Beware of the leaven–that is, the hypocrisy–of the Pharisees.
There is a good way to help us to avoid this sort of hypocrisy. If we remember that all that we have and all that we are comes from God than there is no grounds for boasting. If we don't feel the need to boast, to appear important, or better than others, we avoid the temptation to hypocrisy. We don't need to lie to protect our self-image.
But when one does not work,
yet believes in the one who justifies the ungodly,
his faith is credited as righteousness.
Trusting in God to justify us rather than our own work gives us freedom. It makes us blessed. Without God we come up short. We inevitably find a division between what we say and what we do. And we find that the division is not caused by our compassion for others but rather by our pride and our desire to be seen as moral authorities.This is an important thing to grasp for Christians because we are called to speak and proclaim a truth we can't always live up to.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
Isn't this always going to be hypocrisy? It depends on our motivation. If we are doing it out of pride and self-seeking vainglory it is hypocrisy. But if we do it out of love for others and with the recognition justification comes through grace and not through our works it is not hypocrisy. There is no boasting in our proclamation. If anything, there is an embarrassment that we do not better embody it. Our motivation is desiring for others what we desire for ourselves.
The message of the gospel is that it isn't about earning or deserving. It is about a God who loves us before we can earn or deserve anything.
You are worth more than many sparrows.
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