Pharisee? Hypocrite?

Great questions! I look forward to others' thoughts on this!

McWilliams said:

Who today are the pharisees? Do we, should we, recognize them? How does one discern if someone is real and has a heart relationship with our Lord?
Actually how could we diagnose such a quality in our own life, to know if we are a pharisee?
Are there things we can do to protect ourself from becoming such a one?

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I tend to think of the modern Pharisees as those who have no joy in the Lord. I've heard of many churches out there which impose many rules on their congregants, and one can see that these rules do not produce any love for Jesus Christ. One characteristic I see in modern legalists is that they will often cite the Scripture "by grace are ye saved," but they think of it as a purely intellectual doctrine. Therefore I think that the cure to modern legalism is for us to live like we are saved by grace through faith, and not live according to man-made rules.

arunma said:

I tend to think of the modern Pharisees as those who have no joy in the Lord. I've heard of many churches out there which impose many rules on their congregants, and one can see that these rules do not produce any love for Jesus Christ. One characteristic I see in modern legalists is that they will often cite the Scripture "by grace are ye saved," but they think of it as a purely intellectual doctrine. Therefore I think that the cure to modern legalism is for us to live like we are saved by grace through faith, and not live according to man-made rules.

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Once again Arunma hit the nail on the head. I think that's a perfect example of a modern Pharisee.

I don't think that we should exclude God's righteous judgement from our teaching, but neither should we preach it to the degree that we're afraid to _____________ (fill in the blank) out of fear of the church's (although they promote it as God's) retribution.

McWilliams said:

Bringing it down to the fine points of personal practicality, is there a similarity, a close dividing line between taking a bold stand for what is right and being thought of as a pharisee!

Yes, both above posts are great, thought provoking!

As we know, there are absolutes, as according to scripture but do you think we can be considered pharasaical for noting such and standing up for those very absolutes?

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Oh, we definitely *can* be considered pharasaical for doing this, but I think it is wrongly so. The pharasees didn't just point out what Scripture said was right and wrong. They had added to it, all kinds of little rules and regulations of their own. They had not only the Scriptures, but their oral tradition as well. And not only did they add to the law, but they also found ways around it themselves, while imposing it on others (thus being hypocrites, as Jesus labeled them). They made sure they looked good outwardly, but that was all that was important to them. The externals.

McWilliams said:

Who today are the pharisees?

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It's chilling to think about what the Pharisees thought that was different, in their own day. And what Jesus complained about them.

I think from the standpoint of misunderstanding grace, there're very general historical attributes of Pharisaism that can be readily overlooked today. But I feel like I should start somewhere else.

That somewhere else is, "Being theological Pharisees didn't exclude people from being Christians." It's something about where the group of Pharisees headed, that caused them to be identified and castigated as a problem. It wasn't their basic theological conservatism; their view of Scripture inspiration; their attempt to take God at His word.

Probably the biggest distinctive of Pharisaism was theire view that by doing certain religious things, they would attract God's grace and bring His salvation. This seemed to impact their visible acts of legal compliance, which I think led to Jesus accusing them of hypocrisy.

And in some cases, we might think their reasoning was pretty reasonable.

McWilliams said:

Do we, should we, recognize them?

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Well, Jesus said not to be like them (Mt 23), that our righteousness had to exceed theirs (Mt 5:20), so yes there's warrant to try to recognize at least what they're doing, if only for personal application.

McWilliams said:

How does one discern if someone is real and has a heart relationship with our Lord?

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Great, tough question. It is hard to put together a perfect list, because people's reaction is so varied. In my own culture the list can be narrowed.

Internally, we know if we really believe God is real, or Jesus is real. We may be troubled by evidence that we also believe, that contradicts those feelings -- frustration with which side of the evidence is something of a tip-off to, "Which do you really think is the truth?"

But it doesn't stop there. Real relationships affect you -- over time they grow to change the way you act. You may also be frustrated here, too -- and again, the question above reappears to tell you, "Whose side are you on?" Also, here, nobody's perfected in their actions. (1 John 1:8-10). But the effect does appear (1 John 1:7, 2:3).

McWilliams said:

Actually how could we diagnose such a quality in our own life, to know if we are a pharisee?

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If we feel we deserve for God to respond a certain way in our lives because, "We've done the right thing, He should reward that", um, that's a tip-off to me.

McWilliams said:

Are there things we can do to protect ourself from becoming such a one?

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I have to constantly meditate on God's freedom to do what He wants with the gifts He has.

McW,

Your questions are always very challenging, but I will give this one a shot.

The Church of Jesus Christ will, in this world, always have Pharisees in here midst, just as she will always have other types of non-believers. I think a Pharisee is one who takes his eyes off of Christ and looks to his own works, and outward appearances as a means of self-justification.

One example I can think of is those who look see holiness in their outward dress. I have known people to deny that a woman can have a relationship with Jesus Christ because she wears “pants.” (I have known such people) They seem (I can not see into their hearts) to look at outward appearance THE measure of holiness. We see this in the Gospels on a number of occasions.

The Lord alone can change the heart and some changed hearts are conformed to the image of Christ more swiftly and easier than others. I think we need to give people the benefit of the doubt, because we can never see into their hearts. Even when someone has sinned terrible and faces excommunication, then at worst we are to treat them as an unbeliever (one who needs to be evangelised).

I think we all can play the Pharisee very easily. It is part of our old nature that we are will not be completely rid of before we go to be with the Lord. We must battle it daily, and if we err let’s err on the side of love and compassion for the brethren.

This does not mean that we are to wink at sin in our midst, because this is not godly love either. The Scriptures tell us how to deal with those in our midst who have fallen into sin. Looking the other way is sin, just as much as playing the holier than though Pharisee. We must deal with the backslidden brethren in love, charity and patience. Remember what Paul wrote to Timothy, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Also don’t forget what John wrote, “He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.” (1 John 2:9-11) and again in 1 John 3, “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another…” and “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him…” and again “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.”

Loving the brethren is a very important part of our faith and our relationship with Jesus Christ.

I hope I've come close to addressing your questions.

Coram Deo,
Kenith

McWilliams said:

Who today are the pharisees? Do we, should we, recognize them? How does one discern if someone is real and has a heart relationship with our Lord?
Actually how could we diagnose such a quality in our own life, to know if we are a pharisee?
Are there things we can do to protect ourself from becoming such a one?

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Dear McW;

When I first read your questions a few days ago I immediately thought of a tract by J. C. Ryle called "Beware", taken from the Lord's warning to His disciples about the "leaven of the Pharisees' and Sadducees.

In it Ryle addresses both aspects of your question, that is the presence of Pharisaism in others and how to avoid it's effects on us, coming from others, especially teachers, and also our own never ending (in this life) tendencies to be Pharisees ourselves. Ryles primary emphasis, though, in this tract, is on the former.

The Lord used this tract, and a piece by Pink, among other things, to give me peace about a congregation I had visited and had thought seriously of joining with, but which I felt deep in my spirit, because of several 'red flags' was not of God, at least with respect to some of the key leadership.

Even though I knew in my heart this position I had taken was correct, I deeply desired godly fellowship, and the adversary pestered me periodically using this desire and my own weaknesses, about it until I read this tract, for it allowed me to see clearly, and articulate in my own heart the true nature of the things which troubled my soul, in spite of all the outward glosses and quotes of Puritans, and supposed "good works" and love of the doctrines of grace and so on. Thinking clearly on a subject strengthens, I think, the inward impressions and leadings of the Spirit, and this was a case where this was clearly borne out for me.

In addition, it put the matter of the Doctrine of the Sadducees along side that of the Pharisees in the broad picture of the two alternatives to true religion that the "god of this world" always offers, in myriad forms, from the most subtle to the most brazen, as counterfeits.

The ones most often seen, in the church, and which are thus most dangerous to the true believer as well as a seeker, and which are the primary subject of Ryles work, are the dead, "dry", brittle "orthodoxy" of blind conservativism; and the other is the dead, "wet", slippery "orthodoxy" of the blind liberal, for neither deny altogether the things of scripture and true revelation, but rather they add to or take away from it as suits their own desires, and thus one "turns to the right hand" and the "other to the left", and leave "the narrow way" that leads to life.

I still can't give links in my posts but an online version of this tract as Ryle originally wrote it can be found by Googling the Aussie Outpost and looking for the Ryle section. I like this site as a Ryle source because unlike some of the Ryle archives online this one does not change or "update" Ryle's words which in my view do not need this treatment. But no doubt there are other sources of this tract should anyone be led of Him to explore this excellent question further.

Much Christian love to all
jer3119

From my experiences and studies on this issue, I can explain from my view.

"A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself" (A.W. Tozer). There are those who are similar to Pharisees' attitudes are those who magnifies the faults of those who based others on appearance and diminishes their graces, while they promote their external works. Often those who are like the Pharisees are proud. The Greek word alazoneia refers to being proud when you really have nothing to be proud about. We live in a proud and egotistical generation. People continually promote themselves. Paul was a Pharisee and he wrote in Romans 16:18 "For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people." Paul knew as a Pharisee what Jesus was talking about when He rebuked other Pharisees about faith. A true Christian is not proud but rather humble like Christ. Paul explains in Romans 15:1-7 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: "The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me." For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Based on many replies of the threads, people have shown an attitude that doctrines are more important love. Superiorism in regards to doctrines who have no compassion. Jesus in Matthew 15:1-3. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition (doctrine)?”

A spiritual Christian wants to see other Christians above self and is happy when others are promoted and a spiritual Christian with humility is overlooked. There's no envy in a person's heart; when the brethren are honored, the humbled Chrisitian is pleased because such is the will of God. If God is pleased, the humbled Christian is pleased for that reason, and if it pleases God to exalt another above a humble Christian, he/she is content to have it so. A Christian will pursue the will of God actively and be enthusiastic and the attitude toward Christ, a Christian will manifest love and burning devotion from the heart. A true Christian zeal is not based on works but proves only that the one who manifests it is healthy, balanced, energetic and actively interested in serving God's will with Spirit-Filled fruits (not works).

I have more but this is enough to start a good thread so that we can learn to discern what is out there.

I don't think that we should exclude God's righteous judgement from our teaching, but neither should we preach it to the degree that we're afraid to _____________ (fill in the blank) out of fear of the church's (although they promote it as God's) retribution.

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agree.
e.g. when attending a particular reformed church (won't name names) here in australia, there was an unwritten (or maybe it was written and i dun know about it?) rule that you shouldn't go to the movies (although alcohol, tobacco, &c. were fine)
anyway, despite the fact that many of the people watched the same movies at home that they wouldn't watch at the cinema (and obviously had no personal moral objection to these movies), no-one ever went to the movies, obviously out of fear of what the church would do/say.
this attitude, imo, is the same spirit as pharisaism. as soon as we start doing or not doing things because of what people say rather than what God says or what we truly believe to be right/wrong, then that is hypocrisy, the same as Christ rebuked the Pharisees for.

What then is James writing of in 2.25,26,3.13?

Rhetoric without action ... religious people , who do not wish to dirty their dainty fingers doing the works of the kingdom Matthew 25.32-42 ?

I find myself always teetering between pharisee and publican in my heart in some fashion. Legalist in this, antinomian in that, and it is all the flesh, the old man. Praise be to God that He has provided the Lamb, and has promised to conform me to the image of His Son!