Justification of sinners by grace alone lies at the heart of the gospel. It is the proof and consequence of the fact that Christ is so entirely all-sufficient a Saviour that His work needs no supplementing by us. While this may be good news, it is not an easy truth for the fallen to swallow.
The fact that Jesus pronounces a foul sinner righteous while condemning a life committed to religious uprightness (see Luke 18:9-14) offends our pride. For the humbling effect of Jesus’s teaching, so entirely condemning our self-reliance, makes it far easier to reserve the message of justification by grace as one only for beginners or outsiders. Justification may be an essential evangelical truth, but it is one that all evangelicals struggle to live by.
There are a number of telltales when Christians fall into the self-reliant mindset of the Pharisee. The first is that heartfelt love for Christ and treasuring Him is eclipsed by a treasuring of substitutes. We trust in our performance, our feelings, our abilities, our ministry. The success of this substitute, and the praise we receive for it, becomes of paramount importance.
