Do I Have a Hypocritical Heart?

Unmasking Hypocrisy in Our Lives

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Text: Romans 2:17-29; Romans 9:30-33

We are currently in the middle of our series on “Spiritual Heart Health,” where we have been following Paul as he outlines five deadly conditions that characterize fallen humanity (Rom. 1:18-3:20).

This morning, we are examining the third fallen condition of the human heart: spiritual hypocrisy. As we listen to Paul’s very pointed message in these chapters, I want us to imagine ourselves in the shoes of the Roman believers who heard this part of Paul’s letter for the first time.

The religious, self-righteous Jews are the focus of Paul’s attention from 2:1 to 3:8. What he wants them (and us) to understand is that, despite their outward appearances and performances, they, too, are under God’s just condemnation and will face His fierce fury and eternal wrath because they do not practice what they preach to others. They tolerate sins in their own lives for which they condemn others. In other words, they are spiritual and religious hypocrites of the first order! And God sends hypocrites to hell when they refuse to repent.

Paul provides his readers with four important reminders intended to expose spiritual hypocrisy if it is in their hearts.

Just because you agree with God’s condemnation of sin and sinners does not mean you are safe from His wrath (2:1-11).
Just because you are associated with people who enjoy unique privileges and promises from God does not mean you are safe from His wrath (2:17-24).
Just because you engage in religious rituals or practice outward conformity to God’s Word does not mean you are safe from His wrath (2:25-29).
When you are guilty of the same sins as the people you despise and condemn as wicked sinners (2:1-3), you are guilty of the wicked sin of spiritual hypocrisy!

This brings the text home on a personal level. Our Christian heritage places some of us directly at the heart of this passage and, as we will see, highlights the very real and present danger of spiritual hypocrisy in our own lives—even as professing Christians.

A hypocrite is someone who “plays a part” before others, who presents themselves as believing, doing, and being one thing in front of others while believing, doing, and being something very different when no one is watching. When the mask eventually comes off, a great deal of damage often results in their life or in the lives of others.

Paul exposes the potential of religious hypocrisy in our lives by reminding us of four significant realities might be true of some of us:

I. High _______________ (2:17-18)
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;

Five major privileges they enjoyed from God:

Special __________ with God: “You call yourself a Jew.”
Special __________ from God: “You put your confidence in the Law of Moses – you possess it, know it, and teach it to others.”
Participation in the __________ of God: “You boast in God.”
Spiritual __________ from God: “You know His will.”
Spiritual __________ of What pleases God: “You approve what is morally appropriate.”

Why had God granted them (and us) such great privileges?

II. Holy _______________ (2:19-20)
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 . . .

To be a guide to the blind and a light to those in darkness!
Isaiah 42:6 “I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations,
Isaiah 49:6 He says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
To instruct the foolish and teach the immature!
- God has called and equipped you to train and discipline those who are morally foolish and instruct those who are spiritually immature/simple!
- You can do this because you have something in your hand that is the embodiment of knowledge and truth – the Law! You have been given access to knowledge and truth in a written form that can be grasped, understood, retained, and taught to others.
  Psalm 119:130 The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

But something stood in the way of this high calling – the spiritual hypocrisy of the nation!

III. Hypocritical _______________ (2:21-23)
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.

A piercing question: “You who teach others, do you not teach yourself?”
- In other words, you are being hypocritical for not practicing what you preach to others!
- Jesus made this point very directly about the scribes and Pharisees in His scathing rebuke of them.
  Matthew 23:2–3 “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, 3 so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

The undeniable evidence: Breaking of three of the ten commandments (stealing, adultery, and idolatry)

1. You preach against stealing, yet you commit theft through corban, neglecting to pay temple tax and withholding your tithes and offerings (Mal. 3:8-10).
2. You forbid adultery while you commit adultery and justify it through the “law of divorcement” (Matt. 5:31-32).
3. You detest idols, yet you rob and plunder temples (Deut. 7:25).

The wicked effect of breaking the Law – You dishonor God! (2:23)
You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.
- You boast in the Law – BUT YOU DISOBEY IT!
- You boast in God –BUT YOU DISHONOR HIM!

And there are massive consequences that come when we live hypocritical lives over a sustained period of time!

IV. Heinous _______________ (2:24)
For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

When we disobey God’s Word, three horrific things happen:

We __________ God who we claim to honor and serve just like the Gentiles dishonor Him. (Rom. 1:21)
Romans 1:21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God…
We __________ others whom God accepts and justifies and in so doing, reveal that we ourselves are unjustified. (Lk. 18:9-14)
We cause __________ to turn away from God and thus contribute to their eternal condemnation. (Matt. 23)

Jesus explains why He detests the spiritual hypocrisy of His people to the point of putting them under God’s curse:

Because hypocrites keep __________ out of the kingdom of heaven!
Matthew 23:13 Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter in yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in!
Because hypocrites cause __________ to blaspheme the King of heaven!
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.

Conclusion: So, what is the solution to hypocrisy? Become a true Jew!

Hypocrisy in our lives does immeasurable damage

To our credibility
To God’s honor
To those we love
To those we serve
To those we are sent to reach

And unashamed hypocrisy from which we refuse to repent is strong evidence that not only are we not who others think we are, we may not be who we think we are! But God knows exactly who we are! And Paul tells us the solution to spiritual hypocrisy is to become a true Jew! So, who is a true Jew, and how do I become one? The defining qualification of a true Jew is how he or she responds to Jesus of Nazareth!

In fact, that is how you recognize a true Jew today!

They love Jesus!
They live for Jesus!
They are not ashamed of Jesus!
And they want to tell everyone around them about Jesus!

Are you a true Jew or are you a self-righteous hypocrite?

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