For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
John 21:32
Self-righteous religion leads to hell, because it misses humble and real repentance. By failing to truly acknowledge sin, it misses entering the kingdom. Jesus told the leaders of the Jews, the chief priests and elders, that they have missed this truth, while ironically the “sinners” they judged and prided themselves on being far above, were repenting and finding the kingdom. But religious pride and judgmental legalism were keeping the self-righteous from eternal salvation.
So if I take Jesus’ own words to heart, I must recoil from any self-righteous turning my nose up on others whom I may think are beneath me. Jesus knew that swindlers and whores who truly repented would find eternal life before any self-righteous person ever will... all because sin is acknowledged and repented. He saw it happen, first with the ministry for John the Baptist, then in His own preaching of the good news.
Two things strike me as very important from what Jesus says here: First, I must believe I am a sinner, an admittedly sick soul in need of healing grace that only Christ can give, in order to repent and be saved. Second, I should rejoice when other sinners repent and turn to Jesus. There is no room for judgment or comparison. I am a sinner, turning to a Savior, compelling others to humbly enter this same kingdom by first humbly confessing sin! Only then can I take my place in a kingdom where the King insists that the doors are open to swindlers and whores.
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