By Pastor Glem Melo

It is clear in the New Testament that there are hypocrites in the church. The apostle Paul warned the elders of the church in Ephesus that

“from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” (Acts 20:30, emphasis mine).

We also have the words of the apostle John:

“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us” (1 John 2:19, emphasis mine).

Therefore, we confess that there are “hypocrites, who are mixed in the church along with the good and yet are not part of the church, although they are outwardly in it” (Belgic Confession, Article 29, emphasis mine) and that office-bearers are to “see to it… that evil men are disciplined in a spiritual way and are restrained (Article…