Last week I began a segment on humility, and I want to continue to develop the concept that we are expected to demonstrate humility as part of our Christian calling and walk with the Lord. Last week I utilized the text from James 4:6-10, to note the need to humble ourselves before the Lord, in brokenness, sorrow and mourning over our sinfulness (MacArthur, 1998). I also began to explore the depravity of humankind because of sin, utilizing Ralph Venning’s book “The Sinfulness of Sin” to elaborate on how vile, offensive and in opposition to God is our sin. Even though we are utterly sinful and God is utterly holy, God has offered forgiveness instead of judgment for our sins through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Lord. Although we deserve eternal punishment for our sin, God has offered forgiveness through repentance and faith, and therefore we need to approach Him in humility for what He has done for us on the cross. However, many times it is not until we really understand and acknowledge how offensive our sin is to God, that we can begin to demonstrate true humility toward the one and only Holy God. The goal this week is to continue to utilize Venning’s book on “The Sinfulness of Sin” to develop a deeper understanding of the chasm between our sin and God, and the expectation to humble ourselves before the Lord (James 4:10).
The text for this week’s discussion is Proverbs 22:4, NIV: “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” I appreciate Matthew Henry’s understanding of this verse through stating that “We must so reverence God’s majesty and authority as to submit with all humility to the commands of his word and the disposals of his providence.” He goes on to note that “We must have such low thoughts of ourselves as to behave humbly towards God and man.” We need to genuinely recognize our sinfulness with reverence, fear and trembling, and in love, being careful not to approach God’s majesty and holiness with a cavalier spirit (Piper).
Having both a healthy fear of the Lord and demonstrating a true humbleness before God can be facilitated through grasping the sinfulness of man contrasted with the holiness of God, and in understanding how this gulf completely separates us from God. This is where Ralph Venning continues to help us in understanding this gap through elaborating on specific areas where sin is in direct opposition to God. A main point Venning notes is that “Sin is contrary to all the names and attributes of God.” First, sin undermines the sovereignty of God by claiming itself to be equal to God. (see 2 Thessalonians 2:4, NIV: He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God”). We need only to look at the beginning, to Adam and Eve, to see how their sin of pride and their desire to be like God undermined God’s sovereignty and separated Adam and Eve from their Creator (see Genesis 3:4-6, NIV, ‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the woman. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”). It reminds me; how dare the pot say to the potter, you did not make me (see Isaiah 29:16).
Venning also points out that sin “denies God’s all-sufficiency. Sin deceives us into thinking that God is not suffice for all of our needs, and therefore, through our sinful nature we seek worldly desires and pleasures to fulfill those cravings (see James 1:14-15, NIV: “but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death”). Additionally, the writer articulates how “sin is contrary to the image of God, in which man was made.” Although “God created mankind in his own image” (Genesis 1:27, NIV), Venning notes that sin is “contrary to this image, as much unlike it as deformity and ugliness is unlike handsomeness and beauty, as darkness is to light, as hell to heaven. Yes, and there is more too: sin is the Devil’s image. When God made man, he made him in his own image; so when the Devil made man sin, he thereby made him his own image and likeness”.
And ultimately, according to Venning, sin “despises the riches of God’s goodness.” As Paul notes in Romans 2:4 (NIV), “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” For sin denies the goodness of God and the treasures He has instore for those who believe, and it leads us down the wide road to death and destruction (Philippians 4:19, NIV). But it is within the depths of this sin, which is in full opposition to God, and through Christ’s calling, that we can begin to understand the depravity of our sin and the need for a savior (2 Timothy 1:9, NIV: “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity”).
Conclusion:
For me, the biggest challenge in exploring “the sinfulness of sin” is that if I am completely honest with myself, it also exposes my utter sinfulness. It also challenges me to recognize I am prideful. And it forces me to continue to strive to better understand what it truly means to humble myself before the Lord. The Apostle Paul, the writer of approximately half of the books of the New Testament and called to be the apostle to the Gentiles (see Romans 11:13), one who you would think could boast, provides a glimpse of what it looks like to walk humbly with your God in Philippians 3:7-14: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. I hope and pray that in reading these posts related to sin and humility they challenge you to in the moment and from here forward to “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called ‘us’ heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
Psalm 103
“Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.19 The Lord has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all. Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.Praise the Lord, my soul.”
Resources:
Henry, Matthew. Matthew Henry Commentary, Proverbs 22. https://www.christianity.com/bible/commentary/matthew-henry-complete/proverbs/22?amp=1
MacArthur, John (1998). The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: James.
Piper, John “What does it mean for the Christian to Fear God”. https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/what-does-it-mean-for-the-christian-to-fear-god
The Holy Bible. New International Version. Venning, Ralph (1669).
The Sinfulness of Sin. https://www.apuritansmind.com/wp-content/uploads/FREEEBOOKS/TheSinfulnessofSin-RalphVenning.pdf