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What the Bible says about Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican
(From Forerunner Commentary)

Psalm 10:3-4

Here we see pride as a form of idolatry. It generates boasting—the proud brags about his heart's desire. He vaunts himself and drives himself toward what he covets. Consider this in relation to Helel, the being who became Satan. He drove himself to make war against God, a war that anybody in his right mind could see he could not possibly win. But his pride obliterated his ability to see the reality of his actions. And if it affected Helel that way, who could see God with his own eyes, what will it do to a human? In the same way, it will drive him toward what he covets and against God.

Clearly, what they seek is mammon—material things—and Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon. The proud person actually serves the mammon; it has become his god. One cannot serve both God and mammon because they are opposites. Pride, then, drives a wedge between a man and God. It plows the way before the proud person, opening up an easy path in the wrong direction. Ultimately, the proud person renounces or defies God while elevating himself and his desires. Therefore, he puts inordinate confidence in himself and his abilities, but he plows on without seeking God's counsel through prayer, study, or the counsel of others.

Commentators insist that, even though these verses say God is in none of his thoughts, the proud person is not really an atheist. Where does an idea like this come from? It comes from examples like the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. The proud Pharisee vaunted and exalted himself, yet where was he? In the Temple praying! Did he believe in God? Yes, he did. Thus, commentators conclude that the proud person does not totally dismiss God.

He is not really an atheist, but he has a perverted conception of God. He renounces Him, though perhaps not verbally, in what he does and in his attitude toward himself and others. These show that he is really not seeking God. The proud person may openly express belief in God but choose not to have Him present in his life. He is thus selective in applying the Word of God to himself, ignoring anything that would reduce his self-esteem.

Through the years, I have observed in counseling many couples with marital problems that the husband often has a strong ego problem, and he is unwilling to seek help. Most of the time, it is the wife who seeks it. The man thinks he can handle it himself. Also, his pride breeds fear of exposure, which would undermine his self-image. His image of himself as masterful would suffer damage if he had to counsel with a minister about his marriage. He imagines the minister will think less of him—and he thinks even less of himself because, to him, seeking help is a sign of weakness.

What an interesting pretzel we twist ourselves into to maintain our pride!

John W. Ritenbaugh
Faith (Part Six)

Isaiah 14:12-15

Probably all of us have thought that we know better than those in charge. Watch out! Thinking like this is not wrong in itself, but it is something that lodged itself in the mind of Helel (the name of the "covering cherub" before he became Satan): "I know better than the one in charge," and in this case, it was God.

We can begin to see how his pride was beginning to exalt itself against God. It was moving to break the relationship between them. It was coming between Helel and God so that their relationship could not continue. Helel could not continue to serve God.

Most have felt that we have been overlooked, neglected, or abused. Most of us have felt rejected a time or two. Of and by themselves, these feelings are not wrong. But, again, we must beware, because these feelings can begin to generate pride. Such a thing fed Helel's feelings about himself. They simmered in him and made him angry, and he desired to assert his will to control the governance of all that was happening. "I will ascend to heaven," he said, and he tried to. We see the pattern here; we can see the process involved from beginning to end.

It ends in warfare against God, which is why a person of pride cannot have a good relationship with Him. A proud person cannot have faith in God, at least not very much. A small amount of faith can be there, but pride will definitely be a hindrance. This is why the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican in Luke 18:9-14 follows immediately after of the Parable of the Importunate Widow (Luke 18:1-8), which Jesus ends with, "When the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on earth?"—because humility is essential to faith.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Faith (Part Six)

Matthew 6:11-15

The sequence of petitions in the second half of the Lord's Prayer tells us that we should pray daily for the food needed for that day. The next request is for God's forgiveness of our sins, followed by what can be a threatening, disturbing statement: that God's forgiveness of us is directly tied to our forgiveness of those who have sinned against us! We must reciprocate God's forgiveness by forgiving others' offenses committed against us.

Sin places us under obligation to seek forgiveness from God because our sins are against Him. However, a person cannot seek God for forgiveness until he is first aware of his indebtedness. One cannot truly forgive until he is aware of his shortcomings because it is from a sensitive awareness of one's own weaknesses that sympathetic feelings for others' weaknesses are born.

To impress this principle on every hearer of His Word, Jesus returns to the subject of forgiveness in Matthew 6:14-15 after completing His instruction on prayer. When such teaching follows so closely after identical teaching, God is clearly attempting to press its importance home to us.

Jesus' Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector shows the self-righteous to be critical and unforgiving people because they cannot see their own weaknesses. They have a difficult time putting themselves into another person's shoes. Luke writes in Luke 18:9, 14:

Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. . . . "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

How can a person forgive when he has an exalted opinion of himself and simultaneously despises others? How can one who in his own eyes never does anything wrong be guilty of committing an offense against another? This person is set up for being easily aggrieved over insignificant offenses that he perceives as having been deliberately committed against him and being unable to forgive because it is beneath him to excuse one he despises. To scorn the offender and to speak evil of him are far more likely reactions.

What is forgiveness on our part? It is to lay aside all claim of getting even. Paul writes in Romans 12:14, "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." He adds in verse 17, "Repay no one evil for evil," and in verse 19, "Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord."

Rising to defend ourselves is a natural but carnal reaction, yet we must trust God to bring things to light in His own order and timeframe. We must not allow ourselves to resort to counter-offenses, as did brethren in Corinth, who took one another to court before unbelievers. Paul corrects them for not letting go of their vengeful spirit (I Corinthians 6:7).

Sometimes, we must be reminded of how important God considers our responsibility to forgive. Jesus' Parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:22-35) follows Peter's question in verse 21, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" Jesus' conclusion is found in verses 32-35:

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, "You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?" And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.

This is truly a weighty responsibility. Only through significant prayer can all of our resentment be dissolved and any breach healed. God is the God of all peace. He can and will respond to our honest and sincere requests for the reconciliation of a damaged brotherly relationship.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Forgiveness and Reconciliation

Luke 18:9-14

Notice Jesus' teaching in verse 9: "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." This specific problem is religious egotism; the Pharisee despised others. Despised means "to count as nothing" or "to be contemptuous of." Can one have a good relationship with someone he despises? Pride finds fertile ground in our process of evaluation and begins to produce corrupt fruit.

This parable reveals the Pharisee to possess a misguided confidence that caused him to magnify himself by comparing himself against someone he felt to be inferior. It fed his own opinion of himself, causing separation from his fellow man. While that was happening, it also brought him into war with God! The Pharisee became separated from God because, as the parable says, he was not justified.

We need to take warning because, if we begin to feel contaminated in the presence of a brother—if we begin to withdraw from him or are constantly finding fault with him and being offended by almost everything he does—we may well be in very great trouble! The sin of pride may be producing its evil fruit, and the division is strong evidence of it.

This parable features a self-applauding lawkeeper and an abased publican. One is not simply good and the other evil; both are equally sinners but in different areas. Both had sinned, but the outward form of their sins differed. Paul taught Timothy that some men's sins precede them and others follow later (I Timothy 5:24). The publican's sins were obvious, the Pharisee's generally better hidden.

The Pharisee's pride deluded him into thinking he had a righteousness he did not really possess. His prayer is full of self-congratulation, and like a circle, it keeps him firmly at its center (notice all the I's in Luke 18:11-12). He makes no lowly expression of obligation to God; he voices no thanksgiving for what God had given him; he gives no praise to God's glory. He asks for nothing, confesses nothing, and receives nothing! But very pronouncedly, he compares himself with others. He is filled with conceit and is totally unaware of it because his pride has deceived him into concentrating his judgment on the publicans—sinners who were contaminating his world!

The humble publican did not delude himself into thinking he was righteous. What made the difference? It was a true evaluation and recognition of the self in relation to God, not other men. The basis of their evaluations—pride or humility—made a startling difference in their conclusions, revealing each man's attitudes about himself and his motivations.

The one finds himself only good, the other only lacking. One flatters himself, full of self-commendation. The other seeks mercy, full of self-condemnation. Their approach and attitude toward God and self are poles apart! One stands apart because he is not the kind of man to mingle with inferiors. The other stands apart because he considers himself unworthy to associate himself with others. One haughtily lifts his eyes to heaven; the other will not even look up! How different their spirits! Anyone who, like the Pharisee, thinks he can supply anything of great worth to the salvation process is deluding himself!

Against whom do we evaluate ourselves? Pride usually chooses to evaluate the self against those considered inferior. It must do this so as not to lose its sense of worth. To preserve itself, it will search until it finds a flaw.

If it chooses to evaluate the self against a superior, its own quality diminishes because the result of the evaluation changes markedly. In such a case, pride will often drive the person to compete against—and attempt to defeat—the superior one to preserve his status (Proverbs 13:10). Pride's power is in deceit, and the ground it plows to produce evil is in faulty evaluation.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Pride, Humility, and the Day of Atonement

Luke 18:9-14

The publican's is the language of the poor in spirit. We do not belong anywhere except alongside the publican, crying out with downcast eyes, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" John Calvin, the sixteenth-century theologian whose teachings form the basis of Reformed Protestantism, wrote, "He only who is reduced to nothing in himself, and relies on the mercy of God is poor in spirit" (Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke, p. 261).

Notice how Jesus brought out that the underlying attitude of the Pharisee was reliance in self. He boasted before God of all his "excellent" qualities and works, things he evidently thought would earn him God's respect. His vanity about these things then motivated him to regard others as less than himself. So we see that self-exaltation is the opposite of poor in spirit.

Poor in spirit is contrary to that haughty, self-assertive, and self-sufficient disposition that the world so much admires and praises. It is the reverse of an independent and defiant attitude that refuses to bow to God—that determines to brave things out against His will like Pharaoh, who said, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice . . .?" (Exodus 5:2). A person who is poor in spirit realizes that he is nothing, has nothing, can do nothing—and needs everything, as Jesus said in John 15:5, "Without Me you can do nothing."

In his commentary, The Sermon on the Mount, Emmett Fox provides a practical description of what "poor in spirit" means:

To be poor in spirit means to have emptied yourself of all desire to exercise personal self-will, and, what is just as important, to have renounced all preconceived opinions in the whole-hearted search for God. It means to be willing to set aside your present habits of thought, your present views and prejudices, your present way of life if necessary; to jettison, in fact, anything and everything that can stand in the way of your finding God. (p. 22)

Poverty of spirit blooms as God reveals Himself to us and we become aware of His incredible holiness and towering mercy in even calling us to be forgiven and invited to be in His Family—to be like Him! This understanding awakens us to the painful discovery that all our righteousness truly is like filthy rags by comparison (Isaiah 64:6); our best performances are unacceptable. It brings us down to the dust before God. This realization corresponds to the Prodigal Son's experience in Luke 15:14 when "he began to be in want." Soon thereafter, Jesus says, he "came to himself" (verse 17), beginning the humbling journey back to his father, repentance, and acceptance.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Two: Poor in Spirit

Luke 18:9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14) contrasts two different attitudes: self-righteousness and humility. The two men who go to the Temple to pray contrast in character, belief, and self-examination, representing opposite sides of the law. The Pharisee corresponds to the self-righteous, merciless worshipper of the law, and the tax collector exemplifies the humiliated lawbreaker. Both are sinners, although the outward form of their sins differs. Both men allow the judgment that they had already formed about themselves to determine the form and wording of their prayers.

As Luke comments, the parable's purpose is to expose those "who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others." Despised, which literally means "to count as nothing," describes the religious egotism the Pharisees repulsively personified. Jesus' intention is to rebuke this self-righteous trust in the self, as well as self-righteous loathing of others. Not only do the self-righteous think they are safe from God's judgment, but they also habitually disdain others as not being as righteous as they are and therefore deserving of God's judgment. Although it involves prayer, this parable is not one about how to pray as much as it is on how to be justified before God.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-12

The Pharisee's prayer manifests his mindset (II Peter 2:3). People like him trust in their own works to gain salvation and eternal life, not trusting in Jesus Christ for them. They do not really think they need His sacrifice or help because they think they are good enough in themselves. So, they toot their own horns, making sure God knows how righteous they are. While kneeling before Him, they tell Him all the good things they are always doing, and believe that He is impressed. They act as if God owes them salvation because of their good works.

This attitude shows how little they understand of the true holiness of God and the lowliness of our spiritual state. While on earth, Jesus worked more easily with tax collectors and sinners than with the Pharisees, though the latter were more dedicated to adhering strictly to the letter of the law. The Pharisees, knowing they were more righteous, made sure others knew it. In their self-delusion and self-righteousness, they could learn little from Christ.

The Pharisee, considering others as nothing, treats them accordingly. It is typical of human nature to elevate itself while putting down others, and some believe that this is the only way to elevate themselves above their peers. Isaiah writes about such people: ". . . who say, 'Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am holier than you!' These are smoke in [God's] nostrils, a fire that burns all the day" (Isaiah 65:5).

The Pharisee compares his own flaws, not with God's infinite perfections, but with the imagined greater flaws of others. His pride has made him bankrupt of genuine compassion and concern (James 2:13). He presumptuously errs in his prayer in that it is neither his duty nor his right as a sinner to point out another's sins. In trusting in Christ for righteousness, our inadequacies and guilt are revealed, and we become willing to admit that others may be much better than we are.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:9-14

Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector tells us a great deal. Verse 9 immediately informs us that self-righteous people think highly of themselves, looking down on others in the qualities that they consider important to their self-evaluation. We should not make the mistake of adhering too tightly to what this Pharisee regards as important, for being puffed up about one's qualities is not limited to his. Esteeming one's own qualities can be extended to athletic skills, dressmaking, musical accomplishments, cooking, mechanical things, clothing, housing, driving ability, IQ, academic accomplishments, and so forth. There is no limit to what human nature will identify in a person to puff itself up as better than others.

Verse 13 relates the major difference between the two men, which is a key to understanding how self-righteousness can be overcome. The difference lies in the fact that the tax collector recognizes his spiritual poverty, whereas the Pharisee, despite all his accomplishments, is totally ignorant of it. This dissimilarity made all the difference in the world in how each approached God. The tax collector came appealing for mercy because he could see he had nothing to offer God in his heart and character. In contrast, the Pharisee boasted of his accomplishments, feeling he was rich in righteousness and deserved praise.

The tax collector's recognition of his spiritual poverty provides insight as to why being "poor in spirit" is listed first among those virtues that lead one toward the Kingdom of God (Matthew 5:3). One who is poor in spirit realizes that he has nothing to offer God that is of any good, spiritual quality at all. He will, therefore, eagerly and approvingly listen to God's counsel and use it to glorify Him. He goes to God seeking His qualities, not boasting of his own as if he were His equal. Thus, when preparing for baptism, it is essential that we understand that we are not merely to repent of our sins but must also repent of what we are because what we are generates what we do!

The episode in Luke 7:36-48, where the sinful woman washes Christ's feet, provides another key to understanding and overcoming self-righteousness. It begins to unfold in verses 41-42 in the question, "Who will love Him more?" and its answer, "The one whom He forgave more." The key lies in yielding to the right use of God-given knowledge.

The woman is aware of her many sins; they are obvious to her, as to the tax collector. Again, the Pharisee is unaware of his spiritual poverty. He looks down on the woman. In addition, and very importantly, he does not recognize Jesus for what He is (verse 39). The self-righteous do not know God; thus, he never thinks about showing Jesus any love whatever.

Yet, the woman is full of love for Jesus, and she recognizes His love for her, which He shows in His forgiveness of her. The woman, using the knowledge of what she is, her sinfulness, and her forgiveness by Jesus, pours out acts of love on the One she perceives she is indebted to for revealing the depths of her spiritual poverty. She does not pour out her love to get forgiveness but because she recognizes her sins, knows she is forgiven, and is therefore indebted. The Pharisee acknowledges no indebtedness at all because he is altogether blind to his spiritual poverty. Thus, he does not even realize that he needs any forgiveness!

Self-righteousness is rooted in spiritual ignorance of the reality of what we are—not merely what we do—compared to God, not other men. The self-righteous person is blind to true spiritual richness because he is so wrapped up in himself that he frankly does not know God. He does not see Him. In Philippians 3:3, Paul writes that a Christian has "no confidence in the flesh." The apostle had an enviable pedigree, a steady pattern of good conduct, and an admirable zeal for what he believed to be right. However, he counted those things as mere rubbish compared to his knowledge of Christ (verse 8). This is a great pattern.

It is urgent and essential that we ask God to reveal Himself and His Son to us more forcefully and obviously so that we may comprehend the spiritual differences between Them and us more clearly. When we realize these differences, we can seek forgiveness and appreciate Christ with a more correct understanding of these essential truths.

John W. Ritenbaugh
On Self-Righteousness

Luke 18:11-12

The Pharisee glories in what he is ("I am not like other men"), what he does ("I fast twice a week"), and what he gives ("I give tithes of all that I possess"). Self is a prominent feature of his prayer—he uses the personal pronoun "I" five times—showing his great obsession with himself. He does not pray for others, and frankly, he has no interest in them other than to point out their faults. Not satisfied with commending himself, he disdains the tax collector as well, when he should have interceded for him before God. His prayer shows that he thinks of God as being impressed with pettiness and severity.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Luke 18:13

The publican and the multitude who repented at Peter's preaching felt the plague of sin, each in his own heart. This mourning springs from a conscience made tender and a heartfelt awareness of hostility toward God's will and personal rebellion against Him. It is grief expressed because one has become acutely aware that the morality he holds falls so far short of holiness that shame rises to the surface. One also feels this agony when he realizes that his personal behavior and attitudes have caused the death of his Creator and Savior.

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Three: Mourning

Luke 18:13-14

Justified means "to be declared righteous." The apostle Paul teaches that human beings are not justified by their works but by God's mercy—by grace (Titus 3:4-8). Our responsibilities in being justified are to humble ourselves in faith before God, repent of sin, and plead for His mercy and forgiveness. The Pharisee may not have been an extortioner, unjust, or an adulterer; he may not have overtly sinned as the tax collector did; and he may have fasted and tithed with greater dedication than most—but none of his good works could justify him (Romans 3:27-28; 4:1-3).

It is much less humiliating to humble ourselves than it is to be humbled by others. The tax collector humbles himself before God, pleading for mercy, and in the end, he receives exaltation. In Proverbs 27:2, Solomon expresses the principle of this parable: "Let another man praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips." This principle works in all facets of life, but most people cannot see it at work because they see no reward for humbly working behind the scenes. Godly principles at first seem contradictory to success, but they always work for the ultimate benefit of all. If we would be as concerned about our character as we are about being recognized for our achievements, we would be far more impressive to our Creator, whose gifts and rewards are unimaginable.

Martin G. Collins
Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

John 5:39-40

The word "search" is ereuano in Greek, and means "to search, examine into." It can imply "to search by uncovering; to search minutely; to explore; to strip, to make bare; to search by feeling, by touch."

Homer, in The Iliad, used this word to indicate a lioness and her dedication to her cubs. They were lost, and she was on a huge plain searching very carefully everywhere. In The Odyssey, he used the same word to picture a dog tracking its prey - having its nose on the ground and never losing the scent.

Metaphorically, it can be used to describe one digging deep for treasure and precious metal, breaking every single clod that nothing would be missed. It means to shake and to sift until every meaning of every sentence, word, syllable, and even every letter may be known and understood.

Jesus is saying that these people search out every tiny, minute thing in striving for eternal life. But they were not willing to come to Him, humble themselves, and change so that they would have real, eternal life!

Can this happen to us today? Sure, it can! We see things that we are loathe to change in our lives, or we procrastinate. This is what Jesus is illustrating. Luke 18:9-14 gives us an example of a man who thought that he was doing wonderfully well. He probably knew more than the tax collector ever would. But the tax collector had the humility to humble himself before God and to repent.

John O. Reid
Don't Take God for Granted

1 John 2:15-16

I John 2:15-16 warns us not to love the world of Satan's creation because it is a huge reservoir of influences to the budding kernel of pride in each of us. It can lead us from that sin to others in order to accomplish our ambitions.

What other kinds of sin? The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector provides an example, showing how destructive it can be to relationships: "The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess'" (Luke 18:11-12). Pride can make a person become condescending and self-righteous, so that he sees himself as greater than others, which can lead to misusing them.

At the same time, it blinded the Pharisee to his spiritual condition. Jeremiah 49:16 is spoken against Edom. "'Your fierceness has deceived you, the pride of your heart, O you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the hill! Though you make your nest as high as the eagle, I will bring you down from there,' says the LORD." One of pride's most destructive fruits is self-deception, blindness to one's own spiritual condition. It strongly tends to produce a sense of infallibility.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Living By Faith and Human Pride

Revelation 3:17

How close this is in principle to what the Pharisee says in the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican (Luke 18:9-14)! Oblivious to his spiritual poverty, the Pharisee chooses to compare himself to humans he can see rather than the holy God to whom he supposedly prays in faith. Notice also his conceit in listing his wonderful works of tithing and fasting!

Though the Laodicean is indifferent, lackadaisical, and inconsistent in his devotion to God, his ignorance of his spiritual condition reveals a fundamental flaw that undergirds his lukewarm condition and paralyzes his spiritual life. The Laodicean says he is rich, but Christ's revelation shatters that delusion. He completely misreads his spiritual condition! He thinks he is already complete, thus he is indifferent to growing and changing. So great is his conceit that it blinds him into saying he needs nothing!

This self-deception results in inconsistency in prayer and Bible Study and nonchalance in overcoming. Why do those exercises when he has no need? His relationship to Jesus Christ is distant and insipid. Would we want to be married to a person who could take us or leave us depending upon his momentary mood? No wonder Christ reacts so severely! The Laodicean's self-perceived "wealth" is a barrier to any meaningful relationship with Him (Proverbs 18:11).

A Laodicean is poor—really and truly poor—yet all the while thinking himself to be rich. He is unwilling to jettison anything, let alone everything in a whole-hearted search for God. Undoubtedly, he has knowledge about God and thinks this is the true religion, but it is plain that he does not know God. If he did, he would not be so blind to his poverty because he could compare himself to God's holiness, and his shortcomings would be exposed. He is intelligent, but he mistakes his intelligence for true wisdom. Christ may even have given him gifts for ministering to the church in some way, but he mistakenly judges them as grace toward salvation. He is blind yet has the light of God's truth in him—remember, this is written to converted people—but the light is turning to darkness. How great that darkness must be!

To be wretched describes life when everything one owns has been destroyed or plundered by war. Here it describes the Laodicean's spiritual destitution and pitiableness before God. He is being devastated in the spiritual war against Satan, even though to all outward appearances he may look well-clothed, well-fed, and vigorous in carrying out his daily, secular responsibilities.

How careful Christians must be in this time when the world and Satan are pressing their distractions upon us as never before! We cannot allow ourselves to be deluded into negligently or carelessly cheating ourselves out of so great salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3).

John W. Ritenbaugh
The Beatitudes, Part Two: Poor in Spirit


 




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