Sin of Self-Sufficiency

It should be noted that when a person reads the bible, they should not just be looking for what they can get out of it for their own personal benefit. Instead, the correct attitude to have is to read the bible with the intention that they are seeking to find what makes God angry and to find what pleases God so they can avoid what makes God mad and do those things pleasing in God’s sight. However, they can also receive benefit for themselves after they do what is pleasing in God’s sight because then God will be free to bless and prosper them tremendously.

Matthew 6:31–33 (NASB95)
31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’
32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The scriptures above speak about how those of the world all seek for natural things and worldly wealth (often forgetting about God in the process). But if people will seek God and seek his kingdom first and seek God’s righteousness then all of these natural things (including wealth) will be added to them. God has power to prosper those who are righteous (as long as they do not make an idol out of their possessions or wealth).

Colossians 3:5–6 (ESV)
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.
6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.

Covetousness and greed for material wealth is idolatry – the worship of something other than God. Covetousness is one of the sins which will bring the wrath of God (which is coming upon all those who are possessed by greed and covetousness) and who pursue money and possessions more than they pursue God.

James 4:2–4 (NASB95)
2 You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Those who are greedy and covetous for material wealth often would not hesitate to kill for it so that they can take the wealth of others. Those who want wealth for the wrong reasons are typically those who only want to blow it on their own “self-serving” personal pleasures. This greed is what makes them into “adulteresses” against God. They are in friendship with the world and they are “people pleasers” trying to get wealth by compromise. But God is a jealous God and all those who are greedy for wealth will be judged by God for this sin of idolatry.

James 4:5–6 (NASB95)
5 Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”?
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

Those who are proud are those who considered themselves as so-called “self-made” men who falsely imagine that they can make their own money by their own cleverness or natural strength. But God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble. Those who are proud do not give any glory to God for anything God blesses them with but instead ascribe their success to their own natural ability or strength of their own arm to provide for themselves. This is a major thing that causes God to become angry when humans look to anything other than God for their blessings.

What Pleases God

1 Kings 3:5–10 (NASB95)
5 In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what you wish me to give you.”
6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have reserved for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
7 “Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
8 “Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted.
9 “So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people in of Yours?”
10 It was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing.

It should be noted that Solomon could have asked God for natural things or for political power but instead Solomon asked God for wisdom so that he could judge the people and wisdom to discern between good and evil. It should be noted that in verse 10 above, God was pleased that Solomon has asked for this thing.

Key Principle: Ask God for That Which Can Benefit Others

1 Kings 3:11–14 (NASB95)
11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to understand justice,
12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.
13 “I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.
14 “If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

When reading the scriptures to find out what pleases God and what angers God, the readers should take note of the scriptures above. God was pleased that Solomon did not ask for personal gain or long life or riches for himself or for the life of his enemies. God was pleased that Solomon asked for wisdom and for discernment to understand justice. These are all things that are needed to help others (especially needed by a civil leader or king).

But since Solomon asked for wisdom then God was free to give him great natural wealth as well because this wealth would not be an idol to him (since he was seeking to help others rather than to enrich himself.

Key Principle: When You Do Not Pursue Riches – Then God is Free to Give you Great Wealth

God gave King Solomon great riches and wealth – which no king on earth had ever seen before or since the time of Solomon. God was free to give great Solomon wealth when he was not seeking wealth but he was only seeking God and his righteousness. It is not idolatry to have great wealth as long as the heart of the man receiving that wealth is not arrogant and not greedy or covetous to look to wealth as a idol.

Man of Self-Sufficiency

Luke 12:16–21 (NASB95)
16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive.
17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’
18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.” ’
20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’
21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

Jesus described a man in this parable as being a rich man who owned productive land. This rich guy wanted to store up all of his wealth so that he could live in comfort all of his life on earth. This rich guy was going to tear down his barns and build bigger barns to store all of his produce. Then he thought to himself that he would have goods laid up for many years so he could take his ease and eat and drink and be merry with all of his “self-made” abundance. But God called this rich guy a fool because that very night his life would be required of him. Then all of his wealth he stored up would be taken by others or looted or pillaged or would go to waste. The rich guy could not take one thing with him when he died and left earth. The key principle here is that those who store up natural treasure on earth are not rich toward God because they focus all of their attention on making money (which is the sin of idolatry in the sight of God).

Hell is the Place of the Rich Man

Isaiah 53:9 (NIV)
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Jesus went three days and three nights into the center of the earth in the place of hell to pay the price for sin for all humanity. Jesus took our place in hell so what we would not have to go to hell (as long as we receive his free gift of eternal life which he purchased for us). Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels and exists for all wicked humans who have ever followed Satan during their time on earth.

See the link “Origin and Operation of Demons” for more details.

It is interesting however that the place of hell is also referred to as the place of the rich men. This does not mean that all rich men go to hell because there were many godly rich men portrayed in the bible such as Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob and Hezekiah and David and many others. Being rich is not a sin and God can make a man rich (as he did with many godly men). It is only when the wicked men are rich that they will go to hell for the sin of covetousness. All that wicked rich men do on earth is done to support that which is evil and to seek power and control for themselves. I call these evil rich men (like George Soros-types) as being “satanic reservoirs” because they hoard wealth and keep it out of circulation in the economy and fund all that is evil on earth to empower those who are wicked.

See [Bible Translation Mistakes] and the link “Place of the Rich Men” for more details.

God of this World

2 Corinthians 4:4 (NASB95)
4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

Satan is referred to as the “god of this world” because when Adam committed treason against God, that is when he sold out his “God-given” dominion over the earth to Satan. After the fall of mankind Satan became the god of this world’s system. Satan can make wicked men rich only so these evil men can cause much suffering and misery on earth. Satan hates humans because they are the focus of God’s love. By hurting humans Satan hopes to cause pain to God indirectly. Therefore there are many wicked humans who have sold out to the devil and which cause great misery and human suffering on the earth.

Matthew 4:8–10 (NASB95)
8 Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;
9 and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.’ ”

Satan offered Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world and all of their glory under the condition that Jesus would bow down and worship him. But Jesus refused because only God should be worshipped. But there are many wicked rich men who are “satanic reservoirs” who worship and serve the devil and make life into hell for multitudes of people on earth.

But the reason that Satan could offer Jesus all of the kingdoms of the earth is that these were all given to him by default when Adam fell into transgression and sold out his God-given dominion to the devil.

Revelation 21:1 (NASB95)
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.

This scripture above speaks of a future new heaven and a new earth that will replace the cursed earth which we presently live upon. It is this present earth that is currently operating under the original earth-lease of Adam and which is currently under control by the god of this world who is Satan.

So, the devil is still operating under Adam’s “earth lease” until the time that this old cursed earth will be burned up and replaced by a new heaven’s and a new earth – which will be free from this curse of Adam and no longer under the lordship of Satan.

I said all of this to make it clear that there are two types of rich men upon the earth. There are wicked rich men who serve the agenda of Satan and there are righteous rich men who serve the agenda of God on earth.

See [Bible Translation Mistakes] and the link “Distinguish Worldly Rich Men” for more details.

Being Dependent Upon God

Matthew 5:3 (NASB95)
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

This scripture does not mean that only poor people will be in heaven because in fact there are plenty of people who had no money on earth who are now suffering in hell. There are also righteous rich men who were wealthy on earth who are now in heaven because they did not make an idol out of money and so God was free to prosper them. No, the meaning of the scripture above speaks of those who are “poor in spirit” meaning they are fully dependent upon the Lord for all things (including their wealth). The opposite of being “poor in spirit” is to be “self-sufficient” such as the rich men who vainly imagine that they have no need of anyone (including God).

Again, it should be noted that hell is referred to as the place of the “rich men” however it could be translated more clearly to say that hell is the place of the “self-sufficient” humans.

In the example of the tower of Babel, humans made clay bricks and used tar for mortar and intended to build a tower which top reached into the heavens. This is symbolic of “self-sufficient” humans who invented a multitude of false religions – which all falsely claim to offer eternal life (apart from the atoning work of Jesus Christ-who is the only way of salvation).

See the link “Teaching of the Nicolaitans” for more details.

Genesis 2:16–17 (NASB95)
16 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;
17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

The scripture above mentions the tree of the knowledge of good and evil which represents human good and human evil. Human good actually sends more people to hell than human evil because human good gives people false sense of security thinking they are good by doing good deeds. But human good needs is part of human self-effort in earning their own salvation. This human good is the basis of all false religions invented by humans on the earth.

All of these false religions end up in hell because “self-sufficient” people sought to gain eternal life by their own human “self-effort” in earning their own salvation by human good works. This is the curse of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which the first humans (Adam and Eve) partook of. Human good will send more people to hell than human evil because it produces a false sense of security by those deceived by it. Those deceived by human good (and false religion) will imagine that they can earn their own righteousness by doing good deeds or giving money to the poor etc. But it is this human self-sufficiency (which falsely imagines that it has no need of God) which will send them to hell. All false religion is involved with human-invented rituals that falsely imagine they can earn their own salvation by good works. These people become “self-righteous” and therefore do not submit to the free gift of eternal life purchased for them by Jesus Christ. Salvation is not attained by human “self-effort” but by the grace of receiving the free gift of eternal life paid for only by Jesus Christ and his sacrifice made for all humanity. They only have to accept this free gift to be saved but they do not when they are ensnared by human works of “self-effort” to earn their own way to heaven.

So in essence it is not only rich men who are self-sufficient but also all those involved in false religion who suppose they can earn their own way to heaven by human self-effort. They can be self-sufficient even when they are poor and broke on earth. Many adherents to false religion are those who live in total poverty and misery as they seek to earn their own way to heaven by adherence to religious rituals of all kinds.

It is these self-sufficient people who are in hell and all those who falsely imagine they have no need for the free gift of salvation will end up in hell (which is the place of the self-sufficient).

James 4:6 (NASB95)
6 But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”

God resists those who are proud (self-sufficient) who falsely suppose they have no need of God. Conversely God gives grace to those who are humble and depend on God for their salvation. So this scripture could also be translated as “God resists the “self-sufficient” who do not think they need God’s help. Hell is the place of the “self-sufficient” who sought to go about earning their own salvation rather than depending on God for the free gift of eternal life found only in Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:3 (NASB95)
3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.

So all self-righteous people will go to hell because they are all self-sufficient and falsely suppose they can earn their own salvation by human good works or by keeping religious rituals of all kinds. Such people have not submitted themselves to the righteousness found only in God through the sacrifice of his Son to pay for their sin.

1 Corinthians 1:29 (NASB95)
29 so that no man may boast before God.

No man can boast in their own self-effort to earn salvation because salvation is only made available as a free gift to whoever will believe and receive it. They cannot earn their own salvation by self-effort or by keeping religious rituals.

Romans 4:4–5 (NASB95)
4 Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due.
5 But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,

Those who work for their own salvation to earn it by self-effort are those who are self-sufficient and have not submitted themselves to God to receive salvation by faith. This is why the sin of self-sufficiency sends humans to hell who set about trying to earn their own salvation by human self-effort rather than submitting to the free gift of salvation provided by God.

If there is anything that God’s hates, it is the sin of human self-sufficiency. We should never do anything out of human self-sufficiency but we should only depend on God by faith in everything that we do.

Removing Human Self-Sufficiency

Judges 7:2–3 (NASB95)
2 The LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’
3 “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.

God had the number of troops who were with Gideon reduced from 32,000 down to only 10,000 in number. God did this because if they were given the victory then they would boast in their own self-effort and falsely say, “My own power has delivered me!” Therefore God reduced their numbers so that they could not boast and take God’s glory for what God was about to do.

Judges 7:4–6 (NASB95)
4 Then the LORD said to Gideon, “The people are still too many; bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Therefore it shall be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go with you; but everyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the LORD said to Gideon, “You shall separate everyone who laps the water with his tongue as a dog laps, as well as everyone who kneels to drink.”
6 Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men; but all the rest of the people kneeled to drink water.

Even after the army was reduced from 32,000 to only 10,000 troops, God still said that the number was too many. If they were given the victory with these 10,000 then these troops would still grow arrogant and claim that it was by their own human strength that gave them the victory. So then God further reduced the army in size from 10,000 troops down to only 300 soldiers. Finally with only 300 men left, then God could then give the victory because 300 was so small that it would be naturally impossible for them to win the fight against an innumerable hoard of enemy soldiers!

Again, the principle to be seen here is that God wants his people to depend upon the Lord for their strength rather than depending upon self-effort or natural means of strength.

David Numbered the Troops

2 Samuel 24:2–3 (NASB95)
2 The king said to Joab the commander of the army who was with him, “Go about now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and register the people, that I may know the number of the people.”
3 But Joab said to the king, “Now may the LORD your God add to the people a hundred times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see; but why does my lord the king delight in this thing?”

Often people do not understand the sin of David when he numbered the people and later received God’s judgment for doing so.

2 Samuel 24:9–10 (NASB95)
9 And Joab gave the number of the registration of the people to the king; and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men who drew the sword, and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
10 Now David’s heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the LORD, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. But now, O LORD, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted very foolishly.”

The key to understanding the sin of David numbering the people was that when Joab returned from conducting the census, he gave the king the number of fighting men in Israel. There was 800,000 soldiers in Israel and 500,000 soldiers in Judah. Herein, was the display of the sin of “self-sufficiency” because David was numbering the troops under his command (as if he wanted to know if he had enough soldiers to withstand an enemy army with greater numbers). But such a census was all part of human “self-sufficiency” because even one man under God’s anointing could destroy hundreds.

2 Samuel 23:8–12 (NASB95)
8 These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains, he was called Adino the Eznite, because of eight hundred slain by him at one time;
9 and after him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle and the men of Israel had withdrawn.
10 He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword, and the LORD brought about a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
11 Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines.
12 But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the LORD brought about a great victory.

Just a few of David’s mighty warriors were able to destroy hundreds and even thousands by the power of God. One of David’s men killed 800 enemy soldiers just by himself. Others stopped an entire army by themselves. So the fact of the matter is that numbers do not matter because even one man with God’s anointing can destroy thousands of enemy troops. Therefore to number the army was a sin of “self-sufficiency” as David was looking toward the numbers of his army to see how strong he was militarily. But it is a sin to do so because all “self-sufficiency” is a sin in the sight of God.

Principle of Sabbath Day is to Avoid Human Self-Sufficiency

Exodus 20:8–11 (NASB95)
8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.
11 “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

God commanded that the Jewish people have one day a week off to rest. Unlike their Gentile competitors who could work seven-days-a-week to get ahead, the Jews had to work for six days and then rest in God. This means that the Jews did their part for six-days but then rested in faith on the seventh day and trusted God by faith to prosper the work of their hands. The Sabbath day therefore speaks of avoiding human self-sufficiency and depending on God by faith for their blessing. They were not to forget God so they had one day a week to stop work and meditate upon the scriptures and to trust God for their increase. It was a sin for the Jews to work the Sabbath because that meant they were totally relying on “self-effort” to get ahead by working non-stop for seven-days-a-week.

Paying a Tithe Resists Human Self-Effort

Genesis 28:20–22 (NASB95)
20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments to wear,
21 and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God.
22 “This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Jacob made a vow to the Lord that if God would prosper him then he would offer a tenth part back to God of all of his increase. If he had ten sheep then he would give one back to God. If he had ten goats then he would give one back to God. If he had ten measures of grain then he would give one measure back to God. If he had ten gold coins then he would give one back to God. Paying a tenth part was to honor God and this makes a statement that all of Jacob’s increase came by the blessing of God and so Jacob honored God by giving a tenth part back to God again. This tenth part (or tithe) was an act of worship and represented giving of his labor back to God in thanksgiving and worship for all God has blessed him with.

See the link “Man’s Labor is Sacred” for more details.

Malachi 3:8–11 (NASB95)
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 “You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the whole nation of you!
10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,” says the LORD of hosts, “if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows.
11 “Then I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of the ground; nor will your vine in the field cast its grapes,” says the LORD of hosts.

The tithe is commanded by God and it is considered robbery if a righteous man withholds the tithe and does not honor God with his increase. The offerings came out of the 90% share kept by the giver and they can give as much or little as they want depending on how much they love God. But the tithe is commanded and that means that the 10% share belongs to God and if they do not give it then they are holding stolen goods in God’s sight.

See the link “Giving and Kingdom Finances” for more details.

It is the paying of tithes that puts everything back into proper perspective because when a righteous person pays his tithes to God this is an act of worship and it acknowledges that all they was given to them by God. This act of tithing therefore resists human self-sufficiency.

Genesis 14:23 (NASB95)
23 that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’

Abram was made rich by God but he refused to allow any humans to say that they made him rich because only God made Abram rich.

Genesis 13:2 (NASB95)
2 Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver and in gold.

Abram was blessed and prospered by God and Abram was not greedy or covetous by always honored God with a tenth of his increase just to show that it was God who made him rich. The fact remains that the tithe tests the heart. If a man cannot gave one dollar out of ten dollars to God then that means such a man is full of covetous and greed. Such a man who cannot give one out of ten to God loves money more than God and this is idolatry in God’s sight. Abraham taught his son Isaac about tithing who taught this to his son Jacob and who taught it to his twelve sons. The nation of Israel is made up of the descendants of the twelve sons of Israel. So the entire nation of Israel learned to honor God with their tithes (and offerings) and that is what keeps their heart free from covetousness and greed. Those who tithe their income are showing that they love God more than money but if they cannot give at tenth part to God then they are in bondage to greed which is the sin of idolatry.

Again, it should be noted that both the Sabbath day and the tithe are given to cancel out human greed and idolatry. If they cannot take a day off from work to worship God and meditate on the scriptures and if they cannot give a tenth of their increase to God then they are engaged in the sin of human self-sufficiency and this sin can land them in hell (especially when they resist the free gift of eternal life) by setting about to earn their own righteousness by human self-effort. All human self-effort will send mankind to hell and is a great sin in the sight of God.