HUMILITY, Ch. 9: Humility And Faith

     This chapter begins with Andrew Murray citing a question Jesus asked those with Him, in John 5:44:  "How can you believe, which rather honor one of another, and seek not the honor that comes from God only?"  The author uses this Scripture as a springboard to examine the relationship between humility and faith.  Here are some of his points:

1.  Pastor Murray uses the analogy of the store window pane, through which outside viewers cannot reach or hold anything inside the store, to liken that to the "pane" of pride, which keeps Christians from grasping the "inside" prizes of peace, rest, love, joy and "abiding communion and fruitfulness."  Murray then argues that pride makes faith impossible, because pride and faith oppose each other, while faith and humility are of the same root.  He states, ". . . we can never have more of true faith than we have of true humility."  One may have Christian conviction and knowledge while still being motivated by pride, but be without humility, making "living faith impossible."

2.  The definition of faith is then given:  "the confession of nothingness and helplessness, the surrender and the waiting to let God work."  Faith brings humility with its dependence fully on God, and claims only what is given in grace.  Pride means one is self-seeking, self-willing, and self-exalting, and means that self is placed such that God cannot be all.

3.  Faith makes one focus on divine things, seeking only the glory that comes from God, while pride seeks one's glory in this life.  That makes true faith impossible.  Pastor Murray points out that salvation comes through Christ on the cross, and with fellowship with Him in His life's and cross-borne humility.  Our faith is weak when pride blocks this association and makes us unable to even properly pray for and desire humility, when humility is the most needed aspect of salvation.  And Murray reminds us that humility and faith go together in the Gospels, and cites the examples of the humble centurion (Matt 8:8-10) and the humble mother from Sidon (Matt 15:27-28), both of whom were praised by Jesus for their faith after they each made statements of humility.

4.  Humility before the Lord is what removes all that hinders faith.  But pride with its self-focus is often "secretly working within us."  And we are often also unaware that God, by coming in His power, can remove such pride.  We may not realize that "nothing but the new and divine nature, entirely taking the place of the old self," can give us humility.  We are also ignorant of the fact that unceasing, permanent humility must be our foundation for every prayer before God,  and for every approach to and dealing with both God and man.

5.  Most of us have erred in believing, when it was our old self seeking the blessings of God.  We must seek humility before God first instead, and then He will exalt us.  Christ Himself received God's glory for humbling Himself to death on the cross.  That should be our desire, to be humble like Jesus.  "Let us gladly accept whatever can humble us before God or men - this alone is the path to the glory of God."

6.  Murray asks the question:  don't those who have "blessed experiences" without evidence of humility prove their faith?  He replies to himself that, among several possible answers, there is some measure of faith in such a situation, especially as those individuals bring blessings to others.  But by showing that God is not all in them, the blessings from such experiences become superficial and/or limited.  Humility would bring a "deeper blessing," as the Holy Spirit would then not only work in them with more power, but would dwell in them in the fullness of His grace to give them a life of holiness, power and faithfulness.  Sadly, that is little seen today.

7.  Getting back to Jesus' question from John 5:44 (at the beginning of this chapter), nothing can free one from the desire of receiving honor from one's fellow men (or the anger and hurt when that is not received) except humility that allows God to be all, in His glory.  To quote Pastor Murray's final words of this chapter:  "Let the glory of the all-glorious God be everything to you.  You will be freed from the glory of men and of self, and be content and glad to be nothing.  Out of this nothingness you will grow strong in faith, giving glory to God.  You will find that the deeper you sink in humility before Him, the nearer He is to fulfill every desire of your faith."

Brief Comment:  Andrew Murray's definition of faith in this chapter is a little (or a lot) frightening to those of us who recognize our prideful nature, in spite of our attempts to be otherwise in Christ.  Since faith is the basis for salvation, does that mean that any pride in us blocks our salvation in Christ?  It is a very deep question that we as "believers" must ponder and take seriously.  Self is such an ingrained part of us, our nature in the flesh.  Luckily, we have Jesus Christ who knows just what that is like, and died in humility on the cross, that we (our selves) might likewise die with Him there.  But, as the saying goes, "that's easier said than done."  Our next chapter - "Humility and the Death of Self" - may help us even more with the dilemma of ridding ourselves of self and pride.