Glory to Man Alone or Glory to God Alone?

The pride of life is really one huge problem why people get stuck in whatever belief system they have. If it appeals to their pride they will certainly love to stay in it. For the world, if it feels good then just do it. People today just want to credit themselves for everything. They want to feel good about themselves and their ego. 
1 John 2:16 
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Let's take a look at the first person who fell because of pride. It was Satan himself. Isaiah 14:12-14 reveals the problem of Satan. If you think about what he said in his heart, it was all about himself. Satan wanted to be like God. He had his ego which kicked him out of Heaven. The world today knowingly or unknowingly worships Satan. I think Satan must be very proud of himself having misled most of the world astray. Just think about it you have more people following Satan than God (Matthew 7:13-14). So little ever find the way of life and so many enjoy the broad way to destruction. Satan one way or another uses the pride of life to establish his evil empire and most people even aren't even aware of that!

Speaking of which it seems that Cain killed Abel because of the pride of life. Cain thought he was good enough on his own. God rejected Cain's offering. Cain may have brought his best but his attitude wasn't right with God. It's highly possible that God asked for a blood sacrifice but Cain wanted none of it. Cain wanted to do it his way and thus begun the rise of the sinful pre-Flood Cainite civilization. The Flood came but it didn't end the problem. The family of Ham was so deeply ungodly. Ham's son Cush had a son named Nimrod the mighty hunter came to restart another sinful civilization and urged people to rebel against God. Years later, more and more servants of Satan have their pride filling them up like how Haman's own pride led to his destruction (Proverbs 16:18).

Why is the Gospel of Jesus Christ so repulsive to sinful man? It doesn't cater to pride. It demands humility and acceptance of one's sinful weaknesses. A person who's hardened in one's sinful pride can't savingly believe. They would always think that they are basically good even when they're not. The worse can be a person can be so sinful yet they think they're so righteous. Judges' theme has been that people did what was right in their own eyes. They think they're good enough for Heaven but that's not the case. Salvation from sin has never been an issue of self but an issue of God's saving grace. A person's change of lifestyle from sin to the Savior is not one's own effort but the grace of God since men have been so fallen that they can't really save themselves (1 Corinthians 6:9-11, 15:10, Ephesians 2:8-10, Titus 2:11-14).

The Christian life hasn't been all about what Christians can do by themselves but what God can do through them. 2 Corinthians 12:6-8 says that God won't remove the Christian's weakness lest they exalt themselves beyond measure. I always feel that every time that I feel like bragging that God always finds a way to humble me. Every time I feel my ego is on the way of my sanctification I feel the loving hand of God that chastises me. God always trims whatever prevents the Christian from bearing fruit because He knows that they can be fruitful (John 15:1-8). It's always about God's grace and not the person's capacity. Just thinking about how it's God's work and not mine reminds me that some misfortunes in my life may be a way of God to keep me humble and on track for His work.

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