Promised Spirit

Self-righteousness significantly stunts our spiritual growth. It is deceptive and blinding. It keeps us from growth in Christ and growing with each other. It leads us to believe we're always in the right (or at least trying to be) and that others should (and need) to live up to our own standards (or our understanding of God's standards). We distill Christianity to a list of dos and don'ts, shoulds and shouldn'ts, while dismissing and not receiving what it means to live life by the Spirit. This form of religiosity is what Paul will describe later in the letter as "living in the flesh."