Greater Condemnation (Luke 20:45-47)

Last week at the end of the service I commented that I felt a bit unsettled about the message I had just shared.  (http://baconscastle.com/podcastgen/?name=but_god_looks_at_the_heart_(luke_20_27_-_21_4).mp3)  Several of you spoke encouraging words to me during the week and I’m thankful for that but I believe I know why I felt the way I did. 

I spoke of how Jesus says that if we live a life of hypocrisy we will reap even greater condemnation.  But what left me unsettled was which one of us doesn’t live in hypocrisy, even often?  We all, all too often, dress up the outside with spirituality but inside we are far different than we present.  We are like the Pharisees who honored God with their lips but their heart was far from God.  Which one of us doesn’t at times find ourselves living as a hypocrite?

What bothered me last week, I believe, was did I speak enough of grace?  Did I speak enough of the grace that God sheds in our hearts that gives us a new heart and regenerates us, makes us new?  The truth is grace changes us and though we may live in a moment of hypocrisy, we don’t live a life of one.  I think what troubled me was maybe I didn’t root Jesus’ words well enough in the context of His grace.  We are recipients of grace that leads us tear down our hypocrisy and live authentic Christian lives, owning our sins and failures and relying daily on that grace of God.

Jesus doesn’t promise greater condemnation for moments of hypocrisy; He promises greater condemnation for pretending we know the grace of God in our lives when in reality we don’t.  And how do I know if I’ve experienced the grace of God in my life?  My heart is changed and I depend on Jesus, I want to follow Jesus.  Following Him becomes my heart’s desire and my life ambition.  Yes I’ll stumble along the way and even live hypocritically at times but even in those moments I’ll cling to His grace.

The call to examine ourselves still stands; am I clinging to the grace of God?  Is God's grace transforming me or am I merely pretending to know and love God?  Don't pretend.  Be for real.  Own the truth.