Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

--Parallel verses:
‭‭Romans‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭8‬
Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Hypocrites are people who represent one way of life, telling people to uphold a good standard, but in private they do the opposite. We see this all of the time in our world: a) Musicians who tout undying love in their songs, but cheat on the spouses or get quick divorces, b) Christians who say they agree with the Bible and its laws, but love to watch movies full of perverse living, c) Politicians who ask people to cut salaries and get by with less, all the while voting for themselves a pay increase or better benefit programs.

Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites. Why? Because they pretended to have a heart after God, but inside they were full of greed, deceit, and all kinds of evil. And they called out the legalistic sin in others, discouraging them from praying and seeking God. They require such high standards of legalistic righteousness, no one could accomplish them on their own.

Our cross-reference verses today in Romans 4 set a stark contrast. On one hand, you can live (and try to gain your righteousness) by the law and be held accountable to the law, or you can live by trusting God (faith, with accepting his grace), and have righteousness credited to you by God.

I know I am a sinner, who will never measure up to God’s “perfect standard” requirement in the law. So I will gladly accept his grace and trust him with my life.

How do I live a life of solid truth, instead of being a hypocrite? I must surrender to Jesus as my Lord and Savior and accept his free gift of salvation, given by his grace. Then his Spirit will change me from the inside out and I will become more and more like him. Another way to say this is that I will be in the process of perfection.

Lord, thank you for calling out the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and teachers of the law. You spoke the truth so that some might be saved. I am one of those you saved. Purify my heart and help me to seek after you wholeheartedly.