One cause of errors attending a great revival of religion, is undiscerned spiritual pride.
The first and the worst cause of errors that prevail in such a state of things is spiritual pride. This is the main door by which the devil comes into the hearts of those who are zealous for the advancement of religion. It is the chief inlet of smoke from the bottomless pit, to darken the mind and mislead the judgment. This is the main handle by which the devil has hold of religious persons, and the chief source of all the mischief that he introduces, to clog and hinder a work of God. This cause of error is the main spring, or at least the main support, of all the rest. Till this disease is cured, medicines are in vain applied to heal other diseases. It is by this that the mind defends itself in other errors and guards itself against light, by which it might be corrected and reclaimed. The spiritually proud man is full of light already; he does not need instruction, and is ready to despise the offer of it. But, if this disease be healed, other things are easily rectified. The humble person is like a little child, he easily receives instruction; he is jealous over himself, sensible how liable he is to go astray, and therefore, if it be suggested to him that he does so, he is ready most narrowly and impartially to inquire. Nothing sets a person so much out of the devil’s reach as humility, and so prepares the mind for true divine light without darkness, and so clears the eye to look on things as they truly are; Ps. xxv. 9. “The meek will he guide in judgment. And the meek will he teach his way.” Therefore we should fight, neither with small not with great, but with the king of Israel. Our first care should be to rectify the heart, and pull the beam out of our eye, and then we shall see clearly.
Jonathan Edwards wrote this essay during a time when many churches in his part of the country were experiencing tremendous spiritual blessing. This time is known as the Great Awakening. Edwards’ keen eye, however, noticed that corporate spiritual awakenings were times when the devil would make special effort to “clog and hinder the work of God” by casting in its way the debris of spiritual pride. Those who were “zealous for the advancement of religion” were the ones who were most likely to be influenced by this dangerous “disease.” And, because of their zeal, these people were disposed to make great errors in judgement, while their pride inclined them to seal themselves off from all spiritual instruction. Quite a dangerous place for a person to be.
I want to make five observations about this section.
1. Edwards uses language here to convey that spiritual pride is not merely a peripheral sin—it is a foundational sin: it is the “first and worst causes of errors;” it is the “main door” that the devil uses to enter into the hearts of those people who are zealous for God; it is the “chief inlet of smoke” and the “main handle” with which the devil holds religious people; it is “the main spring, or at least the main support, of all the rest.” To Edwards, spiritual pride was the root (or at least, primary support) of all other sins and the principal way Satan misleads people who are zealous for religion. It should be noted here that Edwards use of the word ‘religion’ does not contain the meaning that we are used to; he is using it to refer to Christianity – to Christ and the things of Scripture. These people were professing Christ and zealous for the advancement of Christianity.
2. Recognizing and properly dealing with spiritual pride is the only way to correctly deal with all other sins. Edwards writes, “if this disease be healed, other things are easily rectified.” On the other hand, if this sin is left unattended, it is useless to attempt to deal with other sins: “Till this disease is cured, medicines are in vain applied to heal other diseases.”
3. A spiritually proud person is unteachable. Pride is most deceptive because it makes one think he has more spiritual light and insight and knowledge and accuracy and giftedness than he really does; thus, he doesn’t think he needs any more of these things because he is so full of them already. Therefore, if he is in error, it is almost impossible for him to see that he is, since he is convinced that he is right. I’m sure you can begin to see how this can happen especially with those who are zealous for Biblical things. How easy it is to become certain that one’s convictions are from God Himself and must be exercised without any thought of others because it is “God’s will” that one do so. Well, if it’s God’s will, then you really don’t need to listen to anyone, do you?
4. A humble person is teachable. A truly humble person is ready to hear instruction because he knows how liable he is to be led astray. He is ready to listen, to be taught and to receive knowledge from others. He is like a little child who quietly listens to directions given by one who is older. A humble person doesn’t get angry when they are corrected or taught or warned that they might be going the wrong way – they happily receive this instruction and examine themselves to see where it is they might be deceived.
5. Humility is the key to true spiritual knowledge. Growth, spiritual safety and true knowledge will only come to one who is humble. It is only when we take the log out of our own eye (we will see later how a spiritually proud person is disposed to noticing the sins of others), that we will be able to see clearly how things really are. Spiritual pride skews the judgement and causes us to make wrong conclusions about situations, people and spiritual issues. Humility leads us to and keeps us in the truth.
