Guilty of the Same Error

Have you ever noticed

How we often accuse others

For the same things we do

As though ours didn’t matter?

And often the facts will show

That we are just as guilty

But we only can see their fault

Since ours lack visibility.

We sit in our armchairs

And accuse other denominations,

We say they are guilty

Of promoting a works salvation.

They are like the Pharisees

And emphasize the letter of the law

And we sit in our judgment seat

And expose their every flaw.

And we are quick to propagate

A salvation by faith and grace

Yet, we work hard to get to heaven

And to see Jesus face to face.

 

We were ushered in not by works

But works must get us there,

We are just like those we accuse

Though we are not aware.

Keen to see another’s fault

We seldom see our own

And as far as we are concerned

It’s the other’s fault alone.

But the judgment that we use

Can be used against us also

Hence, it is time we look inward

And see what is there to know.

  

Like those we often censure

We too are without merit

And the filthy rags we call our works

Are to our own discredit.

Not one of us is righteous

Certainly not in our own selves

And it is only in Jesus

That we have spiritual health.

 

So be careful when you criticize

Begin with an inward look,

The Pharisees too were lost

Their works were all they took.

We can know them by their fruit

But that is not a call to judge

And if you feel you need to help

Just give a friendly nudge.

For, there go I

But for the grace of God,

The humble portion belongs to us

But God gets the applause.

Let not the problem at Galatia

Be your problem too:

“O foolish Galatians,

Who hath bewitched you?”

 

Truly, we are called to a standard

But that is not our salvation,

Our salvation is in Jesus Christ

In whom we have redemption.

It is only the born again

That is on his way to heaven

And that is only because

His sins have been forgiven.

Stewart Russell © July 2020