The Hypocrite

In regards to the Covenants of God, the Old and the New, hypocrisy is demonstrated when one professes faith in God, has the signs of the covenant placed upon them, but never lives sincerely towards God. They are the ones of which Jesus said:

Matthew 15:7-9

⁷ You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:

These are people that merely went through the motions, for the purposes of being recognized and praised by men. Yet, these three acts of piety (charity, prayer, and fasting) are never to be done for the praise of men, but for God alone. When we do them for the praise of men, we are being hypocrites. At the root of hypocrisy is pride and arrogance.

I got the following analogy from Doug Wilson:

“The hypocrites are like the man who is married. He has taken on the covenant of marriage, but only does so for the applause he can get for looking like a great husband and father, all the while, neglecting his wife. He doesn’t love her in the least, but uses her to make himself look good.

“He is indeed, married, but he is functionally unfaithful to his wife. He is a hypocrite.

“The hypocrite in our context (Matthew 6:1-18) is the one who is inside the covenant. It is the Jews under the Old Covenant that He is speaking too, but the same truths apply to those of us under the New Covenant.

“The hypocrite has the marks of the covenant. For us, that would be baptism. He is objectively inside the covenant, but he is not faithful to the covenant.

“His actions, are not directed towards God, but man, just like the married hypocrite. His actions are always focused upon himself, instead of his wife and children. So too, is the covenantal hypocrite. His actions are always focused on the praise he will receive, and not the glory and honor of our Father in heaven. He is one who is spiritually dishonest with himself, and others. Yet, God is not fooled.”

The hypocrite needs to repent and come to Christ.

(Taken from a portion of my sermon on Matthew 6:16-18 concerning fasting.)