God Loves… Himself

It is not the least innocent kind of ambition, to seek after praise in the way of religious usefulness. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

So many people have their own hearts hidden to them or perhaps are blinded to their own hearts because they follow the ways of religion. But as Thomas Adam points out, they are doing nothing but seeking after praise for themselves in their religion. This is nothing more and nothing less than idolatry and is using God as a means to serve self and obtain glory for self rather than to truly seek God.

II Tim 4:9 Make every effort to come to me soon;10 for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

In the passage above we see that even those who followed Paul and suffered some with Paul could fall away because they loved this present world. A person can seek the honor from religious men and can even seek the honor from God but do those things in a horribly wicked and sinful way. There are ways to seek honor from God in a self-centered, self-focused, and self-seeking way. It is a way of using God to gain honor for self and hoping that other men will see it, though one may deceive self enough to think that it is seeking God for God.

In the New and in the Old Testaments we see men zealous for God and desiring the things of God, but in the end it comes down to the bare fact that they were men seeking themselves and their own glory or distinction. Isaiah 66:18 tells us about God speaking about the future: “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.” On the other hand, Jehu sought his own glory when “He said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD” (II Kings 10:16). This shows us that when man seeks his own glory, even in religious things, man is at enmity with God and is seeking that which God opposes as He seeks His own glory.

Judas was a zealot and certainly appeared to have the truth of religious things in his heart at times. In John 12 Mary poured some expensive nard over the feet of Jesus. Judas, however, wondered out loud “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” (John 12:5). Surely we can see a religious man’s heart here since he desired to help the poor. Surely this man was concerned about the waste and cost of such an expensive perfume. But no, the text goes on to tell us the real concern Judas had: “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it” (verse 6). Judas loved and coveted money and hid that with an outward concern for the poor. Later on, however, when he received 30 pieces of silver for being a traitor this came out and was clear.

Phil 2:20 For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.
21 For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.

Paul wanted to send a minister to the Philippians but couldn’t find one. The problem he stated, however, was not that they lacked academic degrees or knowledge. He said that he had no one would have a genuine concern for their welfare, and we can safely assume that he was speaking of their spiritual welfare. The problem, though, was that these men sought after their own self-interests rather than the interests of Christ. Literally translated, they sought after the things of self rather than the things of Christ. Oh how our deceptive hearts will guide us into thinking we are serving Christ when we are doing nothing but serving the things of self. Oh the rotten heart that will use Christ and His people to further the cause of self, whether for money or honor.

Every person needs to search his or her own heart rather than smiling at the men in the Bible. Because of our proud hearts we are very liable to do all for self while that same pride hides our real desires from us. We will twist and turn to hide our eyes from our own hearts while we serve and desire self and the glory and honor of self in our hearts and yet convince ourselves that we are doing the work of Christ. We must die to self in order to serve Christ rather than serve self in the flesh and pride doing the external things of religion. The horror of hearts that do not know that they are being deceived and so do the external religious things while on the way to hell.

It is not the least innocent kind of ambition, to seek after praise in the way of religious usefulness. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The heart being so deceptive is understood so little, and perhaps not at all by the unregenerate person. To complicate matters, however, there appear to be many in our day who are unregenerate and yet think they are converted. So they interpret any form of zeal in the things of religion as evidence that they are converted. This is clear from many passages in Scripture. The Pharisees thought they were converted men since they were holy and they tithed, prayed, gave alms, and even fasted. They thought of themselves as holy and good men because they memorized large portions of Scripture.

Acts 8:9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed. 14 Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, 15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. 18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” 20 But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 “You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. 22 “Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that, if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. 23 “For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.”

Simon, who practiced magic, received a lot of attention from the people in his area. The people heard that Gospel preached and believed it rather than Simon and so they were baptized. Simon, who apparently loved the attention of the people as well as the power to do things beyond normal human power, was also baptized and followed Phillip around amazed at this signs and miracles that were taking place. Simon was amazed at what was going on and he was taken with Christianity as such, but as is evident from what follows he was not converted. His heart that loves power, authority, money, and the attention of others had not been changed. But now, instead of being involved in the magic arts, he was enthralled with religion.

When the apostles came from Jerusalem and started laying hands on people so that they would receive the Holy Spirit, Simon saw that and his real heart came to the surface. He saw that the Spirit (though perhaps he didn’t notice the part about them praying) was given though the laying on of hands by the apostles and he wanted the power, authority, and attention that they had. So he did what an unregenerate man would do and offered them money to give him the authority to give the Spirit on those whom he would lay hands on.

The answer of Peter to Simon shows that he was an unconverted man. What was Simon taken up with? He was taken with the external things of religion and not the real power of it. He wanted to be able to lay hands on people so that they could receive the Spirit, yet he wanted that power more than he wanted the Spirit himself. He wanted all the external things like miracles and signs, but he did not want Christ to save him from his sinful heart. Simon wanted the praise of men rather than the grace and praise of God. His heart deceived him into thinking he was converted by the external things of religion and he thought he was a changed man. He even left his magic arts. But apart from grace we cannot leave our sinful hearts behind, but instead we must have new hearts. Do not be deceived.

It is not the least innocent kind of ambition, to seek after praise in the way of religious usefulness. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The heart is very wicked and very deceitful and it is most likely that no human being understands a tenth of what that means. The wicked and selfish heart of human beings have ambition in them, though the idea of ambition is now thought of as good and at times other words are used. Ambition, when thought of as to what it really is when the deceit is taken away, shows the wickedness and deception of the heart. Ambition is to have a goal, but not all goals are bad. Ambition is to have an aim, but again what a person aims for does not have to be bad. Ambition is to have an objective, but not all objectives are bad. Ambition is to aspire for a goal, but not all aspirations are bad. Ambition is to dream, hope, and desire for something, but clearly not all dreams, hopes, and desires are bad. Ambition is to have a purpose, but not all purposes are bad.

When a person’s ambition is to seek after praise and the applause of others, that is wickedness and sin as it shows that a person desires for others to praise me (self) rather than to love God. When a person’s ambition is to seek praise in religious things or religious usefulness, this is a horrible type of idolatry. It is an attempt to take the things of God and use them to gain praise and honor for self. The Pharisees were masters at this and this is clearly seen in Matthew 6 as the Pharisees used religious things to get praise for self.

Matthew 6:1 “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven. 2 “So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. 5 “When you pray, you are not to be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 16 “Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.

The text sets out that the Pharisees practiced their righteousness before men in order to be noticed by them, honored by them, and to be seen by them. This tells us that their religious acts and practices were done for the praise and honor of self. While the Pharisees are rightly ridiculed for praying, giving to the poor, and fasting for the sake of obtaining praise to themselves, we must not think that this is something limited to the Pharisees. This is something that people do in our day and they do it on a regular if not a daily basis. We try to use religion to help us gain the attention of the opposite sex and perhaps find a spouse. “Ministers” use religion to try to gain converts in order to build church buildings and the size of the congregation, but deep down what they really want is praise and honor for self.

The heart is so deceitful that it is able to disguise the love and ambitions of self in the disguise of religion. As long as something external is being done in the name of God we are able to make ourselves think that it is being done for God and that we do it out of love for God. So much is being done today in the name of God that is actually being done in the love for the praise and honor of self. True Christianity has been exchanged for a way for man to be praised and honored rather than the grace of God, though indeed a lot of lip-service is being offered to God. But then again, we can praise God with our lips and even with our acts while our hearts just want something from God or perhaps think we are earning something from God by doing what we do. The power of God is not with a church and with the “ministers” until their hearts are broken from self and they are doing what they do out of a true love for God. But this too is by grace, but those who seek self only try to use the teachings of grace to distinguish themselves as well. It is true, even the doctrines of grace can be used as a way to bring praise and honor to self. The self is horribly deceitful and apart from a truly broken heart all religion will be used to serve wicked self.

It is no uncommon instance of the deceitfulness of the heart, for men to venture upon the general contempt by becoming religious, and at the same time make all up to themselves by their own esteem, or the good opinion of a few. But to be universally despised, and to know certainly, by an inward feeling not to be evaded, that we deserve it, is not so common or so easy. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

How deceitful the human heart is and how easily it leads sinners astray in very religious things. While it may not seem so obvious a deception, the human heart will use the contempt of others in becoming religious to build itself up in the eyes of self and others. The heart is so wicked that it will suffer contempt for the things of religion in order to gain honor and esteem. We can see something of this in I Corinthians 13 where men will sell all they have and give to the poor, yet there is no benefit because they had no love. Men will also give their bodies to be burned, yet there is no benefit because there is no love. If it is possible for men to give themselves to be burned in order to build their pride or earn their salvation, then it is a smaller thing for them to become religious and even very religious in order to build themselves up in their own esteem and to be esteemed by a few.

The heart deceives itself and thinks that it is a good heart because it is suffering for the things of religion, but it is blind to the fact that this is precisely the heart of the Pharisee. The Pharisee prayed in order to be seen by men, yet in praying the Pharisee would comfort its own heart in the fact that it prayed. This is true of so many things and of so many cults. Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons find great comfort in the fact that they are maligned as they go door to door in their false religion and they are built up in the esteem of self and others as they do so. But those with even a modicum of truth know that those groups teach terrible heresy and they should not find any comfort in anything they are doing, but it is also possible to do this with the truth.

The human heart longs to be esteemed by others. It is easily deceived in this area by its self-love. As long as it can be esteemed by a few others it will continue on its religious path and is willing to have others show contempt to it and find a false basis for assurance in the contempt of others as well. Jesus promises His disciples that they would be hated and have hard times in this world, so the deceptive heart makes the deduction that because it is hated and has a hard time that it must be a true disciple of Christ. In reality, however, the crowds in John 6 went to a great amount of trouble to follow Jesus in order to get more free food and so they were nothing but mercenary followers of Christ. So those who are shown contempt and yet are willing to do so because of the esteem of others and of self are also nothing but mercenary followers of Christ. They do so in order to obtain something else from Him.

The true heart, however, knows that it deserves nothing but universal contempt. While it is possible for men to intellectually accept this as a fact, it is much harder for this to be accepted in the depths of the soul. One sign of a true heart is that it is willing to be treated with contempt without defending itself before others. A second sign of a true heart is the willingness to endure contempt without hating or resenting it. A third sign is the willingness to endure contempt without telling others about it. But of course the deceitful heart can also endure contempt and in great pride not tell others and view itself with great esteem.

In the Beatitudes we are told that those who are blessed are poor in spirit and are meek. The soul must come to a point where it sees that it has no righteousness in reality and so has no righteousness in itself to defend. The soul must come to the point where it desires the glory of God and the good of others enough that it is willing to return good to those that treat it badly. The Lord Jesus Christ, the very Lord of glory, was abused and treated with contempt during His life, in His trial, and in His time on the cross. He did not deserve any of it and yet He bore it silently and meekly. Sinful human beings deserve the contempt of all, so surely it becomes us to endure the contempt of others with great patience. To arrive at a heart like this takes a lot of work by the Holy Spirit. No one but Christ can do this perfectly, so all believers have room to grow in this. But as sinners are saved by grace alone, so they must learn to endure this by grace as well and look to grace when they see pride arising in their hearts as they endure for the sake of self and the esteem of others. As they cry out to God for more grace because of their pride, He will teach them to have contempt upon their own pride and wicked heart. Oh for death to self!

 If I grapple with sin in my own strength, the devil knows he may go to sleep. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

All are told to put sin to death and so some try. But if the essence of sin is in the realm of self doing all for self, that is just self that is deceiving itself into thinking it is wrestling with sin. In other words, it is the essence of sin deceiving self into thinking that it is putting sin to death when in fact it is actually strengthening self. When the soul thinks that sin must be put to death (either actually or thinks that grace only does some of it) then the devil has already deceived that soul and can stand back (so to speak) and watch. Oh how the devil uses pride in the heart of the soul to twist and deceive the soul. Yet this points to something extremely vital in the Christian life.

In the Gospels we are told several times to deny self, take up the cross, and follow Christ. The self will most naturally interpret that as deny some things to self and then follow Christ. But what self is blinded to is that self is the real issue and the real problem. Self is willing to deny things to self, but self wants to be in charge of what things must be denied to self. This means that when self tries to grapple with sin, self is deceived as to the real issue and so will never be able to fight sin in reality and truth at the heart of it.

The Scriptures teach us that we must put sin to death by the Spirit. Notice, however, the teaching is not just that we must put the deeds of the body to death, but that that this must be done so by the Spirit. The person that tries to kill sin by the flesh or do it in his own strength cannot possibly overcome sin by his own strength and instead is being given over to it. 

Romans 8:12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh– 13 for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God

When we don’t put sin to death by the Spirit, we are deceived about sin being dead. The Scriptures set out that we are in bondage to sin and that we are slaves of sin, and yet we need one with greater power to come and release us from our bondage and slavery. As long as the soul looks to self for strength in the battle with sin, the soul is fastened in its bonds to sin. It takes a greater power to come and release the soul from its bondage. It takes the powerful hand of God to release the soul from its bondage and slavery to sin in regeneration, but in the daily life it still takes the work of the Spirit to release the soul.

I do not want humanity or social virtue. I can be honest and civil, and observe the law of kindness in my actions; but who shall give me humility, meekness, patience, inward purity, and the love of God? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

When one considers how deceitful the heart really is, though indeed the heart is so deceitful sinful man cannot get to the depths of it, man is shocked at how he has been deceived by his own heart, others, things, and the deceiver. While the flesh can work up honesty to a degree, even in the midst of that the heart is being deceived about what honesty is as well as the fact that fleshly honesty is a lie itself. It is a lie about what true honesty is and it is a lie about the truth of God and what pleases Him.

While the flesh can work up civility to a degree, it is a blatantly uncivil thing to do in the presence of a thrice holy God and how uncivil it is to attack the character of God by presuming that fleshly civility is righteous. While the flesh can work up something sort of like kindness to a degree, it is a blatant like to people about the character of God and of what true kindness to the soul really is. The attempt of the flesh to work up honesty, civility, and kindness is nothing more than an attack upon the standards of God and upon the truthfulness of who God is. It is also nothing more than the desires of self-love as opposed to love for God.

The whole motive for civility, honesty, and kindness can be said to be that of making society better, but even that can be nothing more than fleshly self-love. A person that desires civility can want others to be civil back to him or her and so the desire for civility is really nothing more than self-love. A person that mistakes civility for biblical love can also make a huge mistake about what love and true righteousness is and so civility becomes an idol. A person that desires honesty can long for honesty simply to make our country easier to get by in, which can be self-love but can also desire honesty out of nothing but self-love. This desire for honesty can also be mistaken for the biblical standards of truthfulness out of love for God and so the deceptive heart deceives the outwardly honest person into a false standard of righteousness and of making an idol of it.

It may be that kindness or even niceness is the worst of the three in terms of its deceptive power on the soul. With the appearance of kindness a person can be kind or nice to others and so deceive the other person into thinking that the first person is actually kind and nice, so that contributes to the self-deception of the person showing the apparent kindness or niceness. This is also a huge idol to the soul and an awful form of deception. The person that thinks of self as kind or nice tries to convince self that it is truly kind and nice by doing certain acts that appear kind or nice. But the doing of certain acts that appear as kind or nice can be nothing but self trying to convince others of what it is and also of convincing self of what it is. But those things are done out of self-love and are done in the worship of self rather than out of love for God. How devious and deceptive of the deceiver, but also how horrid is the deceitfulness of the heart that deceives itself with outward acts of kindness and niceness.

This shows how the soul with true spiritual taste buds and light from the Spirit can look upon itself and despise its own works of civility, honesty, and kindness or niceness that come from the flesh. This shows how these things are consistent with the pride of the heart and how deceptive the heart is to deceive itself with these things as if they are true righteousness. The Pharisees had great pride in their giving of alms which is one way to demonstrate social virtue and have acts of kindness, but they did them for self and the love of self. They desired to demonstrate a false humility, but it appears that they did not have true humility, an inward purity, or a love for God. While social virtues can be faked, it takes the work of God in the soul for the soul to have true humility, meekness, and love. A true heart will despise social virtues that come from the flesh and long and hunger for the things that only God can give it by grace.

I do not want humanity or social virtue. I can be honest and civil, and observe the law of kindness in my actions; but who shall give me humility, meekness, patience, inward purity, and the love of God? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The language that Adam uses above is more than just a man without affection stating some things that are true, but it comes through as indignation or perhaps some degree of disgust. He does not want humanity or social virtue. The things of social virtue such as honesty, civility, and kindness are things that he can do in his own power and in his own strength. Even the most strident pagans can come up with those things. Why is that? Because things like honesty, civility, and kindness can come from nothing but self-love. Humanism can provide us with external morality and sterling examples of ethical behavior, but all of those things are as filthy rags in the sight of a thrice holy God.

A soul that has tasted something of the holiness of God is disgusted with the external and forced things of humanism, civility, and niceness. Those things are artificial and to some degree just plain fake. They are not the real thing, that is, the real holiness and the real life of Christ in the soul. In fact, humanism, civility, and niceness can be nothing more than the flesh trying to assert its own righteousness. There can be people who fight against certain forms of legalism but actually create their own form of legalism with their civility and niceness when those things come from the efforts of the flesh.

The flesh or the fleshly heart is opposed to the spiritual work of the Spirit in the heart of man. The Holy Spirit alone can bring true kindness and true love into the heart, but the flesh wants to work up those things in the strength of self and from self-love and then say that it has those are from the Spirit. The soul that recognizes that civility and niceness comes from the flesh and is opposed to the work of the Spirit will detest the civility and niceness that comes from its own pride, flesh, and self-love. One can look at the life of a politician in many cases and see what it means to be one thing when speaking to the public and yet quite another in private. The politician wants to present things a certain way for one reason and then be what he wants to be in private. So the heart is like that as well. It wants to be civil and nice in public for one reason, perhaps even for the sake of doing so for self, and yet be quite another thing in the heart or in private.

But the soul with spiritual taste buds wants true humility (the emptiness of self) as opposed to be full of self. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for inward purity rather than external civility. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for meekness rather than revenge. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for patience rather than treating others with anger and as object in impatience. The soul with spiritual taste buds longs for the true love of the Spirit as it comes to human beings as the fruit of the Spirit rather than external civility and niceness. Humanity, civility, and niceness or kindnesses have their place when they come by the work of the Spirit. But if they come by the work of the flesh, they are enemies to the Gospel of grace alone and true righteousness.

The people who love the glory of God that shines in Christ by the Spirit long for true spiritual things and the true fruit of the Spirit so that the glory of God would shine in and through them. If one truly loves God and His glory, they will have some degree of detesting the things of their own flesh even if it brings them praise and honor among men. So it is no wonder that Adam expresses his disgust toward the nice things of the flesh (civility and kindness) and longed to be given humility, inward purity, and the love of God. Even the nice things of the flesh are still of the flesh and are opposed to true holiness and are detested by God. We should detest what God detests, even when it is the best fruit we can bring in our own strength, and cry out for God to work in us what is pleasing to Him. After all, if we are to love Him with all of our being we should live in a manner where His glory and His pleasure lives in and is manifested through us.

I do not want humanity or social virtue. I can be honest and civil, and observe the law of kindness in my actions; but who shall give me humility, meekness, patience, inward purity, and the love of God? (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

The soul that wants the truth and power of Christ will not want social virtue and humanitarian things in and of themselves. Honesty and civility and kindness are attainable by the unregenerate person. Those things can be nothing more than external actions motivated by the love of self. The Pharisee could be honest and civil. The Pharisee could perform acts of kindness (giving of alms), but the Pharisee did those out of love for self and the desire to attain some form of righteousness. A person that desires the free grace of God will not desire those things in and of themselves, but will instead desire those things as they come from the hand of the one and only sovereign God in and through Christ.

For the person that has any idea of the nature of his own heart, that person knows humility is beyond the power of self to come up with. If humility is thought of as the emptying of the soul of self, then it is self-evident that humility is beyond the power of self as self can never be the worker of emptying the souls of self. The soul that longs to be free from the bondage of self and of the honesty, civility, and kindness worked by the love of self and the esteem of self recognizes the slavery and bondage of the soul to self. That is the soul that begins to understand the need of the soul for grace and grace alone to deliver it from self.

Westminster Larger Catechism: Q. 25. Wherein consisteth the sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell? A. The sinfulness of that estate whereinto man fell, consisteth in the guilt of Adam’s first sin, the want of that righteousness wherein he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually; which is commonly called original sin, and from which do proceed all actual transgressions.

The Larger Catechism sets out the nature of the heart of man in almost brutal words. One of the key points is when it states that man is “utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually.” Man can be honest, civil, and kind in the external things and yet be deeply opposed to all that is spiritually good. Man can be very religious and think of self as honest, civil, and kind and yet be deeply opposed to all that is spiritually good. Man can be very religious and all others think of him as honest, civil, and kind and yet be deeply opposed to all that is spiritually good. How deceptive the heart is and how willing it is to take up appearances of religion and goodness, but the heart that is dead in sin is blind to spiritual things and so the pride of the heart actually blinds itself to spiritual things by its outwardly good things.

It is extremely deceptive for people to take up the appearances of Christianity in things like honesty, civility, and niceness. But those things can be done by professing atheists and anyone apart from a new heart and apart from the spiritual work of the Holy Spirit. The heart that is proud of appearances can even desire some form of external humility, but not real and true humility. The heart that is proud of appearances may trick itself and others into thinking that it is meek and patient. The heart that is proud of appearances may desire forms of inward holiness and use high language to describe how much it loves God. But that is only in appearance. It is rare to find those that truly want humility because true humility is only found in the absence of self. In other words, self and the things of self must go and a person must learn and actually die to self. Inward purity is one thing in conception but quite another in reality. It is painful to attain to because the death to self and being given over to God for His purposes is not something God works in us apart from trials and suffering. True Christianity is of the heart along with motives, intents, purposes, and loves. It cannot be satisfied with the externals and the appearances of things before men. It is only satisfied when God takes up residence in the soul and His glory is then the very love of the soul.

A creature made capable of knowing, loving, and enjoying God, and yet ignorant of him, and turned from him, or which is all one, not turned to him in the bent of its will, desire, and affections, must necessarily be in a fallen state, and perverted from the end of its creation. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

God created man good, yet man has turned to sinful devices. God made man in His own image and likeness, yet man desired to be like God in His nature, that is, man wanted to determine for himself what was good and to follow his own will. So man was created with the capability to know, love, and enjoy God. Yet when man turned to self and was then left to his own devices, man became a perverted being who was no longer loving God and living for His pleasure and glory. We now have man ignorant of God and even at enmity with God.

In the great darkness that humanity has fallen man cannot peer very far into the light in which the glory of God shines, which means fallen man that has fallen into self-absorption and self-love does not see the horrible nature of sin that he has fallen. Pride and self now control man so much that man sees all things in light of his self-centered existence. He does not see how wicked it is to live for self and serve self. He does not see how wicked it is to be ignorant of God and not love God. Man can see and does see that he is not perfect and that he does wrong things on occasion, but he does not see that his very nature itself is corrupt to its very depths.

The corruption of man’s nature is hard for man to see because man is so wrapped up in his own self-love and self-centeredness and that covered by pride that he cannot see what is wrong with himself being self-centered. Man also deceives himself and is easily deceived by the evil one always justifying self for the things that self does for self. It seems not to enter the mind and heart of man that he was created for another purpose and that not for himself but for the glory of God. As long as man is not evil in his own eyes he does not think of what he does for self as evil at all. Yet the heart that does not have as its primary love God and His glory is a heart that is wicked and has been twisted from its original creation and so all it does is a distortion of truth. The will that does not choose and love to do all for God is a will that does all for self and as such is a great idol in the presence of God. The desires of the soul that are fixed on self and for self are aligned against God and His glory. How wicked a man is that has great affections for self and yet none for God other than when man thinks that God has done something good for him.

The fall had terrible effects upon humanity and part of that fall is that human beings are blind to what has happened to them. Now man can be very religious and do all sorts of outward religious acts and yet be foremost in his own affections, desires, and will. In other words, man is now his own idol who lives for self rather than God and as such serves himself as an idol. It is not that man has just fallen a little, but man has fallen so far that he is utterly helpless and cannot return to God in his own power. Man does not just need a little help, but he needs a new heart and a new mind so that he can think upon God with desire and affection and willingly choose to be an instrument of God. Indeed man has fallen into a perverted state and only grace can change him. But man must know that the God who created man can also re-created or regenerate man according to His own pleasure. This shows that it is not true Christianity that is wrong, but instead it shows that true Christianity alone is what can turn man back and make him right.

Our pride, as delicate as it is, can be content to feed upon that stench and corruption which a little humility makes us nauseate…The character of man is, proud sinner. (Thomas Adam, Private Thoughts on Religion)

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).

David was a man that had a lot of pride in the Bathsheba incident and yet did not recognize it at the time. He specifically and clearly committed adultery with a woman and then was guilty of murder (though the hands of others and in planning) in the death of her husband. Yet for some reason he was blind to what he did. When Nathan the prophet came to him and told him a story about a rich man that took the lamb of a poor man, David was outraged. When Nathan told David that he (David) was the man, that opened the eyes of David and he saw his sin. Before that, however, he had not had eyes to see his sin but had a pride that blinded him to his sin.

After Nathan confronted David and told David that his sin was against God and was even a despising God and His Word, David saw his sin without the blinding power of pride. When he saw it and the Lord had worked in his heart, David confessed his sin and with some humility he was sick of himself and his sin. This can be seen in his confession as given in Psalm 51. When David had some humility he now took the side of God against himself and confessed that God was just in whatever He did with him.

The Pharisees were very proud of their religious action and in reality did it all for themselves. They prayed in order to be seen by men. They gave alms in order to be seen by men. They fasted in order to be seen by men. In other words, their pride fed upon the attention of others and they admired and thought highly of themselves because of what others could see them do. But a person with just a little true humility would be nauseated and bow in confession of his sin if he prayed in order to be seen by men. A person with just a little humility would see the horror of self-centeredness and self-love in giving alms in order to be seen by men. A person with just a little humility would be sickened and grieved at his own idolatry if he found himself fasting just in order to impress other people.

The heart of self and of pride is a heart that is at the service of self and pride in all that it does, but strangely enough the proud heart seems to find itself at home in religion just as much as anything else if not more. Oh how the proud heart can feed itself with high thoughts of self in its religious actions. Oh the terrible destruction that pride brings to the soul when the soul is full of pride and blinds itself to its own poverty by dwelling upon its fictitious spiritual riches. The character of the religious man is also proud sinner and nothing more or less. The proud sinner is full of self as it goes on in its very religious ways. But the humble soul is sickened by itself and wars against self by mortifying the sins of self as it seeks God for grace to die to self. True Christianity is not the life of a holy self, but the death of sinful self and pride that the glory of God may shine through.