Grace Righteousness
By Mike Rule

In looking at Luke 7:36-50 it stands out to me that Jesus accepted the woman who washed his feet and the Pharisee equally. He treated them each as their individual situations warranted but neither of them was judged. In verse 42 Jesus is saying that both are forgiven, but their responses to His forgiveness are very different. "…I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little." (vs. 47)

God gently confronted me on this by pointing out my lack of love for those who have a more legalistic view. I began to see that those I was labeling "self-righteous" were actually less self-righteous than I. I had slipped into being legalistically anti-legalistic, judgmentally anti-judgmental, and self-righteously anti-self-righteous. Those who are looking to the law as their guide often judge and condemn those living in sin, not loving them much. Yet there is another form of self- righteousness that is even deeper and more subtle. I call it grace self-righteousness, or "grace righteousness." The grace righteous often angrily criticize and judge the self-righteous by "legalistically" demanding that grace be granted to everyone. Unknowingly, they have fallen into the same trap of exhibiting very little love.

Jesus met the un-righteous and the self-righteous right where they were and judged neither of them. He loved them both in the way they needed to be loved. One He gently confronted; the other He gently restored. When I read the words of Jesus toward this Pharisee in a tone of compassion and love instead of judgment, ridicule, and condemnation, I begin to see the depths of my own depravity. I am always inflicting my own spirit on Jesus words instead of hearing them through His spirit, a spirit of love.

This challenges me and shows me if I cannot love people--whether they are caught up in the sin of un-righteousness, the sin of law self-righteousness, or the sin of grace righteousness--I am nothing and I know nothing of the love of Christ. My lack of love proves it.

The one who is forgiven much loves much. Have you had the revelation of how Jesus has forgiven your unrighteousness, your self-righteousness, and the deeper deception of your "grace righteousness"?