In the Same Way, part 1
God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble
This week we are going to do a simple little Bible study on the
fifth chapter of 1 Peter. Though all of verse 5 is the primary text for this study, I’m going to start with just the last part of the verse. We’ll come back to the first part later in the study. My goal is to show us how we can pray without our prayers being hindered - but I’m going to take the long way around to get there.
1 Peter 5:5 “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This verse is first found in Proverbs 3:34, then it’s repeated in James 4:6.
It’s a power-packed verse that I have always found to be challenging. I suppose, in part, it’s because of my own pride and desire to be perceived the way I want to be perceived. Isn’t that something? There isn’t a person alive that has not struggled with temptation and sin; yet, for some reason, it’s important to us to be perceived as having it all together. I suppose that’s because we relate having it all together, as being spiritual and we all want to be considered spiritual. The fact is, though, that outside of Jesus, there has never been anyone who has had it all together. Even those who the Bible calls the giants of the faith had all sorts of fleshly, carnal problems. We just don’t want anyone to know it.
The problem with this verse is that it reveals that the proud man is not in a struggle with his fellow man as much as he is in a struggle with God. God will oppose the proud. In the Greek language, the word “oppose” or “resist” relates to standing in opposition to authority. The only other time it is used in the scriptures is in
Romans 13:1-2: “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”
Those who resist authority bring judgment upon themselves. That is another way of saying that God will resist the proud. Pride is resistance. It’s specifically resistance to authority. It is an overestimate of one’s self-worth.
Continued tomorrow
