One is motivated by love, and the other is motivated by selfish ambition. Paul is looking at the heart of people here and telling you what is there.
A table is in order.
Jesus made a strong impression when He called out the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites.
Matthew 23:27-28: “Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
There was something in their hearts that was different from what they were presenting.
In short, there is a lack of sincerity; it was a pretense party that Jesus was drawing our attention to.
Some have mastered the art of saying something with their mouth and something else in their heart. This does not please God, the one who knows what is inside the heart.
The people in the focus verse pursue their own agenda, they scheme, and Paul said they want to cause him trouble.
The bible mentions false brethren, people who are spies among Christians so that they can more perfectly mimic the language, to use what they learn as a weapon.
Jude 1:4: For certain men have secretly slipped in among you – men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe – ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Galatians 2:4: Now this matter arose because of the false brothers with false pretenses who slipped in unnoticed to spy on our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves.
2 Corinthians 11:26: I have been on journeys many times, in dangers from rivers, in dangers from robbers, in dangers from my own countrymen, in dangers from Gentiles, in dangers in the city, in dangers in the wilderness, in dangers at sea, in dangers from false brothers,
They are not with us because they love God and want to do his will.
It is a sad situation when, rather than push in the direction of the kingdom of God, some people are with you physically, but they are not with you inwardly. You add them as team, but they work to break everything down from within for their own selfish end.
The book of Proverbs says something about those who say nice things, but their heart is not with you.
Proverbs 26:24-26
The one who hates others disguises it with his lips,
but he stores up deceit within him.
When he speaks graciously, do not believe him,
for there are seven abominations within him.
Though his hatred may be concealed by deceit,
his evil will be uncovered in the assembly.
That is why Christianity is a thing of the heart. God had promised that He would remove the heart of stone and replace it with the heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
God was going to put His spirit in us so that we would move by what moves God, be driven by the love of God.
The bible says that the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5:5). The salvation that does not lead to the change of heart is not salvation.
But these people are proclaiming Christ, you may say.
Is it not enough to proclaim Christ? Not necessarily. We need to ask, what are we proclaiming about Christ, or what Christ are we proclaiming?
Some proclaim Him, though Paul says their god is their belly and they mind earthly things (Philippians 3:17-21). They go about fanning the love of the world in the people, rather than the love of God.
The people coming out of darkness when they get into those camps are not led on the path of righteousness, but the path of patterning themselves, their reasoning after the things of this world.
So they mark time for years, rather than growing into Christ. Truth is not being proclaimed, the pure, spiritual milk of the word of not present, so they are not growing (1 Peter 2:2).
By the time you spend ten years in those places, you come out worse off. You have grown in years, but you are not just spiritually stagnant; you are diminished, your soul is patched.
God spoke against the shepherds who feed themselves and do not feed the flock (Ezekiel 34:2-3).
These are the people who do not share the heart of Christ, the true shepherd. However, God is not going to leave this state of affairs unchanged forever. He is going to make His displeasure known.
Paul told Christian leaders in Ephesus that after he is gone (he was speaking by revelation), grievous wolves would emerge from among them, and the sheep would suffer because of them (Acts 20:29-30).
He said they would want to draw disciples after themselves, and the way you do that is to present a Jesus who is different from the true one to the people.
Or maybe they promise people, like the devil (Luke 4:5-7), the kingdom of this world, money, and prestige.
Paul also said that these people would preach perverse things (Acts 20:30). In another place, he mentioned doctrines of demons (1 Timothy 4:1). These are not small matters to be brushed aside. This should give you pause and concern.
