Non-believers are totally oblivious to the strivings between sin and holiness, having never been holy in the sight of God. They are well aware of that which is called sin even though they attempt to substitute another word for it and redefine it outside the authoritative framework of Scripture. Even believers have been guilty of such a thing!
Understandably, those without Christ remain
ignorant of the spiritual consequences of sin, but I also think that many
believers though free to choose, misunderstand that there are consequences for
every choice that we freely make, too! We can be forgiven, but the consequence
of our choices may haunt us for the rest of our days. After divine forgiveness,
letting go and moving forward is not as easy as salvation, yes?
Unbelievers cannot understand spiritual
truth, like the holiness of God, because they only have a native capacity and
are unable to understand spiritual truths; their understanding is darkened due
to willful unbelief (Eph 4:18; 2 Cor 4:4). Since the natural or sensual man
lacks the inner capacity to understand spiritual truth (the Holy Spirit, 1 Cor
2:14; Jude 1:19), this is referred to as spiritual blindness (2 Cor 4:4).
Spiritual sight or spiritual blindness is a choice. Unlike the natural man, the
supernatural man (those experiencing spiritual regeneration) possesses the capability
to understand spiritual truth because the Holy Spirit lives within him or her (Cf. Jn 14:17; Rom 5:5; 8:9, 11; 1
Cor 3:16; 6:19; Eph 2:22; 2 Tim 1:14; 1 Jn 3:24).
In order to get a clearer understanding
of the multiple faces of hypocrisy, let’s look at it from a
non-negatively charged manner, the performance of an actor upon a stage or in a
movie role. The actor is playing another character; everybody gets that. We
don’t look at a theatrical performer and accuse him or her of hypocrisy for obvious reasons, for
his or her character is but a mask, but in real life, the person behind the mask is someone quite different.
On the stage of life, however, it’s
called hypocrisy or misrepresentation of who we are whenever we pretend to be
someone or something we are not. On stage or on the big screen, it is literally
a form of acceptable hypocrisy; all the masks get a pass and rightly so. In the
spiritual realm, hypocrisy is a sin.
As believers, we are constantly striving
to strike a balance on the scale of righteousness between the pan of biblical belief and the pan of biblical behavior where our talk matches our walk. Any believer who truly loves the
Lord does not want to be found guilty of wearing more than one face; he or she
desires the look of Christ only.
Sometimes these are growth issues, and continual
adjustments or refinements are needed throughout life as we mature in the
faith because we possess two natures: the sin nature and the nature of God, but spiritual immaturity is not a pass.
Such a dual nature certainly doesn’t equate to what is referred to today as bipolar,
having two faces!
When our beliefs and behavior get out of
balance, the genuine believer seeks to be cleansed of all unrighteousness, to
restore a semblance of balance, if he or she is wise (1 Jn 1:9; Col 1:10; Php
1:27). It is not easy to live a balanced Christian life where our behavior matches our belief, When the two pans are level, being of equal weight, we are walking worthy of the Lord, having one
face, His.
Truthfully, on my best of days, I am a
hypocrite with two faces at some point. Invariably, some thought, word, or
action runs contrary to the Scripture that is in need of being reined into
conformity with Jesus Christ (cf. 2 Cor 10:5). It is part of growing up in the faith. My accuser (flesh, world-system, the devil) would say to me, “Well then, you shouldn’t be writing and posting any articles online, for by your own admission you are a hypocrite!”
Indeed (cf. Rom 7:18-25), but I appeal to the reality that I am a work of grace in progress by the mercy of Yahweh, far from perfect but further away from a world of absolute imperfection when I was once an unsaved sinner shackled to sin and spiritual darkness years ago. Will any of us who love Christ “arrive” this side of eternity to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ (Eph 4:13)?
Some like to believe that spiritual perfection is possible this side of eternity!? I have met people who looked at me straight in the eyes and claimed that they no longer sin! Even quoting from Rom 5:12, I could not dissuade them of their spiritual folly. Physical death is prima facie evidence we are sinners. We are sinners not because we sin, but sin because we are sinners.
Anyway, strive we should toward this lofty
goal of spiritual perfection with the help of the Holy Spirit, but in reality, this transformation will ultimately take place after death or during the
Rapture (1 Thes 4:16-17). This rapture event is referring to the Church, the
body of Christ, but this does not rule out the individual believer’s
responsibility to pursue such spiritual development in the here and now to
Christ and the body of Christ (cf. Eph 4:14-24).
Some believe that we shouldn’t waste our time to achieve a measured likeness of Christ this side of eternity since ultimate sanctification (glorification) will take place in eternity. Therefore, we should ride out our time here on earth with a mindset of Que Sera Sera, (whatever will be will be). Indubitably, there is a lot to address here. Suffice to say that the idea of vegetating spiritually has absolutely no support in Scriptures (cf. Jn 17:3; Eph 1:17; 4:15; Col 1:10; 3:10; Php 3:8; 2 Thes 1:3; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 1 Pet 2:2; 2 Pet 1:8; 3:18, but keep on growing).
Whenever we are sporting the scarlet H, thankfully, there is always the truth
of 1 Jn 1:9, but the verb confess here means to agree with Jesus Christ about our sin
against Him and others. The problem is in disagreeing with Jesus! This has more
to do with practical or progressive sanctification than positional
sanctification or salvation.
Have you noticed that hypocrisy can dig
in like a tick that makes agreeing with Jesus even more challenging than we
thought or recalled as a lost person? Think of it; every lost person on the
planet is currently in disagreement with God! As a believer, why should we act
like the world by disagreeing with Him? To be out of agreement with Jesus is
sin.
Did you know that the ultimate hypocrite
is the antichrist? According to Dr. Spiros Zodhiates the antichrist represents
the “new hypocrisy,” claiming to be the true Messiah, not Jesus (cf. Mk 13:6),
[The Complete Word Study Dictionary
on hupokrisis, note VI]. I suppose we
could draw the stark conclusion that hypocrisy is literally antichrist in
nature and the antithesis of Christlikeness; this gives us another look into
the spiritual ugliness of having two faces.
If the Holy Spirit tells us we are donning the scarlet H, it is best to agree with Him to be forgiven and cleansed from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9). And by the way, agree (confess) here doesn’t mean the absence of repentance. We may wear different hats in life, but there should never be any masquerading of any kind, no masks, not two or more faces, only the one face that we were given, reflecting the person of Jesus Christ in the beauty of His holiness.
Look down at the palms of your hands for a moment. We all have a physically unique identifier, our fingerprints. God wants us to reflect Christ according to His Word to the world through our uniqueness; no one else will do. We often miss just how one of a kind and special each believer is in the body of Christ. Christlikeness is a beautiful thing.
As an ambassador for Jesus Christ, we
must all give to a world that has been historically hostile and indifferent toward
Christianity the evidence of the look and presence of God in our lives. Without
a doubt, it can be challenging at times. Our goal is that when the world looks
at us, it sees but one face (cf. Ex 34:29; Acts 4:13; 6:15; Rom 8:29; 1
Cor 13:12; 1 Jn 3:2). As we grow in the knowledge of Christ, the more He is
revealed in our lives (2 Cor 3:18), and the fewer faces others will see in us.
I was thinking; would it not be a healthy criticism if the world said sarcastically to every born again believer, “You guys all look and act alike!” But isn’t that the concept of being a part of the one and only body of Christ? Our uniqueness is found only in Him, not in some mask or another face.
Unsurprisingly, the devil, the master of hypocrisy, is not too keen on the one face idea. It is unwise for us to cover up the countenance of Christ with the sin of hypocrisy. We glorify Him when there is only one face people see. As part of the body of Christ, we have that obligation.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and
forever. Amen (2 Pet 3:18). <><
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