Beware of Hypocrisy: You're Only Deceiving Yourself

Biblical Counselor Ken Larkin discusses the teaching of the Apostle Paul that in the last days men would have a form of godliness while denying its power.

He exposes the hypocrisy of religion without relationship and real holiness.

I'm joined in the studio today by Ken Larkin. Ken is a Biblical Counselor here at Pure Life Ministries. Welcome Ken. It's always good to have you here.

It's good to be here, Jim.  

Ken, we're talking today in support of Steve Gallagher's theme for his 20 Truths: “A Form of Godliness Does Not Have the Power to Deliver from Sin.” In 2 Timothy 3, Paul warns his young pastor friend to beware of men in these last days, and he describes what men in the Church will be like, and he gives a rather frightening list of sins, including “lovers of self, lovers of pleasure, not lovers of God.” And he concludes this list by saying, “that in the last days men will hold to an outward form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” Again, that’s 2 Timothy 3.1-5. So, a characteristic of the Church in the last days is that it will be composed of men, and women I suppose, who have the outward appearance of godliness without any reality to back it up. All show and no substance. Lots of religion, no relationship. Now, you've been a counselor Pure Life for some time, and you're also our Intake Coordinator. Every man who comes into the Residential Program is a confessing Christian, and every man has a testimony of how and when they got saved. And yet, every man who comes into the program has been in a long-term, gross, habitual sexual sin. Where is the disconnect? Isn't the issue that these men have an outward display of godliness with no real power in it?  

That's true, Jim. That's exactly right. These men that come to us for help can be compared to religious leaders of Jesus' day when He spoke strongly against them in Matthew 23. Jesus said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so, you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”  Steve Gallagher also writes about this spiritual condition in his book Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy. He says, “People with a form of godliness have opted for a Christian existence where they convey to others that they have a viable spiritual life which they really don't possess. They have exaggerated their spirituality for so long, that they have actually come to believe the lie.”  

Well, Ken, based on your experience as a counselor and of dealing with men as they come into the program, do they know that they are empty, and that they are lying, or are they self-deceived?  

There are a few exceptions, but most men that come into the program are deceived about their true spiritual condition. They know they have a major issue, in that they are in bondage to sexual sin, but do not see it as an indicator that they are not really walking with God. They fail to see the spiritual component of their sin, but it's clear from Scripture that godly men who are walking with God, do not live in habitual, unrepentant sin.    

<pull-quote>It's clear from Scripture that godly men who are walking with God, do not live in habitual, unrepentant sin.<pull-quote><tweet-link>Tweet This<tweet-link>

Yeah. Well, you mentioned it earlier. Steve Gallagher has an entire chapter dedicated to this issue of self-deception, of those who have an outward form of godliness without the power, in his book Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy. Now, from what Pastor Steve has written, and from your own experience as a counselor, what are some telltale signs that someone is deceived about their own standing with God?  

Again, that's a good question, Jim. Their lives will be characterized by a religion of dead works, self-righteousness, outward display of piety. The men that come to us for help are basically living lives of out-of-control sexual sin, yet they tend to be full of pride and very self-righteous. When confronted about their true spiritual condition, they often defend themselves and minimize or justify their sin. They claim to know God and are very religious, yet their very lifestyle of sin and selfishness denies the Lord they profess to know and love. In addition, it's interesting to note, that many pastors and Christian leaders come to us for help, and their whole lives are caught up in doing what they think is ministry, presenting themselves to others as godly leaders, yet all the time living a secret life of sexual sin. They have actually believed their own lie, that they were walking with God all the time and have been able to compartmentalize their sin in their own minds and just trivialize it as something on the side. They've deceived themselves into thinking that their sin has no true bearing on their spiritual life and their relationship with God. They were living the lives of hypocrisy like the Pharisees, clean on the outside, yet dirty within.  

Now you've twice mentioned the Pharisees: Matthew 23 and then again, now you mentioned the Pharisees. So, we really are talking about Christian men, we’ll call them Christian men, who just have the religion of the Pharisees. Why is Pharisaical religion in the church so very dangerous?  

Well, I think again, Steve Gallagher sums this up well in his book Standing Firm Through the Great Apostasy. The things that he mentions specifically, is this is so dangerous because it reinforces a person's self-life, their self-love. It's hard to detect. It substitutes false spirituality for the real thing. It breeds further deception and delusion. It hinders a person from seeing his need to change and repent. It fosters fear of man rather than fear of God, and it magnifies the immediate dividends while blinding one to the eternal consequences. And it's interesting: the men to come to us are basically like, we are mentioning, Pharisees or hypocrites, and they're more concerned with what people think they're what God thinks. I find it quite amazing to see that across the board, one of these earmarks of this dangerous religion that Pastor Steve mentioned was fear of man rather than fear of God. And it's amazing, that men living in habitual sin are more afraid of being exposed and what people think, than having the fear of God to prevent them from doing this behavior. The God who sees what they're doing a secret to begin with. Most men, typically, won't seek help from us or address their secret life of sin until God, in His mercy, allows their sin to be exposed to other people.  

<pull-quote>Most men living in habitual sin are more afraid of being exposed and what people think, than having the fear of God to prevent them from doing this behavior.<pull-quote><tweet-link>Tweet This<tweet-link>

Well, keep going. What's another sign that a man has an outward religion without real power?  

Another one, Jim, is deemphasizing vital truth. We have men that come to us, and they’re steeped in some doctrinal belief, and they have all these theological frameworks of the systems developed, where -- it's not really dealing so much with the major tenets of the Christian faith, like the Trinity, the virgin birth, the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, His sacrificial death and His blood atonement on the Cross -- but really, they're more concerned with these trivial or peripheral issues -- not that these other things are not important, but they're not the main focus of our Christian faith. Things like predestination or the free will of man, eternal security versus apostasy, or eschatology, end time events, women in ministry, and so forth.  

Why do men in this situation, why do men in Pharisaical religion -- and Jesus said this was true of the Pharisees, they minor on the majors and they major on the minors?  

Yeah that’s so true, Jim. And I would say the first one is very simple. They're full of pride or what they know or what they think they know, because they've believed a lie of our Western culture that has dumbed down true spirituality in Christianity to the mere acquisition of head knowledge, about God, His Kingdom, having correct doctrine. And in addition to this, since they don't have the real thing, a vibrant relationship with God, they compensate for it like the Pharisees did, overly scrupulous about minor things. Jesus said of the Pharisees, “You strain out a gnat, and you swallow a camel.” And then also in their pride and self-righteousness, they fail to realize that true Christianity centers around a vibrant relationship with God. In the heart of this relationship is love. Jesus summed up true religion when He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the prophets.” In other words, if you’ve got this down, you’re fulfilling the Law; if you missed this, you’ve missed the whole point of everything that Jesus was teaching. So these men love to argue about doctrine to show to others how much they know, yet they very rarely invest time in loving others in a practical way, in meeting needs. They're all talk but have no actions, so there is little to no substance behind what they say and profess to believe.  

Steve Gallagher wrote in his book that men who have an outward display of Pharisaical religion will seldom be found doing ministry at a local soup kitchen for the homeless, because he'd much rather be a teacher or somebody on the platform. He's all talk and no action, all doctrine without any real ministry. Why is that?  

Well, because really, their religion is totally self-centered. It's not focused upon God and His glory and the will of God, which would involve loving others and meeting other people's needs. He is more concerned with elevating himself, making himself look good, his own glory, than God's glory, and doing true kingdom work, which is loving your neighbor as yourself and meeting needs on a practical level.  

Well, one of the things that we've noticed is that so many of the men who come into the Pure Life Residential Program -- and they fit this very pattern that we're talking about, a form of godliness with no power -- they are completely driven by feelings and emotions and they are not guided by biblical convictions. Tell us what you know about this.  

I would say, very simply, this just another manifestation of their selfishness. Everything in their lives revolves around themselves, therefore how they feel is supremely important to them. This is also a product of a godless culture, that has placed the thoughts and feelings of people above the Truth of God in His Word. We've basically deified ourselves, what we think, what we believe, how we feel takes precedent over God, what He thinks, what He knows to be true and what He said in His Word. And this mindset has had a major influence in our Western Church.  

Let's get down to some practical steps. How do we walk men into real faith, out of their delusion of self-righteous religion? How do we do it?  

Well, very simply, Jim, with confronting them with the truth of God's Word. Men don't need someone to feel sorry for them or make them feel good about themselves. They need to be confronted with the truth of God's Word, which can alone set them free. So, the first thing we need to do to these men that are in delusion, is show them their true spiritual condition, based upon the clear teachings of God's Word. We constantly confront them here with the Scriptures. And I would say this too, that is the catalyst for change. When they begin to see themselves in the light of God's Word, this should lead to godly sorrow and repentance. Having been devastated by the bad news, we now lead them to the foot of the Cross and the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I like to kid around, “We’re not a 12-step program, we’re a two-step program: repent and believe the Gospel.” And really, that's how simple it is.  It's only through repentance and faith in Christ that men can come out of their self-deluded dead religion and into a true relationship with God and lasting freedom from sin. There is no other way out, but the simplicity of the Gospel, and again, Jesus Himself said, “the kingdom of God is near. Repent of your sins and believe the Good News.”  

Well, Ken, I think you covered this really well, and I thank you so much for coming in, and for your very insightful answers.  

Thank you, Jim. It was a pleasure to be with you today.

This excerpt is from our podcast episode, "Sexual Sin is the Epitome of Insanity" Episode 367.

To access our full podcast library, visit purelifeministries.org/purity-for-life, or check us out in the iTunes store or Google Play store.

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