Aren't Christians just Hypocrites?

Good news! This is an easy one to answer! Yes, of course Christians are hypocrites. We sin just like anyone else sins. Many Christians and Non-Christians alike complain about other Christians being hypocrites and yet fail to see their own short comings and fail to forgive others of their sins. Let's take a little deeper look

First off, Christians do sin. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Pretty straightforward. 1 John 1:8,10 "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives." Ouch! These are just a couple of verses. Think of all the verses that talk about asking for forgiveness or confessing sins. This implies that we have sinned and need to ask for forgiveness! That's the whole point of being a Christian is that we have recognized our own sin and seek Jesus as our Savior from that sin.

There is good news from here, we are forgiven! Romans 10:9,10 "That if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved." Yes, as Christians these sins are forgiven. So of course Christians are hypocrites and still sin and make mistakes, but those sins are forgiven by our ever-loving, ever-merciful Savior.

So does this mean that Christians have a right to sin? NO WAY! Romans 6:16-18 "Don't you know that whatever you choose to obey becomes your master? You can choose sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God and receive his approval. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you have obeyed with all your heart the new teaching God has given you. Now you are free from sin, your old master, and you have become slaves to your new master, righteousness." So we should not continue sinning and become slaves to sin, rather we should be "slaves" of righteousness, meaning serving righteousness. And where does righteousness come from? Right! God! So we are not to continue sinning, but serve God and His will.

The final step is don't be too hasty in casting judgments on others. Remember the Pharisees that would praise God that they weren't like the sinners, yet Jesus saved some of His harshest words for them. (Check out the 6 woes in Luke 11:37 -54.) Jesus also said to not try to get the speck out of someone else's eye until you get the plank (or log) out of your own eye. (Luke 6:41-45) So be careful to not be hypocritical in calling others hypocrites.

If you have done that, then gently rebuke or correct out of love. 2 Timothy 2:25 "Those who oppose him (the Lord's servant) he should gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth." 2 Timothy 4:2b "correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction." So if you are truly seeking to help someone, not help yourself look good, then you need to gently and patiently correct that person. Your goal is that they should understand the truth of God and the goal of understanding the truth is love. (See 1 Tim 1:5) So please be gentle when correcting someone.

So, to review: Christians still sin, expect it. The only person who will never let you down is God. Christians sins are forgiven, but that is no reason to keep on sinning. We are to serve God. Make sure you check your own heart and life before complaining about someone else's. If you need to correct someone, do it gently and patiently, not in anger or selfishness. Remember the ultimate goal is God's glory, not our own. Psalm 115:1 "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."