There is a way to traffic in holy things and remain unchanged. A person can catalog doctrines, recite confessions, and outline systems of truth, yet remain outside the living current of grace. Scripture warns us that knowledge alone can swell the heart with self-importance, while love builds up, and the danger is real because pride often wears religious clothes. The goal of theology is not the applause of the classroom or the thrill of crushing your opponents in online debates, but the worship of the church and the obedience of everyday life, where God is glorified through Christ in the quiet decisions no one sees.
The Bible is true, not simply because it moves us, but because the living God has spoken in it and stamped it with his own authority. Since the Word is God-breathed, it does what no human book can do: it exposes the heart, lays bare our motives, and, by the Spirit of God, renews the mind and reshapes the will. When Scripture is received with faith, it does not hover above us as an interesting idea; it enters the “bloodstream” of the soul and produces the unmistakable fruit of humility, gentleness, and eager obedience.
The Test of Real Theology
Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). John adds, “By this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar” (1 John 2:3-4). Paul tells us that “all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable” so that the man of God “may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). These passages do not reduce Christianity to moralism; they insist that grace trains us, that doctrine aims at devotion, and that truth runs on two tracks that cannot be separated, sound belief and sound living.
The transformation Scripture works is comprehensive. The Word renews the mind so that we see God as holy and ourselves as sinful, it softens the heart so that Christ becomes precious and sin becomes bitter, and it strengthens the will so that we actually do what Christ commands. Theology that is truly grasped never leaves a person arrogant, because to see God rightly is to bow, and to see the cross rightly is to be stunned that such mercy was given to you.
Pride, Arrogance, and the Subtle Poison of Self
If you notice sarcasm, impatience, an opinion that you are the sharpest person in the room, or a spirit that cannot be corrected, do not excuse it as merely your personality; name it as sin. Take it to the cross where Christ died for the proud, and learn again that no one stands tall at Calvary.
Pride and arrogance are sins that do not shout at first; they whisper. They hide behind correct answers, they enjoy being known as the one who knows, and they often talk more about winning arguments than serving people. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5), and that simple sentence should make every student of Scripture tremble. If God resists the proud, then it is possible to study theology in a way that God himself resists.
Pride treats people as props for our platform. Humility treats people as image bearers to be served. Pride is quick to correct and slow to repent. Humility is quick to confess and slow to speak. Pride wants the last word. Humility delights to have Christ get the last word. Pride turns even true doctrine into a weapon that wounds. Humility turns true doctrine into a balm that heals.
If you notice sarcasm, impatience, an opinion that you are the sharpest person in the room, or a spirit that cannot be corrected, do not excuse it as merely your personality; name it as sin. Take it to the cross where Christ died for the proud, and learn again that no one stands tall at Calvary.
Remember, it’s not enough to know more doctrine than the next guy, but never put it into practice. You have to live out Christian doctrine. It’s meaningless if you know the Bible but don’t apply it to yourself, your marriage, your parenting, your career, your prayer life, and every other relationship and venue your life touches.
How the Word Actually Changes Us
The Word of God is living and active, and it changes us by the Holy Spirit who dwells in believers. He sanctifies us by the truth as we come to him with meekness and faith. Here is a path you can walk this week.
- Come to the Word with a yielded will. Pray with the psalmist, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” and “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will keep it to the end” (Psalm 119:18, 33). Ask before you read, “Father, whatever you show me, I will do.”
- Let Scripture expose you before you explain it to others. James tells us to be “doers of the Word, not hearers only” who deceive themselves (James 1:22). Read until the text reads you, and refuse to leave your chair until you have one concrete act of obedience to take into the day.
- Pray as if your life depends on it. J.C. Ryle once said, “Prayer is to faith what breath is to life.” A man without a healthy prayer life will never have a healthy spiritual life. With a humble heart, go to God “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and He will transform you.
- Saturate your mind with Christ. The central figure of all Scripture is the Lord Jesus. Gaze at His lowliness in Philippians 2, His suffering in Isaiah 53, His sacrificial love in John 10, His compassion in Mark 1, and His authority in Matthew 28. Theology that beholds Christ is theology that begins to look like Christ when applied.
- Put truth into practice in the hardest relationships. Sound doctrine must pass the home test and the church test. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Speak truth without cruelty. Correct with tears, not with smirks. Carry burdens, do invisible service, give generously, and refuse gossip, because the gospel has made you new.
- Walk with brothers who will tell you the truth. Hebrews says we need daily exhortation so that we are not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 3:13). Ask close friends to point out pride when they see it, to confront arrogance, and to celebrate the small evidences of grace God produces in you.
What Transformed Theology Looks Like
- You begin to find that humility is your reflex, not self-display.
- You are eager to repent because you know the kindness of God that leads to repentance.
- Your speech becomes gentle and clean because your heart has been washed.
- You love the gathered worship of the local church because you love the God who meets his people there.
- You become patient with the weak because Christ is patient with you.
- You grow bold in witness because Christ really is Lord of all, and love for neighbor drives you to speak.
- You tremble less at the opinions of people and more at the Word of God, and that holy fear frees you to serve with joy.
None of this is perfection, and all of it is the gift of grace. Titus says the grace of God has appeared, training us to renounce ungodliness and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives as we wait for our blessed hope (Titus 2:11-14). Grace is a teacher, and the classroom is your daily life.
Why This Matters for the Truth of Christianity
Christianity is not true because Christians behave well, yet the changed lives of ordinary believers remain a powerful witness that the gospel is not a theory. The Word of God is living and active, and when it is proclaimed and received, men and women are born again, idols fall, habits change, and whole households are reordered around the will of Christ. The same Lord who walked out of the tomb still speaks through Scripture. He saves, he sanctifies, and he sends. Churches that are taught well and humbled well testify to a real Savior who really reigns.
I have seen this in my own life. Seasons when I have used the Bible to prove a point have dried my soul, and seasons when I have cried out for the Bible to prove me wrong have brought fresh repentance and joy. Christ has been patient with me, and his Word keeps cutting away the roots of pride and planting new seeds of love. I want that pattern to mark me until I see him.
A Simple Prayer to Pray Over Your Theology
Pray something like this:
“Father, thank you for speaking in Scripture. Guard me from pride. Make me quick to repent, eager to obey, gentle with people, and bold about Christ. Let the truth I confess become the life I live. Sanctify me in the truth. Your Word is truth. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
If your theology does not kneel before Jesus, serve his people, and obey his commands, then you have learned the words without finding the life. Let the Word of God transform you. Open your Bible with faith. Bow low before the God who speaks. Rise to do what he says. And watch the grace of Christ make you a humble, gracious, obedient servant who adorns the doctrine you love.
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