Are You A Pharisee?

MATTHEW 16:6,12 NKJ
6 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven
of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."
12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of
the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and
Sadducees.

Why did Jesus warn His disciples to beware of the Pharisees?
What did they do wrong?

(An entire chapter of the Bible (Matthew 23) is Jesus' teaching
against the Pharisees.)

The Pharisees were conservative, faithful "church" members.
They accepted the Bible as the written Word of God. They paid
tithes. They believed in miracles (at least in days past). They
wouldn't dream of stealing, committing adultery, or such
things. You would like living next to a Pharisee as they were
model citizens.

But instead of having a living relationship with God, the
Pharisees took the Word of God and made just another dead
religion out of it.

The Pharisee way of thinking is: keep up appearances. "It
doesn't matter so much what you are on the inside, as long as
you keep the rules (at least publicly)."

Notice that Jesus likened their teaching to leaven, or yeast.
Why? Yeast spreads easily and rapidly. Humans are very
susceptible to approaching God in this manner, "Keep the rules.
Just do these 10 things and you are OK."

Different groups may have different rules, but we all
accumulate them. It may be how many times each week you must
attend church meetings, or what kind of clothes you must wear,
or how you must wear your hair. Or, it may be a list of things
you cannot do. But, as long as you meet these requirements, you
are in good standing with your group (or denomination).

But, good standing with God is based on only one thing
according to the New Testament: faith in what Jesus did for us.
That alone is what makes us right with God. Not our works, but
Jesus' work.

LUKE 12:1 NKJ
1 ... He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

The Pharisees were hypocrites. That is, they put on an act.
What they pretended to be in public was not really what they
were like in private. They claimed to be perfect in keeping
God's law, but as humans they were all sinners, just like the
rest of the people were. Yet, in public, they insisted that
others keep the Law perfectly, or be condemned.

They were quick to pass judgment on others, and slow to extend
mercy or help. The Pharisees had a legalistic view of God's
Word and did not realize that God was merciful and wanted to
help people.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:6 NKJ
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant,
not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but
the Spirit gives life.

Using God's Word to "kill" instead of using it to minister life
is wrong. God's Word is meant to help people and lift them up,
not place such hard demands on them that they cannot ever
measure up. When we load people down with heavy loads of rules
to keep in order to be right with God, we are ministers of
death.

MATTHEW 23:1-5 NLT
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the
official interpreters of the law of Moses.
3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow
their example. For they don't practice what they teach.
4 They crush people with impossible religious demands and never
lift a finger to ease the burden.
5 "Everything they do is for show. . . .

If your "Christianity" is nothing more than a list of "do's and
don't's" then you are missing real Christianity, which is a
living relationship with Jesus Christ.

SAY THIS: Jesus does not want me to act like a Pharisee.