Romans 3:3-4 – What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
The ancient word for hypocrite was used of actors and actresses performing onstage in a play. Since each person performing played multiple roles, they would use masks to cover their faces. The result was that you never really knew who a person was since all you could see was the role they were playing.
Among Jesus’ disciples, the biggest hypocrite was Judas. For three years, he played the role of disciple to Jesus, but that was all a mask for stealing and betraying.
Hypocrisy is the gist of the second objection to the Christian faith that Paul addresses. His response is simple and helpful with two big ideas.
One, some people are faithful to God and others are unfaithful to God. Just because someone says they are a believer and acts in unbelief does not in any way reflect poorly upon God or indicate He has failed.
Two, God is faithful to His Word. True believers were judged for salvation at the cross of Jesus in the past and will be judged for their eternal rewards at the judgment seat of Jesus in the future. Additionally, unbelievers are judged by Jesus for their eternal sentencing. All of God’s judging is according to His Word, without any hypocrisy, and therefore only and altogether good since God is faithful to His Word whether or not people who learn it are faithful to Him. In this way, Paul is saying that as long as God is not a hypocrite, we should not worry about the eternal fate of others as much as check our own lives to see if we are ready to stand before God for judgment and not be found as hypocrites.
Is there any area of your life where you profess belief in God’s Word but are acting hypocritically and not practicing it?
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