Perhaps it cannot be emphasized too much that there must be a mortification of pride in a soul or it will not be saved and it is not saved. Humility is not just a good idea and not just something that is added on so we can think we are more like Christ, but an important aspect of this is the mortification of pride. The unbelieving soul that comes before God on judgment day will have no excuse for its sin and its mouth will be shut. The unbelieving soul on judgment day will confess its guilt and it will cry out for mercy, but none will be shown to it. The devil himself hates God and knows that he is a wicked and vile being, but he is full of self and pride. Let us not imagine the soul that is full of pride even if it is religious pride has been converted by God.
The following quote is taken from The Religious Affections by Jonathan Edwards. The total quote being used can be seen in the BLOG Humility 36.
“Legal humiliation has in it no spiritual good, nothing of the nature of true virtue; whereas evangelical humiliation is that wherein the excellent beauty of a Christian grace does very much consist. Legal humiliation is useful, as a means in order to evangelical; as a common knowledge of the things of religion is a means requisite in order to spiritual knowledge. Men may be legally humbled and have no humility; as the wicked at the day of judgment will be thoroughly convinced that they have no righteousness, but are altogether sinful, exceeding guilty, and justly exposed to eternal damnation-and be fully sensible of their own helplessness-without the least mortification of the pride of their Hearts. But the essence of evangelical humiliation consists in such humility as becomes a creature in itself exceeding sinful, under a dispensation of grace; consisting in a mean esteem of himself, as in himself nothing, and altogether contemptible and odious; attended with a mortification of a disposition to exalt himself, and a free renunciation of his own glory…This is a great and most essential thing in true religion. The whole frame of the gospel, every thing appertaining in the new covenant, and all God’s dispensations towards fallen man, are calculated to bring to pass this effect. They that are destitute of this, have no true religion, whatever profession they may make, and high soever their religious affections may be.”
The soul that loves self and hates God is a soul that has exalted itself in its own mind and desires the honor and adulation of others. This self-centered soul that desires all to be done for it and does all for self is the temple of the devil in the world. So when a self-centered soul that is by definition proud sees that its sin will bring dishonor to self, it will become religious to some degree and perhaps to a great degree. When an unbelieving soul that is full of pride sees that it will go to hell and be put to shame and torment forever, it will desire to become religious thinking that it will receive glory in heaven and not shame. While there is glory in heaven, it is all God’s but the proud soul does not see it that way. The proud soul loves itself and so does not have a hard time believing that God loves it and so it loves God in the sense that it loves those who love it (Luke 6:32). A proud sinner will love God as long as s/he thinks that God loves him or her. But of course that is not true love since the heart has never been changed and God is not loved on the basis of who He is but instead for who the sinner is.
The proud soul that does all for self will become religious and do all for self as well. The proud soul will go to church because it is in the interests of its pride to do so, though indeed it uses other words. The proud soul will study the Bible for the sake of self and all of its prayers are for the sake of self as well. So the proud soul studies the Bible and prays for self and yet it uses the name of God to do so. The proud soul studies theology and becomes quite knowledgeable and so others feed its pride by their comments. The proud soul loves orthodoxy because it now fits in with the elite crowd, but it is still all about self. The proud soul can be a very busy person with church buildings and doing various ministries, but it only does so because of the interests and honor of self rather than the love of God. The proud soul can preach for self in a great orthodoxy as well, though it is proud of doing so.
It is obvious that there must be a mortification of pride or a person is not a converted soul. Until the soul is truly humbled (emptied of the pride of self) it will not have true Christianity at all. A proud soul will utter the words of a prayer but will not have Christ in the soul. A proud soul will make a decision for Christ in some sense but is not humbled to receive Christ Himself in the soul. A proud soul may be very moral but has not been humbled to have the life of Christ in the soul. Until the pride of the soul has been mortified, the soul is still full of self, pride, and the devil. That is not inconsistent with religion, but it is with Christianity and the life of Christ in the soul.
God Loves... Himself 
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