The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

The parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector is one that shows the need for humility before God. While discussing the importance of humility in Sunday School class someone commented that complete humility is necessary before God. I agree with this completely. John Piper describes humility in Don't Waste Your Life, by writing that people do not go to the Grand Canyon and talk about how great they are. They go to the Grand Canyon and are humbled. This is how people must come to God. They must come knowing that their greatness does not compare with the holiness and majesty of God. The pharisee came to thank God for how great he, the pharisee was, not how great God is. The tax collector came to God with great humility and acknowledged his place before God, a sinner. Humility is necessary in every aspect of salvation. I must be humble enough to admit that I was not good enough to come to God on my own. Jesus explains this in John 6:44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him". It takes humility to admit that even my best deeds were not enough- Isaiah 64:6 "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags". I must be humble to admit that even after being drawn to Jesus and repenting, I am still reliant upon him for my salvation. My security is not from myself but from "he who began a good work" in me. I know that I do not keep my salvation on my own, but is in God's hands and I am promised in Philippians 1:6 that it will be completed. Someone might say that anyone who believes that their salvation cannot be lost is not humble but arrogant. I would say that someone who thinks that they can keep their salvation by not sinning is being arrogant. I will readily admit that if my salvation depended on my ability to not sin, then I am in big trouble. I want to thank God that my salvation is not dependent on my righteousness but on Christ's. So when I think about humility and how someone must come before God the tax collector's prayer sums up what we all must say "'God, have mercy on me, a sinner."