What really is Pride & what does it mean to "humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God..." entail?

Humility was a most prominent virtue of Peter. He humbled himself (actually, he was humbled) under God's mighty hand and was exalted in due time. His vice was Pride which goes before a fall. His humility was a gift of Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Recall he wrote in 1 Peter 5-

“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.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

These verses have been given a lot of false interpretations, including-

“Do your best to obey the Law, do the right thing, live a godly life and be sinless so that the devil won’t catch you napping in sins and devour you.”

Believer, this is the sure way to be devoured by Satan! Peter was writing from experience when he wrote 1 Peter 5. Remember Christ told Peter as He predicted his then upcoming denials-

"31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”"

Peter meant well. He knew 100% that he could never deny Jesus. His stance seems noble to many of us, but it is nothing but Pride that goes before a fall. The arm of flesh (will-power/human effort at obedience) will fail.

Peter seemed to be making good on his resolve to stand as he slashed off the ear of Malchus the high priest's servant in Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus, a work that Christ did not sanction. Peter had no idea that he had courage only because Christ was near. Satan could not come near to try to devour- just as our adversary the devil can only devour sheep that have been cut off from their Shepherd. See how this happens in Galtians 5:4-

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the Law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's Grace."

When Christ his Strength departed from him, Peter lied three times in the very area that he'd previously boasted. After his pride (in self) came his fall. See what God's word says about the non-existent good in man and that useless will-power that many pridefully depend on in their quest to excel, achieve good and live a godly life as was Paul's experience in Romans 7:18-

“For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. But Satan appeals to Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience or achieving good) that will fail and causes man to think:

"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can produce good, keep the law and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power. I can and I must do works to be godly aka "be like God" or (as it was with Judas) to prove to God that I am truly sorry for my sins.”

This is the definition of pride: Man thinking that he has or can produce an iota of good by his own will-power/human effort aka arm of flesh. It entails putting confidence in self towards the achievement of good when God's word says "The arm of flesh will fail."

Christ says: "There is none good but God."

Believer, by Grace, don't let any devourer in pastor's clothing bully you or drive you into the arms of guilt, condemnation and judgment with that horrid antichrist "Yes you have Grace but at least you still have to try to be good" part-Law/part-Grace, "neither cold nor hot" mixture false doctrine. As if Grace (Christ Himself) who "gave His life to free us from every kind of sin" (Titus 2:14) is a free pass to commit sins! Any attempt to do so ultimately ends with man falling flat on his face. Like Peter. Like Adam and Eve. Or even like Judas who was devoured by our adversary the devil after his puny arm of flesh-driven efforts at trying to be good failed.

Recall "There is none good but God." To try to be good (be like God) by your own puny human strength is to follow that false doctrine that Satan preached to Eve in Eden. We forget that Satan did not tempt Eve to lie or steal. He deceived her into trying to attain godliness (be good like God) by her own power. Adam and Eve's eyes were opened quite alright due to their prideful human striving at attaining godliness. But their knowledge of good and evil caused sin and death to reign in their lives. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law that many are trying to keep in order to be godly in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG.)

When deployed to the pursuit of godliness, the knowledge of good and evil (a picture of the law which gives the same knowledge,) only leads to sin and death. The good one does under law kills just as fast as the bad. Bear in mind what "law" encompasses- Romans 2-

"Gentiles do not have the law. Sometimes they just naturally do what the law requires. They are a law for themselves. This is true even though they don’t have the law. 15 They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts. The way their minds judge them proves this fact. Sometimes their thoughts find them guilty. At other times their thoughts find them not guilty."

This is why a good CEO can do a good and in his opinion "lawful" thing by rewarding a hardworking employee with a new car but the grateful employee and his family end up dying in a car crash on their way home from dedicating the same car to God in their church. Christ is not peripheral to life. He is the centrality ....no the Totality of life. Colossians 1:17 says of Him:

"And He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together)."

The deadly application of the knowledge of good and evil is not limited to Sundays or "church things." It permeates career, family, hobbies, giving, every facet of life. What our common sense tells us is the right/lawful thing to do is often not the Spirit thing to do. When your believing is right, right living will follow. Putting absolutely no confidence in "self" and having utter confidence in Christ, we get to make the right decisions that don't end up in sin and death. Proverbs 11:2 says-

"When you act with presumption,

convinced that you’re right,

don’t be surprised if you fall flat on your face!

But walking in humility helps you to make wise decisions."

How Peter fell flat on his face when he presumed to have some good and will-power to do the right thing based on his knowledge of good and evil! Only God's FREELY-given blessings makes one rich without adding sorrow with it.

Peter pridefully trusted in his own strength to be good (like God.) He thought that the sin of denying Christ (bearing false witness) was beneath him. He thought God was wrong when he said he would fail, as do some in the church who depend on their will-power/human effort to achieve good, curb sins or obtain godly characteristics (be like God.) No humility here.

Point to note here: our adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking sheep who pridefully boast in and are trying by their own human strength to achieve good, obey the law and be godly (be like God) so such can be cut off from Christ (Galatians 5:4.) where he can sift them like wheat. The arm of flesh will fail. When such keep on trying to restore themselves by the same arm of flesh like Judas and unlike Peter, Satan can devour.

The law is not of faith.

Those who, like Judas, fail and still pridefully look to the law (human effort at obedience) to restore themselves or get back into God's good graces are devourable. More accusation followed by guilt, condemnation, depression and even suicide (like Judas) is the result: What do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide today, even among unbelievers? It is guilt for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not being able to measure up to particular standards - no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse for his sin.

Recall that we “Resist him (the devil,) steadfast in the faith,” Dependence on human effort or will-power in the quest to live right or attain godliness (trying to keep the Law) is being faithless. Here, Satan can devour. None can stand here because the arm of flesh will fail. The reason why many churchgoers think that they have some good in them to obey the law is because God did not allow them to get tempted beyond what they can bear. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some churchgoers think that some sins are beneath them, just as Peter did before Satan sifted him like wheat. Proverbs 16:18 counsels us-

"Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall."

See The Passion Translation: "Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure. The higher you lift up yourself in pride, the harder you’ll fall in disgrace."

Peter fell three times as Christ said he would because he prided himself in his own strength to stand, but his faith did not fail. Peter didn't try to make his situation worse as Judas did by going to confess the truth to his accusers in order to restore himself before God or to prove a point to Jesus. He would have if he could. It wasn't as if he restrained himself from going to confess the truth. The disciples were still in hiding on resurrection day. He could not. He was weak, broken, contrite and powerless.

He was humbled.

He saw what many churchgoers today are yet to realise- that there is no good in man of himself; that no sin is beneath anybody; that the reason why we are not committing particular sins and even excel in what we do is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear. He experienced 1 Corinthians 10-

12"So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God was not screening and filtering our temptations/trials, even those ones where we fail like Peter did, we would all see the extent of the sinfulness of human nature expressed in ourselves. Recall that our lives are not peripheral to Christ. Christ is the centrality....no totality of life. So this attainment of godly characteristics and the influence of Pride permeates career, family and every other facet of life.

As it was with Peter, our failures should teach us the futility of trusting in the flesh (human effort) and to utterly trust in Christ for salvation from all earthly ills, even salvation from sins.

Thought to clarify that law-keeping is anything at all that one does in order to earn even a smidgen of God's blessings, goodwill and salvation (from poverty, stupid mistakes at work, lack, low IQ, whatever) in general that Christ died for us to freely have. Presuming to be able to achieve anything by the power of the arm of flesh much less obey the Law in order to be godly seems like the right thing to do. It is even expected. But in the sight of God who so loves us that gave His own Son up for us to make us righteous/godly (Romans 5:9,) it is nothing but foolishness and arrogance

The Law that Peter pridefully thought he could keep had brought him to the end of his tether, as it did many of us who are under God's saving Grace and are experiencing salvation from sin and death today. See the purpose of the Law that many depend on to make them godly:

Galatians 3:19 - "Why then was the law given? It was meant to be an intermediary agreement added after God gave the promise of the coming One! It was given to show men how guilty they are, and it remained in force until the Seed was born to fulfill the promises given to Abraham."

Also Romans 3:19-20- "Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are."

Also Romans 5:20- "The law was given so that sin would increase. But where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more."

Unlike Judas whose repentance was pride in the arm of flesh-driven, Peter humbly resisted the Accuser's accusation of guilt for his sin and the temptation to right himself with God and be "good again" (be like God) by doing what the law commands; as we who are in Christ also get to do by Grace - undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. This is what it means to be steadfast in the faith: putting no confidence in the flesh (human effort) and believing that God still sees us as righteous through Christ's blood, even when Satan comes at us with all kinds of legal accusations because of our sins. See Romans 5:9-

“And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

This is how we resist our adversary the devil who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom to devour (1 Peter 5 ) - by being "steadfast in the faith" - by confessing our righteousness in Christ that we believe in our heart whenever Satan the Accuser tries to accuse us with the law or attempts to make us take up the guilt and punishment for sins that Christ died to free us from. This is how we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God: IN SPITE OF OUR MANY SUCCESSES AND THE MANY GOOD WORKS THAT WE DO, we see that of ourselves, we have no power to produce any good or be righteous. Christ in us gets all the glory. We cast all of our cares on Jesus as Peter did after he fell. He always cares for us.

Recall the phrase “because your adversary the devil” in 1 Peter 5 above? Adversary here is translated from the Greek word antidikos (from anti and dike) meaning “opponent in a suit of law” or “prosecuting attorney arguing a case-at-law”

Satan is a lawyer. "Ha Satan" is literally "prosecutor at law" in Hebrew. Satan the Accuser can't go about slapping curses, sickness and poverty on people, devouring in an ad hoc, reckless fashion. Like any prosecutor in any earthly court of law, he has no power to rule or pass judgment on anybody. He can only accuse people who don't know or who reject God's abundance of Grace and their birthright in Christ (God's gift of righteousness) in order to get a guilty plea from the accused and then recommend the harshest sentence: Death preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills. Remember Adam did not drop dead physically on the day his death sentence came into effect. Death is a process and a consequence of disobedience.

Only those whose righteousness is from the Lord can resist Satan's weapon of fiery darts of accusation based on the Law and tongues that rise against mankind to condemn as we see in Isaiah 54:17-

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord.”

Stand before God the Righteous Judge in your own righteousness, ability to obey the law or ability to produce good (this is Pride) and be condemned: "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. "Romans 3:20. The wages of sin is death. As it is in any earthly court of law, those who take up the guilt of their sins are condemned to die. Such spend time on death-row before they are executed – devoured by our adversary the devil.

Many churchgoers are on "death-row," suffering symptoms of the curse of the law that Christ died to redeem us from. This is the devil devouring. This is akin to a cast sheep (fallen on its back with all fours up in the air) that has been cut off from its Shepherd. It can never right itself. Wolves and other devourers devour it alive. It’s no coincidence that Christ calls us His sheep and He is our Shepherd. And how does a believer get cut off from Christ? See Galatians 5:4—

“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.”

This verse was not written to non-believers. It was written to Christians who were deceived into trying to keep the law to maintain their salvation. No steadfast faith here. The law is not of faith so the devil can devour. Satan sought to devour Judas and hounded him with guilt for his sins, but Judas was not steadfast in the faith. He did not humble himself under the mighty hand of God. He pridefully did the seemingly good thing of turning to the Law (human effort at obedience) to restore himself before God. The Law is not of Faith. The letter kills. Judas hung himself, devoured by Satan.

Beloved of God, this is the crux of the gospel of Christ: Righteousness by faith. Romans 5:9 says of God:

"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."

Stand humbled before God the Righteous Judge in the blood-bought righteousness of Jesus Christ our Bearer of sins, Saviour and Advocate (Jesus is also a Lawyer) with absolutely no confidence whatsoever in your own ability to stand or produce good and God sees you as righteous through and through; Satan cannot devour you and you will never experience the wrath of God.

Satan has to seek out people who are not steadfast in the faith to devour- those who show their lack of humility by pridefully trying to obey the law in order to get right with God or prove that they are “good people.” Such sheep are cut off from Christ the Good Shepherd and so become prey for devourers when they get cast aka fall into sin. Believers, let's not be found here. Like any prosecuting attorney, the weapon of Satan is accusations for sins committed so that the judgment/curse of the law can follow. All sheep that are without Christ as their Shepherd, Righteousness and Saviour from sin and death can be devoured when they fall.

Peter fell three times eventually because he boasted in his own strength to stand, but his faith did not fail. Unlike Judas, he resisted the Accuser's accusation of guilt for his sin and the temptation to right himself with God by doing what the law commands; he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God, as we who are in Christ also get to do by Grace. It's all got to do with putting no confidence in the flesh aka our ability to be godly by human effort. Instead, we look to Christ our Righteousness for salvation. We pull down Satan's strongholds, cast down imaginations and bring every thought into captivity by confessing our righteousness that proceeds from the obedience of Christ-

Satan is looking for people who can fall for his deceit of taking pride in their ability to achieve good (be like God) so he can test their non-existent good and will-power to stand. So by God's Grace, remember:

"That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. 9 But resist him, be firm in your faith [against his attack—rooted, established, immovable], knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters throughout the world. [You do not suffer alone.] 10 After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace [who imparts His blessing and favor], who called you to His own eternal glory in Christ, will Himself complete, confirm, strengthen, and establish you [making you what you ought to be]. 11 To Him be dominion (power, authority, sovereignty) forever and ever. Amen."

Peter went through this. He was proud of his non-existient ability to be good like God. He fell three times after he boasted in himself. He suffered remorse because of his denial of Christ. Satan hounded him with guilt for his sin but he did not pridefully try to do restitution aka defend, restore or right himself with God by human effort (law-keeping) like Judas did. His faith dis not fail and this too was a gift of Grace. Peter didn't try to make his situation worse as Judas did by going to confess the truth to his accusers in order to restore himself before God or to prove a point to Jesus. He would have if he could. It wasn't as if he restrained himself by his will-power from going to confess the truth. The disciples were still in hiding on resurrection day. He could not. He was weak, broken, contrite and powerless.

He was humbled.

He saw what many churchgoers today are yet to realise- that there is no good in man of himself; that no sin is beneath anybody; that the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear.

Judas too was hounded with guilt and remorse but he pridefully depended on (human effort at keeping) the law to right/restore himself with God and was devoured. He died. This pride thing always subtly presents itself as a good thing.

Believer, Peter humbly depended on God's saving grace for His righteousness and restoration. Christ restored Him. Filled with the Holy Spirit and transformed to boldness, he went on to preach a sermon where three thousand people got saved, in full glare of the religious Pharisees who previously put fear in him and who were still out to kill Christ's disciples. Christ also gave this disciple that many of us see as “failed the most" charge of His sheep. This is an example of “where sin increased, God’s grace increased even more-" a verse that antichrist pastors tend to avoid. GRACE STAMPS OUT SINS.

1 Peter 5:9-11 above happened to Peter whose denial of Christ and ultimately, His restoration gives us lessons on Pride and Humility and we follow only by Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.

In the event that you fail like Peter, by God’s Grace, don’t turn to law (what you think you can do to restore yourself before God) to get you out of your mess as Judas did. Turn to Grace. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and by Grace, stand firm in the faith,

“And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in His eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, He will set you firmly in place and build you up.” 1 Peter 5:10.

Just as He did for Peter.

By Grace, keep on confessing with your mouth your righteousness in Christ that you believe in your heart and salvation (sótéria in the original Greek) from sins, stupid mistakes, lack, sickness and all ills will follow. Romans 10:9-10:

“9 Say with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord.” Believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead. Then you will be saved. 10 With your heart you believe and are made right with God. With your mouth you say what you believe. And so you are saved.”

Believe Right and you will Live Right.