God Is Not Mocked

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” (Galatians 6:7–8, ESV)

A missionary from Indonesia once came to our church to give a report on missions work in that country. In his message, he recounted several events that occurred in his ministry there. One was of a young man who was attending one of the schools in the country. Apparently one evening he sat out in the courtyard of the school with a Bible. He would open the Bible, tear out a page, throw it away, and laughed hysterically towards heaven, mocking God and His word. This went on for hours until the ruckus stopped. The next morning the students went out into the courtyard and found the man lying there dead among the torn-out pages. The missionary commented that we should not be deceived, for God will not be mocked.

Before getting into the issue of sowing and reaping, let us consider the severity of mocking God. The verb translated as “deceived,” planao, refers to being led astray or wandering (Strong G4107). The Galatians were being deceived and led astray by the false teachers. Moreover, by heeding to their heresy, they were participants in this deception. Paul’s warning to them was in the form of a command “Do not be deceived.” They had been led astray and now Paul commanded that they reverse course and disassociate from the false teachers and their heresy, and turn to the truth of God’s word, the true gospel.

By participating in the deception of the false teachers, they were committing a most serious sin. The false teachers and those who followed their deception were in a position of mocking God. The verb “mocked,” mukterizo, refers to contracting the nose in contempt and derision, to toss up the nose, to mock or deride (Thayer p.121). This is a strong condemnation of those who would reject the truth of God’s word and follow the deceivers who exchange the truth of God for a lie.

One might presume that this type of problem is not evident in today’s church. However, they would be wrong. A plethora of false teachings are prevalent today among those who profess to be Christians and churches that profess to be messengers of the truth. There are errors of both legalism and liberalism prevalent today. Both heresies turn the nose up, snorting so to speak, at the truths that have flowed forth from the Almighty and are recorded in the Scriptures.

In the churches of Galatia, there was a problem of legalism. The Judaizers taught that legalistic obedience to the law would gain one God’s approval. They taught that one must add works to faith in order to be justified before God. This denied that salvation was by grace through faith in the finished work of Christ alone. This teaching that diminished grace was to mock God. It is something that can happen subtly in well meaning churches today where the purity of grace is compromised by works.

However, perhaps the greatest threat of our day is the infusion of liberalism into the church. Paul warned Timothy of such a problem.

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” (2 Timothy 4:3–4, ESV)

Today many churches have denied the full truth and authority of God’s word. They have denied the truth to satisfy the changing attitudes of a post Christian culture, accepting and normalizing behaviors that are forbidden in the Scripture. They have forsaken the truth and accepted the lie. Thus, they have created a god in their own perverted image who is prone to change along with the cultural views of people. In this way, they have turned the nose up at God who gave us His infallible and authoritative word. They mock the creator and this to their own corruption.