Pride of Man

There is a common thought that in order to keep oneself humble, one must be in constant awareness of how sinful one is; to always keep oneself in check, making sure to leave no weakness exposed to temptations, making sure to check motivations, making sure to stay close to God, and making sure to avoid sin. After all, no one is perfect. We are all sinners; "for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans)

What if I said that this version of humility is not humility at all?  How?

1. It is so self-involved, even in its attempts to be selfless, the focus is on the self (trying to be selfless rather than actually being selfless by trying to help others...).

Furthermore, this mindset presupposes that we are somehow capable of keeping ourselves in check and close to God.  It assumes that we have the ability to avoid sin by sheer will. It glorifies our own human will, making righteousness out to be a goal achieved by struggling between two inner natures, the "flesh" (the sinful part) and the "spirit" (the glorified part), and then struggling against the enemy (Satan and his minions).  This is actually a non-Biblical, gnostic worldview that has infiltrated the church [gnostic view = the flesh is evil and the spirit is good.  more on this another time].

Ever heard of the analogy about the two dogs?  I've heard this one used a lot in church; it's a story of two dogs in a fight.  Which one wins?  The one you feed.  And so the application to our lives is that if we feed our minds on garbage (profane music, immoral friendships, worldly television, etc.), our sinful nature wins.  However, if we feed ourselves on righteous things (reading the word, prayer, devotion, worship, etc.), our redeemed nature wins.

I find depths of truth in this analogy, but in the way that it is often used, people tend to focus on the doing part.  It's that attempt at humility by keeping oneself in check by feeding oneself with righteous things so that one can win the battle over the flesh.

It's clear to all of us that the "sinful nature" wins against the "will for holiness" one hundred percent of the time.  "God, give me the desire to desire you!" is a common plea.  And if we've somehow achieved a level of righteousness, after a while we become tired and burnt out.  That's when great men fall (pastors of mega-churches committing adultery, famous evangelists declaring they are homosexual, etc... however, being burnt out is not the only reason men fall).

The motivation here is keeping oneself worthy of God and heaven.  It is an effort to prove oneself worthy of the call.

       2.  Not only is this version of humility self-focused, but sin-focused.

When one has a constant inward focus, especially at the imperfect sinfulness, one falls into condemnation.  And, as I have said before, condemnation is a tactic of Satan used to depress and disqualify the saints (saints = believers).

So what does pride have to do with this?

You've probably guessed by now that I am implying the common view of humility is actually prideful.

True humility is honesty; knowing who you are.  Pride, however, is thinking you are better than you are, or better than others.  And so if one can avoid sin by sheer will, as many believe, then what was the purpose of Jesus' death on the cross?  If mankind is capable of making itself holy by fighting hard enough, and feeding itself with righteous things, then man has no need for a savior.  Man, by his own sheer will, can earn his own salvation.  That, to me, is the epitome of pride.  It is saying that I do not need Jesus.

Our own sheer will becomes an idol* before God. 

It seems backwards to say, as a believer, "I am no longer a sinner."  Doesn't that sound like the most prideful statement?  "What, so all of us here who are trying to stay humble are sinners, yet you are somehow NOT a sinner?  How prideful!  Who does he think he is?!  What an elitist!"  Well, the truth is, the believer who knows he is not a sinner also knows why: Christ made him so by dying on the cross.  He can't take one ounce of credit for it.  He knows that his sinful nature died with Christ, and he has been re-born with a sinless nature.  Yes.  Christ's sacrifice actually is that powerful.  claiming sinlessness is the most humbling claim because it means that Jesus IS his righteousness, and that he is utterly incapable of achieving it apart from Jesus.  It is the epitome of reliance on Christ.  It is true faith that Christ's death has actual power.  It's actually possible to go on without sinning, and it's effortless!  It's effortless because all it takes is knowing the truth.  That's why it's important to renew our minds--to feed on righteous things--because knowing our position with Christ is what keeps us solid.  Knowing who you are is true humility.

Aren't you sick of focusing on all your imperfections?  Well, stop!  Focus on Jesus, who did it all for you.  Aren't you tired of fighting?  Well, stop!  Jesus already fought for you!  What a joyful thought!  What a glorious truth!  What a freeing mindset!  It's like finally coming up above water and breathing air again.  Christ paid for all of your sins: past, present, and future.  You have no sinful nature.  Your "flesh" died when you became a believer.  The only reason why it seems to still exist is because people think it does.  You are NOT schizophrenic, nor do you have multiple personalities.  You are one person, united with Christ in all aspects of your life.

So:

1. Man is incapable of being righteous
2. Man is incapable of choosing God
3. God loves man and wants him to be in union with Him once again, so He makes a way by sending His son to die.
4. Jesus, being fully man and fully human paid the price for salvation, satisfying God's wrath
5. God's wrath is satisfied and He is no longer angry at man
6. God draws man to himself (He is utterly irresistible when he draws you)
7. Any who are drawn put their trust in and believe in Christ.
8. Believers have been crucified with Christ; their sinful nature dies, they become united with Christ, and are reborn with a sinless nature.
9. God's spirit literally dwells in his fullness within the believer
10. Believers not only have the mind of Christ, but access to all of His authority (heirs to Jesus' throne)
11. Believers' actions had nothing to do with their salvation (because it was attained by Christ alone) therefore, they cannot lose their salvation based on their actions.  [People argue this point heavily because there are scriptures that can be taken the opposite way, but this is Biblical doctrine.  People also think that by saying we can't lose our salvation, then we are giving license to sin.  A license to sin is merely a misunderstanding of these 11 points.]

Lastly, one who claims sinlessness apart from Christ--that person is more prideful than our humility-chasers.  That person is claiming to be God.  I want to differentiate between that person and one who is completely reliant on the grace that came from Christ's death on the cross.

So there you have it.  True humility is knowing you have a sinless nature through Jesus Christ.


*Martin Luther calls it the "Idol of the Will".  see John Crowder's explanation here