“There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, yet is not washed from his filthiness.” (Proverbs 30:12)

This is a good reminder that just because a person “thinks” something is so, or “feels” that something is so, or “believes” something is so, does NOT make it so!  

Here the scripture says that there is a kind of person “who is pure in his own eyes” — in other words, he thinks he is clean from sin. But the verse makes it clear that he is “NOT washed from his filthiness.”

This is a sobering statement. The person this verse describes has “assurance” of forgiveness — he is “pure in his own eyes” — and yet he is not truly washed. The truth is, many people have been misled into thinking that they are right with God, because they have participated in certain religious acts, because they have a faulty theology, or are just very good at justifying their own actions and motives in their own minds.  They are “pure in their own eyes” but are “NOT washed from (their) filthiness.” The only way to truly be right before God is to repent of your sins, and put your trust in Jesus as your Lord & Savior.

This should be a cause for humility and self-evaluation in each of us. Have you ever really been washed from your sins?  The Apostle Paul wrote, “Test yourselves, and see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves.” (II Corinthians 13:5)  Just because you are pure in your own eyes, does not make it so!