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The Preoccupation With Self-Glory (v. 23)

“These things have indeed a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body, not in any honor to the satisfying of the flesh.”

This verse is really difficult to translate, so I am going to give you my translation with a little broadening so you can understand it: All regulations of this kind have a reputation for wisdom, they intimidate and appear to be the divine wisdom. A man keeps all the rules, has the higher visions, communes with the angels, receives revelations, and is in abject self-abasement in poverty, all because of self-made humility and unsparing treatment of the body. But it is of no value because it serves only to satisfy the flesh. That is simply carnality—trying to glorify yourself as the one who can either save or make himself spiritual.

Self-styled ritual, self-styled mysticism, and self-styled poverty for the sake of apparent piety and holiness just panders the flesh. That religion is godless because the people worship themselves. Their humility is fake because it is nothing but a masking of spiritual pride. And their self-denial is a false standard because it is an effort to make themselves more holy than others. In all of those exercises they serve only to indulge their carnal flesh.

John MacArthur - http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg2143.htm

And just to be clear, “Self-styled ritual, self-styled mysticism, and self-styled poverty for the sake of apparent piety and holiness” is not what John Paul II was doing; he ‘”frequently spent the night on the bare floor,” messing up his bed in the morning so he wouldn’t draw attention to his act of penitence.’

It must have taken a certain pride just to post that.

And who named John MacArthur pope? He is about as ill-informed on things Catholic as my pet poodle. Seriously, he has a real bias.

And quite apart from that, his translation is tendentious—more a paraphrase than translation, expressing his biases. He’s entitled to them, of course, but citing him as an authority will convince only those who are already convinced MacArthur fans. The rest of us have other resources for understanding and interpreting that verse.

Self-styled ritual, self-styled mysticism, and self-styled poverty for the sake of apparent piety and holiness just panders the flesh. That religion is godless because the people worship themselves. Their humility is fake because it is nothing but a masking of spiritual pride. And their self-denial is a false standard because it is an effort to make themselves more holy than others. In all of those exercises they serve only to indulge their carnal flesh.

John MacArthur - http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/sg2143.htm

AMEN!