God Loves… Himself

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

In some way conversion to Christ must be the opposite in some way to the fall. Conversion would be a returning to the image of God (a fuller way) which was lost (though not absolutely and completely) in the fall. We can see this teaching in Ephesians 4: “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.” The old self, which is what man has from the fall, is always being corrupted with the lusts of deceit. There again we see that the old man lives in accordance with deception, and that deception is carried out because of his lusts. But the new self is created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

The historical teaching is that man lost the moral image of God which would include love for God in holiness and truth, but man did not lose the rational nature and ability of choice that God gave him. But since man lost the moral image of God, the natural image of God is used in the pursuit of sin. For man to glorify God, therefore, man must have or be recreated in the image of God in the sense that the moral nature of God must be regained. In the fall man became like God in a wicked way in that man now wanted to be like God and in fact to be his own god. In the new creation (new birth) man repents from the pride of being his own god to become like God in his moral nature which is to do all out of love to God and for His glory.

The old man can become very religious and yet do nothing but serve the old self. The old man, which is man wanting to be his own god, can live in stringent external morality and religious devotion and yet all of that be nothing but pride and the honor and glory of self. In all of the moral and religious actions of the unregenerate man there is nothing but pride and self. True Christianity stands opposed to the natural man at all points and all ways in terms of the natural man being a true Christian. A person must be born again to enter the kingdom which means that a person must be given repentance from the old man and granted a renewing work (new creation) of God so that he may become a new man which is to have a moral nature or a moral life which is lived out of love for God and His glory.

The passage in Matthew 18 can be looked at by a natural man as a way of working for salvation. That man will think that this conversion and becoming like a child in humility is his own works and that he can strive for that and even obtain that in his own strength. The spiritual man will look at Matthew 18 and see the glory of the work of God in salvation. The spiritual man will see the grace of God in overcoming the old nature and the grace of God in giving man a new heart and a new life. The natural man will look at a passage like Matthew 18:1-4 and Ephesians 4:22-24 and see those as teaching him how he is to work at casting off the old nature and putting on the new. The spiritual man looks at those passages and sees the glory of God’s grace in doing those works.

The fall brought man into pride and self. The work of Christ grants man a repentance from pride and self and then to the kingdom of Christ in man. There is a huge difference between the natural man and the spiritual man, though the natural man may not be able to see it because he is so focused on the external things. A very religious man who is still a natural man may appear better in the externals than some spiritual men, but on the inside the natural man is like the devil while the spiritual man is like Christ and has Christ. The natural man will do all he does by the strength of self and pride while the spiritual man will do what he does by the power of the Spirit and what he does is from Christ.

The greatest in the eyes of the world is a very proud man, but the greatest in the kingdom is a humble man. The proud man is full of self and does all for self, yet the humble man is full of Christ and does all for Christ. It is true that the spiritual man is far from perfect and sees much of pride and self in him, but the natural man has nothing but pride and self (like the devil) in him. For a man to be humbled and to enter the kingdom is salvation from the devil, sin, and pride/self. It must be a work of God for pride will never truly repent of pride, though it may in the appearance of it. Salvation must be a work of God because the natural man cannot repent of self because that would be self repenting of self and that cannot be done. Salvation is a glorious work of God in restoring His image in the souls of His people. It is not simply a choice of man, but it is a work of the living God.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

While it appears to the modern mind that man’s great problem with Christianity is intellectual, the real problem is (spiritual) which is seen in pride and who will reign over “me”. This is why the natural man has such a battle with the doctrine of the sovereignty of God. The issue is not that man has intellectual problems as such, but that he has a heart problem and his mind wants to reject the truth of the living God who reigns over all things and himself. While it is hard for the natural heart of man to bow to the sweet (though not sweet to him) sovereignty of God, it is also a battle for believers as they grow in knowledge, understanding, and love for God. However, for many men in the history of the Christian Church this (sovereignty of God) has been a necessary teaching.

The Sovereignty of God is the stumbling block on which thousands fall and perish; and if we go contending with God about His sovereignty it will be our eternal ruin. It is absolutely necessary that we should submit to God as an absolute sovereign, and the sovereign of our souls; as one who may have mercy on whom He will have mercy and harden whom He will” (Jonathan Edwards).

If one takes the time and makes the effort to meditate on the subject, one will see with great clarity that man has always been at war with God over who will choose for man. Man wants to choose what he believes rather than being told by God what is true. Man wants to choose how to behave rather than being told by God what is right. Man wants the right to choose for himself what he wants and when he wants it rather than having God decide those things. The Arminian wants to choose for himself whether he will be saved and when he will be saved rather than leaving those things up to God. When one thinks about it, this is just another way that religious man exalts himself against the Lord of the universe.

How arrogant man is to think that he can and will control his life when in fact he lives in a world that is not his and in fact he is either owned or controlled by the devil or God. There is no middle ground and as such man is not the one calling the shots and pulling the strings. Man is either a slave of the devil and sin or he is a slave of Christ and of righteousness. It is sheer arrogance for men to think that they are in control of their own destiny when they are specks of dust in the universe and God is absolutely sovereign over all in the universe.

The Gospel of grace alone and the sovereignty of grace are twin truths that few seem to think can go together in our day, but these twin truths are inseparable. There is no grace apart from sovereign grace. The reason that is true is because any grace shown to man will either be sovereign or God will be moved to show it based on something man does. But when God is moved to give or do on behalf of man by something man does, it is no longer grace alone. It is insufferable pride in man to think that he can do something to move God to do something for him. That would give man (in theory) the ability to control God to some degree. Instead of man being the captain of his own soul, man must bow to the Lord as sovereign of the universe and sovereign over the soul of man. God will have mercy on whom He will have mercy rather than man doing something so God will have mercy on him. God must conquer the soul of man by His power and grace rather than man doing something to get God to give grace to him. What a horrid pride man has to think that by an act of his will he can get God to save him. What a horrid pride it is for man to think that he is in reality sovereign over his own soul and God is not. It is truly man thinking that he is like God, which again goes right back to the curse in the Garden.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

From Genesis 3 through Revelation we see God opposing the proud but giving grace to the humble. We see that God fights the proud in many ways, sometimes even giving them many good things of the world. He will give the proud many worldly things and plenty of riches, but those things are judgments to those who are proud and their proud hearts will love money and it will ruin them to a greater degree. But in the Old Testament we see time and time again that God loves the humble. Moses was the most humble man on earth (Numbers 12). David, though indeed one that fell into sin, was a man after God’s heart and was humbled deeply over his sin. We see the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the Gospel of grace alone and grace cannot stand with pride but will either overcome it or will not dwell with it.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is for the humble and the humble alone. It is for those for whom God has shown that they are sinners who have no spiritual ability at all and so they wait for God to give them grace in order to have faith. These poor in spirit are those who know that they are in bondage to the devil and sin and that God must show them grace in order for them to be delivered from that dominion of darkness. The proud heart of man does not want to admit or face the real problem of his proud and sinful heart. Proud man cannot bear to think that he is in bondage to the devil and sin and that he cannot help himself. Proud man resists with all of his might to think that he is dead in sin and cannot make himself alive. The Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the Gospel of grace alone stands opposed to the proud heart of man and proud men hate the cross of Christ and the Gospel of grace alone.

Man wants to be his own God in terms of deciding whether to save himself or not, to be his own God in terms of when to save himself or not, and he wants to be his own God in terms of whether to save him from his pride or save him and leave him in his pride. All of the false gospels in the world today are results of proud men straying from the true Gospel because of their pride or because of the blindness brought on them by their pride. But the true Gospel of grace alone is a Gospel that will humble sinners and bring them down in their own eyes. The true Gospel is for those who have been turned and are like little children rather than the proud who are full of themselves and their own abilities. How beautiful the passage above (Matthew 18:1-3) really is. How glorious is the message that God will not leave sinners in their pride but that He will turn them and He will work in them to become like little children in His hands.

While it is true that no one is ever perfectly humble in this life and that all have room to grow in humility, the law breaks sinners and empties them of the pride of hope in self and of all that they can do to save themselves. Those who try to obtain humility while still in their sin or flesh will simply be deceived by their false humility. What is required is to truly be humble according to the standards of God and not according to what men think it is. The proud and fleshly heart of man will work hard at being humble, but it is nothing but the flesh of his proud heart and is nothing more than an appearance of humility. True humility comes in stages. The fleshly man will be broken by the law until he has no hope in the flesh. When a person has no hope in the flesh, that person will look to Christ to give him faith by grace. When a person has a new heart and has Christ Himself dwelling in that person, then that person has true humility because Christ is his or her life. But the fight is never over until heaven. While the unregenerate man has a form or religious pride, true believers are at war with their spiritual pride as well. God will keep His people humble to some degree and He will use the remaining pride of their hearts to accomplish that.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Those with eyes to see can know how horrible it is when heretics teach people a false gospel. They will teach people that if they can be good enough they can earn all or part of heaven. It matters the degree that they tell people they need to earn all or part of heaven, because earning it to any degree is heresy. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of grace alone. There is no room for works to earn anything for salvation. We can also smell a wolf through the sheep’s clothing (heretic in the professing Church) when people tell us that we should seek God in certain ways and He will bless us with great financial riches. God may give some great financial riches, but it is not because they earned them. He also curses others with great riches as He turns their hearts over to the love of money.

The point at the moment, however, is to see that the heart of our sinful nature is pride. The day that Adam and Eve ate from the fruit they became like God in a sinful way. We are to be holy as He is holy and we are to seek to be like Christ, but it takes humility and grace to do that. Being like God in this way is the height of pride and of original sin. In wanting to seek the honor and glory of self is a sinful way to be like God. In wanting to determine what is right and wrong for me is a sinful way to be like God. In wanting to do all from my own self-sufficiency is a sinful way to be like God. In wanting to live and do all in my own strength is a sinful way to be like God. It was the lie of the devil who told the first humans that God just didn’t want them to be like God. It was a wicked and treacherous thing to do to bring pride, self, and the sufficiency of self into the human world. That is the very heart of sin.

We are told in the Scriptures that “the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” We tend to forget that our thoughts are judged and the intent of the thoughts are judged. It is the inner man that is evil and wicked and not just the outward man. The outward actions come from the thoughts and desires of the heart. We are also told that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. In other words, the heart of sin is for man to do things that are not for the glory of God.

God created man to live in reliant communion with Him and out of love to do all for His glory. But because of sin man lives in reliance upon self and does all for His own glory. When vile and wretched men (regardless of how educated they are and regardless of how nice they are) teach the very opposite of the Scriptures regarding the evil of pride, that is a great deception. Men will teach the people that they should seek self when the Scriptures tell us the exact opposite of that. Men will not seek to humble the people, but instead they try to build them up. Only harm will result to a soul when people try to build the person up in pride whether they think of it as that or not. Only harm will result to the soul that tries to rely on self rather than grace.

Things have changed from the early Church and now what was thought of as evil is not said to be good. What used to be thought of as good is now thought of as evil. It is true that people see that we are to be humble, so they set out to have a self-wrought humility rather than one worked in them by the living God. They set out to have humility in their own strength and so they have a humility that they can be proud of. This is really perverse. But again, it is easy to see how men have taken the very heart of man and have changed the biblical teaching on it. Man is not longer such a proud and wicked creature (they say), but instead he has poor self-esteem and has self-hatred. Those people need counseling (they say) instead of a deep humbling before God. The Scriptures, however, tell us that we must be deeply humbled (real humility). While this is not comfortable, a proud heart must become a humble heart for it to be converted. Man must be turned from being like the devil who tries to be like God in certain ways and truly become like God in holiness. Man must be turned from being like he is born in a fallen state of sin and become a new creature in Christ. After all, Christ is the humble Savior who opposes pride whatever men may call it. We cannot be born again into His image unless we are humbled and brought down from our pride. The humble Christ will live in us and He will cast out that sinful self who is so opposed to Him.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Matthew 18:1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, 3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

In the fall all humanity fell into sin and so became like the devil in that they were full of self and self-sufficiency. Man does not want to be totally dependent on God for anything much less all things. The heart of man opposes God in that man believes in his own free-will and power to carry out what he pleases rather than bowing to the will of God and seeking to carry out (in His strength) what He pleases. Man is willing to let God help him do the things he comes to realize that he cannot do, but man has a fierce pride in his heart and is unwilling to bow in utter nothingness and submit to God doing all things for His own glory.

One of the ways we see (especially in the modern day) that the pen of the scribes has turned the Scriptures from what they really mean and made them lie is in the realm of self-sufficiency. Oh how the proud heart of man resists being brought to almost nothing much less a true nothingness in the presence of God. The Scriptures, however, tell us with great clarity that this must happen. Jesus was quite clear to the apostles who sought honor and distinction that a person must be converted (turned) and become like a small child or that person will not enter the kingdom of heaven. However, the person that humbles himself like that small child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

While one can spend much time meditating or studying on this passage, what is clear is that there must be a change in the heart of a person or that person will perish regardless of how religious s/he is. Jesus was clear in His teaching in the Gospel of John that a person must be born from above (again) or that person could not see or enter the kingdom. The contrast was between those who were born of the flesh and those who were born of the Spirit. In this passage He is teaching that a person must be humbled as a child to enter the kingdom. The contrast is between those who are proud and seek honor and glory for self and those who are humbled as a small child. The conclusion is that true greatness resides with the humble and not the proud who seek great things for self out of pride.

In the modern day it is quite common to hear people speak as if they had low self-esteem and that they hate themselves. On the other hand, it is common to hear people seeking great things for themselves in the religious realms. We also hear pastors and teachers encouraging people to seek religious things for the sake of self. We hear teaching on how we are to find self-fulfillment in Christianity. In fact, however, it is the self that must be denied rather than fulfilled. No one has low self-esteem and no one hates themselves, but instead it people hate things about themselves which is really self-love. If they really hated themselves it would make them happy that they are afflicted with the things they hate about themselves. When person A hates person B, person A is glad when person B has bad things happen. So when person A hates it and is angry when bad things happen to person A, we can easily see that person A does not hate self but instead hates the things that are happening to self.

What should be clear, then, is that so many writers, pastors, and teachers have fallen into false teaching instead of teaching that men and women should be humbled and turned from self. Rather than that they are teaching a false form of Christianity that focuses on the building up of self. Jesus taught that men must die to self daily, yet today many are teaching that we are to build up self. Jesus taught that men must be turned and be humbled as a little child to enter the kingdom, yet there are many today who teach that men should seek self and honor for self in the kingdom. What seems obvious is that pride and self are not longer seen as the problem so that self must go, but instead the problem is (they say) that self is too low and must be built up. This is to twist the Scriptures completely backwards at this point. Pride is the problem rather than a low view of self. Pride wants to deny that it is the problem as well. But Jesus and Paul were entirely too clear for that to fly with those who fight pride and self in a daily battle. It is too clear for those who know that Jesus said that if we want to follow Him we must deny self. How terrible the state of the professing Church is when it twists the truth and content of the teachings of Jesus on such an important point.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

It should be clear that if the very nature of man’s heart is pride and self and involved in that is man’s desire to be his own God, then it should also be crystal clear that all a man does is for self in some way. If all that a man does is for self (his own god) out of pride, then all the acts that men do in life are idolatry. The world is not just a location, but it is a way of viewing things, a way of thinking about things, which is to say that all people have a worldview which consists of theology and philosophy. Science is driven by philosophy and science, though not all see or admit that. This means that science can also be driven by proud men wanting to be their own gods and as such they may have a drive to deny the true God out of their own desire to hold His position. The world (as in the biblical use of the word) is driven by proud men full of self who want to be their own gods and act in accordance with that.

What we have, then, is competition or perhaps collision between the world of men who live as their own gods and those in the kingdom of God who live as He is God. The world can be full of religious people and have many churches of many denominations. The world can have popes and ministers of great learning and stringent morality, but that does not mean that they are part of the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God can have many who are common people who are nobodies in the eyes of the world but are great in the kingdom. It is very hard to be great in the kingdom of God and the world at the same time. The world hates the true God and they will oppose those who speak for Him. However, the professing churches are full of those who are full of the world and seek great things for themselves.

When those who are of the world are leaders of religion, those in the kingdom of God are viewed as ignorant people who believe in myths. When the men of the world are leaders in religion, then those who are proud and full of self are said to be the religious leaders and the non-religious in the world judge religion by the religious leaders. In other words, there is no real difference between those who are openly of the world and the religious people at that point. Pride and self is the real issue and taking religion to pride and self will not change pride and self, but instead the proud man full of self will always change/adjust/conform the heart of religion to fit or at least get along with his own proud and selfish heart.

The proud heart of man is always at war with God and always wants to retain control of all things. When a proud man becomes religious, in reality nothing has changed in the heart of that man. That proud and selfish man is simply directing his pride and self in the things of religion. The scribes and Pharisees were very proud and so they adjusted religion to fit them and pride and self increased, but did not change. While true Christianity comes into direct conflict with a man’s pride and indeed man cannot become a Christian without the pride of his heart being broken, false forms of Christianity will not have any conflict with the pride of men but will actually build it up and make it worse.

Jesus told the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him, but He did not tell those who were proud and full of self to do so. He told them that He was gentle and humble of heart. While proud men may desire a false humility in order that they may be proud of it, they will hate true humility since it requires them to be broken from self and truly humbled before God. The living God hates pride and will not accept it or anything that comes from it. The most stringent, most outwardly moral, and theologically orthodox Christianity is wickedness to Him when it comes from a proud heart. The greatest preachers, professors, theologians, or servants in name are wicked in His sight because of their pride. We must learn how much God opposes and hates pride. We must have humble hearts ourselves.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

Genesis 3:5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Pride is that despicable thing which God hates, yet man is born full of it. Pride is that which man hates in others, but he loves himself and hides his own pride from himself. Pride is that which moves man to exalt himself rather than God and so is an act of idolatry. Pride is that which man is puffed up with and blinds him to his own sins and failures. Pride is that which makes man so unhappy when he does not measure up to the standards of others. Pride is that which spoils all the natural gifts that man has from God. Pride is that which man is so full of that unless he is born from again and has the life of the humble Savior living in him it makes all of his actions (especially religious ones) idolatrous and as such obnoxious to God.

The nature of sin seems to be largely ignored in our day, thus the nature of the Gospel and the absolute necessity of the new birth is largely ignored as well. We think of sinful acts in our day rather than people having a sinful nature. This is where so many go wrong and it is at the very heart and core of Christianity which is not a place to go wrong at. The nature of sin is that our nature is sinful and that we are born with natures are proud and full of self. The proud heart wants to be God and as such wants to rule itself and decide all things for self by its reason, though it does not recognize that its reason and use of that reason are fallen. This is the very heart of sin in that man wants to be God. Man wants to determine right and wrong for himself. Man wants a religion that he can live for himself and save himself. Man wants a “god” who will help him do what man wants and obtain what man wants. This is why false religion is so popular.

False religion allows (so to speak) and promotes each person as his or her own god in some way. For what it is worth, Reformed and professing Christianity is not immune from that either. Reformation theology is intellectual and rational and so those who tend that way can be intellectually stimulated and hold to creeds that quite rational and yet a person can have great pride in that. Holding to Reformed theology can be conducive to a proud heart and make a person think that s/he has distinguished self by that theology. The theology in and of itself cannot change hearts from proud hearts to hearts where the humble Savior lives, though indeed it appears that many seem to think of themselves as saved because of their theology.

False religion will preach to man that he can have control and God will help him carry out his wishes and dreams. False religion preaches to man that he can sin as he pleases as long as he does certain things, but again that leaves man in charge rather than the one and true sovereign God. False religion preaches that man’s eternal destiny is in his own hands and that he can have it at his mere choice. False religion preaches that man can obtain earthly riches from God as long as he follows certain principles. False religion preaches that man can be moral and good and God will give that person what he wants as long as he is good and moral. What is not so readily seen, however, is that all of those ways leave man in control and that is in accord with the teaching of the scribes and the Pharisees.

Pride and self are at the heart of all false theology. One can have an orthodox creed, however, and even preach an orthodox message and pride can still be the root of it. When pride is at the root of the heart, then regardless of how orthodox a person is all of that orthodoxy is being used for the use of a proud heart. It is a person using the truth about God to exalt self and puff up self in a way where that person is acting like God to self. Men must not just be saved from bad theology, but they must be saved from their proud hearts and self-centered lives or they will not be saved at all. Unless a person is saved from pride a person is not saved from the very root and heart of sin. Every single thing that a person does from that proud heart is wickedness. That includes Christian things as well.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

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. 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.

The point of the verses above is all pretty much the same. The scribes and Pharisees were men who were focused on the external aspects of keeping the Law to the neglect of keeping the internal. That is precisely what men do who are fleshly rather than spiritual. They will tithe to a strict degree and yet neglect justice and mercy. They will clean the outer man but be blind to the robbery and self-indulgence of the inner man. They will try to do all things in order to appear beautiful (holy in appearance) to men, but their inward man is full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. This is to say that they had stringent rules for the outward man to keep the outward law but all they did was to gain the honor from men while their inward man was unchecked and they were full of lawlessness before God.

The scribes and Pharisees were called “hypocrites” by Jesus because that is precisely what they were. The “hypocrite” was an actor or one who would use a mask to portray certain things about himself on stage. The scribes and Pharisees used the outward law as a mask to hide their own hearts and inward wickedness and so they were called hypocrites by Jesus. They were indeed like tombs that were indeed full of all manner of uncleanness and yet they would whitewash those tombs on the outside to look good. Such are people in the modern day as well who try to hide their wicked hearts to themselves by being busy at church and being outwardly moral during the week. As the scribes and Pharisees were the most religious men of their day, so the most religious men in our day can do the same things they did while appearing holy in the eyes of men their hearts are at enmity toward God.

A man can stand in the pulpit Sunday after Sunday and give orthodox sermons (as such) while his heart does not love the Christ he speaks of. That man can be hiding his lawless heart with the mask of an orthodox creed. That man can be trying to hide his own heart from himself with orthodox sermons that are empty of life and love. A person can be active in the church Sunday after Sunday and week after week while his or her heart does not love Christ. A person can long for and desire offices in the church in order to hide his or her own heart from self. But it should be easy to see that in the way that the scribes and Pharisees were proud and deceived so we can be proud and deceived in our day. They had proud hearts and those proud hearts used religion and the external law and duties as ways to exalt themselves and that pride was built up and they were blind.

Each person must examine his or her own heart and beware of being like the scribes and Pharisees. It is so natural (to fallen man) for men to seek ways to exalt themselves and distinguish themselves. When the proud heart uses religion to do so, that is such a blinding method that pride uses to hide its heart from others and self. The proud heart loves to feel good about itself and it loves to appear good to others. When it uses external things and especially religious things to appear good to self and others, that is such a seductive thing for the proud heart to gain an assurance of salvation with.

The words of Jesus should strike modern people with great alarm. Modern scholars and preachers have also watered down the standards of the law of God and set out ways for men to please God in their own strength. They do that by setting out rules that appear good, but have nothing to do with the heart. They do that with a scholarly method that obfuscates the Word of God and that makes the Gospel of grace alone fuzzy. They do this by changing faith and love into outward acts rather than issues of the heart that come by grace. Modern men are full of pride too and will use the works of scholars and ministers to hide their own hearts from others and themselves. We are told with great clarity that God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, yet men will try to have a humility that they can obtain themselves and as such their proud hearts think that they have come up with a way for God to show them grace. That pretense of having grace on the basis of their unhumbled heart and unhumbled faith makes them confident and assured that they are humble and have faith. It is nothing more than a system of works hiding under the mask of orthodoxy. Oh how pride will fight to hide itself from self and so it provides ways for others to hide their own pride and hypocrisy from themselves as well.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

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. 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. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous.

In verses 25-26 Jesus spoke to the scribes and Pharisees another “woe” upon them. The reason that He did so, in the illustration that He gave first, is that they cleaned the outside of the cup and dish while they were full of robbery and self-indulgence on the inside. This is very pointed and also very powerful words to the modern professing Church. It is easy to see how ridiculous it is to clean the outside of a cup or bowl and leave the inside part of the cup or bowl dirty. The cup or bowl is far from being clean because the part where the liquid or solid food touches (the most important part) is unclean and makes the food unclean. We can think of this in the modern day as a cup or bowl full of germs if it has not been cleaned. When you put food or drink in the cup or bowl, the food or drink does not kill the germs, but instead can become a carrier of the germs.

But of course Jesus was using that point as an analogy to point to the sinful hearts of the scribes and Pharisees. All of their external religion which consisted in external rituals and rules and external acts of morality and holiness did not make their hearts clean at all. Instead, the scribes and the Pharisees were full of robbery and self-indulgence. It is the self that must be denied and it is the self that we are to die. It is the love of self that we must be given grace to turn from that we may love Christ. But the scribes and the Pharisees, the most religious people in Israel, were nothing but hypocrites according to Jesus. These are devastating words of a devastating analysis of the most religious people in Israel and these were spoken by Jesus.

But of course the words of Jesus were not spoken just for the scribes and Pharisees, but for all people of all time. The words that Jesus spoke to the scribes and the Pharisees will not benefit modern people unless they see that they also need to have hearts that are cleansed and not just remain focused on the external. The same things that the scribes and Pharisees were guilty of are practiced in the modern day, though perhaps in principle rather than an exact ritual. It is the heart that preachers need to be preaching against and trying to reach with biblical truths. Even if a man gives up his alcohol that does not mean that he is converted. Even if a person gives up external immorality that does not mean that the person is converted. Those who turn from external sin without a cleansing of the heart can become quite proud of their righteousness in leaving external sin.

We can also see the proud person in the pew or in the pulpit who would never dream that s/he is guilty of violating a commandment and yet does not see the filth of his or her heart as a serial adulterer because of lusting in the heart. The outwardly kind person can be a serial killer because of murder in the heart. The most truthful of people on the outside can be vile liars on the inside. Men and women need new hearts given to them by grace rather than just become moral on the outside. Men and women need the life of Christ as their lives rather than just more religious externalism. While it is so hard for many to see or understand, it could be that so many of the moral movements in our day are simply external acts of righteousness and religiosity rather than true Christianity. We must have God working in us and working love in us by His Spirit that we may truly love Him and others from our hearts rather than just doing outwardly good things. We must be granted repentance from our external religion and our external morality as well as the more open sins in order for Christ to reign in our hearts. He will not dwell where inward sin reigns, but instead He must cleanse His temple in order to dwell there.

Jeremiah 8:8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace.

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. 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. 29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous.

The problem with the scribes and Pharisees (as seen in verse 23) was not that they were overly scrupulous at all times and at all points, but that they would do the easier things and neglect what was even more important, though indeed the more important things were far harder to do and costlier as well. The scribes and the Pharisees longed to be seen as holy and righteous men and sought the honor of men for what they did. However, that honor they sought was obtained by tithing in an exact way their vegetables and herbs. That did not cost much at all. It is easier to give things than to give of self. It is easier to give things that matter little than it is to die to self and pride.

What can cost a lot in terms of personal convenience and finances, however, is the area that the scribes and Pharisees fell short in. They were not as convinced that they should seek justice, mercy, and faithfulness. There is no cost to pride and self to give herbs and vegetables, but in order to seek justice a person must die to self and pride in order to seek true justice. In order to seek true justice it must be more important than pride and self or one will not seek true justice at all times and in all ways. Self and the interests of self will come in and blind the soul to justice and it will turn the soul with many self-justifications to seek self rather than justice. Pride will seek to justify self and seek the interests of self rather than seek true justice. Pride will want to appear good when one person in an issue is rich and powerful and the other is poor and helpless, but love for God and true justice will require a person to seek justice regardless of who the people are.

The living God is full of mercy and is merciful to His people and to sinners. However, the scribes and the Pharisees were not as interested in mercy as they were in keeping some of the minutiae of the laws that they had come up with themselves. They were interested in self and the things of self in terms of following laws which enabled them to make excuses to get out of doing what mercy would call for (an important part of the law) and of doing anything that would cost them money. True mercy flows from true love and wants to help those in misery who cannot help themselves, but the religion of the Pharisees was to help themselves and to hate their enemies rather than to help the miserable and love their enemies. Jesus called for humbled and broken hearts and the things that would flow from them, but the Pharisees were proud and hard of heart and so did not pursue Christ and the things that would come from hearts that He required.

Jesus pronounced a woe upon the scribes and Pharisees because they would tithe in a scrupulous manner as the law required, but they would not do the greater things that the law required. Jesus required faith and faithfulness, but the Pharisees did not have faith in anyone but themselves and they were only faithful to themselves and their passion for money and honor among men. True faith in God and faithfulness to Him requires that people seek His face and to honor Him rather than to honor self. Out of seeking His honor and glory before others rather than self one will seek to be just and show mercy. But the scribes and Pharisees were focused on self and the things of self rather than God and the things of God. Religious pride leads to the deception of self and others. Humility bows low before God and looks to the strength of grace to do what He requires in order to glorify Him and does not water it down in order to be proud of self.