Spiritual Pride
- Thread starter JWNEWMAN
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intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
It's pride in the sense that you hold a greater spiritual understanding than other people you communicate with. This is predominantly manifest in both liberal and conservative circles and often those who accuse others of it have it themselves. It's sort of like the statement "I'm so much more humble than you are, you just don't even know what humility is compared to me..."
It's a very ironic sort of thing.
It's a very ironic sort of thing.
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This was a really great explanation of what spiritual pride is.
There are certain sins we learn to hate, others we love and learn to subdue. At least that's how it is for me. My hate meter tips regarding spiritual pride. A holier than thou attitude is supremely injurious and detrimental to the body and to those outside who are put off by it.
We all must guard against this and all sin. But it has been my experience if we make it our intention to walk in love, joy and peace follow. These people are attracted to and overcoming sinful tendencies becomes much easier. If we are attempting to overcome our sinful tendencies within our own strength by being obedient, well, that is an impossible task. It is only by Christ in us and the flow of His power that we are victorious in this walk.
Christ + Nothing = Everything
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Luk 18:9 And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
From the above I take away this: No matter what I do or how good my life might appear from the outside based on my actions, none of these things make me worthy before God. In fact I can't do enough good things to come close to being worthy before God. Only God, through Christ can make me acceptable because in my flesh, there is no good thing. This makes me equal with every man on the earth. We are all born slaves to the carnal mind, which, even put under a moral code of conduct is still at its core rebellious against the Creator.
It is when we recognize these flaws within ourselves and the universality of this nature that we are able to see: We are no better than the most vile and wicked offender. Any sin under the sun is one I could fall prey to given the right set of circumstances. When I know this about myself I can't look down on others who are bound in sin. Because I'm no different from anyone else. Christ is different. In the flesh or carnal mind I'm still the same. Now that I'm in Christ am I better than the non-believer? Or if I'm walking uprightly am I better then the struggling brother? No, in fact the only way to walk rightly in Christ is to understand, doing so has nothing to do with ourself, our power, our goodness, rather, it is giving up trying to be good and allowing goodness to live through us. We are to weak in the flesh to overcome sin, but the Spirit of Christ in us is perfected in our weaknesses.
Luk 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luk 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luk 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luk 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as [his] eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luk 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
From the above I take away this: No matter what I do or how good my life might appear from the outside based on my actions, none of these things make me worthy before God. In fact I can't do enough good things to come close to being worthy before God. Only God, through Christ can make me acceptable because in my flesh, there is no good thing. This makes me equal with every man on the earth. We are all born slaves to the carnal mind, which, even put under a moral code of conduct is still at its core rebellious against the Creator.
It is when we recognize these flaws within ourselves and the universality of this nature that we are able to see: We are no better than the most vile and wicked offender. Any sin under the sun is one I could fall prey to given the right set of circumstances. When I know this about myself I can't look down on others who are bound in sin. Because I'm no different from anyone else. Christ is different. In the flesh or carnal mind I'm still the same. Now that I'm in Christ am I better than the non-believer? Or if I'm walking uprightly am I better then the struggling brother? No, in fact the only way to walk rightly in Christ is to understand, doing so has nothing to do with ourself, our power, our goodness, rather, it is giving up trying to be good and allowing goodness to live through us. We are to weak in the flesh to overcome sin, but the Spirit of Christ in us is perfected in our weaknesses.
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Good definition. I think it is a far bigger problem in the evangelical and charismatic churches though.
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How is it that the Pharisees being religiously observant in the extreme were so far off the mark? Why did Jesus so revile them?
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Because they came to think that the rules were a good in an of themselves, and forgot that the real goal was love of God and neighbor.
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savedandhappy1
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As Christians we all grow at different rates, just like babies do. We all start out with the milk of the word working our way up to the meat of the word. Again, just like we started out in life as babies that needed milk and someone teaching us, till we become big enough to eat meat and do for ourselves, the same is with Christians.
Just because a person has been a Christian along time doesn't mean that they are ready for meat, all that depends on what and how much they have been taught from the word. So there are people that understand the word better than me, and there are those who don't understand the word as much as me. All because we grow at different rates.
1 Peter 2:1-5
1Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Heb 5:11-14
11Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
1 Cor 3:1-5
1And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Here are some thoughts about pride I found.
The first and worst cause of error that prevails in our day is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment, and the main handle by which Satan takes hold of Christians to hinder a work of God. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.
Pride is much more difficult to discern than any other corruption because, by nature, pride is a person having too high a thought of himself. Is it any surprise, then, that a person who has too high a thought of himself is unaware of it? He thinks the opinion he has of himself has just grounds and therefore is not too high. As a result, there is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. The very nature of it is to work self-confidence and drive away any suspicion of evil respecting itself.
Pride takes many forms and shapes and encompasses the heart like the layers of an onion- when you pull off one layer, there is another underneath. Therefore, we need to have the greatest watch imaginable over our hearts with respect to this matter and to cry most earnestly to the great searcher of hearts for His help. He who trusts his own heart is a fool.
Since spiritual pride in its own nature is secretive, it cannot be well discerned by immediate intuition of the thing itself. It is best identified by its fruits and effects, some of which I will mention together with the contrary fruits of Christian humility.
The spiritually proud person is full of light already and feels that he does not need instruction, so he is ready to despise the offer of it. On the other hand, the humble person is like a little child who easily receives instruction. He is cautious in his estimate of himself, sensitive as to how liable he is to go astray. If it is suggested to him that he does go astray, he is most ready to inquire into the matter.
Proud people tend to speak of other's sins, the miserable delusion of hypocrites, the deadness of some saints with bitterness, or the opposition to holiness of many believers. Pure Christian humility, however, is silent about the sins of others, or speaks of them with grief and pity. The spiritually proud person finds fault with other saints for their lack of progress in grace, while the humble Christian sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He complains most of himself and his own spiritual coldness and readily hopes that most everybody has more love and thankfulness to God than he.
Spiritually proud people often speak of almost everything they see in others in the harshest, most severe language. Commonly, their criticism is directed against not only wicked men but also toward true children of God and those who are their superiors. The humble, however, even when they have extraordinary discoveries of God's glory, are overwhelmed with their own vileness and sinfulness. Their exhortations to fellow Christians are given in a loving and humble manner, and they treat others with as much humility and gentleness as Christ, who is infinitely above them, treats them.
Spiritual pride often disposes people to act different in external appearance, to assume a different way of speaking, countenance, or behavior. However, the humble Christian, though he will be firm in his duty; going the way of heaven alone even if all the world forsake him; yet he does not delight in being different for difference's sake. He does not try to set himself up to be viewed and observed as one distinguished, but on the contrary, is disposed to become all things to all men, to yield to others, to conform to them, and to please them in all but sin.
Proud people take great notice of opposition and injuries, and are prone to speak often about them with an air of bitterness or contempt. Christian humility, on the other hand, disposes a person to be more like his blessed Lord, who when reviled did not open His mouth but committed Himself in silence to Him who judges righteously. For the humble Christian, the more clamorous and furious the world is against him, the more silent and still he will be. Another pattern of spiritually proud people is to behave in ways that make them the focus of others. It is natural for a person under the influence of pride to take all the respect that is paid to him. If others show a disposition to submit to him and yield in deference to him, he is open to it and freely receives it. In fact, they come to expect such treatment and to form an ill opinion of those who do not give them what they feel they deserve.
http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/articles/article_detail.php?231
Just because a person has been a Christian along time doesn't mean that they are ready for meat, all that depends on what and how much they have been taught from the word. So there are people that understand the word better than me, and there are those who don't understand the word as much as me. All because we grow at different rates.
1 Peter 2:1-5
1Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Heb 5:11-14
11Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing.
12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
1 Cor 3:1-5
1And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.
3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
4For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? 5Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
Here are some thoughts about pride I found.
The first and worst cause of error that prevails in our day is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of Christ. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit to darken the mind and mislead the judgment, and the main handle by which Satan takes hold of Christians to hinder a work of God. Until this disease is cured, medicines are applied in vain to heal all other diseases.
Pride is much more difficult to discern than any other corruption because, by nature, pride is a person having too high a thought of himself. Is it any surprise, then, that a person who has too high a thought of himself is unaware of it? He thinks the opinion he has of himself has just grounds and therefore is not too high. As a result, there is no other matter in which the heart is more deceitful and unsearchable. The very nature of it is to work self-confidence and drive away any suspicion of evil respecting itself.
Pride takes many forms and shapes and encompasses the heart like the layers of an onion- when you pull off one layer, there is another underneath. Therefore, we need to have the greatest watch imaginable over our hearts with respect to this matter and to cry most earnestly to the great searcher of hearts for His help. He who trusts his own heart is a fool.
Since spiritual pride in its own nature is secretive, it cannot be well discerned by immediate intuition of the thing itself. It is best identified by its fruits and effects, some of which I will mention together with the contrary fruits of Christian humility.
The spiritually proud person is full of light already and feels that he does not need instruction, so he is ready to despise the offer of it. On the other hand, the humble person is like a little child who easily receives instruction. He is cautious in his estimate of himself, sensitive as to how liable he is to go astray. If it is suggested to him that he does go astray, he is most ready to inquire into the matter.
Proud people tend to speak of other's sins, the miserable delusion of hypocrites, the deadness of some saints with bitterness, or the opposition to holiness of many believers. Pure Christian humility, however, is silent about the sins of others, or speaks of them with grief and pity. The spiritually proud person finds fault with other saints for their lack of progress in grace, while the humble Christian sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts. He complains most of himself and his own spiritual coldness and readily hopes that most everybody has more love and thankfulness to God than he.
Spiritually proud people often speak of almost everything they see in others in the harshest, most severe language. Commonly, their criticism is directed against not only wicked men but also toward true children of God and those who are their superiors. The humble, however, even when they have extraordinary discoveries of God's glory, are overwhelmed with their own vileness and sinfulness. Their exhortations to fellow Christians are given in a loving and humble manner, and they treat others with as much humility and gentleness as Christ, who is infinitely above them, treats them.
Spiritual pride often disposes people to act different in external appearance, to assume a different way of speaking, countenance, or behavior. However, the humble Christian, though he will be firm in his duty; going the way of heaven alone even if all the world forsake him; yet he does not delight in being different for difference's sake. He does not try to set himself up to be viewed and observed as one distinguished, but on the contrary, is disposed to become all things to all men, to yield to others, to conform to them, and to please them in all but sin.
Proud people take great notice of opposition and injuries, and are prone to speak often about them with an air of bitterness or contempt. Christian humility, on the other hand, disposes a person to be more like his blessed Lord, who when reviled did not open His mouth but committed Himself in silence to Him who judges righteously. For the humble Christian, the more clamorous and furious the world is against him, the more silent and still he will be. Another pattern of spiritually proud people is to behave in ways that make them the focus of others. It is natural for a person under the influence of pride to take all the respect that is paid to him. If others show a disposition to submit to him and yield in deference to him, he is open to it and freely receives it. In fact, they come to expect such treatment and to form an ill opinion of those who do not give them what they feel they deserve.
http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/articles/article_detail.php?231
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intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
But both sides think they're absolutely right and aren't afraid to get offended over someone disagreeing with them.
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Yes, and I've found it's really easy to be drawn into arguments. This is ego.... taking offense at what someone says is often a reaction of pride, not always, but often (in my case) in my case it is. A different kind of pride then what I warn against here but pride none the less. The outcome of it is no less injurious either. Bickering, insulting, disparaging remarks, etc., etc. No matter how these are veiled they are evil. It should be no less a surprise to find that this 'creature' is still alive and well in my flesh than to discover I'm still attracted to beautiful women. It's just a fact of life.But both sides think they're absolutely right and aren't afraid to get offended over someone disagreeing with them.
The cure for me, I'm learning is to allow Christ to live through me. I keep harping on the same thing! It's true though. In my current circumstances I am dealing with a paranoid delusional person about 5 hours a day and the things that come out of this individuals mouth are difficult to deal with in the extreme. It is a most joyous occasion when I reach the end of myself under these difficulties and rest in Christ. For no matter how I try to handle insult and injury with my own intellect I utterly fail and fall into sin. It's quite literally impossible for me to love this person, who, at times has even physically attacked me. This kills me (my ego) and Jesus than stands in my place pouring out through me His Spirit and life. He can handle being spit upon, reviled, accused and even physically assaulted without retaliation. I can not, not at all.
God is good.
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intricatic
...a dinosaur... or something...
The answer is twofold; Christ stood for being reviled and persecuted out of love for his persecutors; He wanted salvation to come to everyone, but also because judgment would be His alone in the end. That's both comforting and humbling in itself.
For us, the hope;
Is made more real by the Spirit, but pride will be brought to humility, and humility greatly exalted.
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One thing that certainly happens when pride grips us, is, we want to be right. This desire can be so strong it skews our perspective till all we are doing in a conversation is finding more fuel to prove our points rather then seeking truth. The reason. We already have the truth, or so we assume. That assumption is what creates all the conflict amongst us as individual believers and various denominations. We even go so far as to judge a person based upon their denominational affiliations.
I remember hearing a preacher say. "During the rapture no Charismatic will be taken into heaven - pause - they'll be turned into Baptists on the way." I've never been affiliated with the charismatic church but, do believe in the gifts. Then it was insulting. Now it's just funny.
All the sins we commit are no doubt in some fashion linked to pride the root which caused all the mess this world is in today.
I remember hearing a preacher say. "During the rapture no Charismatic will be taken into heaven - pause - they'll be turned into Baptists on the way." I've never been affiliated with the charismatic church but, do believe in the gifts. Then it was insulting. Now it's just funny.
All the sins we commit are no doubt in some fashion linked to pride the root which caused all the mess this world is in today.
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Jesus called Pharisees hypocrites, the children of hell, white washed sepulchers, blind leading the blind, amongst other things. Why did he speak thus to people who by all accounts seemed to be very attentive to God's word?
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Guess I'll attempt to answer my own question: It seems to me that the Pharisees turned worshiping God into a system, made it mechanical, added traditions (additional rules and practices) not in the word, and, apparently they ended being conscious of other men and man's attitude towards their behavior more so than having a heart for God. Lacking in mercy and compassion and instead doling out rules on how to please God, instead of promoting a relationship with God through devotion.
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It's pretty obvious none of us has a corner on the truth. We have our belief's based on scriptures and we often disagree. The most important issue in my book is (as you know) "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" knowing this "God is Love" and "Love covers a multitude of sins"
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