— by Michael A. Graham
I. Starting Point: Jeremiah 3:10 and the Presumptive Position
This essay began while reading Jeremiah 3. One line stood out: “Yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart, but in pretense, declares the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:10).
The word “pretense” caught my attention. It brought to my mind the deeply convicting story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, and it seemed related to earlier reflections in my essay on “The Presumptive Position”—that sinful posture of assuming we already understand, already know what God requires, and therefore act without truly returning to Him in faith.
The idea of pretense seemed adjacent, but not identical. So this essay is my way of thinking through what pretense means, especially considering biblical language, and how it connects to half-heartedness and false witness.
This passage convicted me personally bringing to my mind many thoughts and questions. This essay is my attempt to stop and prayerfully consider what pretense means and how it applies to me. Writing this is a way to help me slow down, think more clearly, and to aid me in repenting of my own half-heartedness.
I hope my personal engagement with Jeremiah 3:10 will be an honest sharing of my own repentance and may encourage others who may share this same half-hearted condition.
Throughout this essay, I use the language of both pretense and half-heartedness. While they are not identical in every context, in Jeremiah 3:10 they describe the same spiritual condition.
The word translated “pretense” in Hebrew (sheqer) refers to falsehood or deception—something presented as true but not real.
In this passage, God says Judah did not return to Him with her whole heart, but in sheqer—a partial return that appeared faithful but was in fact false.
In that sense, half-heartedness becomes a form of pretense: it preserves the form of devotion while denying its fullness and whole-heartedness God rightly requires.
Whether consciously or through self-deception, half-hearted devotion still gives a false witness before God. For this reason, I use the terms pretense and half-heartedness together to describe the inner and outer dynamics of this spiritual untruth that violates God’s command against bearing false witness.
II. The Word “Pretense” in Hebrew and Greek
In Jeremiah 3:10, the word translated as “pretense” is sheqer (שֶׁקֶר). It means lie, falsehood, or deception, and it comes from the Hebrew root sh-q-r, meaning to deal falsely or mislead. It is used throughout the Old Testament to describe false prophets, dishonest worship, empty words, and self-deception.
The Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures, translates sheqer with the word pseudos (ψεῦδος). This is the same word used in the New Testament to describe false teaching, lying spirits, and hypocritical religion. It is also a word still in use today.
Many English words keep its Greek root: pseudonym (false name), pseudoscience (a false form of science), and pseudo-intellectual (a false display of intelligence). These words are recognizable, but they also expose how pretense can look impressive or convincing while hiding a deeper falsity.
This sheds further light on what sheqer (falsehood) and pseudos (deception) mean at a deeper level. Pretense is a form of fantasy speech. It adopts the shape of truth while being disconnected from sincerity. It uses the language of repentance or devotion while withholding trust and surrender.
Words can remain theologically sound but relationally hollow—spoken more from habit or expectation than from communion with God. Jack Miller, drawing from Geerhardus Vos in his lecture “Faith vs. Magic in the Modern World,” describes magic as self-assertion disguised as religion.
In Vos’s words: “Magic is a paganistic reversal of the process of religion in which man, instead of letting himself be used by God for the divine purpose, drags down his god to the level of a tool which he uses for his own selfish purpose” (quoted in Jack Miller, Faith vs. Magic in the Modern World, p. 5).
Magic seeks spiritual influence while staying in control. Similarly, when religious words are spoken to maintain safety, reputation, or a sense of religious identity—rather than as expressions of trust—they subtly reflect the same reversal. The pseudo form of faith is present, but the movement of the heart toward God is restrained or fragmented. Language becomes a tool of self-management rather than a response of surrender.
Covenantal speech flows from a heart that entrusts itself to God. This kind of language expresses faith because it arises from faith. It rests in God’s promises, responds in repentance, and reflects a heart that desires to walk with the Lord. Jesus welcomes this kind of speech when He says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8). Paul affirms the same reality when he writes, “I believed, and so I spoke” (2 Corinthians 4:13).
Words shaped by trust carry the beauty of integrity. They enter fellowship with God rather than trying to preserve control. This is the speech God desires: speech that comes from hearts returning to Him.
III. Pretense as False Witness Before God
The ninth commandment says, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” But Scripture doesn’t limit false witness to legal testimony. It broadens the idea to include false prophecy, false worship, and false repentance.
In this sense, sheqer is not merely a lie to others—it is a lie told to God and to ourselves. Returning to God “in pretense” is bearing false witness with our lives. It is a way of acting religious while actively resisting God. It is open rebellion to God, though hidden in plain sight beneath layers of ritual and self-deception.
IV. Pretense Throughout Scripture
The theme of pretense is not limited to Jeremiah 3 or Acts 5. It runs throughout Scripture:
- Isaiah 29:13 “This people draws near with their mouth and honors me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me.”
- Ezekiel 33:31 “They come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it.”
- Amos 5:21-23 “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.”
- Matthew 15:7-8 Jesus repeats Isaiah: “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
- Matthew 23 Jesus denounces the Pharisees for cleaning the outside of the cup while the inside is full of greed and self-indulgence.
- Revelation 3:15-16 The church in Laodicea is rebuked for lukewarmness, a kind of pretense that neither denies nor lives into the truth.
In all these cases, people appear externally aligned with God while remaining internally distant or resistant. That is pretense. And God sees through all of it.
V. The Pretentious Example of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5)
The story of Ananias and Sapphira is a vivid New Testament picture of pretense. They sold property and gave a part of the proceeds to the church while claiming to give the full amount. The issue was not the amount they gave but the false appearance they maintained—the appearance of full devotion when in reality they had held back. Peter said, “You have not lied to man but to God.”
Their story echoes Jeremiah 3:10. They returned in pretense. They brought an offering that looked like total commitment but wasn’t. This was not a small misstep. It was open rebellion cloaked in religious devotion—a falsehood God immediately exposed.
VI. Whole-Heartedness vs. Half-Heartedness
Jeremiah contrasts returning with “your whole heart” with returning “in pretense.” The problem is not with people turning slowly or imperfectly—it is with the dishonesty of a partial return presented as total surrender.
Whole-heartedness in Scripture describes honesty, integrity, and surrender. It means coming before God without hiding or withholding. The Shema in Deuteronomy 6 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” Jesus repeats this as the greatest commandment. This is a call to honesty before the God who knows all things.
Half-heartedness expresses itself in concealed resistance. It may look faithful on the outside, but it resists God internally. That is why it is considered falsehood—sheqer. It brings with it intentional misrepresentation.
VII. Examples of Half-Heartedness Today
Half-heartedness is everywhere. These examples illustrate the presence of pretense in everyday life:
- In marriage, showing up physically while withholding emotional connection
- In parenting, giving rules without relationship
- In ministry, preaching while hiding personal sin or disinterest in prayer
- In prayer, speaking words without engagement or trust
- In repentance, changing external behavior while still justifying ourselves
- In generosity, giving money to avoid giving time or love
- In apologies, saying “I’m sorry” to avoid conflict resolution
- In church attendance, being present while disengaged
- In leadership, appearing humble while quietly craving recognition
- In community, staying involved only to manage our reputation
- In justice efforts, advocating for change without surrendering personal comfort
- In academic work, pursuing truth only for recognition or control
- In online discourse, virtue signaling while avoiding costly involvement
These may look like faithfulness. But if they are not aligned with the heart of God for honesty and truth, they are deception. They are false witness in practice.
VIII. The Gospel Response: Truth in the Inward Being
Psalm 51 says, “Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being.” This is what God seeks: integrity, sincerity, and transparency before Him.
Jack Miller said, “Honesty is the first step to revival.” In his sermon Repentance that Leads to Life, he wrote:
“Real repentance begins when you stop blaming others, stop excusing yourself, and start speaking the truth about your heart to God.”
He also said:
“A leader is first of all a repenter-in-chief. If I am not honest before God and others, I cannot lead anyone anywhere worth going.”
(Repentance that Leads to Life, Jack Miller; see also Outgrowing the Ingrown Church, p. 63)
Jack’s language pushes this further. We do not confess pretense by admitting we are partially dishonest. We confess it by naming what is false. The gospel calls us as pastors and shepherds to lead others by going first in repentance.
In Scripture, pretense is not merely spiritual weakness—it is falsehood. When we outwardly return to God while inwardly withholding trust or surrender, we are bearing false witness. This is why half-heartedness, when hidden behind the appearance of faithfulness, breaks the ninth commandment. It presents something as true that is not true.
This is a call to honesty before God. True repentance begins with naming what is false and trusting the mercy Christ extends to those who come in truth.
For those who recognize the pretense or half-heartedness in their own walk, the call of God is to return to Him in truth—to say, “Lord, I have presented to you a part, while claiming it was the whole. I have hidden my fear or self-protection or control under the language of obedience. Forgive me for false witness. Cleanse me with truth in the inward being.”
Before further exploring the gospel’s implications for our pretense and half-heartedness, it helps to stop and say clearly what the gospel is. In the A New Life booklet, Jack Miller summarized the gospel through four central realities that shape both personal renewal and public witness:
- The gospel is a message of facts—Jesus Christ died for our sins and rose again, once for all, in history.
- It is a promise of God’s love—God offers undeserved love and full pardon to all who believe.
- It is a message of power—the gospel not only changes our status before God but also transforms our inward life.
- And it is a message that must be preached to one another as Christian and to others— “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
Jack understood this gospel as both a call to the lost and a lifeline for believers—a truth we never outgrow. The A New Life booklet was designed to reflect this twofold purpose. It serves as both a witnessing tool for evangelism and a revival tool for believers longing to experience more of the assurance, joy, and freedom that the Spirit gives as He brings home to their hearts the fullness of Christ.
The booklet outlines five key gospel facts, each rooted in Scripture:
1. God sent His Son Jesus into the world to bring us a new and abundant life.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
2. People are self-centered, not God-centered—spiritually dead and deceived.
“You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked…” (Ephesians 2:1)
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)
3. Sin separates us from God by three barriers: a bad record, a bad heart, and a bad master.
“From within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts…” (Mark 7:21)
“Whoever commits sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34)
“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23)
4. God’s solution removes every barrier through Christ, giving us a perfect record, a new heart, and a good master.
“Christ… is made our righteousness.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.” (Ezekiel 36:26)
“Take my yoke upon you… for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)
5. We receive this new life through repentance and faith—turning from sin and trusting in Christ alone.
“Let the wicked forsake his way… and let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion… for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
(This summary of A New Life is used with permission from Paul Miller, who holds the rights to the original booklet written by Jack Miller.)
This gospel is not a vague idea or abstract theology. It is God’s concrete intervention into the lives of real sinners. It is the foundation of justification by faith alone, the fuel for daily repentance, and the only power strong enough to replace our pretense with truth and our half-heartedness with wholehearted trust.
IX. Confessional Clarity on Honesty, Repentance, and Hypocrisy
The Reformed confessions and catechisms repeatedly emphasize the importance of inward truth, sincerity of heart, and the rejection of hypocrisy in our repentance and faith.
Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 91 – On Good Works
Q: What are good works?
A: Good works are only those which proceed from true faith, are done according to the law of God, and are done for His glory; and not such as rest on our own opinion or the commandments of men.
This aligns with Jeremiah’s charge: the people returned with forms and traditions, but not with true faith. Good works without true faith—even if externally correct—are pretentious, and not what God desires.
Westminster Larger Catechism Q&A 76 – On Repentance Unto Life
Q: What is repentance unto life?
A: Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and word of God, whereby, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience.
This answer captures the wholeheartedness of true repentance. It is not pretense expressed as half-heartedness. It is a Spirit-wrought turning of the whole person toward God—with honesty, grief, and purpose.
Westminster Confession of Faith, 15.3 – On True and False Repentance
The Westminster Confession makes a crucial distinction: repentance is not the cause of forgiveness, but it is necessary for anyone who seeks it. As WCF 15.3 puts it:
“Although repentance be not to be rested in, as any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God’s free grace in Christ; yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it.”
True repentance is not bargaining, ceremony, or self-cleansing. It is the honest response to grace, inseparable from faith, and essential to communion with God.
X. How Christ Fulfills All Righteousness for Us
The Gospel declares that everything God demands, He has provided in and through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Christ takes our place—not only to remove the guilt of our sin, but to fulfill every command of God’s law on our behalf. He bears our pretense, shoulders our half-heartedness, and carries our false witness to the cross. There He has offered Himself once-and-for-all-time as the perfect substitute, and through His death and resurrection, He secures our full redemption.
This Gospel does not stop at the cross. It continues through the sending of the Holy Spirit. As Paul writes in Galatians 4:4–7:
“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
This is the double sending of the Gospel: The Father sends the Son to redeem us, and the Father and the Son sends the Spirit to dwell within us, awakening us to God’s covenantal love and drawing us into the fullness of His life.
If we emphasize only the finished work of Christ for us (i.e., the gospel’s power to change our standing before God), but not the present work of the Spirit in us (i.e., the gospel’s power to revive and renew of our inward being), we are left justified on paper but unsure how to actually walk by faith in step with the gospel and in line with the Spirit. And if we do not explicitly ground repentance in this Spirit-given union with Christ, we risk making repentance seem more like a personal work, rather than the fruit of God’s own presence.
By the Spirit, we are made alive to God. He reveals the beauty and fullness of Christ. He opens our hearts to believe. He grants repentance and leads us into the light. He assures us of our adoption and teaches us to walk in fellowship with the Triune God.
Jesus has fulfilled every requirement of God’s law:
- He loves the Father with His whole heart.
- He walks in perfect integrity and unwavering obedience.
- He entrusts Himself fully to the Father’s will, even to the point of death.
He offers to the Father everything we have failed to give—and then gives that gift to us. Through our faith-union with Christ to whom we now belong: His righteousness becomes our covering. His obedience becomes our record. His Spirit becomes our strength and assurance.
In Christ, we receive into our hearts the full verdict of justification and the ongoing power to walk in repentance and newness of life. His truth heals our pretense. His fullness repairs both our half-heartedness and the hard-heartedness that grows when pretense continues unconfessed.
The grace that forgives is the same grace that strengthens us to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Christ in Spirit-empowered obedience. This is the ground for a lifestyle of repentance. The Father welcomes His children. The Son secures our place through His perfect obedience. The Spirit draws us into communion and keeps us there with sustaining grace.
Repentance grows in this soil—rooted in love, nurtured by assurance, and nourished by the presence of God. We walk in true repentance as sons and daughters, as those who trust our Heavenly Father’s whole-hearted love for us. We live in union with Christ, sharing His life and receiving His power to turn, return, and keep returning in repentance unto life with all joy and peace in the believing (Romans 10:13).
XI. Returning Again—With the Whole Heart
This reflection has been to help me think through the meaning of pretense and half-heartedness to support in me a Biblical return whole-heartedly to God in the honesty of true faith and repentance.
Wherever pretense has taken root, the Gospel calls for confession. Wherever half-heartedness has settled in, the Spirit calls for surrender.
God already sees the ways we divide our hearts. He already knows the parts we have kept back. Still, He calls us to Himself. In Christ, we can return—openly, freely, and with confidence.
This is not the end of a reflection. It is a call into communion with the Living God. Christ has already given Himself wholly to us. Now we return wholly to Him—again and again. We do so with confidence, not in ourselves, but in the gospel-confidence that declares us righteous, draws us into the Father’s embrace, and fills us with the Spirit who seals our hearts and assures us of sonship. This is the truth that makes us whole and keeps us whole in Christ.
🙏
