July 16

James 4:6

But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

Proverbs 6:17 tells us that God hates, “a proud look and a lying tongue”, and Psalm 138:6 states that He views the proud person from afar off. The favorite quotation of Abraham Lincoln was by William Knox: “Oh! Why should the spirit of mortal man be proud?” Indeed, why? Everything that is innate and that truly pertains to us, is deceitful, sinful, and ruinous. Isaiah 64:6 tells us that “ All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags”. But though God abhors the self-righteous and proud, He gives grace to the humble. The Bible assures us that all those who humble themselves at the foot of the cross, and pray, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner”, will be pardoned all their transgressions, will be born again, have a changed life here on earth, and a home prepared for them in heaven. It is pride alone that prevents a person from humbling himself before God and confessing his sins: it is pride alone that will keep a person from receiving Christ, and it is pride alone that bars the door to salvation and eternal felicity.

Commentary by Francis L. Harris

"...what must I do to be saved?" Acts 16:30