The Seriousness of the Sin of Hypocrisy

The Gospels make it clear that when the Lord Jesus was on earth, something that really infuriated Him was hypocrisy.

Of course, there is no doubt that Jesus hated, and still hates, all sin with a passion. But hypocrisy is one of the things that clearly made Him especially angry when He was doing His earthly ministry.

What is a hypocrite?

Before going any further, I think it would be good for me to try to give an accurate definition of what a hypocrite is, because a lot of people don’t get this quite right.

Many have the idea that a hypocrite can be defined as someone who does the same thing that they criticise others for doing.

It is true that very often someone who does the same thing that they criticise others for doing is being a hypocrite. But not always.

So, for example, suppose I am driving my car and I make a minor mistake and another driver hoots his horn at me. But suppose too that the next day I am driving again and this time another driver makes a minor mistake and I hoot my horn at him.

So I am criticising the other driver for a mistake that I myself occasionally make. Does that make me a hypocrite? Surely not.

Or suppose that a husband lets his wife down in some small way and she criticises him for what he has done. But suppose too that the next day she lets him down in a small way and this time he criticises her. Does that make him a hypocrite? Surely not.

Instead of defining a hypocrite as someone who does the same thing that they criticise others for doing, I would suggest the following as a definition:

A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be good in a certain way that they know isn’t true.

In other words, a hypocrite is essentially a fake, a fraud. This is unlike the two examples I gave above, where there was no pretence on my part to be a better driver than I am, and where there was no pretence on the part of the husband that he never lets his wife down.

Hypocrisy, then, is about fakery, about pretending to be good in some way, while knowing full well that this is a lie.

Bible passages on hypocrisy

As far as Bible passages on this topic are concerned, Matthew 23 surely stands out. In Jesus’s strong words against the scribes and Pharisees in this chapter, He uses the word ‘hypocrites’ (Greek: hupokritai) no less than six times, as well as the word ‘hypocrisy’ (Greek: hupokrisis) once. And just reading through the chapter, we can feel the anger that Jesus clearly had for the hypocrites that He was talking to.

The scribes and Pharisees Jesus was addressing pretended to be morally upright citizens, but they were a million miles from being that. And they knew it.

Jesus’s words in verses 25-28 give a vivid description of what hypocrisy is and what He thinks of it:

‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’ (ESV)

We can see clearly in this passage what Jesus made of hypocrisy when His earthly ministry was in progress. And there is not a shadow of a doubt that His attitude remains the same today.

The world is full of hypocrites

It seems to me that everywhere I look in the world today there are huge numbers of monumental hypocrites.

For example, take those feminists who claim to be appalled by sexism, but who will seize any chance they can to discriminate against men.

Or we could think of the protestors against the Israeli actions in Gaza, who claim to be outraged at the deaths of civilians there, but who would never dream of protesting against the regimes around the world that kill far more civilians than the Israelis do.

Or again, take those political pundits who claim to be horrified by the erosion of freedom of speech, but whose horror suddenly disappears when people they disagree with are not allowed to speak.

And the list could go on. We live in a world that is crammed full of people who are utter fakes, frauds and hypocrites.

Christians need to be stunningly different

In this context, in this dark world of ours that is full of fakery and deceit, Christians need to be totally different, stunningly different. We need to be who we claim to be, to the nth degree.

Where we have faults, we need to acknowledge them. And where we have principles, we need to put them into practice all the time and without favouritism. Basically, we need to be sincere and without pretence.

In 2 Corinthians 1:12 the apostle Paul says something about this sort of attitude:

‘For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you.’ (ESV)

Similarly, in 2 Corinthians 4:2 he writes:

‘Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting deceitfully or distorting the word of God, but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.’ (CSB)

And Joshua’s words in Joshua 24:14 are just as relevant today as they were when they were first spoken over 3000 years ago:

‘Now therefore fear the LORD and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.’ (ESV)

Let all of us who are followers of Jesus, then, redouble our efforts to avoid being hypocrites. The Lord requires this of us, and He deserves nothing less.

 

See also:

The Seriousness of the Sin of Pride

How Serious a Sin Is Sex outside Marriage?

Some Steps That Christians Can Take to Avoid Judging People

The Importance of Taking Steps to Avoid Temptation

Every Christian Should Be a Theologian

When they hear the word ‘theology’, the reactions of Christians tend to vary enormously.

For some, this word suggests something positive, an attempt to deeply understand God and His purposes, which will benefit the person who succeeds in gaining insight.

For others, this word suggests something negative, wasting time on discussing things that have little value or connection to everyday life.

And, of course, others will take a view that is somewhere between these other views.

I am firmly in the first camp on this issue. When I hear the words ‘theology’, ‘theological’ and ‘theologian’, I hear something positive.

What is theology all about?

In essence, theology is the study of God, things that are true about Him. And a large part of this has to do with true things about Jesus Christ, including how His death and resurrection bring forgiveness to guilty human beings.

Of course, it is important to understand that as Christians we don’t just know true things about God. We actually know God Himself (e.g., John 17:3; Phil 3:10). We are in relationship with Him.

Nevertheless, it is certainly right to say that the more true things about Him we know, the more we will know Him. It makes no sense to think that learning more about what God is like and what He has done won’t affect our relationship with Him.

The same is true of human to human relationships. The better we know what someone is like and what they have done, the more we will know that person and the more closely we will be able to relate to him or her.

So theology is really a positive thing. It is a form of study that should lead to us knowing God better.

How it all fits together

There is a vast number of things that are true about God and His actions. However, it isn’t the case that these are just separate items on a long list. In reality they all fit together to make one big tapestry. And some parts of Scripture do a great job of joining the dots.

For example, take the book of Romans. In this book Paul doesn’t just say, ‘Jesus died for you, and you will be saved if you believe in Him’. Instead he goes into detail explaining how the nature of God fits with His plan to save human beings from their sins.

Or take the book of Hebrews. Here the author shows at length how the Old Covenant sacrificial system foreshadowed what Christ accomplished on the cross. In other words, he explains how much of what God did in Old Testament times fits together with what He did in the first century.

To some extent, then, theology has to do with figuring out how parts of the tapestry fit together. And the more we can join things up in our minds, the more anchored our faith should become.

Difficult to understand

I think one reason why so many Christians dislike theology is because they find it difficult to understand.

Of course, Christians have different levels of ability to engage in academic-style learning. Some are more academically inclined than others.

But here’s the thing. We all find theology difficult to understand. No matter where we are on the spectrum of ability to understand this subject matter, there will be things that we struggle with and that, in some cases, are too difficult for us.

We even find the apostle Peter, in 2 Peter 3:15-16, saying explicitly that his fellow-apostle Paul’s letters contain things that are hard to understand!

It simply isn’t the case that any Christian just sits down and reads the Bible and everything falls easily into place. We have to fight to understand, and we will have some successes and some failures as we do this.

But we have to try. It’s not OK for Christians just to skip parts of the Bible because they think these parts are too difficult for them. There are sections of Scripture that are too difficult for each of us at our present level of understanding. But if we fight, we can expect to make progress.

If we want to grow in our knowledge of God, then, we each need to be a theologian, striving to grow in our understanding of what He is like and what He has done. This is for every Christian.

Not the most important thing, but still important

I am not saying that growing in theological understanding is the most important thing in the Christian life. Nor am I saying that the best theologians are always the strongest Christians.

In my years as a Christian I have met many believers who are fairly weak theologically but who are full of love. And if there was a choice to be made between strong theological understanding and strong love, I would choose love every time.

But this isn’t a real choice. Obviously, it is possible to be full of love and strong in theology.

How to grow in theological understanding

So how do we go about growing in theological understanding?

Well, the most important thing is to spend lots of quality time reading the Bible. And it is often helpful to read at a very slow pace. If we read something we don’t understand, it is usually worth pausing to think deeply about the point in question to see if we can resolve things.

Something else that will be a great help is to read commentaries by Christians on parts of the Bible. There are many of these to choose from. Some are very detailed books that will be not be suitable for beginners, but others are much easier to follow.

There are even English translations of the Bible that come with helpful explanatory notes on the same page as the text itself. For an absolute beginner, this may be the place to start.

When all is said and done, I am sure that many Christians will continue to dislike the word ‘theology’ and similar words, but that is really a minor point. Regardless of whether we use this word or not, we must all strive to grow in our understanding of what God is like and what He has done. This is not optional for a follower of Jesus Christ.

 

See also:

Using the Bible as a Filter

Charismatic Churches and Their Attitude to the Mind

The Radical Nature of the Normal Christian Life

The Justice and Mercy of God

Is the Gift of Distinguishing between Spirits Still Useful Today?

In 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 the apostle Paul gives a list of gifts that are given and empowered by the Holy Spirit. One of these is the gift of distinguishing between spirits (v. 10).

This gift is first and foremost about the ability to distinguish between whether something has been caused by an evil spirit or by the Holy Spirit. Often this will apply to messages that people claim to be from God. The gift is relevant for determining whether the message really is from God or whether it has a demonic origin.

However, the ability to distinguish between whether something is from an evil spirit or from the Holy Spirit is very similar to the ability to distinguish between whether something is caused by an evil spirit or has a purely natural cause. So I think we can reasonably say that this gift would at times involve the ability simply to tell if an evil spirit is the causer of something, whether a message or an illness or a situation or whatever.

Cessationism

There are some Christians today, who claim that the Spirit no longer gives the gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 because they are not needed now that we have the completed New Testament. These Christians are known as ‘cessationists’, because they think that the Spirit ceased giving these gifts long ago.

I am convinced that cessationism is a big mistake and that God continues to give all the gifts mentioned on this list, including the gift of distinguishing between spirits. It was never God’s plan for the Bible to provide us with all useful pieces of information for us to live our lives, and the gift of distinguishing between spirits is one way in which He sometimes imparts useful pieces of information to His children.

Luke 13:10-16

One passage that it will be helpful for us to consider for this topic is Luke 13:10-16, which reads as follows:

‘10 Now he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. 11 And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” 13 And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God.

14 But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.”

15 Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? 16 And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?”’ (ESV)

This passage tells us about a woman who had a severe spinal problem. She was bent over and couldn’t stand up straight, and she had had this problem for 18 years.

In v. 11 Luke says that her condition was caused by a ‘spirit’, which has to mean an evil spirit. This is confirmed by Jesus’s words in v. 16, where He says that this woman was bound by Satan.

Luke says that Jesus laid His hands on her and she was immediately healed. There is no mention in the passage of the evil spirit speaking through her, as sometimes happens in other biblical examples of people being freed from evil spirits. Nor is there any suggestion that this evil spirit was able to do anything else to the woman other than give her this physical disability.

So it doesn’t seem that Jesus simply deduced from certain visible signs that it was an evil spirit that was causing the woman’s disability. Instead, it seems that He was able to supernaturally discern that the woman’s condition was caused by an evil spirit. In other words, Jesus apparently did the same sort of thing that is found in the gift of distinguishing between spirits.

Imagining a similar situation today

This is the only biblical example of someone who has the medical condition of being bent over. And the passage is clear that it was caused by an evil spirit. So it makes sense to think that some examples today of people suffering from this condition will also be caused by evil spirits.

I am not saying that everyone suffering in this way today has an evil spirit causing it. But it surely means that some do. To think that the only biblical example of someone bent over was caused by an evil spirit, but that no one who is bent over today is being affected by an evil spirit, makes absolutely no sense. Such a conclusion would not be faithful to learning from what Scripture has to say.

So imagine for a moment that you are a Christian doctor, and someone comes to see you who is bent over.

The first thing you would want to know is whether an evil spirit is causing their disability, isn’t it? The way that you would go about helping this person would depend in very large part on whether or not an evil spirit is causing the problem. So you would want to start by learning, if possible, whether or not an evil spirit is responsible.

It may be that if you became aware that an evil spirit was causing the disability you would want to refer the patient to someone else. I am not saying that every Christian doctor should be skilled in freeing people from evil spirits.

But I am saying that it makes absolutely zero sense to approach helping this patient in any other way. The first thing to do, if possible, would obviously be to try to determine if this patient’s disability is caused by an evil spirit or not.

And how would a Christian do this? Well, one way would surely be by using the gift of distinguishing between spirits.

It is unwarranted to think that there would have to be obvious visible signs if an evil spirit was involved. No such signs are mentioned in Luke 13. Instead, as I have noted, Jesus seems to have supernaturally discerned that an evil spirit was causing the disability. So it makes sense to think that the same kind of method would sometimes be used today, i.e., through the gift of distinguishing between spirits.

I have given this example, mirroring what we find in Scripture, as what I think is a very good example of the usefulness of the gift of distinguishing between spirits today. The idea of cessationists that this gift is no longer useful now that we have the New Testament is completely wrong.

A biblical command to desire spiritual gifts

In 1 Corinthians 14:1 Paul instructs his readers to desire spiritual gifts from God, and these gifts certainly include those mentioned in the list of 1 Corinthians 12:8-10.

Importantly, there is no good reason for thinking that Christians today are not under obligation to obey Paul’s command. Let all of us, then, who want to live out a biblical Christian faith, do what we are told to do in this verse.

 

See also:

The Bible, God’s Voice, and Useful Information

The Importance of Ministering to People Afflicted by Demons

Every Christian Should Desire the Gift of Prophecy

God Wants to Use Christians in Miracle Work Today

Are Christians Supposed to Try to Produce Fruit?

In John 15:1-8 we find the well-known teaching of the Lord Jesus about the vine and its branches, where He says:

‘1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 Every branch in me that does not produce fruit he removes, and he prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.’ (CSB)

In this passage the Lord portrays Himself as a vine and His followers as the branches of that vine. 

Actually, strictly speaking He must mean that He is the trunk of the vine and His followers are the branches. He surely doesn’t mean that He is the whole vine, both trunk and branches, and that we are also the branches. That would hardly make sense of verse 2, where He says that God prunes the branches that produce fruit. Pruning here symbolises God’s discipline, and the perfect Jesus clearly needed no disciplining. So the metaphor, strictly speaking, must involve Jesus being the trunk of the vine.

Those who say that we produce fruit without trying

In verse 5 the Lord says that if we remain in Him, and He remains in us, we will produce much fruit. This fruit should be interpreted broadly as symbolising everything we do that is profitable in God’s sight.

So remaining in the Lord Jesus is clearly the key to us becoming the people and doing the things that please God.

There are some Christians who claim that this passage shows that it is a mistake for believers to put effort into trying to produce fruit. They argue along the following lines:

This passage says simply that Christians who remain in Jesus will produce fruit. Not a word is said about putting in any effort.

Furthermore, the picture of the vine and its branches supports this interpretation. The branches of a literal vine obviously make no effort to produce fruit. They just do this automatically when they are attached to the trunk of the vine. So it makes sense to think that the same is true of the branches of the metaphorical vine, i.e., Christians.

So what should we make of this argument? Does it hold water?

I would suggest that it doesn’t, as I will explain in what follows.

Not trying in our own strength

To begin with, it needs to be said that those who make the above argument are certainly right that in order to produce fruit we have to be united to Jesus. It isn’t the case that God is out there somewhere far away, demanding that we produce fruit that He approves of. Instead, we need His closeness and empowering in order to do things that please Him.

In other words, for us to try to produce fruit in our own strength would be a hopeless task. We need the indwelling Holy Spirit to help us (2 Cor 3:18).

The mistake of pressing the details of the imagery

But what about the fact that branches on a literal vine don’t try to produce fruit? Does that imply that Christians also shouldn’t try to produce spiritual fruit?

It actually doesn’t imply this. Importantly, biblical metaphors often don’t correspond precisely to what they are symbolising. It is usually a mistake to press the details too far.

A good example of this can be seen in Matthew 20:28. Here Jesus says:

‘. . . the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’ (CSB)

In this verse, Jesus’ death is metaphorically described as a ransom for people.

This is an excellent metaphor for illustrating what His death accomplished. Nevertheless, this metaphorical ransom doesn’t correspond to a literal ransom in every respect. A literal ransom has to be paid to someone. Yet if we ask to whom Jesus’ metaphorical ransom was paid, we are demanding too much of the metaphor. There is no one to whom Jesus’ ransom was paid.

This metaphor of a ransom, then, corresponds quite loosely to reality. It is a mistake to interpret it too precisely.

Another good example can be found in Hebrews 12:1. Here the author encourages his readers with these words:

‘Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us,’ (CSB)

In this verse, the Christian life is described using the metaphor of a long distance running race.

This is also a great metaphor, but we mustn’t demand too much from it. In a literal race we run against competitors. However, in the metaphorical race being described in this verse there are no competitors we run against.

This is another metaphor, then, that corresponds quite loosely to the reality it is describing. And many more similar examples could be given from Scripture.

In view of how biblical metaphors often correspond imprecisely to reality, it is a mistake to simply assume that the metaphor of the vine should be interpreted very technically and precisely. And once we understand this, we see that the fact that the branches of a literal vine don’t try to produce fruit doesn’t automatically mean that the Christian branches of the spiritual vine should also not try to produce fruit.

Biblical passages that refer to effort

Most importantly, we must take account of the biblical passages that refer to effort that Christians need to put in.

For example, in 1 Timothy 6:12 Paul instructs Timothy:

‘Fight the good fight of the faith.’ (ESV)

And then in 2 Timothy 4:7 he says:

‘I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.’ (ESV)

Fighting clearly implies the expending of a great amount of effort. So too does the image of running a race, both as found in 2 Timothy 4:7 and in Hebrews 12:1 that I quoted above.

In v. 4 of the same chapter of Hebrews the author tells his readers:

‘In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.’ (ESV)

If we are to struggle against sin, that obviously implies that we put in effort and try to fight against it.

Similarly, in Luke 13:24 the Lord commands:

‘Strive to enter through the narrow door . . .’ (ESV)

Again, to strive to do something implies that we should try hard to do it.

The combined weight of these passages makes it clear that there is very much a place for putting in effort as we live our Christian lives.

We shouldn’t just sit back

Without being united with Jesus, as a branch is united with the trunk of a vine, our goal of producing fruit as Christians is not going to work. We need to rest in God and let His Spirit help and empower us in many ways.

But resting in God doesn’t mean that there is no place for putting in great effort to do God’s will and to grow in the faith. It is absolutely right for us to try to produce fruit for the Lord.

The idea that we are supposed to just sit back and watch God produce fruit in our lives is a big mistake.

 

See also:

Getting into the Habit of Doing Everything with Jesus

The Radical Nature of the Normal Christian Life

The Importance of Taking Steps to Avoid Temptation

Lord, What Do You Want Me to Do Right Now?

Should Everyone Be Made Welcome at Christian Worship Services?

Something that we Christians should be doing in all sorts of contexts is welcoming people. To welcome is essentially to make people, who are usually outsiders in some sense, aware that we are glad that they are present.

For example, if a foreigner is visiting our country, we should make them feel welcome. Or if someone from outside is visiting our town, the same is true. If a friend or neighbour is dropping round to see us, we should be welcoming in how we show hospitality. And the list could go on.

One other important context in which we should welcome people is at Christian worship services, whether on Sundays or at other times. We want people at services to understand that we are pleased that they are with us.

But this raises a question. Is absolutely everyone welcome at Christian worship services or are there exceptions to this?

People who make no claim to be Christians

Firstly, let’s think about people who make no claim to be Christians. Should they be made to feel welcome?

To begin with, it needs to be said that there are rare occasions when a non-Christian will come along to a Christian service intent on disrupting the event in some way. If someone does this, there is really no option but to treat such a person as unwelcome. We don’t have a choice.

But of course, the vast majority of people coming to a service who make no claim to be Christians don’t come along to cause trouble. They are probably curious about the Christian faith, or curious about what goes on at the service, or both.

We need to be clear, however, that such people are bound to be unrepentant of many sins. So is this a problem? Will it cause spiritual harm to the service if they are present?

The answer to this is basically no. In 1 Corinthians 14:23-24 the apostle Paul refers specifically to non-Christian visitors at Christian worship services:

‘23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all…’ (ESV)

Importantly, there is no suggestion in this passage that Paul views the presence of these non-Christians negatively.

In fact, Paul goes so far as to imply that the Corinthians shouldn’t speak in tongues (without an interpretation, understood) at a worship service so as not to put non-Christian visitors off the faith. In other words, the presence of non-believers at Corinthian services was such a significant thing, that the Corinthian Christians needed to adjust their behaviour accordingly. This strongly implies that people in Corinth who made no claim to being Christians were welcome to join the Corinthian church at its services.

What is more, it should be obvious that there is not the slightest reason for thinking that things should be any different today. Non-Christians who want to join us at worship services on Sundays or at other times should typically be made to feel very welcome, regardless of what sins they may be practising.

People who claim to be Christians

Next, let’s think about people who claim to be Christians. Should they all be made welcome at Christian worship services?

Paul actually spends most of the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians talking about this general issue. And he is very clear. He tells his readers not to associate with people claiming to be Christians who are unrepentant of various sins.

Here is what he says in verses 9-13:

‘9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”’ (ESV)

Note how in v. 13 Paul says that the Corinthians should ‘purge the evil person from among you’. This would obviously have included telling them that they were not welcome at worship services.

And why were the Corinthians supposed exclude people in this way? There are two reasons mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5.

First, doing this was for the good of the sinner who was put out of fellowship. In verses 4-5 Paul says:

‘4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.’ (ESV)

To deliver someone to Satan seems to mean to withdraw fellowship in such a way that the person is exposed to the power of Satan in a way that causes them problems. But the goal of this was a positive one: so that their flesh, i.e., their sinful nature, might be destroyed (to a certain extent), and so that they might be ultimately saved on the day of the Lord, i.e., the Day of Judgment.

A second reason for excluding people who claimed to be Christians from fellowship was for the good of the other Christians in the Corinthian church. In v. 6 Paul asks his readers:

‘Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?’ (ESV)

Leaven is dough that has undergone fermentation, and if leaven is added to a lump of unleavened dough, the whole lump becomes leavened. In this verse Paul is using leaven as a metaphor for moral evil. His point is that just as literal leaven affects unleavened dough that it comes into contact with, so allowing an unrepentant professing Christian in the Corinthian church was likely to cause others to be negatively affected.

It seems likely that the problem Paul most had in mind was the example that would be set, that might lead others in the church in Corinth to fall into sin.

So Paul was clear that people claiming to be Christians, who were unrepentant of certain visible sins, should not be made welcome at Christian worship services. And there is not the slightest reason for thinking that things should be any different today.

Why the difference?

We have seen that people who make no claim to be Christians and who are unrepentant of various sins should be made welcome at Christian worship services. But we have also seen that people claiming to be Christians who are unrepentant shouldn’t be made welcome.

But why is there this difference?

I have already mentioned two reasons why an unrepentant person claiming to be a Christian shouldn’t be made welcome: it is in the sinner’s best interest to be put out of fellowship, and there is the danger that others in the church might copy the sinner’s example.

But what about people who don’t claim a Christian faith. Isn’t there the same danger that people in the church might copy their sins if they are made welcome?

I don’t think there really is, at least not nearly to the same extent. The Christians in a church should understand that non-believing visitors are in no way part of the body of Christ in that location. They are outsiders, and there won’t be such a tendency for the Christians in that church to copy their way of life.

Of course, if and when these people come to faith, they will need to repent of their sins to be allowed into membership.

 

See also:

Christians Need to Be Careful Who They Have Fellowship With

Is There Any Place for Entertainment in Church Services?

What Should the Dress Code Be for Christian Worship Services?

Should Christian Women Cover Their Heads in Corporate Worship?

Beware of Idolising Church Leaders

When we look in the Bible, we find that one of the sins that is most often mentioned is idolatry. To idolise someone or something is basically to exalt that person or thing inappropriately in comparison with God. It is to make someone or something a kind of mini-god, at least to some extent.

Making church leaders idols

I would suggest that in the church today one of the common ways in which this sin occurs is when church leaders are idolised. There are many Christians who put a certain leader on a pedestal in a way that they shouldn’t.

Of course, it is right to love and respect church leaders, especially those who devote themselves to working hard for their flocks and who set a good example of Christian conduct (1 Thess 5:12-13; 1 Tim 5:17). However, sometimes this goes too far. Sometimes Christians can actually start to engage in idol-worship of a leader they admire.

I expect that this has always been a problem down through the centuries. We sinful human beings are very prone to idolatry in a multitude of ways, including by idolising other human beings for all sorts of reasons. So it makes sense to think that in every generation the temptation to idolise certain church leaders is one that many Christians have given in to.

Some signs of this sort of idolatry

There are some common signs that a Christian may have fallen into the trap of idolising a church leader.

To begin with, there are situations when someone gets angry with a person simply for disagreeing with a leader.

I have seen this myself. For example, one occasion comes to mind when I disagreed with something a well-known Christian leader and teacher said. I didn’t accuse or blame this leader at all, and there was nothing nasty in my attitude. I simply took a different view from him on some issue that I can’t even remember the details of now.

What I do remember, however, is that a certain Christian became very angry with me for disagreeing with this leader. His attitude towards me seemed to be: ‘Who do you think you are, you nobody, to disagree with this wonderful teacher?’

The anger was completely inappropriate, and I am pretty confident that it was motivated by some level of idolatry.

There are also occasions when someone doesn’t go as far as actually getting angry with a person who disagrees with a certain leader, but they would still never bring themselves to admit that the leader could be wrong on anything, even on something minor. And they hate it when people disagree with this person. This is also a sign that idolatry may be involved.

Something else that can be a sign of this is when a Christian doesn’t stop going on about a certain church leader. I can think of one person I used to know, and it seemed that in most conversations he would make a point of singing the praises of one particular Christian leader and author. He was constantly referring me to books that this man had written, but I don’t think there was ever another author that he recommended.

There was something not right about this. My friend was just too infatuated with one Christian leader, and I suspect there was some idolatry there. And to be perfectly honest, I think that I myself have also gone wrong in this sort of way in the past, to a certain extent.

Failing to watch out for mistakes

Idol-worship of any kind is obviously wrong in and of itself. We are designed to worship God and not anyone or anything else (Matt 4:10).

To be in awe of God’s abilities makes perfect sense, but to be in awe of a church leader, who received all his abilities from God in the first place (1 Cor 4:7), makes no sense and serves to elbow God out of the way.

However, there is another reason why idolising church leaders is a problem. Importantly, every Christian leader will make some mistakes in his teaching, no matter how hard he prays against it. Sinful human beings are just too prone to error for that to be avoided.

Besides, if there were one church leader who is always right on everything, there could only be one of them, for the simple reason that no two leaders agree on every point. So we should be in no doubt that every leader will get some things wrong.

This means that if a Christian has put a certain leader on a pedestal, and is not open to the possibility of him making any mistakes, they won’t be watchful for any errors in his teaching. In other words, they will have closed themselves off to any insight that the Holy Spirit might give that something the leader has taught isn’t quite right.

How teaching works

It is important to understand what is supposed to happen when a Christian teacher teaches something correct. The Holy Spirit takes what is taught and persuades the listener/reader that this thing is true.

So if we are listening to a Christian teacher who is teaching something correct, the teacher’s belief that this thing is true should become our belief too because we are persuaded that it makes sense.

We should never end up in the position of believing something to do with the Christian faith simply because someone we respect believes that thing. It needs to become something that we ourselves have become convinced of for good reasons. Whoever else believes it is really beside the point.

Of course, it is very common for children to believe something to do with the Christian faith just because their parents believe it. We understand that this is how the mind of a child often works.

But for an adult this is not acceptable. Adults need to go deeper than that. And if someone is idolising a church leader and not weighing what that leader says, they are not going to spot any of the mistakes that he makes.

Respect, not idolatry

Let us by all means greatly respect good Christian leaders. Let us speak highly of them to the extent that it is appropriate. And let us love them deeply.

But let us be vigilant that the respect doesn’t become idolatry. The Lord requires this of us all.

 

See also:

Beware of Becoming Attached to Church Traditions

Christians Need to Put Everything to the Test

Imitation as a Principle of Christian Living

Is It Wrong for Women to Be Church Leaders?

Is Salvation Conditional on Doing Good Deeds?

When we put our trust in Jesus Christ, we gain salvation from sin and God’s judgment. This salvation is a free gift that we accept by faith. We are saved by faith and not by doing good deeds (Eph 2:8-9).

However, where saving faith exists, it is always accompanied by good deeds (James 2:17). These good deeds contribute absolutely nothing to our salvation. But they do accompany saving faith.

That is not to say that the good deeds performed by people who are saved come remotely close to perfection. Even the most holy Christian often sins (James 3:2). Nevertheless, it should be seen as a fact that good deeds accompany saving faith. If someone is making little or no attempt to do what is right in their life, if there are sins that they know exist and are not repenting of or battling against, that is a sign that they don’t have saving faith.

An issue of language

So far, so good. What I have said up to this point is standard evangelical teaching on salvation.

But this raises a question. If good deeds contribute nothing to our salvation, yet they always accompany saving faith, is it right to say that salvation is conditional on doing good deeds?

This is really a matter of how we use the English language, of what exactly we mean by ‘conditional’. If we mean that good deeds contribute towards our salvation, then salvation is certainly not conditional on doing good deeds. But if we mean that good deeds must be present in a kind of incidental, non-contributory sense in the life of someone who is saved, then salvation is conditional on doing good deeds.

An analogy

Let me give an analogy to help explain what I mean.

Suppose there is a surgeon who is going to perform an operation on someone. To do the operation, the surgeon needs a scalpel to cut open the patient’s body. So the operation is conditional on a scalpel being in the operating theatre.

But suppose too that this surgeon has a wedding ring on his finger that has been there for many years and that he is unable to remove. The operation is therefore conditional on this wedding ring being in the operating theatre.

So the operation is conditional on two things (among others) being in the operating theatre: the scalpel and the wedding ring. But the kind of condition is completely different in each case. The scalpel plays a crucial part in the operation. It contributes to what is achieved. By contrast, the wedding ring contributes nothing to the operation. It is only present as a kind of bystander to what goes on.

In the same kind of way that the operation is conditional on the wedding ring being in the operating theatre, so salvation is conditional on doing good deeds. In the sense that good deeds contribute to salvation, salvation is not conditional on doing good deeds. But in the sense that good deeds are present as a kind of bystander to salvation, salvation is conditional on doing good deeds.

If . . . then sentences

When a sentence in the English language contains an ‘if’ clause and a ‘then’ clause, and the sentence makes sense, it is right to say that some sort of condition exists.

So take the following sentence:

If someone is not doing good deeds, then that person does not have the salvation that comes by faith.

This sentence makes sense and is also correct. Therefore it is right to say that salvation is in some sense conditional on doing good deeds. But, as I have said, these good deeds are only present in a non-contributory, incidental kind of way.

People talking past each other by mistake

Quite often in discussions on various topics, people can find themselves talking past each other because they are using words or phrases in different ways without realising it. This can lead to people who agree about things thinking that they actually disagree.

I can remember a few years ago reading a book by a well known Christian author who said that salvation was conditional on doing good deeds. I was taken aback by this and wondered what he was talking about, until I realised that he was referring to good deeds being present in the non-contributory sense that I have outlined above. He was in no way saying that people earn their salvation, even partly.

I think it is also a fact that, generally speaking, things are much more often conditional on something that contributes to a result than on something that doesn’t contribute to a result. Many people therefore don’t realise that occasions even exist when something, A, is conditional on another thing, B, that doesn’t contribute to A. So if someone says that A is conditional on B, the hearer will often automatically assume that the speaker believes that B contributes towards A. But this is not always the case.

Not rushing to judgment

If we see or hear someone saying that salvation is conditional on doing good deeds, we need to pause and try to find out what they actually mean before concluding that they are a false teacher.

If they really do mean that good deeds contribute to our salvation, then, yes, they are a false teacher.

But if they just mean that good deeds merely accompany saving faith, then that is exactly what the Bible teaches.

 

See also:

Salvation Is Not by Doing Good but Only Those Who Do Good Will Be Saved

Faith in Jesus without Repentance Will Not Save

Apologizing to God without Faith in Christ Will Not Lead to Forgiveness

What Is the Good News of the Christian Message?