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.
