“Judas then, having received the Roman cohort and officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, came there with lanterns and torches and weapons. So Jesus, knowing all the things that were coming upon Him, went forth and said to them, ‘Whom do you seek?’ They answered Him, ‘Jesus the Nazarene.’ He said to them, ‘I am He.’ And Judas also, who was betraying Him, was standing with them.” (John 18:3-5 NASB1995)
I am not intending today, in this writing, to go into the full story of Judas’ betrayal of Jesus, and of Jesus’ false arrest, his mock trial, his beatings, and his ultimate death on a cross to take away our sins and to give us the hope of eternal life with God. You can read all the details of that in the gospels, if you would like. For what I believe the Lord is leading me to do today is to look at the subject of betrayal in our world and in the church today, at the hands of those who are deliberately betraying both Christ and his followers.
So, I Googled a definition of what it means to betray someone, and I believe this covers the subject well. This is what Google’s AI rendered:
“To betray someone means to break their trust or loyalty through disloyal, harmful, or deceitful actions, such as revealing secrets, infidelity, or failing to offer support, which violates a presumed agreement or bond and causes emotional pain. It's essentially being treacherous to someone who relies on you, whether by actively harming them or by failing to uphold your promises and expectations.”
So, who are some of those who betray Jesus Christ and those of us who are followers of Christ today? Some (or many) of them are pastors of churches (or what are falsely called “churches”), while some (or many) others are politicians and government heads. Others are those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, who claim to know him as their Savior and Lord, but who betray both Christ and the body of Christ through lies, deceptions, disloyalty, infidelity, and false claims of living righteous and holy lives, pleasing to God.
When they want to make a good impression on someone of faith, they might put on a performance of godliness and holiness, as though they are living the life that God has designed for them to live, but while, in truth, they are living the opposite of that, in practice. They are like the Pharisees who put on a good show outwardly but while inwardly they are full of all kinds of evil and wicked deeds. For they want to be thought well of by those who don’t know the difference. But their performance does not match their actions.
But there is another way in which this betrayal is taking place in the world and in the church today, and it is deadly. And it is through people taking Scriptures out of context, and twisting them to say what they do not say if taught in the correct biblical context, and by them teaching a twisted and altered “gospel” message which makes no requirements of sinners to repent of (turn from) their sins to now follow Jesus in surrender to his will in walks of obedience to his commands, but while promising them life in heaven.
They are not only lying to the people, but they are betraying their trust by teaching them lies and while (willfully and deliberately, in many cases) they ignore the truth in the Scriptures which teach what they do not want to hear, and what they will not accept. Thus, many people are professing faith in Jesus Christ, believing that their sins are forgiven and heaven is their eternal destiny, but who never deny self, die to sin, or follow Jesus Christ in walks of obedience to his commands, living to please God with their lives.
And 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, we need to be discerning people who are not gullible and easily persuaded by others who call themselves “Christians” or “Pastors.” For not everyone is who they say they are, doing what they say they are doing, or not doing. Liars, and those who willfully deceive others, abound. And we should be students of the Scriptures who study them for ourselves, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, who do not rely on others to tell us the truth. For many teach lies, and many betray, and not all can be trusted.
[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; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 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 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
Recording Via Gerry Peters, music producer and arranger
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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Those Who Betray
An Original Work / December 11, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
