Author: Charlie Garrett

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.

Friday, 4 December 2015

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 2 Corinthians 11:14

In the previous verse, Paul spoke of the “false apostles” as those who would transform themselves into apostles of Christ. Now he says, “And no wonder!” This then shows why they do this. It is because they are just like their leader, Satan, who “transforms himself into an angel of light.” The verb is in the present tense and so this is not speaking of any specific incident found in Scripture. Rather, it is speaking of his customary way of working at all times.

He is an enemy of all that is good, and the titles used to describe him in the New Testament show that his very nature is evil. And yet, he presents himself as a shining example of what is proper and correct. The term “angel of light” indicates purity and holiness. However, if he supposedly “transforms himself” into this, then it is a false representation of who he is. It is not his true nature, but a cunning disguise which is intended to lure the unsuspecting away from the truth.

This then is the explanation of the false apostles’ conduct of the preceding verse. They follow in form and style with their leader, Satan. This transformation is found in the message that is presented, in the twisting of the truth, in the perversion of Scripture, in attributing the works of wickedness to that which is of God, etc.

It is incumbent on all people to study the word in order to show themselves approved when a false teacher, or even the devil himself, comes with a false message. But how impossible that is without knowing the word! And so the world is filled with cults, heresies, and those who follow after anyone with a crazy vision or a supposed “word from the Lord” which is no word at all. Satan uses all of these avenues, and ten thousand more, to lure away precious souls from the grace of Christ the Lord to another gospel, which is no gospel at all.

Paul carefully warns us of such deception in Galatians 1 –

“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, ⁷ which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Galatians 1:6-9

Life application: To avoid being deceived by the devil, know your Bible.

Lord God, Your word tells us that Satan is real and that he transforms himself into an angel of light to deceive us from the truth. And so how can we know if we are being duped by this bad dude? We have to know Your word! If this is a battle between good and evil and Your word gives us the framework for the conflict, then we would be as dull as ditchwater to not want to know and apply Your word to our lives. Help us to not be as dull as ditchwater. Amen.

Thursday, 3 December 2015

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:13

Paul enters into one of his most direct statements concerning the nature of those who would stealthily enter in and introduce a false gospel. He holds nothing back as he first calls them “false apostles.” They had no commission from Jesus; they had no power of the Spirit granted to them; and their words did not confirm either previously given Scripture, nor did they conform to the gospel of Christ which had come. Instead of the all-sufficiency of Christ, they certainly claimed more was necessary to be saved.

He also called them “deceitful workers.” A worker receives wages for his work. If he is honest, then the wages he receives will be commensurate with his output. However, these people cheated in their works. Rather than striving for Christ, they made stuff up out of their own heads. Rather than laboring in the gospel, they labored in the devil’s work. And instead of promoting Christ, they promoted self while claiming they were promoting Christ.

They changed their outward appearance by “transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.” Their inward selves remained however, and nothing of Christ indwelt them. Paul’s strong language here is comparable to that of 1 Thessalonians 2:14-16 –

“For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, ¹⁵ who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have persecuted us; and they do not please God and are contrary to all men, ¹⁶ forbidding us to speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to fill up the measure of their sins; but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost.”

He also had similar strong words for such people when writing to those in Philippi –

“Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! ³ For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh…” Philippians 3:2

Jesus also speaks of such false apostles –

“I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars…” Revelation 2:2

From Paul’s words later in verse 22, we can discern that these false apostles at Corinth were Jews. There he asks, “…are they Hebrews?” when comparing himself to them. It is apparent from these references that these people are the “most eminent apostles” he spoke of in verse 5, and that they were a cunningly devised, but false, representation of true workers for the Lord.

Life application: The truth is that these types of false workers haven’t gone away. The world is filled with those who are false and whose message is tainted with deceit. But it takes knowledge of Scripture to be able to identify and then refute them. Unfortunately, most people don’t want to spend the effort to get to know their Bible. It is so much easier to blindly trust a smooth sounding orator and be lulled into misdirection. Paul warns against this and we should pay heed to his words!

Lord God, the apostles of Christ, and even Christ Himself, identify false apostles and teachers who secretly creep in and introduce their counterfeit teachings and heretical doctrines. But how can we know who they are unless we know Your word? There are so many fine sounding preachers and teachers who introduce a little yeast into the bread of our doctrine and pull us away from the truth. Help us Lord to hold Your word in high esteem and be willing to search it out for the truth it contains. Keep us from false teachers and false doctrines. Amen.

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 2 Corinthians 11:12

“But what I do” refers to Paul’s conduct towards the Corinthians thus far. He has been preaching and teaching them for free and he has laid no burden on them of any sort. In this conduct, he says that “I will also continue to do.” He would remain steadfast in his determination that he would preach and teach those in Corinth without receiving any remuneration at all.

To him, this was a most important aspect of his ministry to them because he desired to “cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.” It is a lot of words to convey his thoughts, but they are selected in order to be precise.

What is obvious is that these false apostles were coming to Corinth under the guise of preaching without receiving any payment in order to lull the Corinthians away from Paul and from the truth of the gospel. However, their guise was not sincere. They were actually interested in compensation even though they claimed they were not. Paul shows that their attitude was exactly the opposite of the truth of the matter. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 9:12, it is implied that others had been paid by the Corinthians for their ministry.

One can almost see the hypocritical way the came to preach. They would arrive and say that they were there to serve the church. Quickly, but subtly, they would introduce a little yeast to misdirect the faith that they had received through Paul. When offered money for their “enlightened” teaching, they would refuse it while saying that they were only there to help. However, when offered a second time, they would say, “Well, if you insist…”

In the end, they could claim that they came freely teaching the gospel, but at the same time, they could continue to receive pay because of their initial refusal. Paul on the other hand determined that he would continue to not receive anything from the Corinthians to prove that his intentions were pure and undefiled.

Life application: Smooth operators abound in Christian circles. Be wary of those who would put forward a foot of piety, but who are actually stepping forward to rob the unsuspecting.

Glorious God, help my heart to be pure and undefiled as I come to Your word. Don’t let me get caught up in a case of picking and choosing what verses I will accept or reject. And Lord, keep me from unsound teachers who are bent on twisting Your word to fit this world instead of showing that our world needs to comply with Your word. Grant me the wisdom to understand when I am being led down an unsound path by those who have a twisted agenda. Keep me on the straight and narrow path to Jesus! Amen.

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Why? Because I do not love you? God knows! 2 Corinthians 11:11

His last statement said, “As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.” In response to this, he asks the question, “Why?” He then rhetorically questions, “Because I do not love you?”

The exchange is given because those in Corinth may have felt this way. By rejecting any favors from them, at least a portion of them may have felt snubbed. But it is not necessarily true that turning down help or aid means that someone doesn’t care about the giver. They had read into his heart a condition which did not exist.

Paul had evaluated the congregations in Achaia and had seen that the best interaction concerning receiving gifts from them was to restrain from doing so. They were spiritually weak and they were doctrinally confused. They also allowed outsiders who had ill intent for them to sway them away from the truth in Christ. Paul knew that if he were to receive assistance from them, even this would have turned into an unhappy issue at some point.

He doesn’t say any of this to them, but it is evident from the content of both epistles to them. But does this mean that he didn’t love them? In response to such a question, he says, “God knows!” They may not have been able to tell, but God could. Paul had a deep passion for the churches in Achaia and he struggled to bring them to maturity in their faith. It was a sure evidence of his great love for them.

Life application: We can learn from Paul’s care of those in Corinth that it is acceptable to treat different individuals and different congregations differently. We need to evaluate the best approach to dealing with others in order to cause the least amount of conflict later down the line. However, even our best intents can be misunderstood and lead to conflicts and confusions. Life is messy; let us do our best to work through it by relying on the most excellent guidelines available. Let us know and apply the precepts in the Bible to our daily interactions with others.

Heavenly Father, at times it sure is difficult to know what the best avenue to take is. It seems that no matter what choice we make, someone is there to question our sincerity, our integrity, or our love towards those who are affected by what we decide to do. Help us to remember to daily seek Your wisdom first, through Bible study and through prayer. In so doing, Your guidance will certainly be with us as we interact with the world around us. Help us in this and be with us always. Thank You, O God. Amen.