is nothing that man can accomplish (in and of themselves) to grant them acceptance before God and approval in His holy presence. As we begin to dissect this powerful passage, we will find several radical contrasts between "the heart of this religious, but lost Pharisee," and the heart of this penitent and justified tax collector." First, notice that these two individuals DIFFERED RADICALLY IN THEIR CONCEPT OF GOD! The Pharisee was up to his eyeballs in religious affiliation, religious attendance, and religious activities. He was living a ritualistic lifestyle, which was meticulous in its external appearance of morality and religious involvement. However, he was poisoned with pride, self-righteousness, and self-deception. And why? Because this individual possessed an 'extremely high view of himself and a perilously low view of God'! Foolishly, he imagined that he could 'earn brownie points' with a Holy Lord God, through his empty religiosity and his self-perceived level of morality. Even though he was extremely religious, he was destitute of a saving knowledge of God. When a person has the wrong view of God, it will always lead to a wrong view of themselves. Consequently, because he had a trivial concept of God, he had a wrong view of God's ways. He fallaciously envisioned that he could earn favor from a Holy God! Remember, in this parable, the Lord was describing "those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous." This category includes every person who has the erroneous belief that they are going to heaven because of their 'fantasized good works', whether those works are religious or moral. God's standard for entrance into His presence in glory is perfect righteousness. Jesus said, "Be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Tragically, many self-righteous people have a similar unbiblical conception of God! So they never come to discover that their self-perceived righteousness falls miserably short of God's requirement of divine righteousness! On the other hand, the tax collector possessed a "high view of God and a realistic view of himself." This man had come to the personal realization that he was a "sinner and nothing but a sinner" in comparison to Holy God. The Spirit of God had brought this tax collector to a position of spiritual bankruptcy before God. Graciously, he was brought to the place where he realized that he was a man separated from God. He was spiritually desperate, and he realized it. Consequently, he knew he must be totally dependent on God's grace and mercy if he was going to be made right with God. He understood his need for God's mercy and grace to forgive his sin and to give him the righteousness he could not obtain on his own. He cries, "Be merciful to me, a sinner!" Closely observe, as a direct result of this conviction in his heart, he was bent over in a godly sorrow and self-loathing. This conviction was so intense that "he would not even dare to lift his eyes toward heaven," much less his head. He stood afar off from the holy things of the temple. He was actually beating on his breast in holy mourning, to express his own spiritual destitution in the presence of the pristine holiness of God. When this man had the right view of God, he gained the right view of himself, not in comparison to other sinners, but in comparison to God. He realized that there was an infinite distance between him (in his own wretchedness) and the Lord God (in His majestic righteousness and holiness). He identified himself as "THE SINNER"!