The Sin of Pride

I have been thinking on a notion that someone once brought across to me, that being their belief that the sin of sexual immorality is no greater sin than that of pride (or any other sin).  I had to think that through and search the scriptures in order to arrive at a clearer biblical view in regard to such an idea. Here is the conclusion I arrived at:

There is one very important fact that we need to understand in considering whether or not the sin of sexual immorality is any greater than the sin of pride. The truth of the matter is- It is the very sin of pride which leads to the sin of sexual immorality. In fact, it is the sin of pride which leads to every other sin under the sun. We are prideful if we think we can tell lies and not have to suffer the punishment for willfully disobeying God in this regard. We are prideful if we think we can live in sexual immorality, (which covers a broad area) and not have to suffer the punishment for blatant rebellion against God’s commands. 1 Corinthians 6:18 tells us to “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.”

In Romans 1: 24-27 we read that, “..God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.”

Genesis 13:12 states, “Now the men of Sodom were wicked, great sinners against the Lord,” and in Ekekiel 16:49 we read, “Behold, this was the guilt of... Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.” There is no shame experienced in the heart of a proud person who lives in open rebellion to the clear teaching of scripture. It is pride that deceives us into thinking we can disobey God’s commands and not suffer the consequences- whether that disobedience may be something as simple as telling a little white lie (which we may not consider so bad), or murder- which would be a grievous transgression of one of God’s commandments, (one that we would consider as being horrendous).

Jeremiah 50:31 reads as follows, “Behold, I am against you, O proud one, declares the Lord God of hosts, for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.” Those who are of a proud heart and live in open defiance to God’s commands either refuse to believe that He truly exists, or they plain don’t believe that He will be faithful to His word in regard to their disobedience, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). Proverbs 8:13 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate,” and in Psalm 10:4, we read, “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

If we are not seeking God, we are living in disobedience and going our own way, which will lead us down the broad road to destruction. In lieu of this, God calls all people to, “Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin” (Ezekiel 18:30). However, only the humble can experience salvation. 2 Samuel 22:28 tells us, “You save a humble people, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.” May we truly fear the LORD and humble ourselves before our God, for, “The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life” (Proverbs 22:4); Not meaning we will experience prosperity in this lifetime, but that those who truly love God will be richly blessed for all of eternity- in the life to come, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).