Arrogance vs. Humility
Arrogance is saying that we don’t need God or His plan; that we have a plan of our own. Arrogance is the first in a list of sins in Proverbs 6:17-19 that God hates. Arrogance is part of all sin, if we really examine it. Any time we commit a sin we are, in essence, saying that our way is better than God’s way.
This is exactly what Satan (Lucifer) did in eternity-past when he rebelled against God. We find a reference to this in Isaiah 14:12-14. This is commonly called “The Five I Wills of Satan.” The amazing thing is that Satan is still arrogant, even after his fall. However, it should not be surprising to us that Satan is still an arrogant being considering he attempted to overthrow God.
Arrogance comes in many forms: self-justification, self-deception,self-absorption andself-righteousness.
Self-justificationis illustrated for us in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. According to Genesis 3:8-13, Adam blamed Eve for his failure and Eve blamed Satan. We would say today in our vernacular “It’s not my fault, the Devil made me do it.” Or “I’m a victim of my environment” or “I have a disease” or “it’s my parent’s fault.” Self-justification rejects any personal responsibility for the actions of a person. Self-justification is a dangerous form of arrogance. Just look what it led to in the Garden of Eden!
Self-deceptionis another deadly form of arrogance as we see from I John 1:8-10. When a person is involved in practicing any pattern of sin over a prolonged period of time it is easy to deceive oneself into believing that what you are doing is not sin at all. Self-deception can also be thinking about yourself in a conceited manner. For example, thinking that you are better, holier, more spiritual or closer to God that other believers. Self-deception can lead a person right into self-absorption.
Self-absorptionis total preoccupation with self. The scriptural illustration of this form of arrogance is the Rich Young Ruler of Matthew 19:16-22. Here we have a story of a man that came to Jesus asking what he could do to inherit eternal life. Just like our story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus illustrated to this man that he was a sinner in need of a Savior. It was the Rich Young Ruler’s self-absorption that kept him out of Heaven. Blinded by his riches and possessions, he was unwilling to recognize his need for a Savior.
He was much like the Scribes and Pharisees (the religious leaders of Israel at the time of Christ), which were full of themselves to the point of having their consciences seared (unable to recognize their own sinfulness). We, as believers in Christ, are to be occupied with Christ, not ourselves. (Philippians 2:5: Hebrews 12:2)
Self-righteousness is running rampant in society today, especially in church organizations. Self-righteous arrogance totally ignores God’s righteousness in an attempt to establish one’s own righteousness. Believers are also guilty of this destructive sin. Paul recognizes it in the nation of Israel in Romans 10:2-3. What we need to realize is that as believers in Jesus Christ we already possess God’s righteousness. Any attempt on our part to establish our own human righteousness as a means of gaining God’s favor, is a waste of valuable time. Instead, we could be using that time to build our lives on God’s righteousness already resident in our souls.
God is not impressed with our human righteousness beforeor after salvation. God is impressed only with His own righteousness, which we possess, and this is the only means of blessing from Him. In other words, God blesses us based on His integrity, His righteousness and His justice. As we have studied, if you want increased blessing from God, you must increase your capacity to receive blessing from God, by the consistent intake of His Word. God’s blessings are always given by means of His grace.
Grace is all that God is free to do for the believer because of Jesus Christ. Grace is neither deserved nor earned. God’s grace is not only the basis for salvation, it is also the basis for the Christian Way of Life. Adjustment to the grace of God eliminates all self-righteous arrogance when in operation (under the control of the Holy Spirit).
How can we recognize our own attempts to establish our self-righteousness? Our attitude towards others and towards God is the indicator. When our attitude towards others is one of criticism or judgment of their failures, whether real or imagined, we are exhibiting self-righteous arrogance. Remember, it is not our job as Christians to criticize or judge others. We need to take care of our own spiritual lives and leave the lives of other believers in the hands of God. This includes our spouses!
I Thessalonians 4:11-12 says, “Study to live a quiet life and mind your own business, working with your own hands, that you may gain the respect of the unbeliever and may have lack of nothing.”
When our attitude toward God is “look what I have done for you,” we are exhibiting self-righteous arrogance. Why? Because we are attempting to force God to love us or bless us on the basis of our good works. What is the opposite of “works?” Grace, of course! Instead of trying to coerce God by our “good deeds,” we need to LEARN, BELIEVE andAPPLYthe Word of God.
When God’s system of grace is applied to the life, the “less advanced” believer will stop looking at the “more mature” believer with a critical attitude, waiting for them to fail. The “more mature” believer, on the other hand, will stop looking at the “less advanced” believer with intolerance. All believers will realize that the only reason that they are alive and sustained is due to the righteousness of God indwelling them.
This is the only way that we are going to be able to relax and enjoy our lives as believers. When you are under pressure to “perform,” you are normally miserable, especially if you feel you will never measure up to God’s perfect standards. So, the key to victory over arrogance is humility.
Humility is a mental attitude of grace. Being humble is being grace oriented to life. Humility recognizes that everything in life depends on Who and what God is and has done for us. Humility is not “Milton milk toast,” telling everyone about your failures or attempting to show others how pitiful you are! Humility causes a believer to think correctly about himself. For example, he knows that his production as a believer is through the filling (control) of the Holy Spirit, which is a grace function. He also knows that everything that he is or has is because of God’s matchless grace. Therefore, he can be relaxed, confident and single-minded about his life. Humility recognizes the rights of others, eliminating both inferiority and superiority complexes, which means our attitude is one of “live and let live.” Humility gives the believer a personal sense of destiny (one of the Problem-Solving Devices). (I Corinthians 4:7; Galatians 5:22-23; James 1:17)
Humility greatly increases the learning of Bible doctrine because it means that you are teachable. Arrogant believers already know all they need to know. Humble believers recognize that they will never know it all but strive to learn as much as they can on their way to spiritual maturity and beyond.
Romans 12:1-3 “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this World System, but be transformed by the renovation of your thinking, that you may discover what the good and perfect will of God is for you. For through the grace that is given to me I say to every person among you to stop thinking of self in terms of arrogance, but to think in terms of sound judgement (humility) since God has allotted to each of us a measure of faith.