Paul made an important distinction about a person’s faith in
Philippians. He spoke about motives and sincerity. During Paul’s lifetime, some
people were intent on harming others and pulling them away from a true faith in
God. They were selfish and self-motivated. Insincere.
But, is Paul saying that sincerity is all that is required to
justify someone’s faith?
Sincerity is a nice sounding word, however it is merely an adjective
describing the state of one’s heart, not the truthfulness of what they believe.
One can be sincerely right or sincerely wrong. Sincerity can mean passionate or
earnest, but someone can be passionately wrong or earnestly wrong. Terrorists
can be sincere. So can cult leaders. A child molester can say they sincerely
love children.
Sincerity can occur because of ignorance. Once they are enlightened to the truth, they
can still be sincere, only this time they are sincerely right.
The emphasis should not be on sincerity, but discernment, wisdom
and humility. It’s about the truthfulness of what they follow not why they
follow it or how they follow it. Once someone finds the real truth, he must
then follow it with all sincerity. Sincerity is not the guiding principle, but
a by-product of discovering the sincere heart of Jesus Christ.
People are not sent to hell for being sincere or insincere. They
are sent because they chose to reject the truth, whether they did it sincerely
or insincerely.