The Discipline of Grace (Chapter 2)

Here are some of my favorite excerpts from Chapter 2 in the book The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges. This chapter particularly resonated with me because I could relate with the examples of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector both by how I've acted/reacted and how I've been treated by others.  This chapter is certainly one to make you think.

Luke 18:9-14
⁹To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
 ¹³"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'
 ¹⁴"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

• "The Pharisee was orthodox in his beliefs and very committed in his religious practices.  He was self-righteous and through Jesus' parable, has become the classic example of religious pride and self-satisfication." (page 31)
• "Unlike the Pharisee, the tax collector was painfully aware of his sinfulness. He didn't just ask for forgiveness of certain sins; he pleaded for mercy as a sinner.  In the original language, the text reads, "God be merciful to me the sinner." Not only did he not compare himself favorably with others as the Pharisee did; he didn't compare himself at all.  He was not concerned with how he measured up with respect to other people.  He was concerned with how he measure up before a holy and righteous God.  He knew he stood alone before God with his sin, so he pleaded for mercy." (page 31)
• "Jesus said the tax collector went home justified, or declared righteous, before God.  He freely and rather desperately acknowledged that he had no righteousness of his own, so he received his as a gift from God." (page 32)
• "Jesus told the parable to those who were confident of their own righteousness, that is, to those who felt good about their own performance.  As long as we compare ourselves with society around us and with other believers who are not as committed as we are, we also are apt to become confident of our own righteousness--not a righteousness unto salvation, but at least a righteousness that will make God pleased with our performance.  The sin of the Pharisee, then, can become the sin of the most orthodox and committed Christian." (page 32)
• "Most often our sin problem is in the area I call "refined" sins. These are the sins of nice people, sins that we can regularly commit and still retain our positions as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, Bible study leaders, and yes, even full-time Christian workers." (page 33)
• "What are some of these "refined" sins? As I looked at my own life, one of the first that came to mind was the tendency to judge others and to speak critically of them to other people." (page 33)  
• "We need to take seriously Jesus' warning about a critical spirit in Matthew 7:3: 'Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?' We need to learn to back off from judging others and leave that to God, as the apostle Paul instructed us when he said, 'Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand' (Romans 14:4). A judgmental spirit is too often a vice or committed Christians.  We need to recognize it as the sin it really is. A judgmental spirit usually reflects itself in speech that is critical of others." (page 33)

Psalm 141:3

Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

• "Closely akin to judgmental speech is gossip, that endless recounting and passing on of the sins and misfortunes of others." (page 34)

Ephesians 4:29

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

• "The word unwholesome covers any type of speech that tends to tear down another person, either spoken to or about that person." (page 34)
• "Even criticism addressed to someone should be given only with the goal of benefiting that person." (page 35)
• "Only honest criticism given from a heart of love in a spirit of humility can qualify as that which builds up the other person." (page 35)
• "The real problem, however, is not our tongues but our hearts. Jesus said, 'For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks' (Matthew 12:34)." (page 35)
• "What are some other "refined" sins that we can commit and still be respectable among our Christian friends" Some of the more common ones are in the area of interpersonal relationships. These would include resentment, bitterness, an unforgiving spirit, impatience, and irritability. It is very instructive that it is in the context of interpersonal relationships that Paul wrote his warning, 'And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God' (Ephesians 4:30). Now, all sin grieves God, and Paul could have inserted that warning in the context of sexual immorality (Ephesians 5:3-5) or lying and stealing (Ephesians 4:25,28).  But he places it in the context of sins we commit with hardly any sense of shame or guilt.  The message should be clear.  God is grieved over our "refined" sins just as He is grieved over sexual immorality or dishonesty." (page 35-36)
• "As we continue to probe the sinfulness of our hearts, we come to self-centeredness; selfish ambition; the love of position, power, or praise; an independent spirit; and the tendency to manipulate events or other people for our own ends. Then there is indifference to the eternal or temporal welfare of those around us, and finally the cancerous sin of materialism." (page 37)
• "We will own up to almost any other sin, but not the sin of self-righteousness.  When we have this attitude, though, we deprive ourselves of the joy of living in the grace of God.  Because, you see, grace is only for sinners." (page 40)
• "Are we willing to say, 'God be merciful to me the sinner?' or 'I am no longer worthy to be called your son'? Are we willing to acknowledge that even our righteous acts are no more than filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6)?" (page 43)

Father, I desire to build others up.  I don't desire to judge those in my life.  Right now I release my judgments of those in my life to you.  I confess as I read this chapter that I judged others in my life as Pharisee types and just plain judged others!  Forgive me for my sinfulness. Lord, have mercy on me the sinner.  Lord, help me to heal when there have been critical things spoken of me and to me that were not done in an act of love or with humility but out of judgment. I pray for grace and forgiveness in my heart for them.  Thank you for your protection of me in those times and how I am your girl.  I belong to you.  Whatever is said to me in anger, rage, bitterness may it just by pass me because I know who I am in you! Lord, I desire to hear criticism when it is given from a heart of love in a spirit of humility, so it may build me up.  May I not listen to any other criticism.  Oh Lord, will you cleanse my heart?  My heart is chalked for of resentment, bitterness, irritability, gossip and much more.  I thank you that I am a new creation in Christ. Thank you for your Holy Spirit that is dwelling within me so that I am freed from the dominion of sin. May I choose to live a life that will bring you honor all the days of my life and may you keep my heart tender toward all sin in my life, including the "refined" sins.