God’s opposition to human boasting is more intense than most people, even most Christians, realize.
In this post we explore one of the least understood truths about God. Without this, the gospel will not make perfect sense. You might even think the saving work of Jesus on the cross is ultimately unnecessary, that people can come to God without believing in Jesus. The gospel makes this truth about God crystal clear.
Here it is in a nutshell. James 4:6 says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). “Opposes” really does mean opposes, as in, he is against the proud.
Here it is in a coconut-size shell: Ephesians 2:8–9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Here it is in watermelon size: 1 Corinthians 1:27–31 says, “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’”
What’s so bad about boasting?
Why does God adamantly oppose a man boasting in his presence?
1. Because boasting is proud
To boast is to exalt oneself. To boast is to take more credit than one deserves. To boast is to regard oneself as superior to others.
God opposes such pride.
There is a second reason God opposes boasting.
2. Because boasting is a lie
The God of all truth—all truth—will not make peace with one single lie or one single liar in his universe. He hates and exposes each and every falsehood. And for humans to boast as if they have or do anything apart from God is utterly false.
Scripture says, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7).
Scripture says, “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36).
Notice, it says “to him,” to God, not to any man, be the glory forever precisely because everything is “from him.” And for emphasis this truth is solemnly affirmed with an “Amen.” No human has anything except what they have received from God, and what they use through God’s continuous, enabling power. The God-ordained purpose of every human accomplishment is that it be “to him,” that is, that it bring God glory. This is the circle of God’s glory that must not be broken through the lie of boasting.
Similarly, Scripture says, God “himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything…. In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25, 28). This enlarges on the truth that all things are through God. God not only made an initial deposit in the person that created possibilities, but he also continuously sustains and upholds the person’s life and accomplishments, as well as the environment in which the person works. For example, God sustains the football team for whom the star player performs or the family whom a mother faithfully serves.
Because he is the absolute source and sustainer of everything, God devised the gospel in such a way that no one may boast in his presence.
There is a third reason God opposes boasting.
3. Because boasting is idolatry
To boast is to act like God, to claim his role and powers. God didn’t do this; I did. I deserve credit and glory.
To act like God is to put oneself forward as a false god, an idol.
In the Bible, what does God do with idols? He sees to it that idols are burned to ashes and ground to powder. They are toppled, knocking off their heads and hands. They are mocked. They are regarded as abominations, as objects of hissing and the worst contempt, as things to abhor and banish, whose names are not even to be spoken in the holy land.
When God himself carved into stone with his own finger the Ten Commandments, the first commandment he wrote was, “You shall have no other gods before [or beside] me” (Exodus 20:3), and the second commandment forbade making idols.
Because his fury rages against idols, God devised the gospel in such a way that no one may boast in his presence.
There is a fourth reason that God opposes boasting.
4. Because boasting seeks to rob God of his glory
A boaster takes what rightly belongs to God. He or she is a thief of something God prizes: glory.
He is infinitely glorious. That is the truth. And he is worthy to receive all the glory for everything. That is the truth. And the God of truth will not falsely act as though it should be any other way.
He has infinite pleasure in every single word of thanks and praise because it is true. He perfectly enjoys every adoring heart, every bowed knee because it is right.
We would look down on any human that wanted such worship, and that is because we know intuitively it is false. But nothing could be more true than that God be worshiped.
To be God is to be great and greatly worshiped. That is the nature of things.
Therefore he says, “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” “I will not give my glory to another.” (Isaiah 46:9; 48:11).
What Americans Believe
What this means is that many Americans are in deep trouble with God, and they do not know it.
In a 2017 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of Americans said it is possible to be a good person without a religious belief.
Consider what that implies. If you can be a good person without religious beliefs, then you have something to take credit for, something to boast about.
If you talk to people about their beliefs, as I do regularly, if you ask why people expect to be received into heaven, they will usually say they do indeed expect to get into heaven and the reason is that they are good. They will usually say nothing about Jesus Christ. They often give the feeling that God will owe them eternal life.
But they are trusting in themselves and their moral ability to make the grade. They believe human beings can be good enough to merit—even require—God’s approval.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: We want to earn heaven on our own. We proudly imagine we can be good enough for God. We want to be able to boast in his presence, “I am a good person.”
God’s way: There is no one good, not one (Romans 3:9–20). No one will be able to stand before God on Judgment Day and claim to deserve to enter heaven apart from trusting in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness he provides in his death on the Cross.
Life principle: The right way to boast is to boast in the Lord, and the way to boast in the Lord is to make much of Jesus. When we put all our faith in Jesus Christ to save us, we are boasting in the Lord alone.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)