“Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:16-18 NASB1995)

Living as a Hypocrite

What does it look like to be a hypocrite? What are their characteristic traits? Well, mainly a hypocrite is someone who willfully puts on a performance, to pretend something they are not, to fake their true identity so as to give a false impression to others of who they really are. It means to be a fake, a phony, a pretender, but in order to deceive others and to get others to think better of them than who they really are, in practice, by lifestyle. For they want to look good in the eyes of others to make a good impression.

From a Christian perspective, a hypocrite is someone who claims faith in the One True God – the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who is Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit – but who lives the opposite of the faith they profess. They put on a show (performance) of righteousness while secretly they are engaged in deliberate and habitual sin against God, most often in the category of sexual immorality, idolatry, and adultery, although certainly not limited to just those sin areas. For they want the praise of humans.

Basically, a hypocrite is someone who fakes who they are and what they are doing and how they are doing it and for what purpose in order to draw attention to themselves so that others will think well of them, or so that others will sympathize with them. And it is to gain the sympathy and/or the approval of others, such as in the case of the example given us in this passage of Scripture, in order to be noticed by others as those who are doing what is something sacred or righteous or godly in nature.

Now, this is not to say that those who are true followers of Jesus Christ cannot share their testimonies or experiences in order to encourage the body of Christ and so that the body of Christ will pray for them. Paul did this on a consistent basis, and we are taught in Scriptures to bear one another’s burdens and to pray for one another and to encourage and exhort one another. So, that is biblical. But we are not to fake it in order to draw attention to ourselves so that others will think better of us than is the truth.

Our Identity in Christ

And hypocrisy really fits with the subject of identity, i.e. who a person really is, not who they present themselves as being. Their true identity is not in who they claim to be but in who they really are in thought, word, character, attitude, and deed. Who we really are is who we are when no one else is around, when no one else is watching. How do we behave when no one else is watching? Is it the same as when they are watching? Are we who we say we are whether anyone else is watching us or not? We should be!

So then this goes to the issue of the subject of “identity in Christ” which is greatly being misconstrued and misused and misunderstood in our present day. So many people are teaching that a profession of faith in Jesus Christ warrants God gifting you with a new identity, which is who you are, they say, regardless of how you behave or whether or not you have denied self, died to sin, and are walking in obedience to the Lord. But the Scriptures do not teach that. Jesus said that not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God (Matthew 7:21-23).

What Jesus gifts us with is the faith to believe in him, which must align with God’s definition of faith, which has to do with us being persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to deny self, die to sin daily, by the Spirit, and to walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, in the power of God. He gifts us with deliverance out of bondage to sin (our salvation) so that we can live holy lives, pleasing to God, in obedience to his commands, so that we can have the hope of eternal life with God (Luke 9:23-26; Romans 6:1-23).

For, if we claim to be in fellowship with God, but while we still walk in deliberate and habitual sin, we are liars who do not live by the truth. If we claim to know God, but we do not obey his commandments, in practice, we are liars and the truth is not in us. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who, by faith in Christ, has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see 1 John 1,2,&3).

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

The Heart of Man

Based off Matthew 15:1-20; Mark 7:1-23
An Original Work / April 4, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Listen to me ev’ryone and
Understand this teaching of Christ:
Why do you break the commands
Of God for the sake of tradition?
When you follow the ways of man,
And don’t obey the words of Christ,
You nullify the words of God,
And you hold to the ways of man.

What comes out of a man’s mouth is
What makes him unclean and dirty.
The things that come out of the mouth
Come from the heart, from within him.
The heart of man is so sinful;
From his nature, out comes evil:
Lying, cursing, greed and malice,
Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;
Turn from our sins; follow His ways.
Yet, his people honor him with their lips,
but their hearts not with Him.
Their worship of God is in vain.
Their teachings are rules taught by man.
Jesus calls us; gently leads us
To return and follow His truth.

Don’t Be a Hypocrite
An Original Work / March 31, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love