It is fascinating for me to read Christ's interactions with different individuals in the Gospel account. He showed a remarkable ordered pattern of 'Connecting - Showing Grace - Dispensing Truth' with most people. 

And yet, there remained a group where he skipped over the 'Connection - Grace' part and went consistently straight to the Truth part: the Pharisees.

The religious establishment of the time, the Pharisees were the ones who made the link between the people of Israel and God. But they had corrupted that calling with the filth of pride.

Jesus did not show any Grace to them. On the contrary, he responded to their haughty attitude with harsh accusations and a telling portrait of who they really were.

I have gathered all the references in the Gospels to that particular group.

I wanted to know :
- What did the Pharisees themselves consider important ?
- How did they view others ?
- How were they viewed by Christ ?

The result is the study below where I have answered the three questions with verses in the order in which they appear. And a hat tip to Zac Poonen for his inspired and inspiring work in that area.

It breaks my heart to see that things have not changed since Jesus' time. I can see the same characteristics in myself first and in many profess the name of Christ.

My desire in this study on Pharisees is not to condemn a group that is long gone and already judged by the only Judge. It is to warn me about what I need to be careful of, lest the tide of my pride and moralism sweep me away.

The only cure to the very real and current pharisaic disease is one simple thing: Humility.

Study: The biblical characteristics of Pharisees (pdf)

Update: My definition of 'legalism'

They walk among us, they greet us on Sunday mornings, they wear crosses on their necks, they have fishes on their cars.

They believe they have cornered the Truth.
The are quick to clamor the good they have done.
They have a strong opinion on people they do not know, or seek to know.
They stay away from 'bad' people.
They are quick to find what is 'wrong' with others and seek to catch them in it, adding that they would never have done the wrongs that others did.
They cowardly murmur gossip about others.
They assume the worst about others and accuse them.
They judge others for not doing something that they do, or believing something differently than they do
They are self-righteous .
They abuse God's name for their purposes and their arguments.
They skew the Word to their advantage.
They are easily offended.
They enjoy talking about their spiritual accomplishments.
They give themselves the credit for God's work and God's grace.
They 'exhort' and 'console' those in difficulty simply by telling them : 'just pray' or 'read your Bible' or 'God is in control' or 'search the sin in your life'.

They preach judgement and hate from the pulpit or in their homes.
They picket funerals and events.
They denigrate those of different faiths.

They are the embodiment of everything Christ came to destroy.
They are pride incarnate.
They are a rampant disease in the 'Christian' movement, distorting Christ's message by presenting the world a moral and legalistic gospel.
  
They often call themselves Christians.
They are Pharisees. 
And I was one of them.