Jesus Never Called a Believer a Hypocrite - Michael Edwards
God pointed out to me that when we see people called hypocrites in the Bible, and the fact that there will be no hypocrites in heaven, God is never addressing those who have placed their faith in Jesus. It is always speaking of self-righteous unbelievers, with one interesting exception.
The reason God does not call believers hypocrites is because believers see themselves in the truth of God’s perfect moral standard and admit openly that they cannot keep it. By throwing themselves on God’s mercy and grace, believers are far from hypocritical. When they say they need a Savior, they are saying they see in truth how high God’s standard is, and they respect it as just. As a believer, our inability to keep God's perfect standard in thought, word and deed, never changes. Therefore, our testimony remains the same, we need a Savior. We never get to a point where we have no sin in our lives and can judge others. In this testimony, there is no possibility of being called a hypocrite.
On the other hand, non-believers—just like believers—know God’s perfect standard through their conscience, but instead of admitting they cannot keep it and turning to God for help, they like the Pharisee’s, portray themselves like they are good enough for God. They choose to justify themselves by comparing themselves to the outward appearance of others, even Christians. Always able to find someone whom they believe is worse no matter what their behavior may be, they declare themselves good enough for God.
Jesus called the Pharisees white-washed tombs full of dead men’s bones. In other words, on the outside, they appeared to have it all together, but on the inside a different reality was present. While they thought they were pulling a fast one on others, they had been deceived and had actually pulled the wool over their own eyes.
The truth is, without exception, the self-righteous unbelievers were the only ones Jesus called “hypocrites,” not those who had placed their faith in Him.
One time a believer was charged with hypocrisy and it was not due to sin like you might think. Finish Study Here. |
