Jesus tells a parable in Luke 18:9-14 about a Pharisee and tax collector going to the temple to pray. He directed this story “to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt.” In other words, he was addressing legalists who thought their obedience and adherence to laws and commands made them right in God’s eyes. These people trusted in what they did rather than what God does.
I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 18:14
When Jesus says the tax collector went to his house “justified” he means that in God’s eyes he was righteous. To his legalistic hearers this was a shocking assertion since by the tax collector’s own admission he was a “sinner”. They would certainly have thought so as well and looked down on him for his “lifestyle” of sin.
The Pharisee, on the other hand, who was a morally upright man and was held in high regard by the common people for being holy, cited in his prayer his many good deeds and ways in which he was obedient to the law of Moses. Jesus did not dispute the Pharisee’s obedience and morality, but he said the tax collector nonetheless went home justified rather than the Pharisee. Though an upstanding man in many regards, the Pharisee who was trusting in his obedience was not justified in God’s eyes.
To be sure, Jesus himself kept all the law and prophets, and taught others to so as well. Jesus did what was good and right, and was obedient to the Father, but he was no legalist. According to Jesus, all that Moses and the prophets said was actually about love (Matthew 22:40), and yet careful and consistent obedience to those teachings is not what makes a person righteous. We are not righteous because we love God and others. We are not justified by what we do no matter how much our actions align with God’s commands. Would the Pharisee have been justified if he had listed that he loved his neighbors, gave to the poor, and cared for the needy, instead of what he did list? No, it was not that he was not doing the right things, but that he was trusting in what he was doing instead of in God himself.
The parable portrays the way for us to be righteous. The tax collector, whose deeds were sinful, in humility asked for God to be merciful. What does his request show? Faith in God. He trusts God to forgive and has no faith in trying to do enough good deeds. He has faith in God and does not count on his own obedience. Jesus teaching that just like with Abraham, it is the faith of those who trust God which is credited to them as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).
The virtue of humility which gives rise to the tax collector’s faith, even though a person’s sins may be numerous, is far more significant than the virtue of moral uprightness, especially when tainted by sinful pride and a legalistic outlook. Both men in this story have sins: the tax-collector has too many to innumerate, and the Pharisee has sinful pride and contempt for others. Each also has virtue, the tax collector has humility that leads to faith, and the Pharisee a moral life. But the Pharisee is a legalist who has faith in himself and his obedience. The tax collector has faith in God alone, and that makes all the difference.
Legalism was a problem in Jesus’ day. It is a problem in ours as well. In every age, a legalistic mentality can ensnare anyone who genuinely wants to follow God and do good. We so easily think of what progress we have made, which has occurred through grace, as having been due to our own efforts. We then think that this good behavior makes us worthy, and also better than others.
In truth, God makes righteous all who trust in him irrespective of their many moral or immoral actions. Those God justifies he also glorifies (Romans 8:30), that is, brings to share in his glorious nature. God will make those who are righteous by faith to be righteous in deeds as well.
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