Yes, the Pharisees are still amoung us, they preach hatred and bigotry, they have a discernment problem....never knowing where to draw the line they force their opinions upon others. They are either too strict or too liberal, never seeming to find the middle ground that will allow a soul to florish. They are the ones spoken of in Mathew 23:
Woe to you, Pharisees and you other religious leaders. Hypocrites! For you won't let others enter the Kingdom of Heaven, and you won't go in yourselves. And you pretend to be holy, with all your long, public prayers in the streets, while you are evicting widows from their homes. Hyprcrites! Yes, woe upon you hypocrites. For you go to all lengths to make one convert and then turn him into twice the son of hell you are yourselves.
Interesting, isn't it?
Jesus said, Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments. So obedience is involved in one's will (choice) and is because of LOVE not HATE. I don't force my beliefs on anyone, rather I point them to Him and His Word which says to obey Him or take the consequences. Those who do love HIM, obey Him. Those who don't, won't and generally hate everyone else and try to crucify His messengers.
Pharisees don't have a discernment problem because they don't have discernment, which is a gift of the Holy Spirit. He only gives His Holy Spirit to those who obey Him and not to those who don't.
Ac 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
>>>never knowing where to draw the line they force their opinions upon others. They are either too strict or too liberal, never seeming to find the middle ground that will allow a soul to florish.
The middle ground is that territory called "spewed out" or "sinking sand." All through the Bible God calls people to be for him or against Him, hot or cold.