The motive of the heart in being God-centered in one sense can be nothing but self-love and self-preservation. The heart can see how biblical it is to be God-centered and so talk that way and set out theology in that way. But the heart can have its own motives in doing things that way. The real love of that heart may be nothing more than self. In the last BLOG part of the quote from Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther was this: “In Luther, the theocentricity of primitive Christianity returns; and it is the determining factor of His whole outlook.” The assertion that I am making is that anything but that is pride. All things are from God and all things are to be to the glory of God. Anything less than the glory and beauty of God being the chief love of the heart and intent in what is done is pride and self. The following quote is from Samuel Rutherford.
“Oh, what pains, and what a death it is to nature, to turn me, myself, my lust, my ease, my credit, over unto “my Lord, my Savior, my King, and my God, my Lord’s will, my Lord’s grace!” But alas! That idol, that whorish creature myself is the master-idol we all bow to. What hurried Eve headlong upon the forbidden fruit, but that wretched thing herself? What drew that brother-murderer to kill Abel? That untamed himself. What drove the old world on to corrupt their ways? Who, but themselves, and their own pleasure? What was the cause of Solomon’s falling into idolatry and multiplying of strange wives? What but himself, whom he would rather please than God? What was the hook that took David and snared him first in adultery, but his self-lust? And then in murder, but his self-credit and self-honor? What led Peter on to deny his Lord? Was it not a piece of himself, and self-love to a whole skin? What made Judas sell his master for thirty pieces of silver, but the idolizing of avaricious self? What made Demas go off the way of the Gospel to embrace the present world? Even self-love and a love for gain for himself. Every man blames the devil for his sins; but the great devil, the house-devil of every man, the house-devil that eateth and lieth in every man’s bosom, is that idol that killeth all, himself. Oh! Blessed are they who can deny themselves, and put Christ in the room of themselves. O sweet word; ‘I live no more, but Christ liveth in me!'”
Rutherford points out the deadly and wicked enemy of each soul. It is that devil in each of us that is termed “self.” The same self that leads unbelievers to drink iniquity like water is the same self that leads unbelievers to seek honor in religion. The Pharisees were rigid in their religious beliefs and activities and yet they were all about the self. The self that Rutherford speaks of that drove Eve, Abel, Solomon, David, Peter, Judas, and Demas is the same in all souls. Those souls driven by that self will seek honor and credit in the world and/or in religion depending on where it can find it first or perhaps even most. The self is simply another way of stating that a person that is proud. It is the heart that is proud and lifted up against God that is the heart of self. One could take the whole Rutherford quote and use the word “pride” in place of “self” and it would mean the same thing. Those who seek self do so because of pride in the heart and those who are proud seek self instead of God. What is it but pride in the heart of a piece of dust from the earth that would seek self rather than the living God?
It is quite fashionable in certain circles to be Christ-centered or God-centered. But because it has become fashionable it is also a way for some to seek honor from others. That horrid self can use words that seem to be God-centered for the purpose of seeking its own honor and credit. While it is an awful thing to have a heart that is so proud that it will seek self in the world, it is far worse to seek the things of self in the things of God. Yet, this is seemingly encouraged in the modern “Church” with so many activities regarding salvation, sanctification, the Bible and other things seemingly focused on the advantage of self. If we teach people the truths of Christianity in doctrine and in morality and never teach them the hideous nature of pride and self, we are doing nothing but leading them in the way that God hates more than anything. It has been noted by many people in many ways that Jesus was harsher with the Pharisees than anything else. It is easy to point the finger at the Pharisees and see just how focused on the self that they were. But it is far harder to see that in myself because of the blinding influences of pride. The churches are full of many gods and many idols because they are full of many selfs. The churches are full of people who want to have taught what their itching ears want to hear, but that is nothing but self. How awful it is when we try to get people in church with the ways of self and then try to keep them with even more of the things of self. It is nothing but pride in us and does nothing but increase the pride in them. Luther’s God-centered outlook must become ours. If ours is not truly God from the heart in all things it will be self in all things. Pride is so despicable that it will try to appear God-centered to others and self in order to obtain honor for self.
God Loves... Himself 
August 16, 2009 at 6:34 am |
And the problem with the worship of self is that it is a self-blinding infirmity that can only be escaped in the full-hearted surrender to God that one finds in true repentance.