In the eyes of God, no one can stand justified by their own merits or good deeds. The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14 illustrates the dangers of self-righteousness, where one's perceived righteousness leads to pride and contempt for others. As Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 10:3 make clear, true righteousness comes from faith in God, not from human efforts or attempts to follow the law. The Bible also teaches that even our best deeds are like filthy rags to God, as stated in Isaiah 64:6, and that no one is righteous, as Romans 3:10 affirms, highlighting the need for humility and reliance on God's grace.
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To some who trusted in their own righteousness and viewed others with contempt, He also told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray. One was a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like the other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and pay tithes of all that I acquire.’ But the tax collector stood at a distance, unwilling even to lift up his eyes to heaven. Instead, he beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man, rather than the Pharisee, went home justified. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.
Because they were ignorant of God’s righteousness and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.
Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.