God Loves… Himself

The concept of salvation seems to have been taken over by the same thinking in America that has driven most everything else for many years. That is the concept of self. The self is the product of pride which is the fallen man’s desire to be god to himself and others. Pride exalts self over God in the thoughts, affections, and choices. It seems as if most things in America are driven by self-interest and self-exaltation. It seems that salvation has become nothing more than an extension of that. The individual reigns supreme as s/he seeks the welfare of self and so churches bow to what the individual thinks that s/he needs or wants. It is no longer that the focus of sermons has a bent toward self (which is bad enough), but it seems as if it is all pointed toward self and the Gospel has been changed from its biblical God-centeredness to a focus on man. The Gospel is no longer about changing souls to being like God but now God has been changed to be made in the image of man.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship…Salvation may suggest nothing to me but the idea of my own perfect happiness, if not in this world, at any rate in the next; or it may signify the conformity of the human will with the divine, so that I am content to play whatever part God may appoint for me in His scheme of things.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

The quote above should bring chills into our hearts and bring us to reflect on what the very core of Christianity should be, what it is in America, and then in our own souls. If there is no single aspect of religion that cannot be taken over or at least heavily diluted by egocentricity, then we must understand that this would change the fundamental character of Christianity (our perception and practice of it). The core of true Christianity is that of a majestic and self-sufficient God before whom humility is utterly necessary. Pride and selfishness, however, is the very essence of sin. When it is pride that determines what is presented as Christianity, the fundamental core of Christianity is no longer the same. When the fundamental core of something has been changed, it is no longer the same thing. What is being said, then, is that when the true and biblical core of Christianity (theocentricity) has been changed (to egocentricity), Christianity has been changed and is no longer true Christianity.

In its history the nation of Israel went from what God set it out to be in order to follow their own ways and do what they thought was good for themselves. That changed the very structure of their worship and actions to idolatry though the externals were relatively the same. When Christianity changes its fundamental core from God-centeredness (as God set it out to be) to man-centeredness, then it has changed the structure of its worship and actions to idolatry as well. We have men like Andrew Murray crying out in the late 1800’s that the Church of Jesus Christ was far, far below what it once was. You can then go to Arthur Pink and A.W. Tozer in the 1940’s and 1950’s and find them saying the same thing. The heart of Christianity was changing and it is still changing. We have moved from the worship of God to the worship of man. The Christianity of today that is found in the book stores, magazines, and the vast majority of pulpits today is not the Christianity of history nor of the Bible.

The men of the past talked about God with reverence and awe and how He changed hearts to make them His instruments of glory in which their joy and purpose could be found. The men of today speak of being good so that God will bless us and give us the worldly things that we need to make us happy. They speak of a God (god) that is focused on human beings and is running around trying to save them and bless them if only they will jump through the prescribed hoops that have been set out for them. While the same words are being used, the meaning has changed dramatically. The pride of man has pushed God off of the stage to make room for self to be the center of it all. We truly live in a day of mass idolatry because God has been cast out of the minds and hearts of people and self has been enthroned. The pride of man is now sought to be fulfilled in many ways when attending church. The Gospel itself has been changed and now God is said to seek man rather than teaching man to seek God. Man is now sovereign of his own salvation and is the captain of his own soul. God is relegated to the sidelines to simply watch what man must work out for himself. God is said to have provided all that man needs but now it is up to man. That is far, far from Christianity, the true Gospel, and the true God. The man-centered garbage that is now presented as Christianity is as far from the truth of God as Mormonism is. If we are going to be awakened we must have prophets raised up by God to speak for God rather than those who would lull us to sleep with so-called gracious words that make us feel good in our pride. How we need to be delivered from our pride.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is misunderstood by vast numbers of people within the professing Church. That sounds like an arrogant statement, but is one that can be quite easily shown to be true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is presented in a man-centered way by telling men that God loved them so much that He sent His Son to die for them so that they would not go to hell. That sounds like God is man-centered and is only concerned about saving men from hell. In other words, the Gospel is simply a way human beings may escape suffering and obtain good things from God. But a holy God cannot do anything from a motive that is not for His own glory. A holy God that sets forth the good news of Jesus Christ will set it out in a way His glory is central. It is not good news to lovers of God for Him to save sinners in a way by which His glory (their chief love) is not the primary motive. The Shorter Catechism of the Westminster tells us that the chief goal or end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. If the chief end of man is truly that, then that is God’s chief end for man as well. The Gospel restores man in a way where God’s glory is manifested in the Gospel and then in the restoration of man to manifest God’s glory forever.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship…Salvation may suggest nothing to me but the idea of my own perfect happiness, if not in this world, at any rate in the next; or it may signify the conformity of the human will with the divine, so that I am content to play whatever part God may appoint for me in His scheme of things.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

Romans 3-4 sets out the Gospel of God and of Christ. In Romans 3:21-28 it is almost as if Paul has broken out in doxology of sorts and has forgotten that the Gospel has to do with human beings. This is an exaggeration of course, but the focus is without question on God and what He has done. That is what is really good news. The text of that is given below. As you read this text ask yourself if the text is focusing on the idea of the happiness and well-being of humans in this world or even in the next or whether it is focused on the glory of God in salvation. This is truly, as Paul sets out in Romans 1:1, the Gospel of God. Jesus called it “the gospel of the kingdom” in Matthew 4:23 and 9:25. Paul called it “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (II Cor 4:4). We must not denigrate the Gospel of God and of Jesus Christ by thinking of it as having glory and loveliness simply because it is good for us. It has glorious and loveliness because it is the Gospel that is to the praise of the glory of His grace (Eph 1:5-6). This is a Gospel that displays His glory and we are to love His glory in it rather than to admire ourselves when we hear the Gospel. It is simply our hideous pride to see and heart the Gospel and still focus on self. We are so focused on self by pride that we can hear of the glory of God and still only think of self.

“21 But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”

The Gospel is all about the righteousness of God and how He justifies sinners by His grace. The Gospel is about God who set forth His Son as a wrath bearing substitute for sinners all by grace. He did this in order to demonstrate His own righteousness. As His glory shines in this text, it would seem that we are on holy ground and we had better take off the sandals of our pride and self-centeredness in order to see His glory. Dare we boast? Dare we take our minds and hearts off of His glory in the Gospel so we can focus on ourselves? Dare we think of God as focused on human beings rather than His own glory? Egocentric people think of self as the focus of God and the Gospel thus marring the manifestation of His glory. Theocentric people think of His glory as the focus and so His glory is manifested to and through them. This is a massive difference as the two views are different Gospels. The egocentric view leaves men in their self-centeredness and pride. That is nothing but hell. The theocentric view has God changing men and giving them a love for God and His glory. That is nothing but heaven.

In the last few BLOGS the issue of what determines the true core of Christianity has been set out under the basic issue of pride and prayer. It is not a person’s creed that is the final determination of the core of their true faith or not, it is whether the person is man-centered (egocentricity) or God-centered (theocentric). This is the true mark or the true standard of what is true Christianity or not. A person can have a perfect creed in terms of intellectual theology and still be ultimately governed by pride and self in the heart. But, one says, “I have a very high view of God.” That may be true, but what is the core belief of the heart in that? Does one have a high view of God in terms of Him doing for self or even being manipulated by self and for self? Is God nothing more than a philosophy to the person with the high view? Some people have a very high view of the universe and its glory, but they are still in bondage to their pride. A high view of God does not guarantee that a person has been delivered from pride because that is the work of God alone in the soul and not what a doctrinal belief can do.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship…A belief in providence may mean that I regard God as existing simply to safeguard my interests and furnish me with a secure bases for the pursuit of my own purposes; or it may mean that I am persuaded of the goodness and wisdom of the Divine purpose, even when this runs counter to my own.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

As can be seen from the quote above (which appears to be self-evident), a person can have a high view of God in terms of His providence and yet the controlling belief of that be determined by what is good for self. Interestingly enough, the Pharisees had a very high view of providence and sovereignty as well. When they saw that the man was born blind (John 9), they simply assumed that it was from the hand of God and that it was the man’s sin or his parent’s sin that was the cause of the man’s blindness. They did not think in terms of genetics, but saw things in terms of sin and of the hand of God in each and every matter. When they obtained some apparent good, they thought of it as the blessing of God. They had a high view of providence, but they thought that providence was fixed on their own wants, desires, and morality. This is to turn the very providence and sovereignty of God from that which He intends to manifest His glory to something that is focused on the whim and desire of human beings.

Pride in the heart means that the heart will determine what is right or wrong and good or bad by how it will effect and affect self. Pride exalts and puffs up the self with the things of self. Providence itself will be judged as good or bad by self. A soul that is blind to spiritual things will judge things that are uncomfortable and painful as bad things and the things that bring ease and comfort as good. However, in the Bible the Psalmist wrestled with why God allowed the wicked to prosper (Psa 73). It seems as if the godly are always in the midst of a trial or hard times. Those with even a modicum of spiritual insight and love for God see things far differently than the unbeliever. God gives those He hates many things in this world at times (sermon by Jonathan Edwards) while those He loves He brings hard things on them. Those He hates He will let them go on in their sin and never disturb them as they grow harder and harder in their sin. Those He loves He will bring hard things upon them to break them from their true enemy which is self in order to give them what is truly good which is Himself. Pride and self, then, will never interpret the providence of God properly.

Romans 1:18-32 is quite clear that the unbeliever knows some of the basic things about God and hates those things. The unbeliever gives him or herself to trying to stamp out that knowledge of God and live for self. The unbeliever is set against the truth of God and is engaged in an effort to understand things properly. That is surely a terrible act of pride, even the consistent and constant activity of pride. Those who want to blot out the knowledge of God will in their pride of self and hatred for God refuse to interpret the acts of His providence correctly. They will also not see the glory of God in truth as it shines out in nature, human beings, and especially in Christ. The proud person that is a professing believer will not see and interpret the providence of God because that is a person that is puffed up with self and is therefore opposed to the truth of God. This person may say wonderful things about what God does for him or her, but that does not mean that God is loved for Himself and who He really is. When the providence of God is interpreted by self and for self rather than the truth of God, it is a self-evident sign of an inescapable and undeniable man-centeredness which is opposed to God-centeredness.

As we saw in the previous BLOG our proud prayers have more wickedness in them than we can imagine. When was ask God to answer a prayer based on our merit, goodness, or worth, we are asking Him to do that which would make Him unholy. We also saw that true prayer must always come from love. We don’t think of things like that often, but when our prayers are not God-centered (theocentric) we are not praying to God out of true love. This is to say that our prayers are of no profit at all and in fact are wicked. When even our prayers are wicked, surely we can see that the rest of our lives are in trouble as well. It is not just that we need to reform a few of our actions to be religious, but when our religious actions are idolatrous and wicked it shows the depths of a practice that has moved from being God-centered to being man-centered (Isa 64:6). Even worse, when man is man-centered he thinks of God as being like man and as being man-centered as well. Our pride leads us down these wicked paths.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship. Prayer, for instance, may be simply the means by which I seek to obtain for myself benefits that are otherwise beyond my reach; or it may express-not least in its petitionary form-my utter dependence for all that I have and am on God alone.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

It is so hard for minds that are set on human-centeredness to understand that a life that is devoted to prayer and religious activity can actually be a life that is focused on self and lived in utter dependence on self. God has told us in Scripture that He opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6; I Peter 5:5). This means that the prayers that come from pride are also opposed by God. It is easy for us to think in our man-centered ways that it is proud of people not to pray. We may even think of the Pharisee who thanked God that he was not like other men as he listed the sins he was not guilty of (Luke 18:11). Yet in our hearts we may have pride that is much the same as the Pharisee. We may have pride lurking in our heart and rely on self to some degree when going to God in “prayer.” Oh the depths of pride in the human heart and how it spoils all religious actions. We so little think of how pride can spoil our prayers and make them things which the living God opposes.

The quote above is simply shocking when we begin to think about it. “There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship.” Every aspect of religious life bears the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity. Not just a few, or some, or even most. But every single aspect flows from one of these two central themes. These are not just outward actions, but these are the things of the heart. Either egocentricity or theocentricity constitutes the fundamental character of our religious relationship. Our very prayers, which we might be so proud of, have their fundamental character determined by whether we are in truth and in the depths of our hearts man-centered or God-centered. Man-centeredness is simply another way to say that we are still proud.

Both Reformed and Arminian theology can both be driven by pride and man-centeredness. The essence of Christianity can be missing from even the most orthodox views. The essence of Christianity is when God takes a sinner from that sinner’s pride and man-centeredness and transforms them into being God-centered in all things. It is often stated that Reformed people are proud. That can be from a misunderstanding (man-centered view) of what pride and true humility are. But it can also be a statement that reflects a lot of truth. Unless God has turned a heart from its man-centeredness and pride a person can be very orthodox and be that from no other motives and loves but pride and self. A prayer can be rigorously orthodox in its theology and words and be from a heart that is quite proud of its orthodoxy and its morality. In that case the prayer would be moved by self and actually be for self much like the proud Pharisee in Luke 18:11. A prayer that comes from a proud heart is not one that comes from a heart that is leaning entirely on Christ. It may be a prayer from a heart that leans on itself to lean on Christ which is really doing nothing but leaning on self. Oh the deceitfulness of the proud heart as it deceives the soul into thinking that it is leaning on Christ because of its orthodoxy. Oh the deceitfulness of the proud heart as it deceives the soul into thinking that as it leans on Christ in its own strength it is truly leaning on Christ. Man-centeredness and pride is/are in opposition to grace in truth regardless of the professed theology. Pride in the heart opposes and is always opposed by God even when the creed it holds is orthodox. Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies (I Cor 8:1). This is true of orthodoxy, and perhaps even especially true of orthodoxy.

Pride is that ugly self-exaltation and self-centeredness of the soul which leads the soul to self-seeking in all things. It is pride that is opposed to God in the holiness of His self-centeredness. It is pride to pray for the things of self rather than the glory of God. It was wicked and sinful for professed ministers to seek the things of self rather than the things of Christ in Paul’s day (Phil 2:21), and it is wicked and sinful for anyone to seek the things of self rather than the things of Christ in prayer or in life in any day. The soul that has not turned from its pride and is not sinking into the depths of humility will not understand the depths of the beauty and glory of God.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship. Prayer, for instance, may be simply the means by which I seek to obtain for myself benefits that are otherwise beyond my reach; or it may express-not least in its petitionary form-my utter dependence for all that I have and am on God alone.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

The above statement could paralyze a soul for quite some time if it began to see the sin of its own prayers and all of its religious activities because of the motives of self. How many self-centered prayers have we offered? How many times have we simply sat down by a list and offered words for those on the list? Apart from utter dependence of God in prayer as we seek His face and glory there is no middle ground with our pride and independence. We are either looking to God in dependence on Him or we are looking to God in some way with our dependence being on self. That is a vicious act of pride and self-reliance.

For a soul to be utterly dependent on God in prayer is for the soul to have God as its primary motive. In other words, the desires of the soul must have God as its true and main desire. This desire for God can only come from the sovereign and gracious work of God in the soul. Yet without this there is no true dependence on God in prayer. The soul must depend on God for the love which prayer depends on because God is the only source and origin of true prayer. I John 4:7-8 teaches us that we can only love if we are born of God and know Him. This knowing God is the fellowship of God with the soul and His sharing with the soul Himself. Until a soul is broken of pride it will not know what it means to pray in truth. It is possible to “pray” long and hard and yet have it be from nothing but pride. It is possible to pray using the Bible as the words of prayer and still have it be nothing but pride. Until the soul has experientially learned from God its utter dependency on Him for love in its own soul it cannot truly pray because the language of prayer is love. I Corinthians 13 says nothing we do is of spiritual value without love.

The soul must have God in the soul working love for Him in order to pray. The desires of the soul must be for God and must be a desire that is moved by love for God. The words of the prayers must be expressions of the love for God rather than words to get God to do something for self as the real desire for prayer. It is obvious that if our desires in prayer are for self, even if it is for self to fulfill the ritual or prayer, that prayer is then done for the idol of self and is nothing but an expression of pride. The Great Commandment should teach us that if we are to love God with all of our beings all of the time then prayer should be nothing more and nothing less than an act of love for God and a seeking of God Himself. If we do not seek the Lord in our intents and desires in prayer, our prayers are nothing more than religious rituals to get God to do something for self. That is horrid pride.

For the soul to truly pray in utter dependence on God it must also look to God as the only reason He should answer the prayer. That is really what it means to pray in the name of Jesus. We are to pray in utter dependence on Him to answer the prayer based on who He is and to be moved by our prayer because it is for the sake of Christ. But instead, we are given to prayers for ourselves while pleading to God with at least hidden things in the heart thinking that He should answer our prayers because we are worth it or because we have done something to merit the answer to some degree. How horrid our pride is in our prayers. We desire God to answer our prayers that are based out of love for us and then ask Him to do those things for us rather than for His own glory. A prayer that is full of such pride as this is worthy of eternal damnation. In that case we are asking God to be less than holy in order to give us what we are asking for our idol of self. For God to answer a prayer based on love for us rather than Himself would be idolatrous and unholy. Such is pride in prayer. Too often, I fear, that is the real language of our prayers. When even our prayers are hideous acts of pride and idolatry, it is no wonder that Christianity is so weak.

In the practices or “disciplines” of the Christian life there is much for pride to do if the soul is not humbled first. Pride (self-exaltation) will seek itself in whatever it does. As noted in previous BLOGS, pride can be very much at home in orthodox theology. It is also true that pride may do what appears to be longer and harder prayers than the humble soul. The Pharisees prayed long and loud, but they did so in order to be honored by men. We must not forget that our own proud hearts come from the same source (Adam) that the proud hearts of the Pharisees did. We may have the proud heart of the Pharisee and from that same pride not want to be seen as a Pharisee. It can be nothing but pride that we don’t want to be like the Pharisees.

“There is no single aspect of religion which may not bear the marks of egocentricity or theocentricity, according as the one or the other of these constitutes the fundamental character of the religious relationship. Prayer, for instance, may be simply the means by which I seek to obtain for myself benefits that are otherwise beyond my reach; or it may express-not least in its petitionary form-my utter dependence for all that I have and am on God alone.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

The quote above is simply numbing in its ramifications. There is no aspect of religion that cannot be either egocentric or theocentric. It is not the orthodoxy of a theology that in and of itself that determines whether it is according to God or not, it is also not whether it is theocentric in words or not. It is not whether a person is uttering words toward God in a posture of prayer or not that determines if it is true prayer. It is not even the words that a person says that determines if it is true prayer or not. It is the utter dependence of the heart for all things that determines if something is prayer or not. Prayer can be nothing more than a means to get things I cannot get in my own power. It may be nothing more than an attempt to use God to get things for me.

In light of the pride of each heart by nature and then one of the real distinctions between egocentricity and theocentricity being that of the utter dependence of the heart, we can see how much of modern Christianity (in name) is far from being biblical. In our day we are teaching people that they are worthy for Christ to die for them. We teach them of ways to manipulate God (though called other things) in prayer and behavior. We teach methods of prayer and methods of how to be holy rather than teaching those things as coming from the heart in truth. A heart that is utterly dependent on God in prayer is also a heart that is utterly dependent on God for prayer. A heart that is utterly dependent on God in prayer is a heart that is looking to God for an utterly dependent heart.

II Chronicles 7:14 gives us an approach to prayer as does the Lord’s Prayer. But neither can be copied as to the forms of them and then we are taught to pray. The passage in II Chronicles starts off with humility. We must be humbled in order to truly pray. In prayer we are to seek the face of the Lord in order to truly pray. We are to repent and turn from our wicked ways in order to truly pray. But these are things that have to come from the utterly dependent heart. Likewise we have the Lord’s Prayer as given in Matthew six. We are to come to the Father who is in heaven. Surely that requires humility. It also teaches us to be utterly dependent because He alone is totally sufficient for all things. We are to then go to this Father and pray for His name to be revered and glorified. Surely we don’t mean this is reverence and love apart from a heart that has been humbled from its self-exaltation (pride) and is truly seeking the exaltation of God. This is a heart that has given up on its own abilities to glorify God and is now seeking God to glorify Himself.

Why is prayer so hard today? One reason is that God has withdrawn His face and is hardening our hearts and leaving us to our own devices. Another reason is that we have become so used to seeking our selves and our own interests in prayer that we don’t know what it means to seek the presence and glory of God in our prayers. How wicked a proud “prayer” is! It is also an oxymoron. How utterly wicked it is for a proud heart to seek itself rather than the glory of God in prayer. It is utterly vile and wretched for the proud heart to look to itself in so-called prayer rather than look to God in and for all things. The depths of pride in our hearts should be open to us when we seek God for the benefits rather than for Himself. A theocentric prayer is when the heart is broken from its pride and in utter dependence on God cries out to God for Himself and His glory. But the words alone won’t do it; the heart must truly mean it. Words offered as a prayer without a dependent heart is words from a proud heart.

The promotion of self is specifically and clearly prohibited by Scripture, and yet it is promoted, lauded, and sold in Christianity as self-help and leadership. The Bible commands all to love God with all of their being and to submit entirely and completely to Him. Yet the pride of humanity is such that it will do things in the name of God and convince itself that it loves God. But when the main motive is self, doing something in the name of God is an attempt to use God to serve self. Pride can speak highly of God and do that in order to exalt self. Since pride is the exaltation of self in some way, in anything that is an attempt to promote or exalt self that is pride by definition. That is true in Christianity and in religion as in all things.

“Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice… self can lie unrebuked at the very altar…It can fight for the faith of the reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace and gain strength by its efforts. To tell the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible conference than in a tavern…Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.” (A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God)

“In egocentric religion, we may say, man is the measure of all things-even of God. For God Himself is understood in the light of man. In theocentric religion it is God who is the ‘disposer supreme,’ the final arbiter of all things. Here, man is understood in the light of God. Expressing the difference in specifically religious language, we may say; in egocentric religion, man chooses or ‘elects’ God; in theocentric religion, God chooses or ‘elects’ man.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

The Bible is quite clear in Isaiah 45:6 that God is central to all things: “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other.” At the very heart of biblical Christianity is the teaching that God is God in all things. He is to be the one loved with all of the heart, mind, soul, and strength. Love for Him is to be the chief motive in all that we do and all that we don’t do. The reason we do what we do is to be love for God and the reason we don’t do what we don’t do is to be love for God. But instead man elects God from pride in order to obtain benefits for God. Human beings read the Bible from pride and want God to do things for man. They also read the Bible in order to obtain praise and honor from others for what they know. Human beings will pray in order to appear religious and obtain things from God for self. All of these things are the epitome of pride. These are done (so to speak) at the very altar of God while self is the real love and motive of all that is done in the name of God.

Man and women love orthodoxy because of the honor, prestige, and perhaps wealth that it will bring. Men will preach long and loud in order to impress others or do things in the name of God while self stands there exalting in self. That is surely the height of pride. Self can look upon itself as orthodox with pride because it is comparing itself with those who are not. It may have the creed that tells it that it is orthodox because God enlightens the eyes and does this by grace, but pride will find ways to think of this as something to make it better and exalt self over others. Self will find ways to exalt itself because that is what pride does and yet deceive others and self because it gives God all the credit with its lips. Self will pretend to be humble in order to be exalted in the eyes of others and to think well of self too. The religion that comes from pride may be extremely devoted and orthodox, yet all is done for self. The religion that comes from pride may focus on helping others, but that is done for self.

Pride in religion prays to God to bless the plans that self has come up with. Pride in religion wants the blessing of the Spirit without the denial of self that the Spirit will work in the heart because holiness will not come apart from it. Pride will engage in all sorts of activities that it may be thought of as orthodox or as loving because that is easier than dying to self so that true love for God and man will be there. Man desires to be god to himself in reality while in words giving God all the credit, but it gives God the credit because it is supposed to and it must do so in order to obtain honor from others. In this egocentric or proud orthodoxy is a way that man rules and is in control and can fool himself and others into thinking that he is doing all for God. Apart from a broken heart, orthodoxy provides men with excuses for failure and ways to obtain glory in the name of God. The Bible says that God chooses men and makes them holy for His purposes. Pride chooses God and makes Him unholy (in intent) so that He will serve men for their purposes. Pride rises to the throne of God (in intent) and takes it from Him for the purposes of self.

As God withdraws Himself from the professing Church, the nation and the professing Church are sliding into deeper and deeper darkness. Christianity is presented as nothing more than a few rituals to be endured. Recently I heard of a man that said from the pulpit that all a person needed to do to be saved was to be breathing and to say the prayer. In that and in rituals that provide salvation for people no account of pride and self-centeredness are taken. There is no real thought of what it means to be born again by the work of the Holy Spirit. For a person to be truly saved, that person must be saved from the ravages of pride. But in the professing Church today, that is not taken into consideration at all. God resists and fights the proud, but gives grace to the humble. The soul that is proud does not, will not, and cannot receive grace.

“[Egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion] are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice…self can lie unrebuked at the very altar…It can fight for the faith of the reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace and gain strength by its efforts. To tell the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible conference than in a tavern…Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.” (A.W. Tozer in The Pursuit of God)

We have become used to thinking that if a man has been to seminary or has been ordained that he must be a Christian and is seeking the interests and cause of Christ. On the other hand, however, we see Paul warning the elders from Ephesus that wolves would come in among them and even from among their own number men would arise speaking twisted things to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:29-30). We also read of Simon who was professing faith in Christ. He saw that the apostles would lay hands on people through that people were receiving the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw this, he offered the apostles money in an effort to obtain the authority of laying on hands and people receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17-19). Evidently he saw this as a way to make money.

Today we see the same attitude though perhaps with different circumstances. People claim to be able to lay hands on people and then others will receive the Spirit, be healed, or receive blessings that will bring money. Usually there is some financial benefit in it for the person laying on hands. The depth and darkness of such pride is not seen because pride and greed both blind people to the sin involved. How dare anyone think that they have the power of the Spirit in them so that they can dispense Him at all much less as they please. Sure the words are there that they are promoting Christ and His cause, but the self is more obvious than the truth of Christ.

But let us not always be pointing the finger at obvious things. How proud and full of self the Pharisees were for their orthodoxy, morality, and their religious practices. It is here that we must pay attention to the words of Tozer because they are backed by the evidence of Scripture. Self and pride can indeed lie unrebuked at the very altar. Self is the veil that hides the face of God from us and that in and with the very forms of orthodoxy. By nature of the case pride hides our sin from us. Self-centeredness is sin in all things, yet pride blinds us with the very self that is sin. Pride is the puffing up of self, so man is blinded by the self and cannot see beyond that self. Self will use the name of Christ to do something and yet the pride of self hides the motives of self from self. Men are going on in their orthodoxy and are blinded by self even more because now self thinks it is orthodox. We give men evangelistic things to do and they do them for self and are blinded by their works of evangelism.

Self, as Tozer says above, will fight for the faith of the Reformers and even preach salvation by grace and yet do it all by the power of self. Self can be more at home at Bible conferences; he goes on to say, than in the tavern. Why is that true? It is because pride delights in self-righteousness in all people. Pride is also such in some people that they find ways to exalt themselves at Bible conferences. They can get the attention that their pride craves. Let us not assume that all is well when men are orthodox at conferences. It may be nothing more than the expression of their self and pride. Let us each look in our own hearts to examine them carefully. Do we desire the glory of God out of love for Him or because we have earthly benefits to self? Beware of self-deceit as self will try to blind you to the truth. Beware of pride as it does not want to be exposed. But exposed they must be.

Pride is not understood very well and one reason is that by virtue of what it is it hides itself from the eyes of its willing victims. In all ages it has been thought that man can have the favor of God if man will behave in moral ways or do certain actions. That is nothing but pride in the hearts of human beings whether it is in religious activity or not. In speaking of the sins of pride and self (egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion), A.W. Tozer said this: They “are strangely tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible. Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently so common as to excite little notice.” He goes on to say that “self can lie unrebuked at the very altar…It can fight for the faith of the reformers and preach eloquently the creed of salvation by grace and gain strength by its efforts. To tell the truth, it seems actually to feed upon orthodoxy and is more at home in a Bible conference than in a tavern…Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.”

All of those darts to the heart of the orthodox is saying in plain language exactly what we need to hear whether we like it or not. Tozer would also tell us that we cannot learn from Bible study alone what God must teach our hearts. This is not to denigrate Bible study, but simply our hearts must learn from experience and the Bible must interpret that experience. There is a power of pride in the heart that no seminary class will dispel. There are no classes that a church can offer that will tear pride out of the heart. There is no one with a strong enough will to take pride out of his or her own heart. Only the Spirit operating in the soul opening the eyes of the soul to that dastardly enemy of the soul which is pride can begin the work. Only the Spirit working in the soul can begin to tear at the strong fortress of pride in the soul. Instead of being driven out by orthodoxy, pride will feed on orthodoxy and use it to hide itself. It will hide itself under the curtain of truth and it will hide itself by hanging around the champions of truth. Pride loves to be talked about and loves to be loved by those who are orthodox. Pride can even love to be spoken against as long as it has others who are orthodox to encourage him or her by saying it is part of being orthodox. Orthodoxy, then, is very dangerous when in the hands and hearts of the proud.

“In egocentric religion, we may say, man is the measure of all things-even of God. For God Himself is understood in the light of man. In theocentric religion it is God who is the ‘disposer supreme,’ the final arbiter of all things. Here, man is understood in the light of God. Expressing the difference in specifically religious language, we may say; in egocentric religion, man chooses or ‘elects’ God; in theocentric religion, God chooses or ‘elects’ man.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

We can see that in orthodoxy it is the pride of man making himself the measure of all things. While man uses God, the things of God, and even the attributes of God in his theology, man is using those things for the promotion of self and comfort of self. The heart hides its own pride and self-centeredness from others and self by focusing on God. The depths of pride and self in the heart that wants to use God for the purposes of self are not measurable. Man, created for the glory and pleasure of God, and man uses God for the glory and pleasure of self. The stench that rises from hearts like that must indeed be unbearable to holy angels. Yet self-promotion is almost an art today in religious circles, though indeed it is done in the name of God with lip service paid to the Gospel.

This heart is seen in Philippians 2:21 where Paul had no one to send the Philippians to teach them the Word of God because the ones he knew about sought “their own self-interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” If Paul had no one to send these people to teach them the Word of God because the men sought their own self-interests, what would he say today about those who so interested in self-promotion? God will not give His glory to another and yet so many so-called ministers are seeking their own glory under the guise of seeking His. Proud and self-seeking men and women in the ministry can add great numbers to organizations that call themselves churches. Proud and self-seeking men and women can do many things that appear great. But they are simply doing those things so that they would appear great rather than doing them to manifest the glory of the living God. In the Old Testament the prophets were spoken against quite severely because they used God to seek themselves. It is no different today. The God that many use to seek their own glory will use them to display the glory of His justice and wrath in eternity if they do not repent and believe which is what they say with their mouths.

We live in an age where the chill of humanism has swept into the professing Church with its chill of death. In the great periods of the Church God was central in all ways and at all times. Human beings must not be the measure of God in any way or in any shape. No attribute of God can be measured by human beings. No doctrine of the Bible is to have man as its standard but instead it is to be measured by the real standard and that is the character and glory of God. There are many verses that teach us and we should not get stuck in the whirlwind of the horrible theology that can come from John 3:16 when it is read from a human perspective that makes man the standard for God.

“In egocentric religion, we may say, man is the measure of all things-even of God. For God Himself is understood in the light of man. In theocentric religion it is God who is the ‘disposer supreme,’ the final arbiter of all things. Here, man is understood in the light of God. Expressing the difference in specifically religious language, we may say; in egocentric religion, man chooses or ‘elects’ God; in theocentric religion, God chooses or ‘elects’ man.” (Let God Be God! An Interpretation of the Theology of Martin Luther)

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ (Daniel 4:35). In this text we have the confession of Nebuchadnezzar after God dealt with Him. Here was the King of the most powerful nation on earth at the time. He realized that all of the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as absolutely nothing. This sounds like Isaiah: “Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, And are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; Behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust. 16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, Nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering. 17 All the nations are as nothing before Him, They are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless” (40:15-17). “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. 24 Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble” (40:22-24).

When verses like this are read the fog and the rubbish from the man-centered views are swept away. We are given the greatness and glory of God which hits us hard and brings us back to reality. The love of God is not measured by how much He does or does not love men, but His love can only be measured by His own infinity and His love for Himself within the Trinity. It is utterly demeaning to the infinite God to imagine that His love can be measured by His love for one or many human beings. If we use John 3:16 as a passage to back us up on that, we can know we are looking at that passage incorrectly. Even if God would have sent every human being to eternal hell He would still be perfect in love for Himself and His own glory within the Trinity. How dangerous it is to read Scripture as if man is the standard of measure that God must measure up to. However, it is done so often.

Human reasoning tries to reduce God to where it can understand Him and then once He is understood He is cast off as weak and inept. This is so true in the reasoning of ancient and modern philosophers. How utterly absurd it is to look upon the world and say that there is suffering in the world and therefore God is either not omniscient or omnipotent. That is doing nothing but trying to make God fit with the judgments of human beings. How utterly wicked it is for fallen human beings to try to make God match up to themselves and their own standards of reason and morality. It is without doubt a depth of pride that cannot be measured by finite human beings when human beings who are fallen into sin will try to use themselves as the standard for the thrice holy God.

Yet within the professing Church the same thing is being done with doctrines and methodologies. We want to make things fit with human reason and with human sensibilities. We want to be liked and respected by the world. So we believe and do things which make us respected and liked. That is to be ashamed of the real God and is a desire to receive honor for self rather than God. Jesus put it this way: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? (John 5:44). That is all people are doing when they are trying to preach and do things in a way that will not offend human beings. They are seeking the honor of men rather than the honor and glory of God. God is the final arbiter and man is full of despicable pride when he tries to be the arbiter of God himself. It is a pride that is really an attempt to be God.