This vain pretension is seen more and more in our society, even among those who call themselves Christians. And no one is really offended by this, provided the other’s pride does not step on one’s toes. This is not a surprise for the child of God. This verse foretold this outcome, and we know that it will ultimately lead to the manifestation of the man of sin, when He who restrains is taken out of the way (2 Th. 2:7).

Pride is very dangerous. One who aspires to exercise oversight must not be “a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil” (1 Tim. 3:6). This is the same word that is translated by “haughty.” The word means to be filled with smoke. This is what pride does: it creates a thick fog that blinds someone from evaluating things properly. It inflates, distorts, and muddles thoughts, preventing one to see things as they truly are. This is the very thing that obscured the thoughts of the wisest of all angels (Ezek. 28:12, 17) and led him on his path of sin. It is pride that made him at fault, guilty before God, and that will bring on him God’s condemnation. Pride obscures the thoughts.

How many will face eternal condemnation because they will have been caught by this snare? Let us pray for the “casting down [of] arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5), so that their blindness be removed, that they may repent and find life eternal in Jesus Christ. And as for us who bear the name of the meek and lowly One, our Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that we are nothing but vessels of His grace, let us remember Paul’s words: “For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly” (Rom. 12:3). This not only is our safety, but our true place before the Lord.