Anger

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. [Matthew 5:21-22 ESV]

Our hearts grow our thoughts and words and actions in the soil of our motivations watered and fed by intent. By intent I mean that which drives a person toward an object of desire or perceived need. Intent is the active agent between our motivations and what actually happens, what we actually do. Intent and motivation are so closely related one may easily be lost in the other. Motive is deeper, abiding, while intent can change direction dependent upon circumstances, maybe the appearance of something more desirable. Intent is fickle. Motive is revealing.

Discover that which motivates you and you will discover identity. Focus upon intent behind the words and actions, the evidence of what you do, and you will show others who you are. Jesus hits hard the intent of the thinking of the heart. "But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment" [Matthew 5:22 SV]. Here, the word anger means to provoke to rage or to become exasperated with the object of your wrath. It is unjustified anger toward someone who is not meeting you personal expectations in a timely manner. Your expectations are your standards arbitrarily placed upon another. No one will ever meet your expectations no matter how long or short a time you give them. Jesus does not exclude all anger. God gave us the emotion as part of His image in us. He knows anger. His anger is justifiable. Unless we conform to the likeness of His Son our anger is unreasonable, used as an excuse to gain control over what He has created.

We do not determine our own motivation. We discover the motivations God has given to each unique person. He created us individually to serve him. His image in us powers our motivation to love and serve Him by loving and serving those around us, with whom we come in contact. Sin did not destroy the image of God in us but corrupted it, bending us and our motivations away from God and what He made us to ourselves and what we think we have made ourselves. As we honestly see ourselves before Him, and discover the corruption of our deepest self, we come to recognize our motivations are opposite His, bent away from Him. That which motivates us is rebellion against Him. We cannot determine our innate motivation. We can and do determine the intent of the thinking of our hearts. How we put action to our motivations, what we focus on and strive for, is something we do control. Our words and actions reveal the intent of the thinking of our hearts to God and others.

But God changes those who belong to Him, recreates them and gives them a new heart with new motivations. Anything we focus upon, which does not come from our new, recreated, eternal relationship with Him springs from, not God, but the sin which still seeks to own us. Relinquishing control of our self to the sinless God changes everything. Theoretically, we cease to foist our expectations upon others because we no longer have personal expectations. We have only God's eternal standards against which we measure ourselves and others. When our anger arises it is because God's standard, God's law has been violated not because our expectations have not been met. Our anger is a flag which tells us either we are doing something wrong, rebelling against Him, or someone around us is rebelling against Him. Those who are His are motivated to by truth, justice and righteousness, goodness and holiness, the intent of their hearts striving to know God both intellectually and intimately.

What self-righteous audacity we have when we are angry with others, and with God, based upon our own unrighteous and therefore unreasonable expectations. His statements above are not hyperbole. Our unjustified anger brings His judgment. No one has the right to judge any action or word against any other standard than God's. Such an action wrestles control away from Him. How can anyone who says they belong to Him then turn and impose their personal standard upon Him and those He has created.

Those who are His do have the responsibility, even the deep motivation, to expose sin. Our place in this world, why God has left us here, is as someone who testifies for Him and against the world. Our presence exposes sin and shines truth, justice and righteousness, goodness and holiness, the character of God to a godless world.

Intent of the Heart

But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, "You fool!" will be liable to the hell of fire. [Matthew 5:22 ESV]

We are responsible for the intent of the thinking of our hearts. Outside of us only God can know what is in a person's heart. He knows better than the person. Few are honest enough with themselves to know when their thinking and their hearts are bent toward evil or wickedness. Without the forgiveness which comes through grace none could survive the conviction of sin. We must admit we sin before we will admit what our sins are. Those who refuse to admit what their sins are face God's wrath. They must also face themselves. As Francis Schaeffer has suggested when someone is confronted with their sin and the enormous consequences of their sin they must do one of two things. Either they will go mad, insane in trying to absolve themselves of the consequence through ignoring sin or they will commit suicide. We cannot live with guilt. Either we declare ourselves not guilty or we sentence ourselves to death. There is third option but it means acknowledging God and His ultimate authority and compassion for us through the sacrifice of His Son.

We are responsible for accepting or rejecting the grace offered by God. He commands all to appropriate His grace, to accept their guilt and accept the truth their death sentence has been fulfilled by Jesus' death. From the beginning of man's history, from Adam in the garden created in the image of God and given a realm in which to serve God, all are commanded to follow and obey Him. It does not matter that sin entered the world when it comes to obeying the commands of God. Sin is not an excuse for disobedience. Adam was commanded to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was also given permission to eat from any other tree in the garden including the tree of life. Only after he willfully disobeyed God was he driven from the garden so he could not eat from the tree of life, which is Christ. Now all are commanded to eat from the tree of life, which is Christ, and live, but do not. Again, most in the world are in willful rebellion against God refusing to obey His explicit command.

God sees the evidence of the thinking of the heart in each person, knowing that person intimately. At the same time it is the responsibility of the individual to recognize the thinking of their own heart and accept responsibility for their thinking and their actions. While the thinking of their hearts may be hidden from others their actions, and the body language which accompanies their actions, are never hidden. Others will see and form judgments based upon what they see and on how honest they are with themselves concerning their own sin and guilt. Obedience to God and right relationship with Him brings clarity. No one has the right to assign intent to another’s actions without honestly, in the light of God's truth, examining and interpreting the evidence of the person's life and actions. All judgment, in order for the judgment to be righteous, must be viewed through a godly filter which recognizes sin and realizes the consequences of sin and he submits to and relinquishes control to God. Without doing this judgment, whether of self or of others, becomes arbitrary and sinful.

We are responsible for the intent of the thinking of our hearts. It is not our responsibility to judge the intent of the thinking of the hearts of others. It is our responsibility to be discerning, open to the counsel and instruction of the Spirit, and confront sin where ever we find sin, whether in ourselves or in others. God commands we love Him and live according to truth. There are no other options.

Abel's Offering

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. [Matthew 5:21-22 ESV]

Abel did nothing to deserve death He offered God an acceptable sacrifice. His heart, and the thinking of his heart, was wholly devoted to God, in line with what God wanted from him. If anything, the motives of his heart, maybe not completely pure, were directed toward his Creator. He knew to bring a sacrifice with the correct attitude. God accepted his sacrifice because of his attitude. Abel's sacrifice was not given with the expectation of receiving anything in return. He sacrificed as a show of his love and affection for God.

Cain murdered Abel, his brother, though he had committed no crime worthy of capital punishment. In fact, there were no written laws, or spoken laws, or an understanding that anything considered a crime deserved the death sentence. Except, of course, the eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God expressed to Adam the absolute consequences of eating the fruit from the forbidden tree. "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die" [Genesis 2:16-17 ESV]. Eating from the tree began the process of dying. It did not bring immediate death. They lived close to a millennia, but they did eventually physically die. Their deaths began when they were separated from the source of live, driven from the garden and kept from the tree of life. All indications are Cain, the first born, was born after Adam of Eve were driven from the garden. All he knew was what his parents told him and the evidence suggests they didn't tell him accurately what happened, if at all.

God did not protect Abel from his brother Cain. He did tell Cain he was in danger of allowing sin control of his life. He did not stop Cain nor did He protect Abel from his brother’s murderous intent. "Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him" [Genesis 4:3-8 ESV]. Though we may hate what happens to us this is how God works. It is the corrupt thinking of our hearts which lead us to believe what is not true about Him and what is not true about us. There are times when God does protect from the effects of sin. However, He is not unjust when He allows us to be affected by sin, especially the sin of others. It is not we deserve what happens, though all who sin deserve eternal punishment, but His eternal decrees, His knowledge and will see and know what occurs will ultimately bring Him glory. We do not know how sin, especially the vial sin of people, brings Him glory but we are told it will.

We must see what He does through the clear lenses of His truth, not allowing ourselves the permission to color His truth with our misconceptions. He allows sin full reign in a person so they might see and know and understand the full extent and consequences of sin. He does this so those He wishes to teach might see the complete degradation sin brings upon every iota of human existence. He points to sin in His Word, His laws, the prophecies and teachings, and His love for each person. The most effective evidence for the reality of sin and His love for those He created is the death of His Son. He did not protect Jesus from the full effect of the sin of the world.

Does this mean He does not love those who are victims of the abhorrent sin of those around them? It would seem He does not love them. If this were true those who have endured the most violent, degrading, and vile of acts against their person would never be covered by the blood of Christ, who endured the most violent, degrading and vile act against His person. His bloodshed to cover those who are God's is the eternal evidence of God's love for them. Cain could not hide his murder from God even though he tried. Nothing which happens to anyone is hidden from God. Perhaps this is why we believe He could have prevented sin, especially against ourselves. He could have kept Adam from sinning. He could have prevented Cain from murdering. He could have rescued Abel from his brother’s murderous intent. He did not. He could have said kept His Son from dying. He did not. His full reasons may be mysterious, seem callus and unloving, but we know, by the resurrection of His Son, they are just and righteous and void of sin.

We also know the intent of the thinking of our hearts is our responsibility, for which we will be held accountable.

From Where Do Desires Come?

You have heard that it was said to those of old, "You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment." But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. [Matthew 5:21-22 ESV]

From where does murderous intent come? Does not such intent begin with the imagining of unreasonable expectations which becomes a demand, a law the person requires of others? The first sin recorded in Scripture was not murder. In fact, Adam and Eve committed so many sins before Cain was born it is impossible to list them. But God comes to Cain and speaks with him and warns him about the battle which is raging in his heart. Cain wanted to worship God the way Cain wanted to worship, not the way God wanted. It was not the actual act of worship God spoke to Cain about but the intent of his heart. "Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen" [Genesis 4:6 ESV]? Cain was angry. God had not met his expectations. This is because, without knowing Cain's exact expectations we can determine they were unreasonable.

Cain wore his emotion in a way visible to all. No one else was around to see but God and He see everything. Cain had not yet learned to hide his emotion from himself. This was to come soon. Before this would happen Cain had to train himself to allow his anger to control his expectations. He began to reason, excuse his thoughts and emotions which were contrary to what God had originally designed. He was made in the image of God but carried the bent to sin. God gave him his image. His parents gave him, and all who follow him, the bent toward sin. Sin is an unnatural inheritance. We all have this bent but we all struggle against it because of the natural godly image within our being. God wants control. So does sin. "If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it" [Genesis 4:7 ESV].

Cain chose to allow sin to control his life.

Here is a conundrum faced by all Christians. God holds us responsible for our sins even though we can identify sin as an unnatural inheritance, a controlling force in our lives, coming down from Adam and Eve to everyone who has ever lived. Except Christ. We have been taught we have no choice but to sin. We have been taught everything we do is sin. We have also been told Christ covered our sin with His righteousness so we are no longer under God's judgment for sin. But we still sin while we have been taught God expects holiness and righteousness from us. It is impossible for us to reconcile the two positions. They are in conflict.

God told Cain he must control sin, rule over it so it would not control him. Does He not tell us the same thing? Sin wants us. We must recognize the assault of sin and steadfastly fight to not allow sin control over us. We do not belong to sin but to God. Sin owned us but He bought us back with the eternal price of Christ's blood. Our fight begins, not with sin but within ourselves. God never lost His fight with sin. We must be willing to allow God to show us what is truly happening within ourselves. We must honestly confront ourselves, and the sin which assaults us, recognizing it as sin and not excusing it as natural and expected.

Sin began outside of us, has become an integral though unnatural part of us, and God has given us the tools, strength and grace to combat it. But first we must recognize our own powerlessness and His power in us.

But I Tell You

You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire. [Matthew 5:21-22 ESV]

In a world where God is not viewed as supreme anything imagined is considered possible and viable and unobjectionable. In Genesis 6:5 God sees the wickedness of the thinking of the hearts of all people, evil thinking and feeling only all of the time. Unfettered and undisciplined imagination breeds contempt for God and for His person, the attributes and characteristics which help us know Him. It is His person which defines and establishes creation. Those who allow themselves, even give themselves permission to ignore God will imagine and believe their imaginations true. Even those who recognize the corruption of sin will try to make what they have imagined true. We do not make truth.

Jesus uses a phrase, a couplet of opposite statement, to show the lie of those imaginations of people which have become accepted tradition. "You have heard ... but I say to you." You have been taught something by the legalists, the scribes and teachers of the Law, which is not true. Jesus is transitioning from the previous, foundational statements to illustrations of what He has just taught. Adhering to what you have been taught, which is a lie, the skin of a truth covering a lie, will not make you righteous. Obeying these opinions and traditions may make you feel like you are righteous, obeying God's will, but will do no such thing. Though you hold to your traditions as truth dearly they may be only partly true. It is the part which is not true which has captured you just as sin captures you and tries to own you. These traditions only claim truth as their foundation but spring from the imaginations of a people corrupted by sin who have rejected God and try to manipulate Him to their own advantage.

Let me tell you the truth, Jesus says. He stresses the truth of His statements, backed up by the evidence of His life. Ultimately, it is His resurrection which validates His words and teaching. But those who listened to Him and watched Him and experienced His healing powers from God had not yet known His resurrection. In the context of the setting His statements "you have heard it said ...but I tell you" is audacious and authoritative. His words and the implications of His words demand careful examination and application. Ignore them at the risk of eternal separation from God.

With these verses, beginning with Matthew 5:21, Jesus begins illustrating all He has been saying. He has described succinctly what a citizen of the kingdom of God looks like, not to the world but to the King of the kingdom, to God. What the world and the people of the world think about those who are God's is irrelevant. What the world thinks does not matter. But we are conflicted, tugged and pulled by the world in such a way we are tempted to compromise and fail. When our eyes are fixed upon what is in the world, even the smallest part of the world, we will imagine something other than what is true. Citizens of God's kingdom cannot become non-citizens but they can act motivated by their imaginations, for a time, as citizens of the world. Our lives must revolve around Him and not anything which is opposed to Him.

Jesus illustrates the nine points He has just given. Seven of these illustrations are of the seven characteristics of the citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Once the citizen is defined by the characteristic given, and the illustration meant to drive His point home, Jesus tells how the world will react to the citizen and then how the citizen is to act toward and within the world. He illustrates both the violent reaction of the world and the benevolent action of God through those who are His when facing violence. Finally, Jesus shows the foundation in a way which cannot be denied. Matthew 5:21-48 are illustrations supporting the teaching of the Son of God in 3-20. Do not lift these verses out of their context and make them stand alone. Jesus does not mean for them to stand alone.

God has purposefully included imagination in the image of God we own. He has also given us vibrant and living information about Himself, His Son, and His Holy Spirit which He uses to prepare us for eternity. We are citizens of the kingdom of God not of the world in which we live. But we are here as witnesses to the world of God. His words, the Scripture given, and His Spirit are meant to teach us and change us into the likeness of Christ. Let us diligently seek Him so we will find Him.

Matthew 5:17-20 Conclusion

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. [Deuteronomy 6:5-9 ESV]

When is it appropriate to set aside sound theology for the practical side of living? If you ask this question of God He will say "never!" Theology is seen as a dry academic pursuit leading to wordy, intellectually philosophical conclusions which have no impact on real life. Theology means the study of God, or studying the word of God. Let me give you a more practical, easily understood definition of theology. Theology is friendship with God. Everyone whether they admit it or not has a relationship with God. Everyone either pursues Him or runs from Him. Everyone has an idea of whom or what God is. Even when people don't think about God it is because of what they think of God.

Christians, those who are identified with God through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the guarantee of the Holy Spirit, spend their lives learning about God. In Matthew 5 Jesus tells us the only way to become a citizen of the kingdom of heaven is to be made so by God. Our lives become the evidence of God's work in us. We are recreated to obey. God's grace does not absolve any of the demands and responsibilities of a citizen of His kingdom. We are required and inspired to obey the inner reality of His eternal law in our every action, motivation and attitude.

Grace is, I think, misunderstood by many and misapplied by all at some time. It is not receiving punishment due for crimes committed. It is receiving, being absolutely given eternal life and all of the privileges and responsibilities which accompany absolute life. Grace is not being given death which is deserved and being given life which is not deserved. Grace is an act of God toward each person who is then expected to acknowledge God's grace by giving grace to those around. The acronym God's Riches At Christ's Expense is used as an excuse to not obey. All Christian's have given themselves permission to sin. Sin is not practicing good theology. Sin is not friendship with God but enmity with Him. We show God's grace to those around. This does not mean grace trumps every other aspect of theology.

God places a standard of excellence upon His citizens which reaches far beyond anything recognizable by the world. Though He has covered those who are His with the righteous blood of His Son, viewing us as righteous who are not, He also demands we conform to His standard of excellence. Our conforming to His standard, exemplified in Christ, is unattainable without His strength, direction and grace. At no time during our lives in the world, encumbered with the old, sinful self, does He expect us to attain perfection. He does expect us to work on and reach for holiness.

God expects His citizens to be teachable throughout their time in this world. He uses the world, the tugs and pulls of temptation to prepare us for eternity. If He were not going to use the world in such a way there would be no reason to leave any here. Too many fall, succumbing to the temptations and giving themselves permission to sin. We do not have permission to sin. Not even those who are unsaved have permission to sin.

When Jesus states He has not come to "abolish the Law or the Prophets" He is forcing us to acknowledge God's words to us are absolute and unbendable, unbreakable. When He says He has come to "fulfill them," the Law and the Prophets He is stating we cannot, that He is the only One able to keep God's word. When He states "heaven and earth" will not "pass away" until "all in accomplished" He is telling us God' word is eternal. This word, the Law and Prophets of God, impact every area, every thought, every emotion, every action, every piece of creation, every molecule of life. Made in His image, to have a relationship with Him, obeying Him ceases to be an obligation because it is integral to our deepest being. Being recreated in the likeness of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit, opens the battlefield of our souls to the war between righteousness and unrighteousness, between truth and lie, between purity of holiness and the blackness of sin.

When is it appropriate to set aside sound theology for the practical side of living? "Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven" [Matthew 5:19 ESV]. Our answer has to be "never." Sound theology is practical living according to God's standards of excellence not according to the standards of the world in its rebellion against Him. There is a danger. Misinterpreting God's truth and turning it into a lie and then following that lie which leads deeper into sin and away from truth. We do not have the right to determine our own righteousness. Jesus declares our righteousness must "exceed that of the Scribes and Pharisees" or we "will never enter the kingdom of heaven." There is only one standard we must meet. God's standard. It was met in Jesus Christ.

Balaam

And the angel of the LORD said to Balaam, "Go with the men, but speak only the word that I tell you." So Balaam went on with the princes of Balak.

Balaam, son of Beor, had the reputation of speaking for the gods. He is a study in Scriptural contrasts and seeming inconsistencies. A soothsayer, one who was seen as able to predict the future because of something special about him, he was summoned by Balak to curse Israel as they camped on the East side of the Jordan. Balak, the king of Moab, had witnessed the destructive power of Israel as they moved into his territory. Israel wanted to pass through peacefully but the kings they encountered insisted on engaging in combat with them. Every king who came against Israel was defeated. Barak, seeing combat would not succeed, tried to buy a curse against Israel from someone he recognized as powerful.

Balaam could do nothing unless God allowed it. He obviously knew about God, as he knew about all of the false gods of the countryside. When summoned by Balak Balaam enquired of God about what he should do.

Balaam followed God's instructions and sent the emissaries away. He would not go. How was he able to speak to God, and hear Him? He was not a man after God's own heart. Yet, he heard God speak and followed His instructions.

A second time they came, the princess of Midian, to ask Balaam to come, with more money and larger promises. A second time Balaam told them he could not curse Israel, even if the king gave him everything, all the gold and silver he could muster. But, Balaam asked God a second time what he should do, as if God is one who changes His mind. This time God told Balaam to go with the men but speak only the words He would give him. Balaam's oracles concerning Israel are classic blessing of God for His chosen. Those who God blesses will be blessed. Those who God curses will be cursed. Balaam spoke the words God revealed to him by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

There are many problems in this story. Difficulties which may be hard to comprehend and understand. It sounds almost mythical, a story of a story told by generation after generation, changing subtly until the whole story become implausible. On his way to meet Balak the Angel of the Lord, the pre-incarnate Christ, stood ready to kill Balaam three times. A donkey saved the man's life three times. Balaam, angry with his donkey because it veered of the road, crushed his foot and leg, and finally lay down every time it saw the Angel of the Lord, he beat it. The God opened the mouth of the dumb beast so it could speak in a way both Balaam and the donkey could understand. Please note: if God can put words into the mouth of a dumb animal He can put words into the mouth of a godless man. Balaam was not a man who worshipped God even though God obviously spoke through him. God will speak through anyone He wishes without necessarily guaranteeing that persons place in His kingdom. Even a donkey can receive God's revelation and be inspired to speak the words of God by the Holy Spirit.

Those who claim the position and authority of teacher, showing knowledge and understanding of God and His Word may teach His Word without knowing Him intimately, and without Him knowing them as a child of His. Their desires give them away. Nothing is hidden from God, who knows all even to the depths of the thinking of the heart and the precise actions of the person's future.

Balaam was a master of manipulation, knowing the boundaries within which he could move without compromising his worldly reputation. When God would not allow him to curse Israel, only bless His people, he offered a suggestion to Balak, a way to attack and compromise God's people without engaging them in open combat. "While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab" [Numbers 25:1 ESV]. Nowhere in this story are we told Balaam suggested Moab entice Israel to worship false gods and commit sexual immorality. Jesus tells us in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, when He confronts the Church at Pergamum "but I have a few things against you: you have some there who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, so that they might eat food sacrificed to idols and practice sexual immorality" [Revelations 2:14 ESV].

Teachers who do not teach righteousness according to God's absolute will, knowing Him and being known by Him are false teachers, sprinkling the Word of God with the thinking and motivations of the world. "They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness" [2 Peter 2:15-16 ESV]. Presenting the image of holiness and righteousness and truth and goodness means nothing if the thinking of the heart is not changed by the God who is these very things.

Teacher or Actor?

A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. [Matthew 10:24-27 ESV]

Who is your teacher? We are all teachers and we are all students. No one ever stops teaching and none ever stop learning. Even those who are supposedly set in their ways and not teachable are still teachers and students, showing what they believe by the attitudes and actions and words, and learning about people as they have to deal with them.

Jesus has harsh words for hypocrites. "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you--but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice" [Matthew 23:2-3 ESV]. He tells those who listen to recognize the authority of God as represented by them, and listen to the words of God as taught by them, but to not do what they do. They are hypocrites, not doing what they say should be done and doing what should not be done. Having lied to themselves they have believed their own lies.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! [Matthew 23:13, 14, 15, 23, 25, 27, 29]

Seven times (and more) Jesus pronounces woe, condemnation, upon them, calling them hypocrites and blind. His words are for everyone so do not think or feel you are absolved because you do not consider yourself a teacher. We are all teachers and students (and I will probably say this many more times).

A hypocrite is an actor, someone who puts on a show for those observing. He is one way but acts completely differently when before an audience. They may even consider God their audience and try influencing His thinking about them through their actions and words. They try to earn their way into His grace, cheapening grace and inviting His disdain. Actors are hypocrites, taking upon themselves the characteristics and personality of a fictional person in order to fool or entertain. They are believable when trained and experienced. Do, too, training and experience will define the teacher who wishes to instruct and disciple their pupils. Many teachers have learned to put on a show to empress their students are give them something to remember. Mostly, actors, hypocrites, want their audience to remember them.

We want to believe those who are formal teachers teach from knowledge and righteous motivations. They are teachers by profession or decision, after all, and carry the weight of authority behind the knowledge they have gathered, processes and retained. Teachers are smarter than we are, so many think, and their teaching should never be questioned, except by other teachers. Those who belong to a professional association may have academic freedom but are still encouraged to follow the guidelines of their associates. This is important to maintain their professional standing and recognition. So, the scribes and Pharisees belonged to their professional association and dare not think against the standards imposed for fear of being rejected. Nothing has changed.

Scripture places tremendous responsibility upon teachers. "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" [James 3:1 ESV]. Those who are formal teachers will be judged by a greater standard than those who are not recognized as teachers. But, I think, as I have said, God has made us all teachers and we are all held to a greater standard, God's standard.

Sin makes us all hypocrites. We all try to show others we are something we are not, hoping they will not see our true selves. We try to fool God and only fool ourselves, even believing the lie we tell ourselves. Those who think they can earn or buy righteousness have missed the first demand of God, poverty of spirit. God demands, never asks, the sinner recognize and own their sin. He then demands, never asks, they realize the consequences of their sin, separation from Him. He then demands, never asks, they submit to Him unconditionally. Doing these three things will drive a person toward God. They will hunger and thirst for righteousness and will love Him.

Every person, as they live and breathe and act and speak, leaves evidence for what they hunger and thirst. Do they hunger and thirst for righteousness or unrighteousness? Are they self-righteous or given righteousness by God? Those who have studied God and His word who then refuse to listen to what He is saying and revealing, changing the meaning and message into something they control, are hypocrites, not students of His, and facing His wrath. Conversely, those who submit to Him and listen to Him and obey Him are called His.