CHRISTIANS, SIN & HYPOCRISY

God's word certainly tells us that God supernaturally changes people; "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17a). In this present life, however, the "new creation" speaks only to the "inner self." Sin may no longer enslave us, yet it remains an always present reality...an unwelcome guest who will not move out. Sin continually assaults us through our minds and through fleshly desires. Sin tempts us to go back to the pattern of life from which God saved us. It's a daily battle hence why we are exhorted to "put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry" (Colossians 3:5). We must actively deny what indwelling sin would have us do. 

So when God caused us to be born again, this "new birth" happened in our "inner self" not our bodies. We continue to age and eventually die even as "new creations." Our salvation isn't complete until the resurrection. "So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day" (2 Corinthians 4:16). 

So if you see "Christians" from time to time acting in ways that are inconsistent with their faith, it may or may not be hypocrisy, but what you may be assured of is that such inconsistency is precisely what the Bible teaches. We struggle while in the flesh. We are not enslaved, but we struggle. You may condemn them and charge them with hypocrisy, but "there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).