Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for
me.
--Galatians 2:20
To be specific, the self-sins are self-righteousness, self-pity,
self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, self-love and
a host of others like them. They dwell too deep within us and are
too much a part of our natures to come to our attention till the
light of God is focused upon them. The grosser manifestations of
these sins--egotism, exhibitionism, self-promotion--are strangely
tolerated in Christian leaders, even in circles of impeccable
orthodoxy. They are so much in evidence as actually, for many
people, to become identified with the gospel. I trust it is not a
cynical observation to say that they appear these days to be a
requisite for popularity in some sections of the church visible.
Promoting self under the guise of promoting Christ is currently
so common as to exite little notice....
Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us. It can
be removed only in spiritual experience, never by mere
instruction. We may as well try to instruct leprosy out of our
system. There must be a work of God in destruction before we are
free. We must invite the cross to do its deadly work within us. We
must bring our self-sins to the cross for judgment. The Pursuit
of God, 43-44.
