Spiritual arrogance is an inflated opinion of self, a misapprehension which will persistently undermine one’s life and happiness. It is the individual’s worst enemy, a destroyer of life and welfare. Arrogance is a spiritual problem since it stems from old sinful nature of every person born into this world. It is part of the human nature and nobody is free from it except the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ.  At first, it was unknown to Adam and Eve who were created perfect, but it became a reality to Adam when he sinned. And because of Adam’s original sin, every human being born into this world inherited it through biological procreation.

Arrogance is divorcement from reality; it is a life of deception and lies. Arrogant people are skilled liars and deceivers. They wear their masquerade without the suspicion of others. Arrogance is a subtle enemy of truth, reality and spirituality. It is self-alienation causing the individual to over-estimate his ability, wisdom, capacity and experience. The arrogant person has created a false impression of himself, which produces personal disasters, contempt for authority; it breeds social class problems and gives birth to crimes.

Arrogance cannot handle critical situations and might simply resolves to violence. Arrogance is interested only with self, not with the welfare of others or with the glorification of God, and it will destroy anything or anyone who will block its way to self-glorification. For an arrogant person, his fellowmen are simply tools for achieving his selfish ambitions. Arrogance robs an individual with his precious privileges and opportunities to fulfill the plan of God in his life.

Most mental illness is acquired through arrogance. When arrogance is blended with sentimentality and emotionalism, it produces terrible disasters. An individual may focus his eyes upon himself, creating illusions and imaginations that seems real to him, becoming a mental obsession leading to phobia, neurosis or psychosis. The mind that is occupied with self cannot understand and will not accept any authority. Such rejection of divine establishment authority is a symptom of rejection of God’s grace.

Religious people have pious arrogance which the devil uses to counterfeit true spirituality and godliness. Combined religious zeal and ignorance of Bible doctrine and you have an arrogance complex at the center stage. Arrogant but ignorant believers often attach importance to their pains, assuming that it brought them closer to God.

Pious arrogance assumes human dead works under the power of old sinful nature is acceptable to God (see: Old Sinful Nature Tract No. 25-A). They openly blaspheme the Essence of God. When a religious arrogant person is applause by the cosmic system it becomes first degree arrogance. That is the arrogance of Lucifer when he revolted against God, and the arrogance that will become antagonism toward God.

Pious arrogance with human love can destroy any organization, ministry or person because human self-esteem is always the road to hatred. Arrogance produces all types of pseudo-human love and pseudo-spirituality. This is the kind of love the politicians use to deceive the people and the love that glorifies man more than God. Such arrogance falsely blames his self-made misfortunes on others, on bad luck, on his childhood or on his parents.

An arrogant person lives in self-importance, succumbs to flattery and praises of men and builds his self-glory in monument out of human viewpoint. He thinks that he is very important in his country, in the world and especially to God. He believes that he is one of a kind who deserves special public recognition. This is the mental attitude of those who wanted to become president of this nation. Such arrogant person believed that he alone has the ability and capacity to do what he has done, and he alone can do what he wanted to accomplish. He is too proud to be humbled.

This spiritual problem is call false humility, which is the powerful strain of arrogance sometimes expressed as self-abasement or humiliation (Col. 2:18, 23) or self- degradation or asceticism. An arrogant person will exalts himself as a model of humility or piety. All he wanted is the public recognition and the divine approbation. He cultivates his piety and sentimentality as a means of capturing and controlling others. A pseudo- humble person is divorced from reality and divine viewpoint, he cover-up his weaknesses with self-sacrifices.

He overestimates his strength and totally depends on it, thinking that he can do better without God, he rejects the divine power. Arrogant people make decision from a position of weakness, blaming others for the very mistakes he manufactured for himself. He lives in the fantasy world of illusions, day dreaming and imagination that accomplishes nothing for God and nothing for men. His dreams and false motives  demolish reality and truth.

There are three phases of arrogance:

• Arrogance toward his fellowmen
• Arrogance toward established authority
• we're Arrogance toward the Bible and God

The third phase of arrogance is the worst and the most dangerous. This concerns the unbelievers who reject the Gospel of Christ and the believers who ignore and reject the authority of the Bible doctrine. Genuine humility responds to established truth by submitting to the temporal authority, and responds to Bible doctrine by living inside the plan and will of God. Genuine humility is submission to legitimate authority.

Humility (tapeinophrosune) literally, “the lowliness of mind” (Acts 20:19, Eph. 4:2, Phil. 2:3, Col. 3:12), refers to the lowliness of the mind of a believer who accepts the truth of Bible doctrine for personal growth and application. In greater context, genuine humility is teach ability of the believer toward Bible doctrine with the objective of reaching spiritual maturity. Genuine humility is freedom from subjectivity allowing the believer to fully comprehend objective reality.

A teachable Christian is a genuinely humbled Christian who desires, accepts and applies Bible doctrine without any reservation. A genuine humbled believer must learn God*s way and is willing to give up anything for the sake of Bible doctrine. Genuine humility is the result of Bible doctrine stored and resident in the soul, not an act of piety and sacrifice. It is the  result of a renewal being created by God through the Bible doctrine stored and resident in the soul.

Genuine humility is the initial strength of character that leads to all the Christian virtues in spiritual momentum. Genuine humility is a mental attitude and a way of life. As a system of thinking, genuine humility is freedom from arrogance. As a way of life, genuine humility is submission to legitimate authority. True humility is a system of thinking under pressure with courage and poise as its covering.

Humility is an essential part of capacity for blessing in time of the super grace believer (James 4:6). Humility accepts the fact that promotion comes only from God and that self-made promotion leads only to misery. Humility precludes any inordinate competition, self-promotion, self-advancement, self-glory. Humility prepares the believers to receive the blessings in time and eternity, while arrogance removes this capacity and privileges. Humility is the link that bridges the gap between freedom and authority, blessing and prosperity, power and victory.

Bible doctrine (epignosis) alone can turn an arrogant  into a genuinely humble person. The daily but consistent and progressive intake of the Word of God gradually demolishes the fortress of the old sinful nature which includes arrogance complex. Religion and reformation results only to partial and temporal change that will eventually become more serious problem.

There is nothing more terrible than a person who has rejected the Gospel of Christ but continue to call upon the name of God, and a person who rejects the Bible doctrine but continues to serve God. Nothing is more arrogant than the religious hypocrites. People will go to hell not because of sin which Christ has paid in full at the Cross, but because of their arrogance.  They replaced the perfect work of Christ with their self-righteousness.

^{J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries}

 J. R. Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries