Humanity's Hypocrisy

Introduction

Nobody likes a hypocrite. Nobody wants to be a hypocrite.

You could line a million children up in a row and ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Not one of them will say, “I’d like to be a hypocrite!”

And yet hypocrisy is embedded in the fallen human nature. We very easily judge others with a much harsher standard than we judge ourselves. We withhold mercy and understanding from others while applying it liberally to ourselves.

But this is not the worse thing that hypocrisy does to a person. The worst thing by far is that full grown hypocrisy steals our ability to see ourselves rightly.

And church when it comes to following Jesus we need to understand our own hearts before we ever try and understand someone else’s!

Do you want to grow in your faith? Then you must fight hypocrisy. Do you want to be a good husband/wife? Then you must fight hypocrisy. Do you want to be useful to God for the ministry of His kingdom? Then we must fight hypocrisy.

Our passage today is Romans 2:17-29.

Romans 2:17–29 ESV

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 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.” For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

Main Point: Don’t be a hypocrite.

And in our effort to kill hypocrisy in our lives we need to understand it. So we’ll see I. The Problem of Hypocrisy, II. The Damage of Hypocrisy, III. The Ground of Hypocrisy, and IV. The Cure for Hypocrisy.

I. The Problem of Hypocrisy (17-22)

Romans 2:17-20 “But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth—”

As we look at this list in verses 17-20 Paul starts off by highlighting misplaced trust.

As we have been studying the book of Romans—which is a prolonged treatise on the gospel—we know that men and women only have one place to rightly put their trust.

We can only trust in Jesus Christ for our security. For our salvation.

Everything else will fall short and let us down.

Paul says, “If you call yourself a Jew, if you rely on the law, if you boast in God, if you are the one who has the Word and knows His will

What Paul is doing here is highlighting those things that his Jewish brethren would be tempted to trust in. Their heritage as Jews. The law of Moses. The written Word of God. And he connects a misplaced trust in these things in the rest of the passage as being indicative of hypocrisy.

Spoiler alert: Here’s where we’re going—IF you place your trust In these things you are missing the point and the natural progression of this misplaced trust is that you will be a hypocrite. A person unable to see themselves correctly. Which is absolutely necessary if you are going to follow Jesus.

In these verses we see that the hypocrite—has a limited view of self. And it’s limited to all the good qualities they possess.

It’s not a bad thing to be a guide to the blind. Or a light to those in darkness. Or an instructor to the foolish. Or a teacher of children. —And if you are teacher you might think Paul is being redundant here, a teacher of children is an instructor of the foolish.

The point is not that these are bad things, but for this person that Paul Is talking to they have these outward actions without it affecting them internally. This is where the hypocrisy comes in.

The hypocrite says, “Look at all that I do. All that I am.” —>But all that they see is grand things.

Listen the hypocrite is not completely clueless, they recognize that they end up in some “problems” but really these are other people’s faults. It has very little to do with them.

Do you know anyone like this? Are you like this?

Kids are the greatest at this skewed vision of reality. A kid will break your rule and then get mad at you for punishing them.

“It’s your fault that I’m in trouble. My disobedience isn’t the problem. The rule you placed over me is the problem.”

Of course I’m not talking about my kids. I’m talking about yours. Don’t you know that pastor’s kids are perfect?

We all have the capacity to look at ourselves and see all the good and none of the bad.

Let’s continue in the passage and we’ll see the problem.

Romans 2:21-22 “you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?”

The hypocrite judges others for the very things that they themselves do, but for the hypocrite they judge themselves lightly.

It would be like judging your own attractiveness by looking at pictures of yourself with an instagram filter on. (Insta Filter Photo) That’s not what you really look like. But you accept that as your true self.

But for everyone else you judge their beauty based off of what they look like right after they’ve rolled out of bed. (Morning Photo) That’s not who they really are, but that’s how you judge them.

Friends, this is a problem.

Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

The hypocrites biggest problem is that they neglect their most important student…themselves!

“You then who teach others do you not teach yourself?”

I have to tell you this message hits home for me. Every week as I prepare to preach I run the great danger of being an awful hypocrite. If i prepare a message, but I don’t have myself as the chief student first then I fail miserably.

What business do I have instructing you in the Bible if I fail to obey myself?

What business do you have judging others if you fail to judge yourself?

Transition: And we don’t want to take this lightly friends. Our hypocrisy comes with a great cost for ourselves and for others. Let’s now turn to...

II. The Damage of Hypocrisy (23-24)

As we look to see the damage of hypocrisy let’s look at the next two verses one at a time.

Romans 2:23 “You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.”

First, the hypocrite sins greatly by dishonoring God.

When God’s people talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk it doesn’t honor God—it brings dishonor to God.

And this is a big deal.

The main motivation behind everything that God does is to bring honor and glory to Himself—because he is the most glorious of all things in existence and He is worthy of all honor. It belongs to him.

When humanity receives honor it is only appropriate for it to be received with great humility—because we really aren’t do the honor.

And I’m not trying to get you to feel bad about yourself—but all honor that we would receive for our actions and accomplishments are only possible primarily because of God.

If a student accomplishes great academic achievement it is because God has given them a brain that is capapble.

If an athlete accomplishes great physical feats—the glory isn’t truly their’s because it originates in God’s creation of such a physically capable creature.

All human honor is a result of God’s blessings to them. But God is worthy of all honor because his glory wholly emanates from Himself. Nothing outside of God contributes to His Honor. It is wholly His.

God is worthy of all honor, but when we are hypocrites. When we tell others to obey the Word, when we judge others by the word, but disobey ourselves we bring dishonor to God.

How does this dishonor God? It dishonors God by elevating ourselves and lowering God.

It says to God—I am like you. I am above these other people. I am something to be celebrated.

Friends, desiring to be like God is the chief folly of the Devil and our first parents, Adam and Eve.

Our hypocrisy dishonors the Holy One. Do not take this lightly.

Transition: Let’s look at verse 24 and we’ll see an even more damaging consequence of our hypocrisy.

Romans 2:24 “For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.””

When we are hypocrites we not only dishonor God ourselves, but we also draw others into it.

The world looks at the hypocritical folower of Jesus and blasphemes God’s name.

When God first started drawing me to Himself I decided that the “true God” couldn’t be the God of the Christian Bible because I knew some of those people and I didn’t like them. They were hypocrites. They did all the same things that I did—for the most part—but they lied about it.

And as a result I cursed the name of that God. I hated that God. I railed against that God.

And friends, say praise God with me, because that God wanted me, that God died for me, and that God saved my soul!

When we are hypocrites the world blasphemes the name of God because His “followers” are awful and God is through to be like them.

So one danger is that the world will see your hypocrisy and reject God becausee of your poor witness.

But there is another danger for the hypocrite. That they world will become the kind of follower of Jesus that they are.

This danger is worse than the first. Jesus has some really strong words for these kinds of hypocrites that evangelize and multiply themselves.

Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

Matthew 18:6 “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.”

Transition: No one wants these words said about them. No one wants to be a hypocrite. And yet it is a struggle and temptation that is so prevalent amongst humanity. In order to fight hypocrisy we must understand where it comes from. Let’s not consider...

III. The Ground of Hypocrisy (25-27)

Romans 2:25-27 “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.”

Are we all clear here? No explanation needed right?

It almost seems like Paul has switched gears and is now talking about something completely different. But he’s not.

Remember Paul is addressing Jews in this portion of Romans. What we see here is a very Jewish illustration.

And to understand it we need to talk for a minute about Covenant and covenant signs.

God has always interacted with people through Covenant. When Abraham is called out to belong to God he has a vision where God makes a covenant with Him. You can read about it in Genesis 17.

A covenant always consists of two parties. And there are typically blessings for covenant faithfulness and curses for covenant breaking. You can read about it Deuteronomy 28.

And God as a grace to his people gives covenant signs—a physical reminder for a physical people of the covenant that they have entered into with their God.

Baptism is a covenant sign of our covenant in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a covenant sign of our covenant with Christ.

These were given to us as a grace to help us remember and celebrate all that God has blessed us with in Jesus.

Are you tracking with me?

Now to Paul’s example here in Romans. In the Abrahamic Covenant—the covenant that the Jewish people identified themselves by—the covenant sign given is circumcision.

Genesis 17:9-11 “And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.”

So Paul takes this covenant sign for the Jews and teaches a lesson with it. Look at what he says.

Romans 2:25-27 “For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law.”

IF you obey the law of the covenant circumcision is of value, but IF you break the law of the covenant your circumcision becomes uncircumcised. The physical sign of circumcision has no value in itself—just like baptism doesn’t save anyone—the covenant sign has no value apart from covenant obedience.

Paul goes further here in the argument. If a man who hasn’t received the physical sign is a covenant keeper—if he obeys the laws of the covenant then he will be regarded as one who has received the sign and belongs to God.

Think of the thief on the cross. He was not able to receive the sign of baptism—but Jesus said to him, “today you will be in paradise”. Why?

Because his heart is correct before the Lord. The sign is made valid by the faith that accompanies it. But Faith cannot be made invalid by a lack of the sign.

SO WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH HYPOCRISY?

Paul’s point here is not to divorce the internal from the external.

They hypocrite focuses on the external while ignoring the internal state of himself of herself. And Paul brings up circumcision to say, look the external is only valid if the internal is present.

There will be many with the physical sign of circumcision and baptism that are revealed outside of God’s covenant people.

There is only value in the external if it is accompanied by the internal.

There is only value in being “a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children” if you are a follower of Jesus.

Hypocrisy grows into our lives as we neglect who we are in our hearts. We are prone to say, “I’ve got the sign. I know the right answers. I've got actions.”

1 Samuel 16:7 “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.””

Jeremiah 17:10 ““I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.””

Matthew 5:8 ““Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Proverbs 4:23 “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”

Friends if God does not neglect the heart why should we?

Application: So let me ask you—how is your heart? Who are you when no one is around? Who are you when you are alone? Are you addressing that person? Is that person the main focus of your scrutiny? If you want to avoid hypocrisy then you must not cultivate soil that avoids look at self.

Transition: As we round the corner on our text I want us to end on...

IV. The Cure for Hypocrisy (28-29)

Romans 2:28-29 “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.”

“The one who addresses their heart, his praise is not from man, but from God.”

What is the cure for hypocrisy? It is facing yourself honestly and desiring for your praise to be from God.

What God praises in a man is vastly different from what man will praise in a man.

Who are you trying to receive praise from?

Friends, let me tell you that without Jesus you will never receive praise from God.

Our text this morning has said that it is the one who keeps the precepts of the law that is of the covenant people of God.

Romans 3:23 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

None of us can fulfill the law of God.

But we are not in the Mosaic covenant and we are not in the Abrahamic Covenant—friends God has given us a new Covenant in Christ in which the keeping of the law is done by Jesus. Because we can’t keep it.

If we deal honestly with ourselves, if we look past our proclivity for hypocrisy then we know that we cannot love the LORD our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We knnow that we cannot love our neighbor as we love ourself.

But Jesus does both of these perfectly. He is our covenant keeper and he gives us the blessings of his righteousness.

This is what the gospel is all about. Sinners seeing themselves truly and knowing that they need a savior.

God graciously provides. If you want to receive your praise from God. If you want to receive eternal life from God. Then you must be found in Jesus!

That is first. And of most importance.

But then how do you walk humbly before God and avoid being a hypocrite?

Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

How church? Tell me? Read…the…word…of....God!

What else do you have, what else has our good Father given us that will show you the true “thoughts and intentions of your heart”?

There is nothing! Church are you neglecting the window to your heart?

As we read scripture God uses it to show us our sin, to guide us to repentannce, to instruct us.

Read the word of God and compare yourself to it—not others, not your own ideas of what it looks like to walk faithfully with God.

Let God do surgery on your heart with his word.

Sometimes it can be painful, but our God is a good father and he’ll take care of you. If you will pray to Him to show you the true state of your heart—and if you will go to his written word for you to compare yourself against it—then God our good father will be faithful to mend you up afterward.

And the result is that you will be a follower of Jesus who is more concerned about the log in his own eye, rather than the speck in his brothers.

The cure for hypocrisy is to come honestly to the end of yourself.

Bottom Line

Does anyone remember our main point for this morning?

Don’t be a hypocrite.

We don’t want to be those who trust in the wrong things for our identity, our hope, our salvation.

Paul reminds us this morning not to focus on the external, but to know that it is the internal heart that God looks at. We may be able to fool ourselves, but we do not fool God.

If we are to be those who bring honor to God with our lives. If we want to be those who model for others the right way to live for God then we must fight against hypocrisy.

We must look into our hearts, compare ourselves to the holy word of God,

We must see ourselves truly as we are—sinners in need of grace—and cling to Jesus for our identity, our hope, and our salvation.

These are the people that our God calls us and empowers us to be. Pray with me.

Discussion Question: In your life, where are you most prone to be a hypocrite?