Cost of Pride
Haman is before Esther in the depiction above pleading for his life. Haman lived in pride and now was about to be destroyed by it. As is the case of so many, pride is so foolish and it was just a little thing that could have gone unnoticed, but for Haman when Mordecai did not bow before him he set out to kill him and all the Jews. How highly Haman must have considered himself.
Proud People Are Not God’s People
Heaven Will Not Be Their Home
The thing that will stand between you and heaven is pride. A prideful person will not obey God, they have a better way, they may have “THEIR” reasons to believe there is no God. They are so sure, but it is really pride. The scriptures make this clear over and over again. Any person wanting to know the truth can find it despite all the roadblocks they create or someone else has created that are influencing them.
God makes it clear that pride comes before destruction.
Pride comes before destruction.
Proverbs 16.18
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
God hates a prideful look.
Proverbs 6.16-18
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
Our decisions define us and unfortunately most people make many decisions with pride as their motive. If you look at how God defines sin, specifically when He names things that will keep us out of heaven, it is not hard to envision pride playing a part in each of these. It is always about what we want versus what God defines as sin. God defined sin, so you could easily choose to follow Him or follow your desires. Along these lines your eternal fate is determined. In a sense, you are choosing your fate by your words, by your actions actions and God is simply true to His word.
1 Corinthians 6.9,10
9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
and in another place,
Revelation 21.8
8 “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
You will find that lying has a strong component of pride. We are often too proud to stand up to the truth about ourselves and in the most important thing in our life pride will destroy us. Namely, failing to face up to sin in our life and hoping all things will go well despite our lies. Some people will get away with lies during their lifetime and only perhaps suffer in their conscience, but no one will escape the ultimate wrath of their lies. People need the gospel message to have their sins forgiven.
When we hurt another person is it not PRIDE behind our actions or words? When we hurt someone is it not to:
> Exalt ourselves?
> Look good?
> Obtain our selfish desires?
> Make some undeserved gain?
> Obtain power?
God will always be found true and as He indicates PRIDE comes before destruction.
There is some pride in all of us and even in small doses, it can be destructive as it grows to be problematic. It is fine to be pleased (proud of) your accomplishments if they are obtained honestly, but even so this can lead to an ego that must be satisfied. Life is about the next life, life is about the soul, life is a spiritual battle between good and evil and very expressly between you and sin. God has placed humility as a requirement for heaven. You may not realize this requirement if you have been taught by many in the so-called Christian world. This is because they have eliminated everything you must do for salvation and replaced it with an ambiguous mental acceptance of Jesus. It is ambiguous because it could mean hundreds of things in terms of your salvation. God is not ambiguous! God is careful and perfectly accurate. Believing entails faith sufficient to do what God says for salvation. Believe in Jesus and be saved does not mean a mere second of acceptance and then salvation is yours. How can you know this? Because the entirety of scripture teaches belief is not a mere mental acceptance, but belief means a willingness to do what is required for salvation, such as repentance, such as confessing Jesus before others and being baptized for remission of sins. Then after you become a child of God as in Galatians 3.26,27 you remain faithful, that is obedient unto your death. There is nothing ambiguous about that!
Galatians 3.26,27
26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
It is interesting how this idea of mental acceptance was “sold.” It was necessary to create a variety of other doctrines, which also are ambiguous. This is discussed in detail in “The Fall of Catholicism and Protestantism in One simple Lesson.”
In desperation, as part of selling the Protestant salvation concept, the doctrine of works was invented. The standard method of picking a verse here or there and taking them from either the immediate context or the general context of the entire bible was skillfully presented to those with itching ears – it was what people wanted to hear. A favorite “proof text” of those who support the doctrine of works is:
Ephesians 2.8,9
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
The gift is from God and it the result of Jesus obedience to the Father. The works of the law cannot save you, because we are now under the doctrine of Christ – We obey Jesus! Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to guide the apostles into all truth and that word was confirmed in the first century by signs and wonders with various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit. The process God uses to forgive one’s sins is to obey the gospel. That is, obey the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. How dare someone say that obeying God, obeying the doctrine of Christ is a work that cannot save them. This is the faith and grace talked of in Ephesians 2.8,9 that God provides to them that have “for obedience to the faith” (Romans 16.25,26). Living your life following the commandments of God is what every person who loves the Lord will want to do. How in the world can one boast in doing what God commands. How dare anyone who teaches such a doctrine is hardly stern enough for you are accursed by God for teaching error (Galatians 1.6-9). False teaching is among the things that God hates and it will bring God’s wrath.
People need to humble themselves before God’s word and obey it and not be humble before the doctrines invented by humankind.
Be assured that the idea of mentally accepting Christ for salvation did not come from God, but men and women have created this road to heaven. In reality it is the road to hell. There is humility required in your initial obedience AND then throughout your life if you are going to continue in obedience. The scriptures teach those in Christ to be FAITHFUL unto death in order to receive the crown of life and that is the same thing as saying (more specifically) to be OBEDIENT unto death and you will receive the crown of life.
The Power of Humble and the Road to Heaven
A humble person will accept the message from God albeit difficult, albeit different than they want, albeit restrictive in how they desire to live, albeit even it causes them to lose friends and/or family. A person on the “pride road” places what THEY WANT above everything. Their desires are at the center of their actions. These selfish people will not achieve heaven. It is not pride itself that will destroy them, but THEIR PRIDE WILL KEEP THEM FROM OBEYING GOD. That is why Jesus can say:
Matthew 23.12
12 And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.
God makes this clear throughout scripture:
Matthew 5.3
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
A person is poor in spirit because they realize sin in their life and will humble themselves before God in obedience. This need to be poor in spirit is alien to the world, because they want happiness in worldly things. Jesus says, happy are the poor in spirit because “poor in spirit” is how they came to a knowledge of the truth, they came in humility and in that way they can accept God’s way instead of their own. Now, being “in Christ” they continually realize it was their sin that required the death of their savior. If they obeyed the gospel, obeyed the author of eternal salvation then their past sins were forgiven. Even though they are on the road to heaven, they dare not be frivolous, careless as they go through the remainder of their life. God points out in Ecclesiastes something very similar to Matthew 5.3 in terms of how people see that verse and how similarly a person would see Ecclesiastes 7.2-4
Ecclesiastes 7.2-4
2 Better to go to the house of mourning
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
It can be quite shocking how God sees things so much differently than humankind. When Jesus tells us that in order for a person to save their life they must lose it; this also must be hard to understand. In fact, it is easily understood, but pride in what you want will not allow such a person give up all for Christ. The gain is for those who can see beyond their present desires. Jesus compares the gain they wish to the loss of living for themselves.
Mark 8.35,36
35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
Who will accept such a requirement for heaven? Will the proud, self-seeking person follow Christ at such a cost or will the one who realizes their position, their sin and is poor in spirit? It is no more than Matthew 23.12 above, that God will exalt the humble as they are the only ones who will accept God’s way over their own.
You can understand God quite well when you realize the destructive things for the soul are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. These things all involve choice and the person who is wise in the world will fail every time. You need to be wise in the ways of God to succeed in life, not in the ways of the world.
1 Corinthians 1.27-29
27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
God differentiates those who love Him simply by those who love the world or the things of the world versus those who DO the will of God.
1 John 2.15-17
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
The Kingdom of God
Jesus is continually talking about the kingdom and how to get there and just as Matthew 5.3, Matthew 23.12 and in so many other verses, Jesus is pointing to the need to be humble.
Matthew 18.3,4
3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Young children more frequently than adults can take direction without all the evidence and in effect humble themselves in doing so. A humble adult will be the one who will listen and obey, because it is from God. They do not need to analyze God’s directions, but simply do the will of God.
Note: The reason a person follows the scripture and acts unquestionably in doing God’s will is because they have already determined that God is the God of the bible. Despite a world that thinks that one religion is as good as another and one “book of beliefs” is as good as another, there is only one belief system that is perfect. The bible is from God and only those who have never looked into it with an open mind know for certain that God is indeed the God of the bible. This is a separate study, but all you need to do is to read and study and you will see the wisdom of God, not humankind. You will see unity of purpose and a plan from the beginning to have humankind succeed. You will see about 40 different authors with one purpose over about 1600 years. You will see that everything fits together perfectly. An unbiased study of the many doctrines of humankind called religion reveals the inconsistency, the lack of purpose, the utter silliness, and usually the downright deceit of the authors. Invariably, you will also find a great deal of texts and or concepts or style taken from the pages of the bible.
The bible is God’s communication with humankind and it has a SPIRITUAL purpose and it is directed very personally to the salvation of your soul. In this context, you can understand it. You can understand that Matthew 5.3 is not about your earthly happiness, but about that which really matters – your soul. Happy is the person who is poor in spirit for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. These are the people who realize who they really are, namely sinners who need forgiveness and will seek God and find him. The world does not want to be poor in spirit, but pursue every possible thing to achieve earthly happiness. Proverbs 16.18, previously mentioned indicates, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” A haughty spirit is one that is arrogant in their own beliefs, closed minded to the way they see life and often will consider themselves superior. This attitude does not lead to seeking God and truth, since the proud person already knows the answers to life.
Although, the gospel is there for everyone, the proud, the wise of this world will not accept it.
1 Corinthians 1.18,19
18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
How we so tragically trust the teachings of humankind. We honor the wisdom of others and often as a result believe we are also wise in our opinions. We have figured it out, WE know what to do and how to live. Yet, God continually emphasizes not being high-minded in what we think or as the verse below indicates, “Do not be wise in your own opinion.”
Romans 12:16
16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
The most important thing in the life of any person is their soul and God gives the way to success. It is the preaching of the Christ, the gospel message. The proud person sees God’s solution as foolishness. God makes the wisdom of the world as a loss for whoever follows it’s philosophies. The wisdom of the wise will be destroyed. God looks similarly on the prudent, who over-analyze the word of God, in affect filtering God’s word with their own “filters” making their own rules or modifying the rules of God.
One thing that keeps people from a successful life is their refusal to obey God because He limits what they want. How can “I” live without such things as God refers to the “Works of the Flesh.” So a person fails because of pride. God has pointed out various things people want that He does condone and they represent a difficult test. Each person will choose to follow their own way or God’s way. Sin reveals the character of each person. It is pretty clear that the world loves sin and laughs at those who follow the preaching of the cross. God says the “works of the flesh” are destructive to what really matters in life – to the their soul. These are fools according to God, because they will miss out on what God wants for them – namely, that they inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5.19-21
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
God is very clear that He desires that all will be successful, but just as clear that all must come to obedience and specifically in the verse below to repentance.
2 Peter 3.9
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Since God cannot lie, everything God commands in relation to salvation needs to be heeded, needs to be obeyed.
Titus 1.2
2 in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began
It is interesting that God reveals that He cannot lie inasmuch as that makes all that He says a certainty. He goes on and indicates the powerful comparison that God will be true, while every man will be found to be a liar. If you take into account all scripture and thus have a good understanding of God (as He has revealed Himself) you will know that unless a person aligns with God he will be a liar. This should be a most serious warning to any one who teaches the scriptures – TEACH THE TRUTH or as 2 Timothy 4.2 says, “Preach the word.” If you look at all the religions, they indeed teach differently, they are liars unless they are aligned with what God has delivered.
Romans 3.4
4 ….. let God be true but every man a liar ….
God requires a certain attitude that includes great respect for God’s ways, for His word. God knows that as men vary from what has been delivered, they will preach something different than the truth, a different gospel, which absolutely WILL NOT provide salvation. The truth makes you free from sin and continuing to follow the truth will provide you the crown of life. Regardless if you teach error or believe error someone has taught you, it remains error and you will suffer the loss of heaven.
God defines the right and godly attitude
of a person who is pleasing to Him.
You will see characteristics
that are in opposition to the prideful person.
Philippians 2.3
3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
And in James:
James 3.16,17
16 For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Just as the proud will not inherit the kingdom of God, those “IN Christ” are to continue in humility – lowliness of mind esteeming others better than self, willing to yield, merciful, gentle, without partiality, without hypocrisy.
1 Peter 5.5-7
5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Humility is a requirement to succeed in life, to get IN Christ and needed throughout your life to finally achieve the crown of life.
How foolish is it to NOT obey God, who loves you, who cares for you, who has your success in mind. It will in some way be your pride that keeps you from giving your life for Christ. It is as simple as, “this is what God wants” and this is “what you want” and you will not humble yourself before God in obedience. You are so wise in the ways of the world and you are so prudent and like 1 Corinthians 1.18,19 the preaching of the cross is foolishness to you and consequently you are perishing.
God has planned salvation for those who are humble. It is a key ingredient for putting yourself on the road to heaven. Unless you humble yourself as these little children you shall in no way be found acceptable for heaven.
God wants those who can put away pride for Him, for His Son. This eliminates an awful lot of people, especially religious people who see the scriptures their way, who want God to be how they think He should be, and would even instruct God how He should judge.
So, look at what you must overcome and how humility is required every step of the way.
The gospel itself was born out of the humility of Jesus in obedience to the Father as He went to the terrible death.
Philippians 2:8
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
Every person who is successful in life will in humility obey the Lord, as Jesus in humility obeyed the Father. God in His infinite wisdom has created a way for sin to be forgiven and indeed just one way – no exceptions! If you could understand why people do not obey the perfect will of God, you would find the root cause to be pride. More often than not a person will never (because of pride) even learn what must be done. The scriptures indicate you should seek the Lord with your heart and soul, and how many care? Every soul will care at their end, but now during a person’s lifetime there are exceedingly few that care.
The most powerful evidence of God and His plan and very specifically His plan for you is available to all. Over and over, seek God with all your ability is the plea. Below it is, “those who diligently seek “Him.”
Hebrews 11.6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Jeremiah makes it clear that those who seek God with all their heart will find Him.
Jeremiah 29.13
13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jesus explains that a person should SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God. Will a person seek God above all else in their life?
Matthew 6.33
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Paul in Athens is dealing with what many would consider the wise men of their day. He points out that God is not like their perceptions and in fact He is a very personal God inasmuch as each person should seek the Lord and adds, “He is not far from each one of us.”
Acts 17.24-27
24 “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.
25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
In all ages God, God wants humankind to seek Him with all their heart and soul.
Deuteronomy 4:29
29 But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Today we have that which is perfect and it is our way to seek God and you can know the truth and understand that God is no further than your obedience. The COST OF PRIDE is your soul, your eternity, your loss of heaven as what you SEEK is not God, but your success in this present life.
Heaven Will Not Be Their Home
God makes it clear that pride comes before destruction.
God hates a prideful look.
17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
and in another place,
You will find that lying has a strong component of pride. We are often too proud to stand up to the truth about ourselves and in the most important thing in our life pride will destroy us. Namely, failing to face up to sin in our life and hoping all things will go well despite our lies. Some people will get away with lies during their lifetime and only perhaps suffer in their conscience, but no one will escape the ultimate wrath of their lies. People need the gospel message to have their sins forgiven.
> Exalt ourselves?
> Look good?
> Obtain our selfish desires?
> Make some undeserved gain?
> Obtain power?
There is some pride in all of us and even in small doses, it can be destructive as it grows to be problematic. It is fine to be pleased (proud of) your accomplishments if they are obtained honestly, but even so this can lead to an ego that must be satisfied. Life is about the next life, life is about the soul, life is a spiritual battle between good and evil and very expressly between you and sin. God has placed humility as a requirement for heaven. You may not realize this requirement if you have been taught by many in the so-called Christian world. This is because they have eliminated everything you must do for salvation and replaced it with an ambiguous mental acceptance of Jesus. It is ambiguous because it could mean hundreds of things in terms of your salvation. God is not ambiguous! God is careful and perfectly accurate. Believing entails faith sufficient to do what God says for salvation. Believe in Jesus and be saved does not mean a mere second of acceptance and then salvation is yours. How can you know this? Because the entirety of scripture teaches belief is not a mere mental acceptance, but belief means a willingness to do what is required for salvation, such as repentance, such as confessing Jesus before others and being baptized for remission of sins. Then after you become a child of God as in Galatians 3.26,27 you remain faithful, that is obedient unto your death. There is nothing ambiguous about that!
27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
In desperation, as part of selling the Protestant salvation concept, the doctrine of works was invented. The standard method of picking a verse here or there and taking them from either the immediate context or the general context of the entire bible was skillfully presented to those with itching ears – it was what people wanted to hear. A favorite “proof text” of those who support the doctrine of works is:
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
People need to humble themselves before God’s word and obey it and not be humble before the doctrines invented by humankind.
God makes this clear throughout scripture:
Than to go to the house of feasting,
For that is the end of all men;
And the living will take it to heart.
3 Sorrow is better than laughter,
For by a sad countenance the heart is made better.
4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning,
But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
It can be quite shocking how God sees things so much differently than humankind. When Jesus tells us that in order for a person to save their life they must lose it; this also must be hard to understand. In fact, it is easily understood, but pride in what you want will not allow such a person give up all for Christ. The gain is for those who can see beyond their present desires. Jesus compares the gain they wish to the loss of living for themselves.
36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?
You can understand God quite well when you realize the destructive things for the soul are the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. These things all involve choice and the person who is wise in the world will fail every time. You need to be wise in the ways of God to succeed in life, not in the ways of the world.
28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,
29 that no flesh should glory in His presence.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
Young children more frequently than adults can take direction without all the evidence and in effect humble themselves in doing so. A humble adult will be the one who will listen and obey, because it is from God. They do not need to analyze God’s directions, but simply do the will of God.
The bible is God’s communication with humankind and it has a SPIRITUAL purpose and it is directed very personally to the salvation of your soul. In this context, you can understand it. You can understand that Matthew 5.3 is not about your earthly happiness, but about that which really matters – your soul. Happy is the person who is poor in spirit for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. These are the people who realize who they really are, namely sinners who need forgiveness and will seek God and find him. The world does not want to be poor in spirit, but pursue every possible thing to achieve earthly happiness. Proverbs 16.18, previously mentioned indicates, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” A haughty spirit is one that is arrogant in their own beliefs, closed minded to the way they see life and often will consider themselves superior. This attitude does not lead to seeking God and truth, since the proud person already knows the answers to life.
19 For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
One thing that keeps people from a successful life is their refusal to obey God because He limits what they want. How can “I” live without such things as God refers to the “Works of the Flesh.” So a person fails because of pride. God has pointed out various things people want that He does condone and they represent a difficult test. Each person will choose to follow their own way or God’s way. Sin reveals the character of each person. It is pretty clear that the world loves sin and laughs at those who follow the preaching of the cross. God says the “works of the flesh” are destructive to what really matters in life – to the their soul. These are fools according to God, because they will miss out on what God wants for them – namely, that they inherit the kingdom of God.
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
God is very clear that He desires that all will be successful, but just as clear that all must come to obedience and specifically in the verse below to repentance.
It is interesting that God reveals that He cannot lie inasmuch as that makes all that He says a certainty. He goes on and indicates the powerful comparison that God will be true, while every man will be found to be a liar. If you take into account all scripture and thus have a good understanding of God (as He has revealed Himself) you will know that unless a person aligns with God he will be a liar. This should be a most serious warning to any one who teaches the scriptures – TEACH THE TRUTH or as 2 Timothy 4.2 says, “Preach the word.” If you look at all the religions, they indeed teach differently, they are liars unless they are aligned with what God has delivered.
God requires a certain attitude that includes great respect for God’s ways, for His word. God knows that as men vary from what has been delivered, they will preach something different than the truth, a different gospel, which absolutely WILL NOT provide salvation. The truth makes you free from sin and continuing to follow the truth will provide you the crown of life. Regardless if you teach error or believe error someone has taught you, it remains error and you will suffer the loss of heaven.
God defines the right and godly attitude
of a person who is pleasing to Him.
You will see characteristics
that are in opposition to the prideful person.
And in James:
17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
But gives grace to the humble.”
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
How foolish is it to NOT obey God, who loves you, who cares for you, who has your success in mind. It will in some way be your pride that keeps you from giving your life for Christ. It is as simple as, “this is what God wants” and this is “what you want” and you will not humble yourself before God in obedience. You are so wise in the ways of the world and you are so prudent and like 1 Corinthians 1.18,19 the preaching of the cross is foolishness to you and consequently you are perishing.
God has planned salvation for those who are humble. It is a key ingredient for putting yourself on the road to heaven. Unless you humble yourself as these little children you shall in no way be found acceptable for heaven.
God wants those who can put away pride for Him, for His Son. This eliminates an awful lot of people, especially religious people who see the scriptures their way, who want God to be how they think He should be, and would even instruct God how He should judge.
The gospel itself was born out of the humility of Jesus in obedience to the Father as He went to the terrible death.
Jeremiah makes it clear that those who seek God with all their heart will find Him.
Jesus explains that a person should SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God. Will a person seek God above all else in their life?
Paul in Athens is dealing with what many would consider the wise men of their day. He points out that God is not like their perceptions and in fact He is a very personal God inasmuch as each person should seek the Lord and adds, “He is not far from each one of us.”
25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
In all ages God, God wants humankind to seek Him with all their heart and soul.
Today we have that which is perfect and it is our way to seek God and you can know the truth and understand that God is no further than your obedience. The COST OF PRIDE is your soul, your eternity, your loss of heaven as what you SEEK is not God, but your success in this present life.
