2 Kings 11:1–12:21, Galatians 3:1–29, Proverbs 7:10–20
What is the difference between a selfish, controlling
person, a godly person who makes mistakes, and a hypocrite? Because the Bible says
we look on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart, it seems to me
that motivation is more important than what can be seen on the surface.
Selfish and controlling is illustrated by Athaliah the
mother of Ahaziah, king of Judah. “When she saw
that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But
Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of
Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to
death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from
Athaliah, so that he was not put to death.” (2 Kings 11:1–2)
After six years, Jehoiada the priest ordered the army to
put Athaliah to death along with anyone who followed her. Then Joash was made
king and the people rejoiced. The city was quiet after this wicked woman had
been put to death.
Joash illustrates a godly man who makes mistakes. He was
only seven years old when he began to reign, but he did what was right in the
eyes of the Lord all his days,
because Jehoiada the priest instructed him. (2 Kings 12:2) One of his
accomplishments was to rebuild the temple that had fallen into disrepair.
His error was doing as several kings before him had done.
When threatened by a foreign king, Joash “took all
the sacred gifts” gathered by his forefathers, and “all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the
house of the Lord and of the
king’s house” and sent them to the foreign king as a way to make him go
away. It worked, but this doesn’t seem to me an act of faith. (2 Kings
12:17–18)
The woman described by Solomon in Proverbs 7 illustrates
hypocrisy and an evil heart. She is after a man and “meets
him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart. She is loud and wayward; her feet
do not stay at home; now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner
she lies in wait. She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to
him, ‘I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows; so now I have
come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you . . . .’”
(Proverbs 7:10–15)
The description shows her evil intent, but it also says
she made a show of piety by making a sacrifice and paying her vows. Was anyone
fooled? Solomon warns his readers to not be fooled, so there is a danger of
being led into sin by a wicked hypocrite.
The people of Galatia illustrate good deed with wrong
motives. They wanted to be right with God, made the initial step of faith in
Christ, but instead of walking by faith, they fell into the error of trying to
please God by doing good works. They may have looked righteous on the outside,
but God knew their heart and didn’t like what He saw. He inspired Paul to write,
“Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or
by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you
now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if
indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works
miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as
Abraham ‘believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness’?”
(Galatians 3:2–6)
Faith has always been the way to live and to please God. Paul
explained that law was added because of transgressions until Jesus came, but it
could not give life, nor could it be the way of life in Christ. Their
righteousness was by faith, and so must their way of life after they received it
by faith in Jesus Christ. Living by faith is a gift, just as salvation by faith
is a gift.
Evil motivations will show up in evil deeds. Godly
motivations will show up in godly living. As a Christian, I have Christ in my
life. My aim is to live by faith, even though I sometimes fail. This usually
happens when I stop trusting God and start to trust my own judgments.
When that happens, any pretense of godliness would make me
a hypocrite. The only solution is transparency — that is, openly confessing my doubts
about God. Funny thing, as soon as I say it, I realize how ridiculous it
sounds.
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