May 4, 2025 - Sin of Hypocrisy
Notes
Transcript
As we continue to make our way thru chapter 2 of Romans today, we look back...
...and see that Paul, so far, has been highlighting the sinfulness of man.
At the end of chapter 1 we saw him address the sinful, pagan practices of the gentiles, only to then point the finger at the Jews in the beginning of chapter 2.
At that point he began highlighting the hypocrisy of the Jews...
...in that they would judge the gentiles, and yet do the very same kind of things.
Paul made them aware that doing such things would result in them actually condemning themselves.
And then last week, we saw Paul declare that mere possession of the Law would be no advantage on the day of judgment...
...but that doing the Law is what God would look at.
Was Paul saying that this "doing of the Law" would be the basis of a person's salvation?
NO.
NO.
These works would prove whether or not someone had been saved...
...with Faith as the foundation.
Is Paul referring to perfect obedience here?
NO.
NO.
If you remember, verse 7 said:
7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;
This phrase "seek for" can be translated as "try to find"...
...and so we get this picture of a person in a dark room, trying to get out...
....and the only way out is to find the key that's somewhere on the floor.
This person would "seek for" / "try to find" that key.
And so Paul is declaring that Saving Faith "tries to find" glory, honor, and incorruption.
A life lived, trying to glorify God (in action), trying to honor God (in action), trying to find incorruption.
Not perfectly...and so repenting along the way.
I thought of this - this week = Imagine if saving faith made us PERFECT here on earth...
What do you think that would lead to?
I feel like we would end up WALKING, TALKING, LIVING just like Jesus did - and we’d be - - KILLED.
Paul made it clear that God is not partial, and that mankind has the moral law of God written on their heart....
...as verse 14-15 says:
14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law.
15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
And so mankind, living by a moral compass written on our heart...
Doesn't need to be Jewish to understand right and wrong.
And where Paul has already begun to shed light on the hypocrisy of the Jews, this week he will continue to do the same...
...and this is important,
because Paul will tell us the implications of hypocrisy in the Christian life.
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;
19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
So we can see that God, thru Paul, is establishing the reality that all of mankind is IN NEED of a Savior...
...in NEED of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jew or Gentile...all in need.
He started out attacking the morally corrupt world of the Gentile...
...and now He's attacking the higher moral structure of the Jewish Nation...
...getting all of mankind on the same playing field.
He's not trying to isolate one group over another...
He's simply bringing them all down.
And this really reflects what Romans 3:9 says:
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin,
And so we can see that this is Paul's approach here...
...but what's his main point in these verses today (17-24)...
his main point - verse 23:
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
We saw in the beginning of chapter 2, Paul clearly directing his words to the Jewish Nation.
1 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.
In verse 17, we see him again clearly speaking to the Jewish Nation saying:
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
And so it's to the Jew he speaks in verse 23
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
SLIDE: Sin of Hypocrisy: Dishonors God
Sin of Hypocrisy
Sin of Hypocrisy
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
So we have a person here who boasts in the Law, and yet breaks the Law...and the result is...
...the dishonoring of God.
Paul here is really going to highlight the sin of hypocrisy.
And I don’t think it takes very long for us to - look around in this world and see some big examples of this very thing....
Back in the late 1990’s - early 2000’s - - Major League Baseball was at it’s most popular...
WHY?
Because it turned a blind eye to it’s players using performance enhancing drugs.
Fans LOVED watching the homeruns...!
BUT THEN - when public opinion began to shift - MLB dropped the hammer on many of those same players!
How about - Government?
Government - which tells us as citizens to make sure we PAY OUR TAXES.… TO PAY OUR DEBTS...
YET = the government can’t pay off it’s OWN DEBTS!
And then of course there are Individual cases of people who displayed hypocrisy in pretty big ways...
Tell me if you know who these quotes came from:
"I have never doped"
"I have nothing to hide...nothing to run from"
"After having cancer, why would I join a sport, dope myself up, and then risk my life again...that's crazy...I would never do that"
yes, Lance Armstrong
10 years of accusations
10 years of denial...
...before coming clean - admitting guilt.
His hypocrisy seemed monumental right?
Completely dishonored himself.
And in ALL of these cases - there’s a DISHONORING that takes place...
And yet Paul's theme so far in these first 2 chapters has been the honor, or glory of God.
And so Paul doesn't stay surface level with this, and JUST say - sin is bad...
...but he gets deeper than that, to the core of our problem with sin...
...to the core of our depravity.
The dishonoring of God.
That even though we knew God, we dishonored Him...
Exchanged His glory and His truth for a lie.
This is what Paul is describing in Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
And so it's clear that so far in Romans, Paul is trying to prepare the Jew and the Gentile to:
understand...
...and receive the Gospel.
SLIDE:
Is a glass half full of liquid arsenic ready to contain only the purest of water?
NO - because any water - no matter HOW PURE - added to that contaminated water… becomes contaminated!
what needs to happen first?
It needs to be EMPTIED!
Paul is trying to EMPTY the Jew of his pride...
So HE CAN receive - the Gospel!
And in trying to get them to understand, he says this:
17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God
18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law;
19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
In verses 17-20, Paul basically lays out a job description for the Jew...with all these "if" statements.
He says:
Do you call yourself a Jew?
Do you rely on the law and boast in God?
Do you know God's will?
Do you approve what is excellent?
Are you confident that you are a guide to the morally blind?
...a guiding light?
...an instructor of fools?
...a teacher of the immature?
Do you believe these things about yourself Jew?
Now, the Jews did pride themselves in being correctors of the foolish...
...teachers of the immature
and ...guides to the blind
Why did they think that way about themselves?
Because of what verse 20 says:
20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—
Because in the law, they had the embodiment of knowledge and truth...
Now, we really need to pay attention here, because the point Paul is making here can be easily transferable to us...
The Jews possessed the truth, they had the law of God...
What they possessed so transcended the greatest thinkers of the Greek culture...
...that one could understand how they went astray...
Moses had more wisdom than Plato.
Jeremiah knew more truth than Aristotle.
Amos understood righteousness far better than Socrates.
Sproul, R. C. (1994). The Gospel of God: An Exposition of Romans (p. 56). Great Britain: Christian Focus Publications.
BUT - - - WAS IT because Moses, Jeremiah, and Amos were better thinkers?
No, because they had received revealed truth...
....from God Himself.
And so understanding that they HAD received this revealed truth, they had no problem answering "YES" to all of Paul's questions here:
Do you call yourself a Jew? - Yes
Do you rely on the law and boast in God? - Yes
Do you know God's will? - Yes
Do you approve what is excellent? - Yes
Are you confident that you are a guide to the morally blind? - Yes
...a guiding light? - Yes
...an instructor of fools? - Yes
...a teacher of the immature? - Yes
There problem was not that they did these things...
These are good things.
The problem was....that
SLIDE:
There was a disconnect between their affirmations and their actions.
They were abusing the Law.
They were standing on the Law, pointing fingers at those who didn't obey, all the while, not obeying themselves.
Paul says:
21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
And so - something we see in what Paul is saying here is...
SLIDE:
The Jews used the Law as a means of boasting, not a means of Love.
Love uses truth to bless others...
Sin uses truth to exalt self.
See...
Sin is not interested in being taught.
Sin is not interested in submitting to the Law.
Sin is only interested in exalting self.
The Jews did not apply the Law to themselves...
...they only used the Law to judge others.
And Paul gives 3 examples of how this failure to teach themselves plays itself out in their lives.
21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal?
22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
Now, how would Paul respond - - if he had heard the Jews respond to this by saying...
"No, we don't steal, commit adultery, or rob temples"
Well...Paul could respond with...
- UHHH - WRONG, you really do steal, commit adultery, and rob temples.
You don't understand that the Law demands faith.
This Law, which convicts you of sin, demands faith...
...that you would live by faith, pursuing Christ....not righteousness.
Instead you use the Law to try and establish your own righteousness...
...and rob God of the trust that is due Him.
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
Notice that it says the Gentiles attained righteousness by not pursuing righteousness.
This can easily be depicted in Rachel and I trying for years to have Trey.
We were having trouble in that regards...so...what did we do?
We began to pursue having Trey by doing all the typical medical procedures that you can do (not all, but some).
We tried and tried.
Pursuing Trey our own way.
What happened?
Nothing.
We did not attain Trey by pursuing Trey.
Now, we were praying the whole time, but basically we were thinking - well this will work.
It didn't.
So, we stopped pursuing Trey our own way.
We turned the situation over to God, and had faith in Him...
What happened?
We attained Trey by faith, having stopped procedures in pursuit of Trey.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Paul's bringing these Jews back to faith.
Why?
Why all the trouble?
Because they were deceived.
Isn't that the worst...when you've been deceived?
Anyone in here ever been deceived by someone?
**Guitar
Because Paul cares for these people (Jews) (Roman Christians), he does what he can to set them straight.
It reminds me of the Church in Laodicea, that's written about in Revelation chapter 3...
15 “ ‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!
16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.
19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.
Similar kind of deal here...people deceived.
These people say - I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.
Reality says (Jesus says) - You are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.
These people, living their lives, completely deceived about their standing before God.
And so Paul, in chapter 2 of Romans, wants to set the record straight about what reality says to the Jew.
The Jew was so focused on the external...
...that they ignored the internal.
When we think about Justification and Sanctification...
Justification is God's act of removing the guilt and penalty of sin while at the same time declaring a sinner righteous through Christ's atoning sacrifice
Sanctification can actually be looked at in 3 ways: BUT WE’LL FOCUS ON 1
a practical progressive holiness in a believer’s life while awaiting the return of Christ.
So for our purposes:
Justification is salvation
Sanctification is our growing in holiness
So in our view, Justification proceeds sanctification.
BUT when we approach the Law from the wrong angle, from the wrong motive...
...we actually begin to mingle or even reverse the order of justification and sanctification.
Paul is fighting for the correct order...
Justification (getting right before God on the basis of faith)
WHICH LEADS to sanctification (growing in holiness, living by faith, delighting in the Law).
We've seen Paul continue to attack mankind on all fronts here in these first 2 chapters so far...
...and more recently pointing to the sin of hypocrisy...
And you might be thinking..."Ok Paul, we get it, we get it...why the persistance?"
Well, Paul is persistant here because of what's at stake...
...and this not only applies to the first century listeners of Paul, but for us today.
23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
24 For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
You guys remember the Abrahamic Covenant that we walked thru from the OT?
That covenant that God made with Abraham...
...where God promised 3 blessings to Abraham.
Land
Descendants
Blessing - to the nations.
Well Paul here in verses 23-24, is letting the Romans know that the hypocrisy with which they were conducting themselves was actually hindering God's purposes to bless the nations thru Israel.
Instead of drawing men to God, they were driving them away.
SLIDE: Our Sin of Hypocrisy: Drives Others Away from God
Our Sin of Hypocrisy
Our Sin of Hypocrisy
This is what hypocrisy does.
The Gentiles were seeing the hypocrisy of the Jews...
Seeing them judge others while doing the same things...
...and the result of that is that the Gentiles blasphemed God...
...BECAUSE of the Jewish hypocrisy.
So, it seems pretty clear to us, that how we live our lives will either bring glory to God...
..OR cause His name to be blasphemed in the world.
NOW - ...
Remember verse 7 of this chapter and what it said...
To those who seek for (try to find)...
glory
honor
incorruption
WE WILL NOT BE PERFECT!...
The world, when looking at Christians, there's 1 thing we know for sure...
They're going to see Christians - - sin.
They're not going to see perfection.
But here's the thing...what they need to see is the Christian who DOES mess up...
...who DOES sin...
...they need to see - repentance.
If we try to pretend with the world, that because we believe in Jesus, we don't sin anymore...
...they'll see right thru that...
....and you know what that leads to...
THAT leads to them blasheming the name of God...
...because they'll see the hypocrisy in that.
BUT...
BUT...
If when they see us mess up, they also see us repent of that sin to God, knowing that we have offended Him...
...If the world understands that we ALL deal with sin, EXCEPT, our sin has been dealt with on the cross...
THEN, the world will see a hope in us, that won't lead to the blasheming of God's name...
...But rather, hopefully, the praise of His name, as He draws them to Himself....
thru our living FOR Him...
and our repentance TO Him...
Recap
So what have we seen this week?
We've seen Paul continue to strip away the Jew's perceived security.
He continues to turn everything back in on the Jew.
He wants to bring it all back to faith.
He's calling for the Jew (and we can relate this to us), to look at his life...
...look at his deeds
Paul says - regardless if you boast in the Law...
Regardless if you sing every song before Church..
how do you live?
What do you do?
While you preach against stealing, do you steal (do the act of stealing)?
While you say "don't lie, don’t be anxious", do we DO those things?
Look inward Paul says.
Test yourself.
Hypocrisy leads to the blaspheming of the name of God...
Are we going to be a people that draws the world TO God...or
...pushes the world AWAY from God?
Let's Pray...
Lord’s Table
This brings us to the Lord’s Table…a time for each of us to reflect on our lives, to examine ourselves spiritually, and to remember the cost of our faith. We were bought with a price, and these elements remind us of this.
1. Have you experienced the Saving Power of Christ at the cross?
The Bible tells us that ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God
That the wages of SIN - is death - AND SO we all deserve death
BUT - that God sent His son - Jesus - to LIVE a perfect life...
to DIE on the cross for sinners
to take upon Himself the wrath due us!
to be RAISED again on the 3rd day - conquering DEATH!
He’s alive today...
The Bible tells us that we if REPENT of our sins and TRUST in Jesus for His work...
Jesus - the MERCY seat...
If we trust in Him - we will BE SAVED!
FREE from death and SEALED IN CHRIST
We can TASTE the MERCY of God - In Jesus Christ
AND IF YOU ARE SAVED?
If you are a child of God - Saved from your sins by the Blood of Christ...then I ask -
Are you trusting in what the Resurrection of Christ accomplished for us?
Are you trusting in…
Your New Identity in Him
The New Future that Awaits you
The New Confidence He brings
Are you living a life that REFLECTS these realities?
OR - are you still hiding behind locked doors - as if Christ was still on the cross????
This is our call - As BELIEVERS!
BUT - IF you are NOT a believer -
If you haven’t SURRENDERED to Jesus...
- ..you should not partake.
The Bible says not to take this lightly. Scripture says – “ whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
Take time now and examine yourself before the Lord.
22 While they were eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it, and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.” 23 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. 24 And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. 25 Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
“do this…in remembrance of me.”
