Hypocrites often reveal themselves as detail oriented people. However, though they might notice something small and insignificant, they often fail to recognize the extremely obvious necessities of faithful service. When dealing with the hypocrites of His day, the Lord Jesus declared this very truth. The hypocrites paid tithes of mint, anise, and cummin but omitted judgment, mercy, and faith (Matthew 23:23). They would “strain at a gnat,” but “swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). They were obedient in the strictest sense of their religion in certain aspects, but oblivious to their disobedience in the more obvious areas of life. Even today, a hypocrite often becomes overzealous in his obedience in one area of life while failing to recognize his rebellion in other important areas.
The Bible depicts the hypocrite as someone who may work hard. Yet, their efforts are directed toward the wrong things. The Lord Jesus pointed out that the hypocrites would “compass sea and land to make one proselyte.” This conveys hard work. Think about the difference that Christians could make by labouring that hard to win “one” soul to the Lord! The hypocrite promotes unholy things contrary to the will of God. Believers need to take the right lesson away from studying the hypocrite. Each of us should be working hard to lead others to Christ and then to teach sound Bible doctrine. Yet, we should spend a lot less time finding fault in others. If we did, churches would be full of converts growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.
The Lord commended the hypocrite for his discernment in certain areas of life but rebuked him for his lack of discernment in the most needful areas. As such, the hypocrite readily recognizes problems in others but remains blind to those same inadequacies within his own life. Though some might accuse the hypocrite of merely ignoring his own deficiencies, it is likely that he cannot discern the presence of these problems as they appear within his own life. This is most likely caused by the blindness produced by Satan. After all, Satan has no problem when a man finds fault in others so long as that man remains oblivious to his own failures. Without God’s help, the hypocrite will never discern that his hypocrisy is his problem.
The Bible points out that the hypocrite has forgotten God (Job 8:13). Therefore, the hypocrite shows little to no concern for receiving the praise of God. His natural desire to please God has instead been replaced with a desire to receive praise and glory from other men. This desire affects everything the hypocrite does. He gives, in hopes that others will admire his generosity (Matthew 6:2-4). He prays, hoping someone will notice the eloquence with which he calls upon God (Matthew 6:5-8). He fasts, but not in hopes of moving the Lord; rather, he wants others to marvel at the dedication with which he has devoted himself to God (Matthew 6:16-18).
The hypocrite lives for the present by seeking his reward from the praise of man (Matthew 6:2). He finds his greatest joy only when men shower him with the praise he so desperately seeks. According to scripture, this joy is only temporary. As soon as the hypocrite does something to gain the praise of man, he becomes jealous as he sees others accomplish greater feats. When the hypocrite loses man’s attention and praise, he becomes distraught and seeks more aggressive ways to win men’s lost admiration. Only those ignorant of God’s ways would want to live such a horrible existence! This life yields no lasting peace or joy which is the very outcome offered by God for those who live for Him and love Him. For the hypocrite, nothing remains constant. His standard is always changing and bar ever raising while the faithful Christian joyfully seeks to please the never-changing God (Malachi 3:6).
The Bible-believing student rejects any notion of coincidences within scripture. He chooses rather to believe that every word of God was specifically chosen by the Lord to convey His intended message. In today’s passage, the Lord revealed the root of the hypocrite’s problems—he is likened to “all that forget God.” The hypocrite is a person who presents himself one way, when in reality, he is altogether something far different than the perception he imitates. For instance, he may fast to convey the message that he loves the Lord, but his spirituality is only a façade for men to see. He may pray, but does so to be heard by men. In the end, his greatest problem is that he has forgotten that the all-seeing, all-knowing God knows the difference between heartfelt actions and hypocrisy.
Why should we forgive others? At first glance, we might think we should do so out of the goodness of our heart. Yet, there must be a deeper and more foundational reason for our forgiveness. Fundamentally, our forgiveness should be centered upon the Lord and His forgiveness toward us. Read Ephesians 4:32 above again. What should motivate our complete forgiveness of others? Is it not because we have been completely forgiven by the Lord? Look closely and you will see that God forgave us “for Christ’s sake.” If God forgave you for the sake of His Son, should this not also be the basis of our forgiveness of others? John confirmed this foundational truth of God’s forgiveness in his first epistle when he said, “. . . your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake” (1 John 2:12). When we forgive others, we do so “for Christ’s sake.” Forgiving others because you have been forgiven illustrates God's mercy to others.
Prior to salvation, every individual comes to understand the need for forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is directly associated to the nature of man’s relationship with God. Yet, apart from the need for initial forgiveness, most Christians have a very shallow concept of how the Bible defines forgiveness in general. According to scripture, forgiveness is directly connected to the covering of sin (Psalm 32:1). Psalm 32 does not stand alone as Psalm 85:2 exhibits the same association: “Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.” It is important to understand the Bible correlation of something being forgiven and covered. Interestingly, the Bible connects being forgiven and covered with financial expressions. For example, the Bible uses forgiveness as a financial term in Matthew 6:12. The term forgiveness suggests a removal of responsibility, while the term covered suggests that the debt was settled by another.
The Lord is gracious and merciful and ready to forgive, but how ready to forgive should Christians be? Simon Peter pondered this question as He asked the Lord about it. The Bible records the Lord's response to Peter for all future generations to consider. Peter wanted specifics; what are to be the limitations of one's forgiveness? Like many of us, He wanted boundaries and limitations. He specifically wanted to know how many times he needed to forgive those who had wronged him. The Lord answered Peter's inquiry by saying that he shouldn’t just forgive seven times (the amount Peter asked about), but seventy times seven. Some of those reading the Lord's response have concluded incorrectly that the Lord was simply placing a much higher limitation upon one's willingness to forgive others. Yet, the Lord intended to convey something without limitation. Men ought to forgive those who have wronged them every time an offender comes in true repentance (meaning he is sorry for what he has done) (Luke 17:3-4).
The study of why men ought to forgive others may seem obvious, but it is actually quite complex without some thorough Bible study. On several occasions, the Lord told His disciples that they needed to forgive in order to be forgiven (Matthew 6:14-15; Matthew 18:34-35; Mark 11:25-26; Luke 6:37). As a result of these statements, many Christians live in fear that they will not receive God’s forgiveness unless and until they have forgiven all those who have wronged them. Two things need to be understood contextually: (1) these commandments from the Gospels were given prior to Christ's sacrificial death upon the cross and (2) He was speaking specifically to His Jewish people. Diligent Bible study always involves asking to whom God is speaking in any particular text. Epistles written specifically to and for the church following Christ's sacrifice reveal that those who are saved are already forgiven on the basis of Christ's payment on the cross. Today, men do not forgive to be forgiven; they should forgive others because they have already been forgiven (Colossians 3:13).
