12 Good Deeds 5 Hypocrisies, and 1 Result
“Now if you call yourself a Jew, and rest in the law, boast in God … For, as it is written: The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
Romans 2:17, 24 HCSB
In this paragraph, Paul lays out 12 good deeds 5 hypocrisies, and 1 result. Let us take a closer look at them all
Good deed
1. Call yourself a Jew. The Jewish nation was born out of slavery through the wilderness into the promised land. But the true Jew is circumcised in the heart toward the things of God (verses 25-29). The term Jew has been high-jacked these days but God knows the difference between who is a true Jew and a counterfeit jew. What if we were to change it to “call yourself a Christian”? Would Christ follower fit our lifestyle?
2. Rest in the Law. The law is the Books of Moses. Deuteronomy actually means the second law. Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So we no longer have to sacrifice bulls and goats, but the moral law still needs to be applied to our lives.
3. Boast in God. Do we brag about the good God does in our lives, or do we complain about all that is not happening according to our plans? The next time you want to complain about your day, first, brag about three things that God did in your day to brag about.
4. Know His will. The general will of God for everyone is to be a witness, preach the gospel and make disciples. Do this and the specific will of God will be manifested in your life. Check out Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8 and Mark 16:15
5. Approve the superior things. Jesus told the Parasees that they tithed the mint, dill, and cumin but forgot the weightier things like justice, mercy, and faith. See Matthew 23:23. Paul said that faith, hope, and love were good but the greatest is Love. Read 1 Corinthians 13:13
6. Instructed out of the Law. The more we read the Bible and apply it to our hearts and lives the more we live it out and we become instructed by it. A recent study showed that people who read the Bible 4 times a week live with less anxiety, depression, and anger.
7. Confident in yourself. No one likes a bragger but everyone likes someone who is confident in themselves. When you learn a job you become confident in what you are doing, likewise, in the kingdom of God the more you are confident in your walk with God and your ability to do what He has asked of you.
8. Guide to the blind. The new Christian is filled with the faith of a child so we must teach them to see the good we all can do in this world.
9. A light to those in darkness. We are all called to be teachers by example and word. Colossians 3:16-17 makes a good example of this. First, we act like Jesus around the people God has placed us in. Then we talk about Jesus to them. And we will see them take their blinders off and open up to God.
10. Corrector of the foolish. When we see a fellow Christian not walking in the truth of the word of God we are commanded to rebuke and correct them so that they may continue in the truth of the word. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us the word of God is useful in those two areas and two others.
11. Teacher of the immature. Those who lack knowledge must be taught. Who will teach them? The schools? Nope! The government? Nope! The bars? Nope! The Church? Maybe. The growing Christian? Yes! In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul encourages Timothy to teach others so that they can teach the next generations.
12. Having the Law. Earlier in Romans 2 Paul says the Gentiles show that the work of the law is written on their hearts. The moral law is written on everyone’s heart. Will it accuse you or will it excuse you? For everyone knows the difference between right and wrong!
Hypocrisies
1. Teaching. Do you teach others but yet will not heed your own teaching? That is hypocrisy. We all would be better off if we first taught our flesh and then taught others. That is why a growing Christian is better at teaching the immature.
2. Stealing. Do you teach that stealing is wrong? Do you steal from God time, money, and respect? Malachi 3 warns us that not paying our tithe is robbing God. How can the world respect us if we are not faithful to what God commands us to do? David in Psalm 29 tells us we are to ascribe or attribute to God the glory due His name. That is to say give credit back to God and not to ourselves!
3. Non-faithful. Do you tell others to not commit adultery yet you are not faithful? Would it be better to prove your faithfulness so others can model it? This applies to our relationships with our spouse, friends, and God! Do you praise someone to their face and stab them in the back when you are with others? That is not being faithful to your friends and soon you will have no friends. Are we in a committed relationship yet have eyes for someone else? Do we say we love God but refuse to spend any time with Him yet we have time for our favorite sports team?
4. Defaming temples. Do you detest idols yet rob their temples? Thus bringing the idol into your own temple. It would be better to destroy the idol inside their temple and then destroy the temple so that your temple would be clean and holy free from other idols. Now, I am not saying go tear down a synagogue or mosque, but not bring out of their teachings that are contrary to the teaching in the Bible and bring it into your life for we are temples of The Holy Spirit. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19.
5. Brag about disobedience. “You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law?”
Romans 2:23. The story is told of slave owners who would preach to their slaves about being obedient to them because the Bible told them to, but they would not follow the command five verses later.
“Slaves, obey your human masters with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ.
And masters, treat your slaves the same way, without threatening them, because you know that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him.”
We are to be obedient slaves of God and treat others with respect as fellow slaves of God. For we are all equal in God’s eyes.
Result
1. The Name of God is defamed because of us.
Because of our hypocrisies, God is not lifted up among the non-believers. Brennan Manning has famously said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
Are we willing to do the 12 good deeds and stop the 5 hypocrites so that the 1 result will be different? We better or we may find ourselves saying, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?”
Matthew 7:22
To which God may reply “I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!’”
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