Exhortation – Page 4

Thy Name In Vain

Taking God’s name in vain is a serious offense: Jehovah will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His name in vain. (Ex 20:7) He introduces this concept in the Decalogue as the last command of three relating how we’re to treat God Himself. What does it mean, to take God’s name in vain?

Traditionally, it appears to have been understood to mean we’re not to speak or write God’s name inappropriately, which is certainly dishonoring to God. (Ps 139:20) Yet a careful look at the text itself indicates this is not the whole of the matter; it is perhaps only periphery.

The command does not refer to speaking or writing God’s name, but to taking His name, taking it up, bearing it, carrying it along. The Hebrew is נָשָׂא, nasah, to bear. Cain chooses this word in his complaint, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.” (Ge 4:13), and God uses it to describe how the high priest continually bears the names of Israel upon his heart in the breastplate (Ex 28:29), and also how he bears their judgment before Jehovah. (30) So, taking Jehovah’s name seems to be more about taking it upon one’s self, associating and personally identifying with it … with Him.

So, what then does it mean to take up Jehovah’s name, or to associate ourselves with it, in vain? Vain is the Hebrew שָׁוְא, shav, meaning empty, false, deceitful. It is used in the command to not raise a false report, to mislead and give the wrong impression. (Ex 23:1)

Thus, taking God’s name in vain is to falsely identify and associate ourselves with God by appealing to His name and character when we aren’t submitted to Him, not loyal to Him, not faithful to Him. It would include speaking on His behalf when He hasn’t called us to do so and told us what to say. (De 18:20) It also would describe identifying ourselves as God’s servants or representatives under false pretenses or ulterior motives, to gain the respect of and/or otherwise influence, manipulate or control others, using God to benefit ourselves; this is the heart of all false religion.

When the disobedient become impostors, infiltrating the Faith, presenting themselves as Christ’s disciples and servants (2Co 11:15), they evidently do more harm to the name and reputation of God (Tit 2:5) than those who merely speak or write His name in appropriately. When we falsely represent Him to others, who then associate God Himself with our sins and indiscretions and blaspheme Him because of us. (Ro 2:24), God will not overlook this; He will hold each of us accountable for how we leverage and exploit our relationship with Him.

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Anathema Maranatha

Eternal hellfire and brimstone is seldom mentioned anymore, and the little we do hear about it is often tearless (Ph 3:18), yet Christ warns us all to avoid Hell at any cost. (Mt 5:29-30) Who among us still races headlong into this dreadful end? (Is 33:14)

How many souls are actually going to make it to Heaven? One in a thousand? (Ec 7:28) One in ten thousand? If the antediluvian proportion of His elect is any indication (one in a billion — 1Pe 3:20) it’s only a remnant (Ro 11:5); very, very few. (Mt 7:14)

The reality is all who don’t love Jesus Christ will be anathema maranatha: cursed when Christ returns (1Co 16:22); this is very nearly everyone. (Mt 7:13)

By inference, all who aren’t keeping and obeying the words of Christ are headed to Hell. (Jn 14:23) Those who don’t obey Him don’t love Him. (24a)

Similarly, all who mind earthly things, who focus more on temporal concerns than on God’s kingdom, these folk are also headed to Hell. (Php 3:19) The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches distract them (Mt 13:22), because these also do not love Him.

Who’s living as if they’re elect? Who is obeying Jesus Christ today (Mt 7:21), cherishing His Words (Col 3:16), the words of Torah (Ro 7:22), hiding them in their hearts and meditating on them day and night as a manner of life? dedicated to Him and to His glory? Almost no one. It shouldn’t surprise us, but it’s sobering.

The fact people aren’t aware of their dreadful, eternal fate is irrelevant; science and/or religion may give peace for the moment, but confidence without holiness is an illusion, deception. (He 12:14) They’re stumbling heedless over the fathomless depths of Hell itself every moment of their lives, and will fall into it suddenly, utterly consumed with terrors. (Ps 73:18-19)

How are we supposed to live in light of this? First, we diligently make our own election sure (2Pe 1:10), working out our own salvation with fear and trembling (Php 2:12), examining ourselves in light of God’s revelation whether we truly are in the faith, and prove it out for ourselves. (2Co 13:5) Are the characteristics which accompany salvation evident in our own lives? (He 6:9)

Then we do what we can to encourage others to diligently seek God (He 11:6) and strive to enter the kingdom (Lk 13:24), bearing patiently with them (2Ti 2:24-25), knowing we ourselves also were lost (Ti 3:3), teaching and warning those who will listen (2Co 5:11) with all wisdom (Co 1:28), helping them as much as we can along the way. (He 12:24-25)

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It Is Written

Temptation is warfare; the enemy’s always looking for a way to distract, preoccupy and devour. (1Pe 5:8) We need to be on guard 24 x 7; we can’t afford to give him any more ground (Ep 4:27) to steal our joy, kill our witness and destroy our fellowship with God. (Jn 10:10)

When Satan tempts us, we’re drawn away by our own lusts and enticed. (Ja 1:14) When we yield to our desires and pursue them we sin, which alienates us from God and brings us into spiritual bondage (Jn 8:34): it’s a kind of death. (15) This is how Satan defeats us, and he’s a master of war. How do we resist and overcome him? (Ja 4:7)

When Jesus Christ was tempted of the Devil (Mt 4:1), what did Jesus do? He quoted scripture, verses He memorized from the Bible, but not random verses — He selected them surgically, tactically, the perfect text to counteract each dimension of Satan’s attack. (4, 7, 10) Jesus was defending Himself with the sword of the Spirit: the living Word of God. (He 4:12)

The attack on Christ itself was deliberate, thoughtful, calculated, probing, searching out any area of potential weakness Satan suspected might be present within the Son of God. Jesus was in a veritable sword fight with Satan; He could have engaged Satan in any way He liked and been victorious, but He skillfully wielded the Word of God as an example for us to follow. We do well to study and learn from Him. (1Pe 2:21)

It takes practice, lots of practice to become a master swordsman, and it can be a life-and-death matter: in real sword fighting we only lose once … then game over. If we must fight, and our only weapon is the sword, it’s wise to master it, to be as skilled as we can be. Yet we we’ll never be a match for Satan, so what do we do?

First, we should acknowledge that Scripture is the sword of the Spirit (Ep 6:17): the Holy Spirit owns this sword: it belongs to Him and He knows best how to use it. Yet we must also realize that we are supposed to take up this holy sword: the Holy Spirit doesn’t fight with it all on His own, He expects us to pick it up and defend ourselves; there’s a synergistic dimension to this warfare.

Bottom line is we must become deeply familiar with His Word (Co 3:16), listen as God teaches us how to defend ourselves with it (Ps 119:19), and continually abide in Him as we’re doing battle. The scripture must become an extension of our minds and hearts, engrafted into our very being, much like the Holy Spirit. (Ja 1:21) We fight along with God, Who fights within and through us (Php 2:13), so we engage the enemy as a single, triune being: soul, Spirit and Sword. (2Co 10:4)

We should be consuming the Word constantly (Ps 1:2), in a consistent pattern of prayerful memorization and meditation, throughout the day, every day. (Ps 119:97) We should be exploring it both on our own and in community, challenging ourselves and others with the goal of learning how to better defend ourselves from lies, to firmly ground and strengthen ourselves in the truth, so we understand the divine way. (Ep 3:16-18)

It’s a discipline of building patterns of instinctive self-defense into ourselves with the Word, developing spiritual muscle-memory, learning how to wield His Sword in conflict. The more scripture we ingest, the more of it we internalize, so it becomes more a part of us, and the more the Spirit has to work with in defending us.

Then, we should be observant, alert, sober, vigilant (1Pe 5:8-9); as Satan is tempting us, we should notice what he is leveraging within us: what lies are we still holding on to, that he is able to exploit within us to lure us into pursuing an ungodly path? (2Co 2:11) We ask the Spirit to reveal this body of lies to us, and then guide us into those passages of scripture perfectly suited to shed light on our particular darkness. (Jn 8:31-32) Then we memorize these texts and meditate on them, asking Him to give us repentance, a deep change in our thinking so we believe Him and His Word, transforming and renewing us way down into our subconscious minds. (Ro 12:2)

Then, the next time Satan comes at us, we look for the lies (Jn 8:44) and quote the relevant scriptures like Yeshua did, reminding ourselves and reinforcing the truth within our spirits so the lies won’t be available for Satan to exploit. This is how we resist him, how we deliver ourselves from bondage and overcome the world. (2Ti 2:25-26)

And when we fail, as we all do, when we get ourselves into a spiritual rut, unable to deliver ourselves, we confess our faults, our patterns of iniquity and defeat, to those in spiritual community we trust, so they can pray for us and with us, shedding light on our darkness with the Word (Ac 26:17-18), that we may be healed. (Ja 5:16)

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He May Devour

Satan is as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1Pe 5:8) As a lion roars after its prey (Ps 104:21), so Satan’s roar induces fear, disarming and incapacitating us, as we might expect. But his devouring is not what we might think, not at all. How does Satan devour us?

Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy (Jn 10:10), and he does it through lies. (Jn 8:44) As we believe his lies, we give him place in our lives (Ep 4:27), allowing him to occupy and direct our thoughts, which distracts us and leads us away from God. To the degree we allow Satan to occupy us we enable him to consume us, to misdirect us and waste our efforts, devouring our potential in God, piddling away our precious time, energy and gifts.

Satan may attack us directly to induce fear and paralyze us, lying to us about God’s goodness and faithfulness (Ps 119:75), causing us to be afraid and/or resentful and bitter, stealing our hope and joy in God. (Php 4:4) We resist him by faith, returning to God’s precious promises and grounding ourselves in them (2Pe 1:4), and quench all his fiery darts. (Ep 6:16)

But by far the greatest leverage Satan has in our lives is our own negligence and passivity, our lack of discipline. As we fail to focus our minds, our free mental capacity, on God (Ps 104:34) and on His Word (Ps 1:2), meditating on Him and on His Law (Ps 119:97), we allow our thoughts and imaginations to wander off the path. (Ps 119:10)

How much of our lives do we actually spend focused on God, meditating on His Word, praying and seeking His kingdom and righteousness? (Mt 6:33) Where is our attention, and what eternal profit or fruit is coming from it? When we’re giving an account of every idle word (Mt 12:36), and likely also every thought behind our words and actions (Ec 12:14), what proportion of our lives will survive the fire (1Co 3:12-13), and not be consumed by the enemy, vanishing like so much vapor and smoke? (14-15)

Satan takes advantage of us at every opportunity (2Co 2:11), waiting and watching for any opening we give him, and begins to occupy and devour our head space when we aren’t focusing correctly, invading our thoughts and emotions. He inflames our lusts and provokes our imaginations with ungodly suggestions, tempting and distracting us and literally spending us, frittering away our lives on the irrelevant, the temporal, the mundane. To the degree we permit him to distract us like this, the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke out the Word, pushing it off to the side, out of mind, and we become unfruitful. (Mt 13:22)

The more ground we give up to Satan, the more ground he takes, and the more he occupies and devours us. This process has a compounding affect, increasing its hold on us over time, crippling us and dragging us down into captivity whenever he wishes. And once he has us in his clutches, he does not give up his ground easily: God must help us get back on track, He must enable us in our struggle back to freedom. (2Ti 2:25-26)

God’s remedy is for us to prayerfully, soberly, carefully and vigilantly (1Pe 5:8) train and focus our minds (1Pe 1:13), to get in the habit of routinely hiding God’s Word in our hearts (Ps 119:11), memorizing it and meditating on the Word continually (Jos 1:8), desiring the sincere milk of the Word that we might grow (1Pe 2:2), receiving with meekness the engrafted Word which is able to save our souls. (Ja 1:21) Whenever our mental energy is free from earthly responsibility in stewarding our resources and relationships before God (Ps 112:5), our minds should return to its default state of prayerful meditation. (Ps 119:20)

As we do so, we prayerfully focus our will on diligently adding godly character to our faith (2Pe 1:5-7), exercising ourselves in godliness (1Ti 4:7) that we might grow in grace. (2Pe 3:18) This is how we resist the devil steadfast in the faith (1Pe 5:9) and are transformed by the renewing of our minds, that we might prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Ro 12:2)

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A Sound Mind

Cognitive Bias is a systematic error in thinking which affects how we process information, distorting our perception and causing us to act irrationally. This bias is rooted in incorrect beliefs about ourselves, others and/or the world which cause us to want Reality to be different than it actually is, hindering our ability to rightly engage the world. This corruption in our minds makes us vulnerable to even more deception, causing more irrational behavior.

To the degree we’re free of Cognitive Bias, the healthier our mind is, the freer we are to think, reason and make good decisions. A sound mind honestly and (therefore more) accurately perceives the world and responds more rationally, coherently, consistently.

The challenge here is that we’re all limited and incomplete in our understanding (1Co 8:2); we’re unable to focus on everything we perceive all at once, and our world is also extremely complex, very difficult to interpret optimally. So, God has ingeniously designed our minds to focus our attention on what’s important, to categorize and generalize our perceptions based on past experience in order to simplify this complexity. We learn to develop mental shortcuts based on what we already know to help us efficiently process new information and make important decisions in real time — otherwise we couldn’t function well. This is God’s design, and might look like Cognitive Bias, but it’s different.

Cognitive Bias is when our internal agenda, what we want Reality to be like, causes us to deal dishonestly with the facts, to apply different rules of evaluation, different standards depending on the situation, in order to protect our own distorted version of Reality. It reflects a fundamentally dishonest worldview, a tendency to love deception rather than the truth. (Jn 3:19)

Cognitive Bias is the root cause of a reprobate mind (Ro 1:28), a corrupt mind (2Ti 3:8), a carnal mind (Ro 8:7); it’s a condition we build into ourselves over time which cripples our ability to understand and obey the truth.

The danger in Cognitive Bias is that what we believe about our world impacts what we can actually perceive about it; believing lies distorts our perception so we can no longer even see the truth. When we neglect to align ourselves with the Reality in front of us, we blind ourselves; this is self-deception, the worst kind of deception. (Ja 1:22) Yet it’s how we all start out (Ti 3:3), and it’s the natural state of most everyone we know. The masses of humanity are unaware, deluded, passively content in the darkness, thoughtlessly traveling the wide road to destruction. (Mt 7:13-14)

A sound mind isn’t actually very common; it’s the precious gift of God. (2Ti 1:7)

To deliver ourselves from Cognitive Bias and develop a sounder, healthier mind, while working within the limitations of our current mental framework, we must determine to love the truth and pursue it at all costs. (Pr 23:23) We must acknowledge that we very likely still have biases which cause us to react irrationally and be on the lookout for them, even inviting others to point out any hint of inconsistency in our behavior. This is the path to freedom. (Jn 8:32)

The key is to start paying attention (Ps 119:9), training ourselves to notice and carefully observe more of what is going on around us, and also within us, and train more of our focus on that part of Reality which appears anomalous, contrary to our world view, opposing our beliefs and presuppositions — our bias. We must be on the lookout for signs that we’re misinterpreting Reality.

When we notice an irrational response, a desire to believe a certain way which appears to be inconsistent with Reality, reactions which don’t align with the facts in front of us, we must ask God for repentance, to open our eyes to see and believe the truth, and deliver ourselves from the snare of deception. (2Ti 2:25-26)

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Be Ye Separate

God tells us we’re to separate ourselves from the world (1Co 6:17-18), to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers (16) and to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them (Ep 5:11), yet we find Christ eating and drinking with sinners, and being very friendly with them. (Lk 17:34) God gives sunshine, rain and health to His enemies, effectively enabling them to continue in sin (Mt 5:45), and He tells us to love them and seek their good. (44)

It’s relatively easy to look down our nose at other sinners and separate from them in a spirit of pride and self-righteousness, but this isn’t Love. Yet it’s also unloving to encourage anyone to continue in sin. Where do we draw the line?

There’s a difference between treating sinners with respect and kindness and explicitly promoting perversion. There’s a difference between doing business with someone who self-identifies with sin and encouraging them to continue in their sin. There’s a difference between enabling a person to sin by helping them in non-sinful ways and actually participating with them in practicing their sin.

And there’s a difference between offering a gentle rebuke to a fellow truth-seeker (2Ti 2:24-25) and casting our pearls before swine. (Mt 7:6, Pr 9:7) Often, a godly example is sufficient reproof. (Mt 5:16)

How good does a person, organization or government need to be before we engage with them? What types of flaws, indiscretions or iniquities are acceptable before we withdraw and separate ourselves, or even rebuke and resist?

Rome was about as evil and corrupt as any nation, requiring its subjects to worship Ceasar as god, yet John the Baptist, in preparing the way for Messiah, didn’t advise publicans to stop collecting taxes for Rome (Lk 3:12-13) or soldiers to stop serving Ceasar. (14) Not only did he not resist Rome, he encouraged those who were providing a legitimate service on behalf of Rome to continue to do so with integrity.

Perhaps the rule of Love will help us clarify (Ro 13:10): how do we want others to handle this matter of separation? Do we appreciate fellow citizens standing up for godly principles and resisting those who are actively defrauding and harming others, when they are in a position to do so effectively and legally? Yes, we generally do.

Does it annoy us when the self-righteous get to meddling in the affairs of others they think are in sin, calling them out and harassing them, when they’re not deliberately harming anyone? Generally, yes.

When it’s within our power to prevent open injustice, to defend the vulnerable and the weak, and we don’t … we certainly are to blame (Pr 24:11-12, Ja 4:17), but we also must be careful not to suffer as a busybody in other men’s matters. (1Pe 4:15)

Every situation is different; we need wisdom, humility and love in each circumstance. God be merciful to us and lead us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. (Ps 23:3)

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Let No Man Deceive You

Let’s carefully consider the claim that king David’s sin with Bathsheba is proof believers can willfully commit terrible sins, still be forgiven and have confidence of Heaven. It’s common for sinners to comfort themselves with the idea that King David evidently sinned worse than they are, committing adultery and murder, yet he still made it. Is this reasonable?

It certainly is clear David committed terrible sins, he committed them willfully and persisted in them over a prolonged period, and he was also forgiven: he will be present in Heaven. But this does not prove the proposed claim; we don’t know for sure if David was a believer at the time he committed these horrible sins: it is conceivable he was regenerated afterward.

David did remarkable things in faith before his sin with Bathsheba, but this not necessarily an indication he was justified, regenerated by God. Some of Abraham’s great acts of faith were prior to his justification; he followed God’s call to leave his home country (Ge 12:4) before believing in God for salvation. (15:6) God doesn’t tell us exactly when David believed in God, having faith unto righteousness. It might have been after his sin with Bathsheba.

The Apostle Paul describes David’s understanding of salvation in no uncertain terms (Ro 4:6-8, Ps 32:1-2), yet this is likely (Spurgeon, vs 5) taken from David’s testimony after his sin with Bathsheba. Perhaps David’s sin is an indication he was not yet regenerated at the time.

Anyone living a life of willful sin who presumes they have eternal life from David’s example is banking on David committing his horrendous sins as a believer, but this presumption: it cannot be proven. What can be proven is what God tells us about believers and what they’re like. For one, no murderer has eternal life abiding in him (1Jn 3:15); one who premeditates a murder and carries it out, as David evidently did, gives clear evidence of an unregenerate state.

The Apostle John tells us to be very careful here: “Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.” (1Jn 3:6-10) John warns that false teachers will try to convince us we can live in sin and have eternal life; the Apostle Paul is also very clear here. (Ep 5:5-6, 1Co 6:9-10) It’s deception.

If we want to believe a lie, if we don’t love the truth, it will be nearly impossible to resist this one (2Th 2:11-12); it certainly appeals to the flesh. Let’s not fall for it, and gently warn those who are. (2Ti 2:24-26)

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A Spirit of Meekness

Meekness has been defined as strength under control. Picture a warrior capable of imposing immense harm who chooses to deescalate a situation rather than do battle. These shall inherit the earth. (Mt 5:5)

The weak-minded tend to use strength to exalt themselves and control others, whereas the meek serve, protect and defend those in need. Think of meekness as love trained to overcome hardness and difficulty, humble competence, the opposite of selfish ambition.

Humility moves us to check our motives before engaging in conflict, fighting only as necessary, whereas pride and presumption search out strife and contention and thrive in it. (Ja 3:14-16)

Conflict will certainly come; being strong equips us to resist and overcome it; being meek equips us to do so in wisdom and love, looking to heal and edify rather than causing unnecessary harm. Meekness uses minimal necessary force: do what’s needful, but don’t return evil for evil: overcome evil with good. (Ro 12:21)

We’re to offer instruction to others in meekness (2Ti 2:25), truth to those who are seeking in a manner that both honors (1Pe 2:17) and edifies them (Ep 4:29), considering their true needs as well as we can. (Php 2:4)

When we’re debating spiritual topics in a spirit of mutual edification, asserting other points of view to be in error postures us as the authority, which is presumptuous and offensive unless we’ve actually earned the right by repeatedly demonstrating a competence which is being acknowledged in community. In making such claims we’re also exposing ourselves to stricter judgment (Ja 3:1). Even if we are competent and others are indeed amiss, asserting this is generally unnecessary, violating a spirit of meekness, not the fruit of the Spirit. (Ga 5:22-23)

When another is overtaken in a fault, we’re to restore them in a spirit of meekness, using only minimal necessary force, considering ourselves so we won’t fall into the same traps. (Ga 6:1) When possible, we approach such challenges in community, not in isolation: we generally don’t correct others on our own; to keep ourselves in check, we engage others in restoring the wounded, the broken-hearted and fallen.

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Mark Them

God tells us to mark them which cause divisions and offenses in a manner contrary to the law of Christ and avoid them. (Ro 16:17) To do this, we must differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable differences within spiritual community.

Since the primary goal in the church is to edify one another (Ro 14:19), fundamental doctrinal differences related to the nature of God, Man, Salvation, etc., the authority of Scripture, even varying hermeneutics, shouldn’t be allowed: they become a constant source of disruption and frustration in spiritual discussions and applications, especially if some insist on imposing their views upon others.

Yet even when we’re doctrinally aligned on a functional level, the spirit in which one engages can be problematic; we’re to honor all people (1Pe 2:17), respect and value everyone in a spirit of mutual submission within the Body of Christ. (Ep 5:20) Respectful behavior is often culturally defined, and may vary within spiritual communities, comprising all types of cultures, races and backgrounds. As such, it’s important for believers to highlight and align on communication protocols which foster mutual respect, such as:

1. We defer any topic until we’re each ready to discuss it.
2. We use non-accusatory language: rather than, “You’re being illogical!” or “You’re taking it out of context!”, prefer, “I don’t see how you are getting there”, in a tone which is more respectful, meek, gentle, humble.
3. We don’t interrupt or talk over each other.
4. We present one key point at a time, giving ample opportunity for response and clarification, to counter and/or challenge before moving to the next point.
5. We re-state what we hear in our own words, when presented with a complex or difficult idea, to the speaker’s satisfaction before responding.

In submitting ourselves to such rules of engagement we’re exercising self-control, monitoring and evaluating our own behavior (Pr 25:28), more ready to hear than to speak (Ja 1:19), listening to one another, allowing all to participate and be heard (1Co 14:31), to promote our mutual edification. Those unwilling to control their tongues inevitably cause unnecessary strife (Ja 3:14) and discord. (Pr 6:16-19)

Finally, whenever an offense develops between believers in the church, resolving this promptly is imperative (Mt 5:23-25), this must not be allowed to fester. (1Co 5:6) To avoid pettiness, minor indiscretions should be overlooked in a spirit of charity. (1Pe 4:8) Major conflicts (as defined by community) should first be dealt with privately (Mt 18:15), and unresolved disputes brought to the brothers’ attention. (16-17a) The uncooperative and unsubmissive, intent on polluting the congregation with divisions and offenses, must be removed and loved outside the Body as friends or acquaintances, not permitted within close spiritual community. (17b)

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Let This Mind Be in You

Jesus Christ, being equal with God the Father (Php 2:6), submitted Himself as an obedient servant to the Father (7-8) and esteemed His Father greater than Himself. (Jn 14:26) In highlighting this attitude in Christ and calling us to be like Him (5), Paul is telling us how to walk in humility by esteeming others better than ourselves. (3)

The Greek word translated better is ὑπερέχοντας, huperechōntas, which means superior, surpassing, above, over, better than. The word compares and contrasts one with another. The renowned theologian Albert Barnes, in his exegesis here, understands better in a moral context: the humble consider others to be, apart from God’s grace, morally superior to themselves.

While saints are currently being trained and equipped to judge all human behavior (1Co 6:2-3), it’s tempting to practice on our own before the time (1Co 4:5), without full knowledge of God’s Way, or of the human heart. (1Co 2:11) Not a good move. (1Co 4:3)

While we’re not to evaluate others’ moral goodness yet (Mt 7:1), trying to decide how good or bad someone is or determine what punishment or reward they deserve, we may act as if others are morally superior to ourselves, above us; we may esteem or consider them to less evil than we would be without God’s restraining grace. This violates no law of God, and in following Christ, in emulating His lowliness and meekness (Mt 11:29), God tells us to do exactly this: “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Php 2:3)

God will judge us all according to our works (Ro 2:6), measuring and evaluating our thoughts, motives and actions according to His perfect, righteous standard (Jn 5:45); we’ll each score on the moral spectrum uniquely, no two of us being exactly alike. If we think to place ourselves above anyone else on this scale, with no way of knowing precisely where we stand, or exactly where anyone else does, we’re being presumptuous, proud (1Pe 5:5), thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought. (Ro 12:3) Rather, in lowliness of mind, we’re to avoid any tendency to exalt ourselves. (Ga 6:3)

In esteeming others better than ourselves, we should not conflate moral superiority with significance (ESV95), or value (NIV) or importance (NASB95); in providing His Son as an atoning sacrifice for each and every individual, God has infinitely valued each human being equally; we ought not to consider any person more or less valuable, significant or important than any other. Doing so is partiality, being a respecter of persons (De 16:19), which violates the law of Love. (Ja 2:8-9) In love and humility we’re to prefer one another in honor (Ro 12:10), not value, pleased as others are lifted up above ourselves.

Further, we should not confuse humility merely with a call to serve others. While it’s clear Christ humbly submitted Himself to His Father as a servant, it doesn’t follow that we’re to submit ourselves as servants to others; this is actually forbidden. (1Co 7:23) We’re to consider ourselves servants to Christ, not other people, and order our lives to as to please God and not men. (Ga 1:10) In submitting to God we will generally serve others in love (Ga 5:13), and defer to the needs and interests of others (Php 2:4), yet this is always in a context of stewardship and wisdom before God, not a blanket, boundaryless neglecting, disvaluing or demeaning of ourselves in interpersonal relationships. (2Co 8:13)

Christ, our example in humility, though He didn’t consider God the Father morally superior to Himself (for both are morally perfect), He did defer to the greatness and majesty of His Father, to the Father’s Headship within the Trinity itself. (1Co 11:3b) We’re called to follow His steps (1Pe 2:21), to emulate Christ’s lowliness of mind in our relations with one another, yet we can’t do exactly as Christ did here, using the same scale He did with His Father, since on that scale of headship all those within each gender are equivalent with one another. (3a)

Since we’ve eliminated importance, significance and intrinsic worth or value as proper ways to rank ourselves, the only relevant scale or ranking we may rightly refer to here in esteeming others better than ourselves is a moral one, the scale God Himself will use to rank us. (Mt 5:18) However, we’re forbidden to make any formal judgements of ourselves or others for the time being. (7:1-2)

Thus, our default position, if we’re going to esteem others better than ourselves, must be one of considering ourselves to likely be at the very bottom of this moral scale, to potentially be, apart from God’s grace, the most evil person who has ever lived, as Paul the Apostle evidently did (Ga 3:8, 1Ti 1:15), and in this God calls us to follow his example. (Php 4:9)

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