God is less impressed in our rote compliance to a set of rules than thoughtful application of godly principles extending justice, mercy, and faith.

The Pharisees were in the office or seat of Moses. Jesus taught His followers to follow their words (pertaining to the Law of God), but not their personal examples.

Although the Pharisees imposed harsh regulations, they found loopholes for themselves while proudly and hypocritically displaying their piety for show.

If we feel we are better than our brethren, separating ourselves from them, we are hypocrites and actors, harboring the leavening of the Pharisees in us.

Jesus warned of three varieties of leaven that we must guard against, staying aware of the pitfalls that will pull us down and corrupt us.

Having their origin in the days of Ezra, the Scribes and Pharisees were extremely zealous for the law, separating themselves for this exclusive purpose.

Self-righteousness is defined as being smugly proud of one's own opinion and intolerant of others. What Job repented of was his misunderstanding of God.

Forgiveness from God is directly tied to our forgiving those who have sinned against us! We must reciprocate God's forgiveness by forgiving others.

Jesus blasts the scribes and Pharisees in Matthew 23, telling them they ignore the 'weightier matters.' We must focus on certain virtues as we keep God's law.

Hypocrisy consists of professing beliefs or virtues that one does not genuinely possess. The primary motivator is pride, and its resulting sin is lying.

Jesus warned His disciples to cease pretending to be better than they are, focusing on the faults of others while whitewashing and justifying one's own.

The Jews establishes a fixed date for Shavuot in contradiction to the instruction for counting to Pentecost. This is part of the leavening of the Pharisees.

We are continually in danger of being deceived by our carnal nature, a nature which distracts us from following God, even though we go through the motions.

Jesus explains that what truly defiles a person—evil thoughts, murder, adultery—comes from their heart and mind, not from eating with unwashed hands.

The problem with the Pharisees is that they never grasped the simplicity of the law, much less the spirit of it, but dissected it to be thought righteous.

President Obama endorsed the mosque at Ground Zero, pleading tolerance. Yet God is a jealous God, ordering the extermination of all competing religions.

People knew not to put new wine in old wineskins or a new cloth patch on an old shirt. Likewise, Jesus' new way of life is incompatible with old habits and beliefs!

We need to exercise humility and forbearance when we deal with the weaknesses of our brethren, restoring them in love as we would expect them to do for us.

God demands that we love, do justice, and walk humbly, assuming the role of a servant rather than a tyrant, after the manner of the Gentiles.

The Good Samaritan parable teaches that unless one practices doing good rather than just knowing good, his faith will be severely compromised.

Our righteousness must exceed the that of the Pharisees, keeping God's law in the spirit rather than in the letter, replacing the law of death with the law of life.

It is common to focus on what the King gives and does, at the expense of what the King desires and requires, emphasizing God's grace over obligation.

Conservatism is a political philosophy that calls for stability and the protection of established institutions. Liberals think conservatives are stuck in the past.

In Galatians, Paul took issue with the Halakhah, not God's word. Halakhah was a massive collection of human opinion that placed a yoke on its followers.

The harsh religion of the Pharisees was unfeeling, placing more attention on rituals and man-made laws, and had turned their super-righteousness into sin.

We have been de-leavened, but we know we still have sin in us that has to be purified through a lengthy process of sanctification.

It is necessary to begin with a conviction of sin in order to experience a need for Jesus Christ and to receive the joy in the forgiveness of sin.

Faith and fidelity to God and His way of life should be a major part of our character. Here is what faith and fidelity are, how to recognize a lack of them.

Jesus deliberately heals a man with dropsy on the Sabbath. He was teaching the people an unmistakable lesson about the purpose of the Sabbath day.

Muslims, duplicating the methods of the leftists, are attempting to control the direction of American education, establishing centers for Islamic Studies.

In the gray areas of applying God's Law, extending mercy and easing of burdens trumps legalism and hairsplitting.

The Parable of the Cloth and the Wineskins concludes a much longer narrative. The context and reveals deeper meanings and applications of the parable.

Only John records Jesus' healing of the man born blind, which shows Christ calling a people for Himself despite the efforts of the Jewish leaders to deter Him.

When we look back and realize what we have done, we are led to think deeply about our actions, which can lead us into changing our future actions.

Ecclesiastes 7 contains a paradox: wickedness appears to be rewarded and righteousness seems to bring trouble. We must be careful in how we respond to this.

None of God's law has been 'done away', though there is not always a literal application. Not every law of God has the same weight of importance.

The effectiveness of a law is found in its purpose and intent rather than the letter. Love and mercy constitute the spiritual fulfillment of the Law.

The Intertestamental Period spans approximately 400 years from Malachi to the appearance of John the Baptist, creating the environment for Christ's ministry.

The people suffering under the Babylonians had basked in the privilege of being God's chosen people while also trashing the terms of the Covenant.

Many 'church of God' organizations claim to be part of—or even the only—church of God. The Bible reveals specific characteristics of God's church.

The 'people of the lie' do not believe they have any major defects and, consequently, do not have any need to examine themselves, let alone change.