Am I A Pharisee?

Lord Jesus warned His disciples to watch and beware of the doctrine of the Pharisees, which is nothing but hypocrisy (Matt. 16:6; Lk. 12:1). Nowhere in Scripture does the Lord Jesus give us a detailed diagnosis of the hypocrisy of Pharisees like in Matthew 23. Read this list carefully and prayerfully, with an open and humble heart, asking yourself: Am I a Pharisee?

According to the Lord Jesus, I am a Pharisee, if:

1. I burden others with heavy legalistic expectations which I myself do not meet (v.3-4).

2. I do all my religious deeds to be noticed and recognized by men for my own praise, and to project myself as if I am more obedient and faithful to God than others (v.5).

3. I am full of greed for honour, prominence, and public attention in the assembly, and love to have the first place over others (v.6).

4. I secretly love to be esteemed by others as a spiritual authority in public and as a teacher who has superior knowledge of the Word than others (v.7).

5. I desire to stand out from others and love honorifics like “great Bible teacher,” “spiritual father,” etc., which exalts me over common believers of an assembly (v.9-12).

6. I put on an act as if I am faithfully teaching the Word of God, but with my legalism, I neither enter nor let others enter the kingdom of heaven (v.13).

7. I exploit and cheat in private the most vulnerable, but in public, I make very long prayers to make others think I am very godly (v.14).

8. I take great pains to win a convert, but with all my zeal, I only convert people to become a legalistic hypocrite just like me (v.15).

9. I am spiritually blind and prioritize material things over spiritual realities when it comes to the worship of God (v.16-22).

10. I major on minor matters of external obedience while minoring on major matters of internal conformity to the character of God (v.23-24).

11. I approach purity and holiness from the outside in and not from the inside out (v.25-26).

12. I appear to be very righteous on the outside without any corresponding spiritual life inside, even while I am dead and decaying in my inner man (v.27-28).

13. I honour dead prophets with my lips but with my characteristic rejection of the prophetic Word of God, I continue to murder the present-day messengers of God (v.29-36).