Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

On Hypocrisy

Romans Chapter 2

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. Rom 2:1

Paul is addressing what modern psychology calls projection.

Projection is the process of displacing one’s feelings onto a different person, animal, or object. The term is most commonly used to describe defensive projection—attributing one’s own unacceptable urges to another.

As we discussed in What is in Man Jesus understood the nature of all mankind according to the flesh. As much as we like to talk about all human beings beings made in the image of God, that image applied universally to Adam and Eve. Everyone who came after was a corrupted mutation of that image. But to all who did receive him (Jesus) who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12 Hence all believers are works in progress on our way to becoming fully conformed to the image of God. Rom 8:29

What Jesus knew is in Man is the culmination of Romans chapter one.

every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity, envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice, gossip, slanderer, insolence, arrogance and boasting; invented ways of doing evil; the lack of understanding, fidelity, love, and mercy (as in man). Not only do they continue to do these things but they approve of (and commiserate with) those who practice them. Rom 1:29-32

It is so very important to understand that our redemption by the blood of Jesus is not a license to sin. The law and the standard for holiness has not change.

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Mat 5:8

Many believers mistake Jesus’ last words “It is finished!” John 19:30 for all is accomplished. It is finished in Greek is tetelestai from teléō. Perhaps the best analogous context is a business transaction where a debt is paid in full. Jesus was the final blood sacrifice that paid for all sin. All is accomplished in Revelation 19-22. All means the restoration of All God’s creation to its original status before the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Victory over sin and death is just the beginning. The indwelling of Holy Spirit is a down payment toward our full inheritance. Eph 1:14 

The main error that Paul exposes in the first three chapters of Romans is one of overvaluation of identity. The Jews saw themselves as righteous by way of their Jewish bloodline. Some gentile believers regarded their newfound born-again status, or their identity, as won and done. The fruit of this error can be seen in Martin Luther’s proclamation, “Love God, sin boldly.” Jesus died for all my sins so I don’t need to worry about sin. Right?

Wrong!

…Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Rom 2:4

The riches of His kindness made possible by the Cross, are what allow us to come boldly to the throne of grace. Heb 4:16 And to be forgiven provided we confess our sins. 1 John 1:9 Those who simply take the cross of Jesus for granted and minimize or justify instead of rectifying their sins and failures through confession and repentance are hypocrites.

The Jews thought they were righteous because they had the law. Apparently like today, many Jewish and gentile believers thought hearing the law, e.g. going to church and claiming to believe what they heard made them righteous. Paul made it clear that

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. Rom 2:13

While we are not exempt from doing what the law says, we do it His help.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Heb 4:14-16

At the end of the day, God is most concerned with the intentions of our hearts. Those intentions are defined by our actions.

For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the Lord see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him. Prov 24:16-18

Paul continues to reinforce the theme of projection and resulting hypocrisy throughout the chapter with a discussion of circumcision.

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. Rom 2:25

Similar to baptism for believers,  circumcision was an outward expression of an inward commitment. While it might be tempting to focus on Paul’s seeming emphasis on distinctions between Jew and Gentile, it’s really not the point. Not at this point anyway. Once again, Paul is writing to the church in Rome. Hence he is speaking to both Jewish and Gentile believers. The message for contemporary believers remains the same. Pursue righteousness by doing what is written to the best of your ability with God’s help. Let us not redact scripture to fit the lifestyle we want to lead.  Don’t be a hypocrite.

The most sobering verse in Romans 2 is

You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Rom 2:23-24

We constantly hear people justify sin, be it theirs or the sins of others in the name of grace because they errantly believe that the law is irrelevant because Jesus fulfilled it. Hence

love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Pet 4:8

Love is the crucifixion of Jesus that resulted in our justification, not our justifications that demand tolerance for our sins. This is Paul’s point when he says ...God’s kindness is meant to lead (us) to repentance…in Rom2:4

While church leaders and especially teachers are subject stricter qualifications and standards, 1 Tim 3,  James 3 Every believer impacts someone.

“Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. “Woe to the world for temptations to sin!  For temptations must come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes! Mat 18:5-7

The word for sin and temptation here is skándalon– a trap. However, the trap here includes leading by wrong example. A person consumed by sexual sin and yet claims to represent the gospel of Jesus Christ  falls into the catagory of Romans 1:32.

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

These are the ones by whom “The name of God is blasphemed (among unbelievers)” Rom 2:23-24

The very idea of covering up or making lite of our or another person’s blatant sin is neither righteous nor loving.

But then here is where projection can make a proverbial twist. Sometimes people errantly give what appears to be grace. We may assume their intentions are pure.  They simply misunderstand the nature and purpose of grace. “They‘re just nice,” we say. When in fact they are reticent to call out and expose worthless deeds of darkness Eph 5:11 because they are guilty of the same sins. …You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? Rom 2:21 A contemporary twist is; if I commit adultery; do I excuse adultery because I am guilty of the same thing? In covering up the sin of another with what I term love and grace; do I hope the same sins will be covered up for me?

There is no end to how those with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom will twist God’s word to justify their behavior and the behavior of those whom they are afraid to confront. If this is how a church body or a body within a body operates the end result will at best always be but a variation of what happened at IHOPKC and multiple other ministries over the last twenty years. In the end God is blasphemed and people reject Him because of our failures.

At the end of the day, the overarching theme in Romans 2 is simple.  Right is right. Wrong is wrong. If we know what is right because we got it from scripture then we’d better be doing it. People are watching and looking to justify their unbelief by our actions. When we fail as we all do at times, then we’d best be ready to immediately confess and repent. Anything else makes us hypocrites. This is one reason why Paul said, leaders must be above reproach. 1 Tim 3 And James said, not many of you should become teachers, James 3:1

Woe to the hypocrites. Mat 23

If you are reading this and asking “Where is the love?”, consider the possibility that you have a deficient understanding of love. Why is Paul so hard? Because

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Prov 9:10

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecc 12:13-14

The love of God can not be understood apart from the fear of God, His goodness apart from His severity.

Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Rom 11:22

So often any mention of the fear of God, His law, and the pursuit of holiness is dismissed as “religious”. Within the charasmatic stream, the word religion has become a pejorative. The implication is that Jesus was only hard on the religious people. We are “Spirit Filled”. For the record “religion” is from the Latin  Relegere to reread and Religare to bind fast, an obligation, a bond between man and God. In a nutshell, being religious means are who we say we are, and we do what we are supposed to do regardless of who we are with. Being Spirit filled means we have the power to walk in integrity. Integrity is a fruit of being unspotted from the world. James 1:27 Among other things, our religion should produce integrity.

Integrity is the antithesis of Hypocrisy.

Maranatha!

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Intimacy and Holy Fear

And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 1 Pet 1:17-19

In his first apology (defense) of Christianity, Justin Maryter offered theological arguments and cited the superior moral conduct of Christians to convince the Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius to cease from persecuting the Church.  Of course, he and several of his students were beheaded in 166 AD. The point is that in times past the conduct of the church was regarded as proof of God’s truth. James 1:22-25

You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly, you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. 2 Cor 3:2-3

The early church lived in the reality of Rev 12:11 to which many are and will be called to walk out today.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,

and they did not love their lives to the death.

Our Pakistani friends Pastors Ammir and Tariq in Pakistan awaken each day with a resolve to continue preaching “even if they cut (off) our heads”. Meanwhile, a lot of us can’t even resolve to cut off the TV.

The Holiness to which we are called beginning in 1 Pet1:15 is not an emotion-based call to conform to a cultural consensus but rather to be cultural nonconformists Rom 12:1-2 conformed to the image of His son. Rom 8:29  Still, many will quote Paul in 1 Cor 9 I became all things to all men… (vs.21) as a means of justifying their conformity to culture. Becoming all things to all men does not mean we compromise. It means we empathize. We do so in the context of anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 1 Cor 10:12 Paul’s conclusion clarifies the context for his previous statements.

But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

So often we become all things to all men as a result of our fear of man. Is it because we want to avoid the responsibility of confronting sin? Eph 5:11 Are we afraid of offending others? 1 Pet 2:7-8   Are we afraid of being judged as being judgemental? 1 Cor 2:15   Are we afraid of persecution? 1 Tim 3:22 We may accomplish it “by speaking in Love”. Is all of this just code and a cover for “I need people to like me”?

The only way to pursue Holiness is to fear God more than man.

Hence Peter exhorts us to conduct (ourselves) with fear throughout the time of (our) exile… FEAR is phóbos, the Greek word from which the English word Phobia is derived. It means fear, dread, terror, that which strikes terror. It also means reverence for one’s husband. Our favorite analogy is the fear of the ocean that we learned in Hawaii. On one hand, the sea is a source of life without which there would be no life on Earth. Yet it will kill you deader than a hammer if you don’t fear its power. I’m not talking about the watered-down fear that we call awe. I’m talking about the sheer terror that comes with getting caught in a rip current in six-foot surf.

It is impossible to comprehend Holiness – hágios and qodesh apart from Heb 12:28-29 and Rev 19:12-16. Jesus is not a mushy-gushy Jesus who died for our soulish emotions to align with our contemporary definitions of love. He is the strongest toughest most long-suffering Son of God who loves us and died for us in spite of us Eph 2:1-10. He saved us from the wrath of the Father that we deserved. Eph 2:3  Not because we were wonderful and, cuddly. We were dead. Eph 2:1 God saved us because of who He is, because – He could not violate HIS own character and nature. One day He will return to wreak eternal havoc upon all who deny Him. 1 Pet:4:18-19, Isa 24, 2 Pet 3 If we fail to understand this and insist on putting the proverbial “cart before the horse” and make His salvation Psalm 51 more about us than Him we will soon find ourselves drowning in a sea of narcissism otherwise known as the contemporary culture of those striving to be seen, heard and loved. Why do we so need to be seen, heard, loved, and affirmed by others if indeed,

Jesus is enough?

That said, there are several ways we can deny Him. 1 Tim 2:12, Mark 16:16, Gal 1:8-9, Mat 7:21-23. I realize there are “fire and brimstone” denominations at which we charismatics shudder, cringe and are offended because they allegedly negate the power of Holy Spirit. At best they give lip service to the compassionate, gentle miracle-working, power of our Savior. This is not a legalistic call to obsess over hell.  Even so, many charismatic believers reject the Holy whip-making, temple-clearing, sword-wielding “consuming fire” God who demands sobriety, obedience, and holiness manifested in the transformation of our characters. God couldn’t care less about raised hands and loud exclamations during corporate worship when our daily conduct is corrupt. Isa 29, Mark 7  I am mentioning it here because personal holiness is impossible apart from beholding both the kindness and severity of God. Rom 11:22

This is the fear of God that produces Holiness. 2 Cor 7:1

There is a profound and deeply disturbing misunderstanding in the contemporary charismatic church that intimacy with God is produced by emotion – that if we are emotional with God He will know us. Mat 7:21-23  It’s not that God doesn’t care how we feel. Psalm 51:17 However, true intimacy with the Lord is only found in our abiding in Him. Abiding looks like obedience. John 15 

We learn to obey by pursuing Holiness.

1 Samuel 15 is one of the most poignant chapters in the Bible. It is a clear type and shadow of our problem with Holiness today.

God orders King Saul to destroy the Amalekites.

Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel, and donkey…But Saul and the people spared (King) Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

Like so many today, Saul rationalized His disobedience with the excuse that he intended to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. To which Samuel replies, obedience is better than sacrifice and listening better than the fat of rams. He equates rebellion with the sin of witchcraft and presumption with idolatry.

Then God rejects Saul

At the end of the chapter, we find Saul admitting his sin. Yet his primary concern is that Samuel returns with him to honor him before people.

And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me,

that I may bow before the Lord YOUR God.” 

Can you think of a time when you sought to please man instead of God?

When was the last time that another believer made a declaration or a truth claim that is nowhere to be found in scripture, or worse, blatantly contradicts God’s Word and we said nothing? When was the last time we witnessed blatant sin in the church and said nothing? 1 Pet 4:17 When was the last time we saw a brother or a sister heading for a proverbial cliff and we failed to warn them?

How often is our “speaking in love” just a cover for the fear of man?

Fear of man always enables or produces sin.

Fear of God produces holiness, and holiness – Intimacy.

The pursuit of intimacy apart from obedience and holiness is of the flesh and mocks God. Gal 6:7-8

Therefore conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile here on earth. You are a sojourner – a stranger here. Heb 11:13  For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. James 4:14

Maranatha

Brian and Cathy Gray Bible study

Holy Hope

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Pet 1:14-16

Thus far Peter has emphasized endurance and the testing and purification of our faith for the sake of the hope that lies ahead. Not hope in earthy things but our blessed hope. Titus 2:13.

Now Peter is emphasizing the call to holiness hágios – sacred, pure, morally blameless, consecrated…in the New Testament. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament is qodesh to be set apart. The image is to “To cut” as one might cut a vegetable to separate the good parts from the bad.

We speak a lot about the love, power, and presence of God within the charismatic stream. The idea of holiness often gets sidelined. His Holiness is often only mentioned in the context of worship.

Generally, Bible scholars refer to the number of times a word or idea occurs as a measure of thematic emphasis or importance to the author. Obviously, Love is important in the kingdom of God. “Love” in all its degrees and forms is mentioned 506 times in the Bible.

Holiness is mentioned in 595 times.

That said, I have a hypothesis. Love, power, and His presence are all associated with a deep emotional experience. Granted these individual experiences vary and I am not implying that they are purely emotional. Even so, charismatics tend to validate God’s presence according to what they feel.

That feeling is always pleasurable.

Am I wrong?

Holiness on the other hand requires that I look at myself in the reflection of His Holiness. This isn’t as pleasurable provided we are being honest.

That’s because holiness involves conviction and repentance.

Problems arise when we pervert conviction into guilt shame and condemnation. While conviction tells us a course correction is required, guilt shame and condemnation are identity statements. Conviction identifies what needs to be cut.

A mature believer can look at themselves in the mirror of God’s Holiness and say,

“I’m not all that I should be. But thank you Lord that I’m not what I used to be. I am a work in progress”

Mature believers understand that His righteousness is our righteousness because of who He is. We came to Jesus as dead people, by nature appointed to wrath. He loved us in spite of us not because of us. Eph 2:1-5

He loved us because of who He is.

Christianity is not a self-help program for those suffering from low self self-esteem. Christianity is a His help program for those suffering from sin, and an obsession with self.

If we understand holiness in the context of “be holy, for I am holy” then we know that only He can make us holy. It is Jesus that cuts and consecrates. It is Jesus who sanctifies and separates dross from the gold, false faith from genuine faith. It is Jesus who purifies us with fiery trials until all the impurities are burned off and He beholds His pure reflection in us. We offer ourselves as living sacrifices and then let Him have at us. We choose His ways instead of the world’s ways and allow Him to transform us Rom 12:1-2 by the washing of the water of the word. Eph 5:26-27

Sometimes this hurts.

As for understanding the seriousness and intensity of consecration (the process of becoming holy) we may be better served by studying Leviticus 8 and applying these principles to ourselves in the context of Rom 12:1-2 Sometimes our sermons sound like self-promotion. At the end of the day Jesus gave us one instruction regarding self;

Deny it. Mat 16:24

Deny- aparnéomai utterly, disown, abstain, to affirm that one has no acquaintance or connection with someone, to forget one’s self, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests.

If that disturbs you, it’s because you have a wrong perspective. I promise you that aparnéomai is the paradoxical path to genuine faith. It will reveal your true identity because it destroys the self-centered feelings of worthlessness, and condemnation that so many are struggling to avoid. In its wake, it leaves freedom, peace, and genuine biblical Hope.

Maranatha