My War on Hypocrisy!

You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said:

“‘This people honors me with their lips,
    but their heart is far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
    teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” (Mt. 15:7-11)

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’ (Mt. 7:21-23)

In a recent discussion I had with a layperson, I tried to explain that not everyone in church was a Christian. They may show up and go through the motions but they are not true converts. Nor is everyone in Church a member of God's elect. (Mt. 13:24-30) This seemed like news to this person. 

A preacher needs to preach the whole counsel of God. (Acts 20:26-28) This includes predestination, election, law, sin, judgment, hell and grace! We do no one any favors when we leave them with the assumption that everyone is going to heaven if they say a prayer, perform good works or know who Jesus is. The Christian must see themselves as a sinner in need of a redeemer. They must recognize an old self that once was and a new self that is of God's making! (Eph. 4:17-24)

A hypocrite means a mask-wearer, the root word coming from the masks worn by actors in Greek theater. A hypocrite plays the part but is only a pretender! Unless there is a true encounter with Christ leading to true conversion, we remain false in our sins!