Topical Bible: Love to God: Hypocrites, Without

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In the Scriptures, the concept of love for God is central to the faith and practice of believers. Genuine love for God is characterized by sincerity, obedience, and devotion. However, the Bible also addresses the issue of those who profess love for God outwardly but lack true devotion in their hearts. These individuals are often referred to as hypocrites, who are without genuine love for God.

The prophet Isaiah, speaking on behalf of the Lord, highlights the discrepancy between outward expressions and inward reality: "These people draw near to Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13). This verse underscores the superficial nature of the hypocrites' love, which is merely verbal and not rooted in a heartfelt commitment to God.

Jesus Christ, during His earthly ministry, frequently confronted the religious leaders of His time for their hypocrisy. In the Gospel of Matthew, He rebukes the Pharisees and scribes, saying, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence" (Matthew 23:25). Here, Jesus exposes the inconsistency between their external religious practices and their internal moral corruption, indicating a lack of true love for God.

The apostle John also addresses the issue of hypocritical love in his epistles. He writes, "If anyone says, 'I love God,' but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen" (1 John 4:20). This passage emphasizes that genuine love for God is inseparable from love for others, and those who fail to love their fellow human beings reveal the absence of true love for God in their hearts.

The apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, warns against those who have a form of godliness but deny its power. He writes, "For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts" (Romans 1:21). This description of those who are without true love for God highlights the futility and darkness that accompany a hypocritical profession of faith.

In the Old Testament, the prophet Hosea conveys God's lament over Israel's insincere love: "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6). This verse reveals God's preference for genuine devotion and understanding over mere ritualistic observance, further illustrating the emptiness of hypocritical love.

The Bible consistently calls believers to examine their hearts and ensure that their love for God is genuine and not merely a facade. True love for God is demonstrated through obedience, humility, and a sincere desire to honor Him in all aspects of life. Hypocrites, who are without this authentic love, are warned of the spiritual peril that accompanies their insincerity.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Luke 11:42
But woe to you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

John 5:42
But I know you, that you have not the love of God in you.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

That God's Lover Forsakes the World, Idleness and Irksomeness: and ...
... WORLD, IDLENESS AND IRKSOMENESS: AND OF HYPOCRITES AND COVETOUS ... to have riches, and
not to love them, and ... they dread, because they heed not God that delivers ...
//christianbookshelf.org/rolle/the fire of love/chapter x that gods lover.htm

Of the Works which God Works in all in Common and of Five Kinds of ...
... from God and love of sin vanquish and repulse love of God ... The fifth kind of sinners
are those hypocrites who do ... good works, not for the glory of God and their ...
/.../john/the adornment of the spritual marriage/chapter v of the works.htm

Love
... the portion more than the person.' Hypocrites love God because he ... cannot find
contentment in any thing without him ... a hypocrite who pretends to love God corn and ...
//christianbookshelf.org/watson/the ten commandments/1 2 love.htm

That God is to be Loved and Worshipped in Diseases: and Also of ...
... which is only in the righteous, and it is called mirth in the love of God. ... we be
glad and merry, the wicked call us wanton; and if we be heavy, hypocrites. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/rolle/the fire of love/chapter ix that god is.htm

But Now, Thou Mayst Ask Me and Say, "Thou Speakest So Much of Love ...
... say, not in his work, but in his soul, "For many speak good and do good, and love
not GOD: as hypocrites, who suffer ... Then he loves GOD: and that love is in ...
/.../the form of perfect living and other prose treatises/chapter x but now thou.htm

The Fire of Love
... CHAPTER X THAT GOD'S LOVER FORSAKES THE WORLD, IDLENESS AND IRKSOMENESS: AND
OF HYPOCRITES AND COVETOUS MEN. ... CHAPTER XI OF THE LOVE OF GOD. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/rolle/the fire of love/

Prayer and Labor for the Gathering of the Great Harvest.
... he ought not to love God and man as ardently? 2. Professors of religion who do not
obey the true spirit of these precepts are hypocrites, without one exception ...
/.../finney/sermons on gospel themes/xix prayer and labor for.htm

Article iii: of Love and the Fulfilling of the Law.
... The result convicts hypocrites, who by their own powers endeavor to fulfil the Law ...
Yea, we add also this, that it is impossible for love to God, even though ...
/.../melanchthon/the apology of the augsburg confession/part 6 article iii of.htm

And when Jesus Entered the Temple, they Brought unto Him Blind And ...
... of the law, judgement, and mercy, and faith, and the love of God: this ought ye ...
[57] [Arabic, p.154] [2789] Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ...
/.../hogg/the diatessaron of tatian/section xl and when jesus.htm

Submit Yourselves Therefore to God. James 4:7.
... and truly benevolent. The law may make hypocrites; but nothing but
the gospel can draw out the soul so true love to God. ...
/.../finney/lectures to professing christians/submit yourselves therefore to god.htm