God Loves… Himself

Humility is what the natural man cannot have at all and what the spiritual man must relearn many times a day. People wake up in the morning full of self and must learn to deny self on a daily basis and then to humble self several times a day. This is not as easy as making breakfast or going for a walk. It is a spiritual battle where the soul must learn to cry out to God each day and enter a state of emptiness or of helplessness in spiritual things while looking with confidence to the grace and sovereignty of God. The soul, when it is helpless in itself in terms of understanding, knows that it must have the Lord give it understanding or it will not have it. “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7).

Humility is necessary to the preacher, to evangelists, and to those being evangelized. While the methods of evangelism today focus on getting a message across to people so that they can make a decision, it must be insisted on that this is simply not biblical. Faith is far more than an intellectual decision based on information. God opposes the proud and will not give grace to them. Salvation is by grace alone and if God does not give grace to the proud then all people must be humbled before they can be converted by grace. It is grace that converts a soul and not an intellectual choice or belief of some facts. True enough that God uses the truth to convert a soul, but it is by grace that the actual conversion is carried out. The new birth is by the will of God which is only moved to save souls by His grace. It is the Spirit who blows where He wills that breathes life into the dusty bones of dead sinners.

It is accurate to say that “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth” (James 1:18). Indeed God uses the word, but it is still the exercise of His will to bring sinners and make them new in Christ. As 1 Thessalonians 1:5 says, “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” The Gospel is not just a message with words, but it is a message that comes to sinners with power and in the Holy Spirit. Sinners are not changed simply because the sound of words that follow the pattern of the Bible are spoken into their ears, but because the Holy Spirit uses them to make sinners live. The Spirit is holy and will not work grace in proud hearts that resist grace and would use it for self and not God. It is a disgusting thought to think of God giving grace to the proud who would use it for self rather than His glory. It makes Him less than holy and makes man out to be sovereign in giving grace rather than God.

The word of God must be received into the heart and not just heard with the physical ears. As in Luke 8:13 which is part of the parable of the sower, “Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.” The word is pictured as being received by some with joy, but they have no root. This parable might be better termed as the parable of the soil. What determined the growth of the seed was the nature of the soil. The proud and hardened heart that is busy with the world and the things of self does not have a heart that the seed will gain root in. It is the heart that has been ploughed and turned by humility that receives the words of God.

As previously looked at, James 1:21, it tells us that the word must be received in humility. “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.” It is only the humble soul that receives the word of God implanted that can be saved. Humility is utterly necessary for these things. The self-centered and self-sufficient soul cannot receive the word of God which speaks of the glory of God and the utter necessity for humility to receive the gospel of grace. The soul governed by self may want the help of grace, but it will not die to self in order to receive grace alone.

Those who go out to teach others the Gospel need to know their own hearts and enough truth to tell others how to really be converted. A soul that goes out in pride and in the strength of self will have a different story and a different gospel to tell others. The heart that has not been broken from self will not tell others of the necessity to be broken from the strength and love of self in order to receive the word of God and grace. Only those who have been through some travail of soul with their own pride and self will know how to deal faithfully with other souls. The word of God is so clear on this issue. The word of God will only be received when the soul is humbled. It is only in the humbled soul that the Holy Spirit moves and works in power. It is only the humbled soul that will not resist with pride and so the word of God is received as the word of God. It is only the humble soul that truly wants to know the ways of God as the proud and self-centered soul only wants to do the ways of self and will twist the word of God to be according to self. But the humble soul wants self to be conformed to God and not to the world.

In thinking about the necessity of humility for understanding the word of God and of God Himself, the academic process has received the most attention rather than the spiritual process. Since God is Spirit, we must know that we must obtain spiritual understanding or we will know nothing but what the natural man can know without the Spirit of God giving that understanding. This has led to massive problems in the churches.

“For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light” (Col 1:9-12).

This text shows us what Paul prayed for others. He prayed that they would “be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.” We can sneer at verses like this and say that it is nothing but a new form of Gnosticism, but that would not be dealing honestly with the text. It tells us very clearly that there is a spiritual wisdom and understanding. Not only that, but Paul gives us the reasons why he prays that. In fact, he gives us several reasons for this. I will only list four.

1. So that they would walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
2. So that they would please Him in all respects
3. So that they would bear fruit in every good work
4. So that they would increase in the knowledge of God

We can read 1 Corinthians 2:13 which tells us about the words we speak: “which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words.” It clearly sets out and distinguishes between those things taught by the Spirit which are spiritual thoughts and human wisdom. The soul must have understanding as given by the Spirit in order to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. The soul must have spiritual understanding and wisdom in order to please Him at all and how much more to please Him in all respects. Can the soul bear spiritual fruit apart from the Spirit giving spiritual wisdom and understanding? Can the soul increase in the knowledge of God who is Spirit apart from a spiritual understanding? The answer seems obvious, and yet we seem to seek our knowledge at the hands of academic understanding rather than spiritual understanding. This is not to say that there is no place for academic study of the Bible, but the people of God can only obtain spiritual understanding from the Spirit of God.

Throughout Scripture we see that pride brings dishonor and the proud will be brought down. We also see that God dwells with the humble and shows them His secrets. As the disciples found out from Jesus Himself in John 6:63 and beyond, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” The Pharisees had words to speak and they had many laws about the laws of God. But it is the Spirit of God who gives life and it takes spiritual words to be words of life. A soul must be humbled and turn from a trust in his or her own reason and fleshly trust in self in order to look to Christ as the Prophet who teaches. How much the proud heart wants to look to itself, its reason, its understanding, and its own outlook as right rather than the words of God. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 2:7, “Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.” The natural mind finds it easier to look to natural things that appear spiritual or religious rather than look to the Lord for understanding. To look for the Lord for understanding is to seek humility and emptiness of self which are again not in the power of the natural self. But for those who are weary of their own efforts and their own wisdom, they will seek humility and brokenness from self and self-sufficiency at all costs. After all, they knew John 6:68 was true because God said it, but now they have been taught by the Lord just how deep the truth is. “Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.” So the humbled soul knows that this is true both because it is the word of God and because the word of God is in that soul.

When people study Scripture, they tend to think of it as an intellectual struggle and not so much as a spiritual one. Yet if we think of the many verses of Scripture on this issue, we will be forced to understand that all the information in the world can do the soul no good apart from humility. I Corinthians 8:1 tells us that knowledge puffs up, yet we are so eager to pursue knowledge and information without humility. On the other hand, James 1:21 tells us that it is only in humility can we receive the word.

James 1:21 – “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

The text is quite clear. Something must be put aside and then it is in humility that one is able to be saved through the word. What does filthiness come from? It comes from a filthy heart that is full of pride and self. What does wickedness come from? It also comes from a wicked heart that is full of pride and self. In order to put aside filthiness and wickedness, therefore, one must be turned from pride and to be humbled. There are many things tied to this, but what we must understand is that the Word of God is more than just words and it does more in the soul than just give it basic information. When God communicates His Word to a human soul, He is giving it the truth of Himself and when the Spirit makes it come alive it is the Word and the Spirit in the soul doing this. God communicates Himself to sinners through the Word and by the Spirit. He will not share Himself with the proud and He will not communicate Himself to the proud any more than He will share His glory with proud souls.,

Isaiah 66:2 – “For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.”

Here is the heart that God will show His Word. It is not that there is such a thing as true humility and then one can add contrition and then one can add some trembling here and there at His word, but this is the state of the heart before God where one has all to some degree or one has none of any. God has created the whole world from nothing other than Himself and He has created all things for His own glory. But even more than all of those things, He looks with favor and pleasure on the soul that is humble, contrite, and trembles at His word. The reason that this is true is because the humble soul is bowed before Him and has been emptied of the self-centeredness and self-sufficiency which the proud creature has. This is a soul that the enmity to God has been taken away and this soul is low before Him wanting to do nothing but receive Him. It is the humble soul that will seek and reflect the beauty and glory of God rather than seek itself. God has pleasure in the contrite soul because it has sorrow for sin because sin is against God rather than just because it will get in trouble for it. A contrite soul has sorrow for sin as against God because it loves God and desires His glory, so it mourns when it has sinned against Him. This shows that the character and true love of God is being worked into that soul. The soul that trembles at the word of God because it sees His commitment to punish sin, but it also sees the display of His glory. This is simply to say that a soul that trembles at His word trembles before God and desires for His name to be revered and to be glorified. The soul that has these things is the soul that has been converted from self to one that has the life of God in it.

The proud soul will never receive the word of God but will do as the Pharisees did. They took the word and treated it as a text book for morality. They limited it to the external sense and so made it into something they could keep. The parts they could not keep they built fences around or twisted it to conform to themselves. A proud heart will twist the word of God in order that s/he will not have to change. This means that the proud heart loves self rather than love the true God and His revelation of Himself. The proud person always judges others and never really judges self as self should be judged. The proud person may be those that are harsh on themselves and moan about how they wish they could be different, but that still does not get to their pride and self-centeredness. A person that is harsh on themselves in words and even some actions in some way looks to self-righteousness as a way of acceptance with God. A truly humble soul bows in its utter nothingness and looks to grace alone.

One reason that we live in such a dark day is because we have forgotten that we are to be humbled in order to understand God and His word. We prefer to read a commentary from an expert who may be as proud as our own hearts. We prefer to study the Bible academically rather than bow before the living God who speaks in and through it. It is much easier to read the Bible for self rather than as a way to be emptied of self. But it is a proud thing to do.

We have been exploring a statement of William Law’s in reference to the utter need of humility. A devout believer in profession at least and yet without true conversion may be in the commission of the most vile sins that can be committed. When a professing believer does all his or her religious acts in the service of self, whether in the desire for fame and riches or just doing it for the idol self, this is diabolical. It is wickedness beyond what the human mind can conceive to profess to be crucified with Christ while indeed crucifying Him again with sin (Heb 6:6; 10:29). It is to bring Christ to open shame when this is done (Heb 6:6).

“Therefore it must be added that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ-whether it contend for Scripture doctrines or for worldly glory and prosperity-has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees. The highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity is this living for self, Satan, and the world under cover of a lip-profession of denying self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by His Spirit, of being set with Him in heavenly places. Those who boast of their heavenly position in Christ, while living to self, stand in the fullest opposition to the gospel though they contend loudly in words for all orthodox doctrines.” (William Law)

Apart from humility Law says those who contend loudly for orthodox doctrine are really standing in the fullest opposition to the gospel while they are contending for the doctrine of the gospel. We can see this in Judas who was sent out by Christ with the other disciples to preach, yet later on he was the one that denied Christ in full opposition to the gospel of Christ. Though Peter repented after he denied Christ, yet he was loud in his boasting that he would follow Christ anywhere and even to death just before he denied Him. Someone said years ago that a person that has not denied self will sooner or later deny Christ. We see this throughout Scripture. As long as self is on the throne whether in profession of Christ or not, Christ will be denied in reality.

In the great display and example of humility Jesus humbled Himself to take human flesh (Phil 2:5-11), and He then humbled Himself to go to the cross. Jesus was not born with a sinful nature and so He was not full of pride to be humbled, and yet He still humbled Himself. Humility is opposite to pride, but even in a perfect man (Jesus) who was without pride He still humbled Himself. He who was worshipped in heaven day and night without ceasing humbled Himself and while on earth girded Himself with a towel and washed the feet of the disciples. He who lived in perfect and unceasing love in the Trinity humbled Himself and was hated and despised by men while on earth. He who was life itself humbled Himself and gave up His life on the cross. He who could know no pain or suffering humbled Himself and went to the cross to endure agony and suffering that no human can understand. He who was and is absolutely sovereign over all humbled Himself and put Himself in the hands of men. He who was and is perfectly holy humbled Himself and took the sins of sinners upon Himself. He who was and is Truth itself humbled Himself and was ridiculed and called crazy and a liar. He who was obeyed perfectly by the angels in heaven humbled Himself and obeyed His Father in heaven perfectly even in going to the cross.

The Lord Jesus Christ was perfect in humility and it is a mockery to think that He lives in human souls without working that humility in them. Sinful human beings don’t just deny Christ with their mouths, but they also deny Him with their lives, loves, and intents. All those born dead in sin and trespassed deny Christ every moment in some way until they are regenerated, but those who profess Christ with their lips and yet live like the devil in living for self and trying to use Christ and His Word for self are much worse. Luke 12 points to this:

47 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48 but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

Those who know more will receive more punishment because they have sinned against knowledge. Those who know more are truly more selfish in their denial of Christ in the embracing of self. Those who know more deny more of Christ while being filled with self even more. Those who know more about Christ and profess Christ bring Him to ridicule in the sight of others even more. It is a wicked thing to study the humility of Christ and see His perfect life of humility and then to live in pride. It is a wicked thing to see Christ on the cross and then crucify Him before others in a sense with a wicked life. Without humility our religion and works are nothing but diabolical.

The utter importance of humility can be seen in the following quote by William Law though humility is not directly mentioned. Without humility in the soul all the religion that self can produce is diabolical as it is the religion of self. All the use of Scripture and all that we do with it will be for self unless the soul is humbled. When all that the soul does is for self, it is being like the devil who is the most selfish creature in the universe. When the soul uses Scripture for self, it is being like the devil because that is how he uses Scripture as well. Perhaps it could be said that without humility the proud heart is like the devil and has the venom of the devil coursing through its veins. True humility, however, is when the soul has been emptied of self and now Christ lives in the soul and exercises the divine life in the heart of those who are humble. But the diabolical nature of external “Christianity” that those in the bondage of self have is something that perhaps cannot be stressed enough.

“Therefore it must be added that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ-whether it contend for Scripture doctrines or for worldly glory and prosperity-has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees. The highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity is this living for self, Satan, and the world under cover of a lip-profession of denying self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by His Spirit, of being set with Him in heavenly places. Those who boast of their heavenly position in Christ, while living to self, stand in the fullest opposition to the gospel though they contend loudly in words for all orthodox doctrines.” (William Law)

Law speaks of the highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity as being in living for self, Satan, and the world while under the cover of a lip-profession of denying self. Can this really be the highest working of iniquity? Is this worse than murder? Is this worse than adultery? Is this worse than lying and stealing? The story of Simon in Acts 8 shows something of this:

“20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Simon believed and was baptized. He was in with Peter and perhaps even thought he was a true believer, but his heart had not been changed. He wanted to impress people and make money by having the power to give people the Holy Spirit and thought that this could be obtained by giving Peter money. Peter said that it was wickedness and that Simon was in “the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” When a person professes Christ and desires to use Christ for the benefit of self, it is a very wicked act. Peter said that Simon should pray to the Lord that “if possible the intention of your heart may be forgiven you.” This may be a reflection that Simon might have went so far in this sin that he had crossed the line. But do “evangelicals” today do things that are really all that different? Don’t they ask for gifts and money in order to pray for people so that the Spirit will heal them? Don’t they in reality try to sell Christ or the Spirit? Don’t we see that many ministers are in it for themselves rather than God as Phil 2:21 points out? Do we see the utter wickedness of using the name of Christ to serve self?

Jesus has set out with a great deal of clarity several times that anyone must deny self in order to follow Him. He has told us that the soil of the heart can believe and yet the seed by choked by worries and the world. But the soul that has not been humbled (emptied of self) will use religion and Christ Himself to serve the interests of self. This points to the utter need of a humbling of the soul in order to be converted in the first place, but also of a true believer that must seek true humility. Apart from humility a person is full of self and wants to serve self, and that goes so far as using or manipulating Christ (at least in the thoughts and intents) to serve self. We can study the Bible simply to serve the lusts of self. While we may not often think of it that way, it is surely diabolical.

In Scripture sexual immorality is a way of joining Christ to a prostitute. The professing believer who uses Christ for self also joins Christ to idols. We are blinded to the ways of sin because pride always wants to view sin in light of self. We are blinded to the true ways of God because we want to see God and His glory in light of self. The unhumbled self is to that person the true god and true idol. The unhumbled self wants the whole word and even God to bow at its feet and serve it. Humility is utterly necessary for all our religion not to be idolatry.

In the last BLOG (Humility 27) there was a beginning effort to show that William Law was correct in thinking that the religion of self, when carried on under the name of Christ, actually has more of a diabolical nature than the Jewish Pharisees. Matthew 23:23-33 was quoted to show how much Jesus disliked and even detested the religion and activities of the Pharisees. Revelation 2:9 and 3:9 were quoted to show that the words “synagogue of the Jews” is a phrase used by the resurrected Christ in telling John what to say to the churches. It can be argued that this strong phrase was being spoken of about those who called themselves Jews or it could be argued that this was actually about believers since Romans 3:28-29 says that the true Jews are those who are so inwardly. But either way, we see what a religion of self does. Even when it is being carried on under the guise of truth it is actually the work of Satan. All those who take the name of Christian on their lips and yet are without the truth of Christ in the soul are proud souls who have not been humbled. God does not dwell with the proud, but only with the humble.

“Therefore it must be added that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ-whether it contend for Scripture doctrines or for worldly glory and prosperity-has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees. The highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity is this living for self, Satan, and the world under cover of a lip-profession of denying self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by His Spirit, of being set with Him in heavenly places. Those who boast of their heavenly position in Christ, while living to self, stand in the fullest opposition to the gospel though they contend loudly in words for all orthodox doctrines.” (William Law)

Paul fought against the influence of works for salvation throughout the main portion of the New Testament letters. A form of Christianity that has substituted works in the place of true Christianity is without question the work of the devil. It is nothing but pride and the blindness of pride brought into religion that gives us such teaching and practices. It might sound arrogant to say, but those who preach such things are nothing less than the mouthpieces of the devil. But even worse, when those who are given to self hold to orthodoxy and yet essentially preach a religion of self, they are also mouthpieces and agents of the devil. Those who are closer to the truth and use it for selfish ends are, without real question, worse than those who do not pretend to be orthodox and yet serve self. The closer one is to the truth of Christianity and the more one takes that name to him or herself and yet serves self makes that person more diabolical. The more truth that one has and still uses for self is demonstrative evidence that the person has a very hardened heart. The truth that does not soften the heart will harden it.

The unforgivable sin has been debated, but at least some think it is coming to the point of recognizing that Jesus is the Messiah and still resisting that truth and not bowing to Him as Lord. Some think that this is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 6 is at least evidence that this as true:

“4 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, 6 and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. 7 For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.”

Those that the Spirit have enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift are those that have tasted the good work of God. In doing this they crucify the Son of God again (in some way) and put Him to open shame. So we can at least see that those who attend church, have the workings of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God is preached, are those that can be described at the ground that drinks in the rain and yields thorns and thistles. These are proud hearts that hear the Word of God and yet go on in their stubborn unbelief while deceiving themselves and others by professing faith in Christ. These are those that are religious and do plenty of good things but their hearts are hard against the truth of God and against grace alone. These are those that attempt to use the things of religion for self and selfish gain. They are no better than their daddy who is the devil who quoted Scripture and tried to use it for his selfish purposes in the temptation of Eve and then of Christ Himself. It is utterly diabolical to use the name of Christ and His Word for the purposes of self because that is exactly how the devil uses it also. Oh how our hearts need to be humbled and broken to properly use His Word.

It is chilling to consider the results of pride in the world. Not one murder has ever been done because a person was humble, but only because people are proud and focused on self. Jesus Himself was murdered because of the pride of the Pharisees. They did not want to lose their positions and their power. They did not want to lose their seats of honor before the people. Since they loved money, it is also clear that they loved their positions for the sake of money as well. While they were very religious, they used their religion for selfish and self-centered gain. They loved the praise of men and the honor that they gained for their supposed holiness. They were given over to the love of self in their self-centeredness. The loved the glory of men and the prosperity of the world, yet they were very religious men. Despite taking the name of God on their lips, they were truly men who loved themselves and their religion was ultimately determined by self.

“Therefore it must be added that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ-whether it contend for Scripture doctrines or for worldly glory and prosperity-has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees. The highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity is this living for self, Satan, and the world under cover of a lip-profession of denying self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by His Spirit, of being set with Him in heavenly places. Those who boast of their heavenly position in Christ, while living to self, stand in the fullest opposition to the gospel though they contend loudly in words for all orthodox doctrines.” (William Law)

Can it be true that the religion of self (unhumbled self seeking self in religion) carried on under the banner of Christ has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees? This is a very disturbing statement because Jesus was harder on the Pharisees than He was anyone else. Jesus was kind to the prostitutes and the tax collectors. He was merciful to those who recognized their sinfulness. But to the religious proud, He gave them no space and spoke what we would term “harshly” in our day. He gave them no slack at all.

Matthew 23:23 – “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. 24 “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel! 25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. 26 “You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. 27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 “So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, 30 and say, ‘If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 “So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 “Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers. 33 “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?”

How, then, could William Law even think that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ has more of a diabolical nature in it than that of the Pharisees? I think Law was correct in what he said, but the answer is not easy to hear. Revelation 2:9 can be used by either side in this, but it does point us to an answer: “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 3:9 says essentially the same thing: ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie– I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.

Romans 3 says this: “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God” (vv. 28-29). A true believer has a new heart and is the temple of the living God. Those who claim to know Christ and instead live for self by the strength of self are really the temple of Satan. This is to attribute self to Christ when in fact it comes from the devil. It is the display of pride.

The heart is the battleground in each person for the rights to control a person. No human being has any ultimate free-will, but instead is always under the lordship of either Christ or the devil. The soul that lives for self is doing what Satan did and does and that is live for self. The soul that has been humbled and emptied of self is given over to the life of God in that soul. But we must never be deceived about the fact that no human is free in the ultimate sense of the word. Even those who are very religious can be the agents of the devil in the world as they walk around in their un-humbled hearts glorying in their religion and perhaps of their pseudo humility.

“Therefore it must be added that a religion of self, carried on under the banner of Christ-whether it contend for Scripture doctrines or for worldly glory and prosperity-has more of a diabolical nature than that of the Jewish Pharisees. The highest and last working of the mystery of iniquity is this living for self, Satan, and the world under cover of a lip-profession of denying self, of being crucified with Christ, of being led by His Spirit, of being set with Him in heavenly places. Those who boast of their heavenly position in Christ, while living to self, stand in the fullest opposition to the gospel though they contend loudly in words for all orthodox doctrines.” (William Law)

There is a religion of self that can be carried on under the banner of Christ. It is when a soul that has not truly been humbled (emptied of self) takes up religion for the benefit of self. It is possible to profess Christ for the sake of self. It is possible to be in the ministry for self-centered purposes and goals (Phil 2:21). “Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; 16 the latter do it out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment” (Philippians 1:15-17).

It is possible for souls to be deceived into thinking that they are truly committed to Christ and all that they do is for self though they may even think they are doing it for the sake of Christ. Humility is not just something that mature Christians are to seek, but without it there is no Christ in the person. We are deluged with self-seeking in the professing Church and virtually all of it is said to be for Christ. It is a terrible thing for a heart to be so deluded that it thinks that its seeking of self is really a seeking of Christ. The great doctrines of the faith can be contended for and yet the souls contending for them can be doing nothing more than desiring and seeking honor for self. It is certainly possible for hearts that desire worldly types of glory to do it within the professing church. There are many musicians and preachers who seem to have attained something of a star status. It seems as if people are drawn to those people by their personalities and star status rather than drawn to the meek and humble Savior.

It is so sad to see so many Simons in our day like those found in Acts 8:

“Even Simon himself believed…and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. 14… they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit…18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, ‘Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ 20 But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.'”

Simon believed the basic teachings of the Gospel, but he had not been humbled. He was amazed at the miracles taking place, but he had not been humbled and broken. His self-centeredness and desire for worldly riches and the honor of men were intact. Peter’s description of him was accurate. It is not as though he lost his salvation, but he had never been truly humbled and broken and so he had never been truly converted. Indeed he saw the miracles and believed something, but the self was still ruling rather than Christ and so he saw it as a way to make money. A humbled soul does not live a religion of self but has been delivered from that. Those who only seek Christ for money may obtain their deepest desire for money. The Pharisees prayed in order to be seen by men and they received their deepest desire. So the non-humbled soul will seek self for the things of self while using the name of Christ. The need for true humility is glaringly obvious. Only the soul that is emptied of self can truly seek Christ.

If the distinguishing mark of being a disciple of Christ is humility, and those things like love which flow from and through humility, then we need to be sure that we know what humility really is. What would happen to the automobile industry if someone began to replace gas with water and still use the word “gas” for what went in the tank? Cars would not run and many would probably be destroyed over a period of time. The point is that the very fuel that a car runs on would still be called “gas” but the nature of it would be changed into something that is destructive to the car. The same thing has happened to Christianity. Many things in the professing Church have changed in concept because of the biblical idea of humility has been changed to one of the world and then lost. There is no prayer without true humility, so the professing Church is weak because it is without true prayer. Sure it still does something it thinks of as prayer, but it is not true prayer because true humility is needed. True understanding of God and of His Word cannot take place apart from humility. All efforts to understand the Bible apart from humility do nothing but build pride in the soul (I Cor 8:1). Knowledge, that is, non-spiritual knowledge pumps the soul up with pride. Preaching is nothing but an act of self-glorification unless the preacher is truly humble. A non-humble preacher is one full of self and pride and even though he may preach orthodox sermons, he is preaching out of love for self. The professing Church has been devastated by the departure of true humility.

“When I look back upon my own religious experience, or round upon the Church of Christ in the world, I stand amazed at the thought of how little humility is sought after as the distinguishing feature of the discipleship of Jesus. In preaching and living, in the daily intercourse of the home and social life, in the more special fellowship with Christians, in the direction and performance of work for Christ,-alas! how much proof there is that humility is not esteemed the cardinal virtue, the only root from which the graces can grow, the one indispensable condition of true fellowship with Jesus.” (Andrew Murray)

If humility is truly an indispensable condition for true fellowship with Jesus, then the professing Church cannot fellowship with Christ apart from humility. Surely this is part of the definition of eternal life and of what it means to be saved. In Matthew 18:3 Jesus says that a person must be converted and become like a little child to enter the kingdom. In the very next verse Jesus says that the greatest in the kingdom is the one that humbles self to be like a little child. But eternal life is to know God and His Son (John 17:3). I John 1:2-3 also has the idea of eternal life and fellowship with God as part of eternal life: “and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us-3 what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.” Jesus Christ Himself is eternal life and fellowship with Him is the way to have fellowship with the Father. Humility is utterly necessary to be in the kingdom and so is an absolute necessity to fellowship with God since He opposes the proud and will only give grace to the humble.

What has been mentioned in this short article should be enough to set alarms off. Humility is necessary for eternal life and fellowship with God. Humility is necessary for a true understanding of the things of God. Humility is necessary for prayer. Humility is necessary for true preaching. The list could go on, but this should make the issue stand out. Salvation is far more than a simple prayer or walking an aisle. Salvation is far more than getting people to agree to a list of orthodox beliefs. But instead, something must happen to the soul in order to do those things. The soul must be emptied of self and broken of its pride. II Chr 7:14 tells us that we are to humble ourselves and pray. Humility goes before prayer. Isa 57:15 tells us that God only dwells with the contrite and lowly of spirit. Yet we want to retain our pride and our self-esteem and be Christians at the same time. It simply will not work in reality though it appears to have many who adhere to that belief. It is so easy to go through the motions of Christianity and not be disturbed in the pride of it all. It is so hard to die to self and the claims of self in pride.

Biblical Christianity is at a very, very low point in the United States and many other places as well. While replacing the biblical concept of humility with the one of the world is not the only reason, it is certainly linked. Joined with that is the idea of the true God being gradually watered down. But of course this is nothing but the work of the proud heart in suppressing the knowledge of the true God. Whatever the case, until the professing Church reaches a point of utter brokenness and sees how impoverished it really is, not much will change. Until we grow tired of self and pride nothing will change. We may change a few things here and there, but until we are deeply humbled and broken we will not want real change. Instead, we will just want things to be a little better.

Humility has virtually been lost in the modern professing Church. It is not that the word is not used and that there is no concept of something that the word refers to, but the biblical concept has virtually been lost. One reason for this, if I see it correctly, is that the world’s idea of humility has taken over. The world has inundated the professing Church with its ideas of humility and love. Imagine, then, the results of this if what I am saying is correct. Murray thought that humility was hardly sought after in his day. Imagine his amazement if he thought that the world has replaced the biblical thinking about humility with its own. If he was right that humility was “the only root from which the graces can grow, the one indispensable condition of true fellowship with Jesus” and that true humility has been replaced with the idea of the world. The professing Church would primarily be nothing more than a professing Church and true Christianity would be little known and even less lived.

“When I look back upon my own religious experience, or round upon the Church of Christ in the world, I stand amazed at the thought of how little humility is sought after as the distinguishing feature of the discipleship of Jesus. In preaching and living, in the daily intercourse of the home and social life, in the more special fellowship with Christians, in the direction and performance of work for Christ,-alas! how much proof there is that humility is not esteemed the cardinal virtue, the only root from which the graces can grow, the one indispensable condition of true fellowship with Jesus.” (Andrew Murray)

It is a shocking thought to think how the world has invaded the Church and has taken it over by changing the concepts while using the same words. The Church was saturated with the self-esteem and self-love teaching of the world for years and so it no longer has any real idea of what true love is. But once the idea of true love was assaulted, the necessity of a true humility was under assault as well. Biblical humility and biblical love cannot be separated. Until souls are emptied of self and pride (humility), they will never love God and others as they will always be consumed with itself. As long as humility is thought of in terms of being unable to know the truth or a simple feeling that one has, humility will remain as an outworking of pride. Humility is for the creature to take its proper place before its Creator and to be emptied of self. Humility is for the creature to distrust self, but it is to trust in the Creator. Humility is to be emptied of self and pride so that the Creator will exercise His rights in and on the creature. This is the biblical teaching of humility as we can see from Philippians 2 and many other places.

The world has brought in a form of self-centeredness into the professing Church and as such has cast out true humility and true love. It is not that humility is simply one of the virtues and we limp along a little slower without it, but it is the very root of all the graces. There is no grace apart from humility and grace is what believers live and work in the strength of (Col 1:29; II Cor 12:9). It has been utterly devastating to biblical Christianity to have its very root of all graces be changed in conception. The biblical idea is that the soul is to be emptied of self and broken of pride so that God may dwell in the soul and manifest Himself through it. But the idea of humility was changed in order to preserve the self and even to puff up the self in the pursuit of self-esteem. The pursuit of self-esteem and the pursuit of the emptying of self which true humility requires are opposite of each other and one can only pursue one at a time. In fact, not only can a person pursue only one at a time but when one is pursued the other is left that much further behind. The two ideas are polar opposites.

Christianity is now seen by the world as weak people seeking to prop themselves up with mythical teaching. In many ways this is true. It has become little more than another way for people to seek themselves. The mythical teaching is true not because people are following the truth of Scripture and of God, but because people are following the ways of the world because the world has brought its teachings into the professing Church. The Bible does not teach that human beings must love themselves before they can love God and others, it teaches that human beings must be humbled and broken so that humans would have God dwelling in them and so the love of God dwelling in them. It is only when the love of God is in a person that a person can love anyone at all. Humility is utterly necessary for people to have love dwell in them. Humility is utterly necessary for a person to receive grace and grace alone. For the true believer, therefore, who lives by grace, humility is utterly necessary to live and to have Christ as his or her life. It is not that the world has just watered down Christianity by bringing a few false teachings in, but in the subtlety of the devil it has taken away that which is utterly necessary to be a Christian and for one to live by grace alone. God hates and fights the proud, even if they claim to be Christians. How utterly deadly it has been to have true humility replaced. Our nation is demonstrative evidence of a Church gone wrong.