The Tombs Of Civility - Matthew 23:27

 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.” - Matthew 23:27.


    If all we’re talking about is the need for some kind of safe order in secular society then civility is a basic prerequisite. But the door of civility often falsely leads many to believe that it also provides a pretty reliable gateway to eternal salvation. Behind that door lies the tiger. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” - Matthew 7:13.
    So what can we say of the merits of civility?  Civility is often just a more insidious form of hypocrisy. It is often the smile that hides the sneer. Enemies may be civil to one another but it neither erodes nor removes their enmity. It is often the most condescending form of hostility available. It is ostentatious, a show, a practiced not because it arises from a Godly heart but because it serves our self-interests. “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” - Matthew 12:34.
    How often I have heard the words, “Oh, I believe if you do what is right, God will recognize it and reward your good works in heaven.” What they are stating is that they are basically civil (good) people. But anyone even slightly acquainted with Scripture knows - “As it is written: ‘There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’” - Romans 3:10-12. Is Paul suggesting that no one ever does anything that can be deemed good or noble? Of course not, he is merely saying that the motivation is not stemming from Godliness but from self-interest. In other words, they’re merely being civil.
    The mask of civility may fool others but God is not confused or misled. He sees the sin nature born into all of us by virtue of Adam’s fall. And while many of us may wear the smile of civility upon our faces, it is merely a gaudy death mask designed to deceive others into believing that we are “basically good people” and that we are going to heaven. Civil? Perhaps. But good? Far from it! God has already declared that pretension will never merit salvation. “Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.” - Matthew 23:28   
    A serpent may have a civil tongue but his throat is still full of venom. As such, civility will never stand alone as a means to salvation. Man’s total depravity will not be undone by decorum. And while it is a preferable tool to help maintain civil order in a secular society we must never mistake it for the narrow gate which leads to salvation. There is only one - “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” - John 14:6. Let us always walk in the Way that Christ has provided for us and seek salvation in Him and through Him alone.