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

Omniscience of God

Here's a short tidbit of theology that struck me as awesome:

Omniscience of God

"Omni" generally means all. "Science" generally refers to knowledge. Therefore this term refers to God's all-knowing nature. Greek logic (which has heavily influenced our own logic) says that there's this heavenly "Logos", or knowledge. And this contains all knowledge there is to know in the universe. As humans, we only know a small fraction of this Logos.  So then, God's omniscience must refer to Him knowing the heavenly Logos.

But scripture provides a far more intense description: God doesn't just contain all knowledge, he has direct and immediate access to all knowledge at all times. He knows thoughts, knows all possible outcomes before a decision is made. He not only knows each thing in and of itself, He also knows each thing in relation to the whole. It refers to His sovereignty; He knows all things, sees all things, sustains all things, and governs all things. In order for us to learn something, it takes time to process, whereas God instantaneously knows all happenings. That's just awesome.

(Scripture references: 1 Sam. 16:7, 23:9-13; 1 Kings 8:39; 2 Kings 13:19; 1 Chron. 28:9; Ps. 33:13-15, 81:14-15, 139:1-6, 139: 13-16; Prov. 15:3; Job 24:23; Jer. 16:17; Isa. 40:13-14, 48:18; Luke 16:15; Rom. 8:27, 11:33-36; Eph. 1:11; Heb. 4:13)

Belief Does Not Precede Reality, But it Precedes Experience

Christian belief does not precede reality.  This is a phrase that my Theology teacher, "Mac," as we call him, has been drilling into us since the beginning of the semester.  What he means is that, as Christians, our faith is based on historical events; it is based on real things that have happened.  Our faith does not create our reality, as Atheists would try to explain to us.  The Atheist sees Christianity as a system of beliefs that are made up without considering reality.

What I want to establish for now is that reality precedes our belief.  In other words, there is an absolute truth and reality that our faith is founded upon.  [I'm skipping all the arguments to prove this point because there is a further, more specific point I want to make in this blog]

Since reality precedes our belief, I want to point out that this does not mean our experience reflects this reality.  What I mean by that is that there is a God, but we might not necessarily experience Him in our lifetime (especially if we don't believe He exists).  Now at this point I am adding my own idea into the equation rather than borrowing points from other, more well-versed theologians.

Belief determines experience.

In psychology, there is a term called "perceptual set".  A perceptual set is a set of expectations that a person has of life that greatly determines how he or she interprets any given circumstance.  For example, lets say a woman slaps a man in subway train.  People observing will have several different responses; one person may think, "You go girl!", while another thinks, "What a disrespectful woman.", while yet another assumes that the two are probably in a relationship and about to break up, etc...  All these people have different perceptual sets that cause them to interpret actions differently.  Two people could experience the exact same circumstance, yet interpret it in totally different ways.

Another example: every day my psychology teacher likes to give his wife a shoulder rub.  She, of course interprets it as a comfortable, relaxing event.  But if my teacher were to walk up to me on the first day of class and start giving me a shoulder rub, I would experience stress and discomfort.  What I want to establish is that though our senses are reading the world around us, each of us are internally experiencing the same external reality in different ways.

So how is this significant to theology?

There is a reality that exists--for my purposes, God exists--but if I don't believe in Him, I will not interpret my experiences as from God, or of God.

The Atheist probably sees God like Tinkerbell.  When we believe in her, she suddenly exists, but when we don't believe in her, she dies.  However, the truth is that God exists whether we believe in Him or not.  And my point is that we experience Him based on what we believe about Him.

Okay, so that is a very basic idea.  Now lets get into the specific situation I am thinking about...

The other day a friend of mine talked to me on the way to class about her day, saying, "You know how brother Yun [Chinese man from the book, "The Heavenly Man"] preached in chapel yesterday and it was awesome?"
     "Yep!"
     "Well, I've just been believing that I'm a new creation since his altar call..." and she went on about how she received a huge medical bill and she had so much peace about it, and how God has been encouraging her in various ways, and then she prayed for her mother's back and neck and it was instantly healed.  She was so excited and encouraged, as was I.

When she said, "I've been believing that I'm a new creation," I wanted to tell her that this is not a fleeting moment.  I wanted to tell her that so long as she believes she's a new creation, she will experience the supernatural...

Perhaps she will.  Perhaps she knows this is an eternal position she has in Christ.  But I thought about how in my life, when I would sin or get tired or run down, I wouldn't feel so new anymore.  I didn't feel good about myself so I assumed I wasn't on good standing with the Lord.  And, of course, I didn't feel worthy of righteousness, and I felt disqualified to rebuke the enemy.  I'd have to remedy this with spending time with God, and that usually consisted of apology after apology.  I'd only stop apologizing when I thought my actions measured up to His standard, which was a very rare occasion.  So I lived below my means most of the time, trying to make good decisions and be obedient to God but always failing... until a pastor would come along offering some kind of special anointing, or a chance to renew my commitment to God.  I thought that the preacher's "holiness" somehow rubbed off on me through his prayers and laying on of hands.  And then my faith would be built back up... until I sinned again, or felt bad about anything...  It sounds a little silly when I put it into words, but I didn't realize what I was doing.  I was ignorant of the problem: I had no understanding of the gospel.

I think this ignorance is an epidemic in this Pentecostal bubble I live in.  And I wondered if my friend lived the same way.  I assume that she does since she didn't believe she was a new creation before brother Yun came into town.

Here's the truth that always remains: at salvation [belief in Christ], you become a new creation.  Your sinful human nature dies.  This means you are no longer a sinner.  This is not a second chance at life to do it right, it's a new life: this is a dive into the sweet fullness of grace.  Your actions had no part in earning you any type of salvation, therefore they cannot separate you from God.  Even the murderer, Abel (in Genesis), talked to God and was protected by God.  You are new no matter what you do.  How is this possible?  It's possible because Christ bought your salvation with His blood.  You merely enter into this sweet blessedness by faith, however your faith itself is not what saves you.  It was Christ.  His sacrifice alone gave you full standing with God.  Since your actions had nothing to do with this promotion of your spiritual condition, they have no power to take you out of it... and thus, how much of this blessed position you experience is based on what you believe about it.

People reject this faith because they think, "If I'm no longer a sinner, why am I still sinning?"  [I know I've posted this very phrase before, but again I will say it] it's merely because it is difficult to believe that you are no longer a sinner.  It's too good to be true!  But I say, God is a GOOD God!  He is SO good, we can't even believe it!  We've never seen anything so good!  We've never felt anything so good!  There's always a catch... but not this time.  And the hardest part is accepting it.  Everyone always says "No one is perfect." and "You'll never fully 'arrive'."  Pastors say this on the pulpit!  And there's a reason we all say it--we don't want to get all prideful and boast about ourselves.  Why should I actually accept that I'm a new creation?  I didn't dissimulate and then re-materialize.  I still mess up!

But don't you see that having this mindset is like spitting on the power of the cross?  Christ's death on the cross has the power to change your nature.  It has the power to bring a salvation more meaningful than we can possibly understand.  If I say I'm no longer a sinner, it's NOT because I have accomplished righteousness on my own.  It is ONLY because Christ died on the cross.  NOT I, but HE accomplished it FOR me.  That's the ONLY way I CAN be righteous: vicariously through Christ.  So, I say, Christ's death on the cross satisfied God's wrath towards me and my sinful nature is dead in Christ.  And by the power of the cross, I am no longer a sinner.

So long as I believe that, I will live it.

I no longer focus on my actions.  I am in instant communion with Christ at any time because I believe and know my status with HIM.  I know it is not my actions that put me in good standing with Him.  It was Christ.  Therefore, based on Christ's sacrifice, I can come before God any time.  And THAT'S what makes me so confident in Him.  That's what eases my tension and brings me peace.  That's what keeps me solid and consistent.  It's knowing the truth.  I'm free from guilt and shame at all times.  And I have authority over the enemy at all times.  (All believers do; they just don't realize they do)

I am not trying to tell you that I am perfect.  I am trying to tell you that Christ is perfect and He is now united with me, living through me.  This same truth applies to you.

If my perceptual set is based on this solid gospel, my life is interpreted in a whole new way.  My expectations in life are very different.  My experience lines up with the truth.  If it doesn't, it won't change the truth.  I am not going to make adjustments based on it either. 

And so my point is this: reality precedes belief, and belief precedes experience.

Search

I used to fill my emotional void with music
It soothed my nerves, it gave me satisfaction
I was tired of being emotional all the time
So I tried relationships
First it was peers; friendships of all kinds
I was happy if I could bring people together
But I wanted something deeper
So then it was boyfriends
Who helped me open up and see beauty
But I became attached
and they all hurt me in some way
I was tired of pain
So I filled life with work
But my work was always lacking
It always needed improving
In some way, small or big, I was failing
I was tired of failing
So I sought guidance from my elders
much of my turmoil and sorrow left
when I felt loved by those with wisdom
who could help me gain a greater perspective on life
And thus I started to develop my own way of thinking
and didn't always agree on things
I couldn't rely solely on my elders anymore
I could not become a drone
So I started to try help others think for themselves
But I kept working without rest
And music started to feel bland
Dance became boring
Food lost its taste
Relationships drained me
Art lost its meaning
My passions started dying
I began to feel nothing at all...
except Christ...

Now all things are gray, and He is the only one in color
Music is noise, but his voice is a symphony
Food is bland, but His truth is sustenance
Relationships are nice, but His love is everything
and all other passions are dead except the desire to experience Him
"All my delight is in you Lord"

Ecclesiastes 1:1
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
    says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
    Everything is meaningless.”

Psalm 63:3 
"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you"

Jeremiah 31:25

"I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

 

Psalm 31:21  

"Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege"