Saturday, 5 December 2015
Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works. 2 Corinthians 11:15
The train of thought thus far is that the false apostles Paul has been speaking of are actually deceitful workers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. And this is actually unsurprising because Satan himself has to transform himself into an angel of light to hide his true nature. Because their father, the devil, does this “it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness.”
In other words, just as Satan’s true nature is hidden behind a false show of light, so it is with these false apostles in that their true nature is hidden behind a false display of righteousness. In fact, they certainly claim a greater righteousness than Christ because they insert works of the law and other external displays of righteousness to their theology. In doing this, they say that what Christ did, and the righteousness He imputes to His followers, is insufficient for their salvation.
It is a subtle but direct attack against the work of Christ. The gospel says that the Lord is our righteousness. We are saved by faith in His work. In turn for having our sin nailed to the cross, He bestows upon us His righteousness. Therefore, anyone who says that we must add to salvation by grace through faith alone is claiming a greater righteousness than that of Christ. As this is impossible, it is a self-condemning act. For this, their “end will be according to their works.”
What this means is that because their works are false, because their works pervert the gospel, and because their works are what they stand on, then they will be judged by their works and not by the imputed righteousness of Christ.
Imagine the horror they will feel when they see how filthy their supposed righteousness truly is when they stand before pure and undefiled righteousness!
Life application: In what do you trust for your salvation? If you say anything other than, “The shed blood of Christ” you have missed the mark. Nothing can wash away the defilement of man except His cross. And nothing can grant us the righteousness we need to stand before God except His work, imputed to us.
Lord God, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no man may come to You apart from Him. It then says that we are saved by grace through faith and not works of any kind. And so, if someone tells us that we need to do something more than simply believe and receive, they are saying that they have a greater righteousness than Christ. I think not. Instead, I will stand on the merits of Christ my Lord. No Plan-B here. Hallelujah for Jesus! Amen and amen.