Pharisee & Tax Collector

Grace is given freely to all! If it were dependent upon performance or achievement, then it would be earned rather than grace. Pastor Adam explores the parable of the pharisee and the tax collector to illustrate how Christ taught on this principle. Pharisee & Tax Collector Storyteller | Week 9 July 23, 2017 | Adam Barnett Luke 18:9-10 (NIV) To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. Luke 18:11-12 (NIV) The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ Luke 18:13 (NIV) But the tax collector… stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ Luke 18:14 (NIV) I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. The Kingdom of God is where grace reigns — not achievement. We must recognize our depravity, and depend on the mercy of God to enter His Kingdom. God’s love is not earned. It is freely given to those who are conscious of their need of it and yet their unworthiness of it.