In this lesson, students learn about righteousness.
Through Christ we are acceptable to God.
By faith we embrace the grace of God in the death of Jesus Christ.
The Pharisee and the Publican, watercolour on paper, by John Everett Millais (ca.1860), Aberdeen Art Gallery
Devotion
Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." However, Pieper writes as follows: "But the righteous are judged only according to their good works because these works are the proof of their faith in Christ; the evil works of the believers are not even on the Judgment Day brought to light again because through the believer's justification they have been cast into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19), that is have been forgiven." Christian Dogmatics Vol. III page 540
The following Bible passages apply.
KJV Matthew 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Matthew 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
KJV 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
The point is that we are saved by grace alone, but we will all be judged by our works. The Judgment is about works, not faith, or else how will God judge the heathen?
The scales of justice must be equal for Christians and non-Christians at the judgment. Otherwise, there would be two different standards of judgment, the Christians being judged by their faith and the heathen being judged by their works.
The heathen can't be judged by faith because they don't have any faith. Both Christians and the heathen will be judged equally by their works.
Both the heathen and the Christians will be judged by their works at the Judgment. The heathen will have no works because they had no faith. Heb 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
The Christians will have good works because they have the full righteousness and work of Christ given them by grace alone through faith in Christ. Christians will also have actual good works in which they participated that God accepts because God gives all Christians good works to do, works which He accepts according to Eph. 2:10 above.
Therefore, the end of the Athanasian Creed is absolutely correct. It presupposes the faith of the believer and the unbelief of the heathen. The existence of, or lack of, good works will be evident to all at the Judgment. Not only without faith is it impossible to please God, it is impossible to be saved, according to Mark 16:16.
Think of it this way: Good works come as standard operating equipment on every Christian that God makes." http://www.lutherquest.org/walther/articles/-400/jmc00352.htm
The lesson
9 Jesus told this parable to certain people who trusted in themselves (that they were righteous) and looked down on others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple courts to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people, robbers, evildoers, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of all my income.’
13 “However the tax collector stood at a distance and would not even lift his eyes up to heaven, but was beating his chest and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 “I tell you, this man went home justified rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39fHwaR2P40 Note that Jesus says this after the pharisee told Him about the hated tax collector. The video implies the tax collector was Matthew.
Questions.
Jesus told this parable when confronted by those who were self-righteous. The tax collector only saw his sin. God only saw the righteousness worked in him by faith and judged him according to those righteous acts. The pharisee thought his righteous acts saved him, but God judged him according to his sin.