What the Bible says about Pride as the Father of all Sins
(From Forerunner Commentary)

What is pride, the subtle yet powerful influence that most commentators believe is the father of all other sins? Hebrew, Greek, and English share the sense of the word's basic meaning: to be lifted up; to have an undue sense of one's importance or superiority.

Pride motivates us to exaggerate the value of our thoughts. It causes us to elevate our opinions and raises the importance of the fulfillment of what we perceive as our needs even above God's and, of course, decidedly higher than our fellowman's.

To be even-handed, the Bible shows that there is also a narrow, positive application of the word, and thus, depending on the context, it can be translated as "dignity" or "glory." For instance, Proverbs 16:31 reads, "The silver-haired head is a crown of glory, if it is found in the way of righteousness." This verse provides us with a slender sliver of insight that there is a natural pride to which God gives His approval. However, He qualifies it with "if it is found in the way of righteousness." Righteousness is the very thing pride sets itself to resist, making achieving a proper sense of pride more difficult. With God's own Word describing man at his best state being "altogether vanity" (Psalm 39:5 KJV), it certainly makes one wonder what we really have to be proud of!

In the context of the relationship between God and man, the overwhelming number of usages of the six Hebrew words and four Greek words translated as "pride" or its synonyms are negative and damning. These words are translated into such terms as "arrogance," "lifted up," "presumptuous," "loftiness," "proud," "proudly," "exalted," "overbearing," "condescending," "haughty," "superior," "disdainful," "scornful," "boasting," "self-esteem," and "contemptuous." Not all of these synonyms are in the King James or the New King James versions, but various modern translations use them depending on the context.

Pride carries, not only a lofty self-centeredness, but also a lively competitiveness against others that easily becomes a lustful, destroying enmity. It is highly critical, envious, and impatient, and it can be effortlessly stirred to anger, possessiveness, and suspicion of being taken advantage of. These characteristics are part of Satan's spirit. Each of them is destructive to loving family unity within the church.

John W. Ritenbaugh
Living By Faith and Human Pride

Genesis 3:5

In the original sin of Adam and Eve, Satan held out to them the promise of attainments beyond what they had experienced to that point in the Garden of Eden. Tempting them, he said, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). This helped motivate them to become greater than what God, their Creator, had assigned to them.

In Genesis 1:31, when God saw everything He had made, He declared it to be "very good." Pride is not "very good." It was not in them as God created them, but it entered into their thinking in Satan's presence. The very first exercise of that pride earned them death and ejection from God's presence and the Garden.

At some time following his creation by God, pride arose in Satan, and he uttered this desire, as written in Isaiah 14:13-14:

For you have said in your heart: "I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High."

His devious offer to Adam and Eve in the Garden is an echo of his challenge against God. This exercise of his pride separated him from God.

Pride, Satan's lofty feelings of superiority regarding his beauty, corrupted him. It deceived him into wanting even greater power to complement his splendor. After all, he deserved it, did he not? Notice how great he was in his own eyes!

John W. Ritenbaugh
Living By Faith and Human Pride

Psalm 10:3-4

Here we see pride as a form of idolatry. It generates boasting—the proud brags about his heart's desire. He vaunts himself and drives himself toward what he covets. Consider this in relation to Helel, the being who became Satan. He drove himself to make war against God, a war that anybody in his right mind could see he could not possibly win. But his pride obliterated his ability to see the reality of his actions. And if it affected Helel that way, who could see God with his own eyes, what will it do to a human? In the same way, it will drive him toward what he covets and against God.

Clearly, what they seek is mammon—material things—and Jesus said you cannot serve God and mammon. The proud person actually serves the mammon; it has become his god. One cannot serve both God and mammon because they are opposites. Pride, then, drives a wedge between a man and God. It plows the way before the proud person, opening up an easy path in the wrong direction. Ultimately, the proud person renounces or defies God while elevating himself and his desires. Therefore, he puts inordinate confidence in himself and his abilities, but he plows on without seeking God's counsel through prayer, study, or the counsel of others.

Commentators insist that, even though these verses say God is in none of his thoughts, the proud person is not really an atheist. Where does an idea like this come from? It comes from examples like the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. The proud Pharisee vaunted and exalted himself, yet where was he? In the Temple praying! Did he believe in God? Yes, he did. Thus, commentators conclude that the proud person does not totally dismiss God.

He is not really an atheist, but he has a perverted conception of God. He renounces Him, though perhaps not verbally, in what he does and in his attitude toward himself and others. These show that he is really not seeking God. The proud person may openly express belief in God but choose not to have Him present in his life. He is thus selective in applying the Word of God to himself, ignoring anything that would reduce his self-esteem.

Through the years, I have observed in counseling many couples with marital problems that the husband often has a strong ego problem, and he is unwilling to seek help. Most of the time, it is the wife who seeks it. The man thinks he can handle it himself. Also, his pride breeds fear of exposure, which would undermine his self-image. His image of himself as masterful would suffer damage if he had to counsel with a minister about his marriage. He imagines the minister will think less of him—and he thinks even less of himself because, to him, seeking help is a sign of weakness.

What an interesting pretzel we twist ourselves into to maintain our pride!

John W. Ritenbaugh
Faith (Part Six)


 

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