Romans 16:17-18 BSB (Berean Standard Bible)

“17Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them. 18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.”

Many Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

In my nation (the USA), in our culture today within the gatherings of the church (or the false church) at large, we have many of these people who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teachings of the gospel taught by Jesus and by His New Testament apostles, taught in the correct biblical context. Many pastors and elders and church leaders are teaching an altered and diluted gospel message intended to appease human flesh which does not call the people to repentance and to obey God.

Many of these leaders are malicious wolves in sheep’s clothing who fake their Christianity and who are out to deceive, to trick, to trap, to manipulate, and to lead the people astray while convincing them that they are leading them to the truth. They promise them forgiveness of all sins and heaven guaranteed them as their eternal destiny based in a lie which teaches them they do not have to repent of (die to) sin and that they do not have to obey God’s commands, for they call that “works salvation.” It is not.

And they tell them that all that God requires is that they pray a prayer to receive Christ or that they make a verbal confession of Christ as Lord, believing that God raised Him from the dead, and now they are saved for eternity, and that nothing can take that away from them. Taken out of context the Bible does appear to teach some of this in the book of Romans. But the whole of Romans and Jesus’ teachings teach we must, by faith in Christ, deny self, die to sin, and walk in obedience to God’s commands.

What Jesus and the apostle Paul taught

Jesus Christ taught that to come to Him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) Him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to His commands, in His power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls Him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in Him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

So, if you have been believing the lies of the “wolves in sheep’s clothing,” and you are professing Christ as your Lord and Savior, and heaven as your eternal destiny, but while you continue in deliberate and habitual sin and not in walks of obedience to God and to His commands, then I encourage you to repent of (turn from, die to) your sins today and surrender your lives to God to now follow Him in living holy lives, pleasing to God, in the power of God. For Jesus died on that cross to free us from sin, not to coddle us in our sin.

[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]

By Smooth Talk They Deceive
An Original Work / September 6, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Seven Woes

Based off Matthew 23
An Original Work / May 31, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

Woe to you, teachers of the law;
Hypocrites, you keep men from God.
You refuse to obey the truth,
Nor will you permit others to.
You travel o’er land and sea
To win a single convert to you.
When he becomes one
You make him twice as much
A “son of hell” as you are.

Woe to you, blind guides of mankind.
You distort the words of your God.
By your practices you declare
Your oaths mean nothing, though you swear.
You give a tenth of your spices,
But you neglect justice, mercy.
When you focus your
Time and talents on
What is external, you miss out.

Woe to you, who appear so clean,
When inside you are crass and mean.
You work hard to look so upright,
While you hide all your sins inside.
You deceive yourselves when you think
You would not have done what others
Did to God’s messengers
And prophets of old,
For you will do much the same.
You’re to blame.