2 Corinthians

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.

Monday, 30 November 2015

As the truth of Christ is in me, no one shall stop me from this boasting in the regions of Achaia.
2 Corinthians 11:10

Paul invokes the name of Christ in the adamancy of his words. “As the truth of Christ is in me…” He uses the same general formula in Romans 9:1 as well –

“I tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit…”

The thought he is presenting is that because he must answer to Christ alone, his words are to be taken as truthful. “I could no more change my mind about this matter than tell a lie to Christ.” And the thought which he is adamant about is that “no one shall stop me from this boasting.”

The “boasting” is what he has been referring to in the previous verses. It is that he has preached the message of Christ without charge to the Corinthians or otherwise been burdensome to them in any way. He would continue to conduct himself in this manner towards them. The word for “shall stop” means properly “to fence in” or “enclose.” In turn, it then conveys the idea of “to stop, blocking something off so that it cannot spread or get out of hand.”

Paul had determined that nothing would fence in his desire to work without any type of compensation for his labors from those in Corinth. However, instead of singling them out, he says, “in the regions of Achaia.” Here he uses the word klima, which is a word uniquely used by him in the New Testament. It began as a scientific term which eventually became a colloquialism. It is where we get our word “climate” from. In this case, it identifies a larger area than just Corinth, meaning Achaia, probably because he was including the church in Cenchrea and any other churches connected to those at Corinth.

Life application: In Paul’s words, he is not making an oath concerning his intent. Rather, he is saying that as he is a follower of Christ, and as Christ cannot be lied to, then his words should obviously remain truthful, lest he be perceived as even attempting to lie to Him. We can see that there is nothing wrong with such a statement. However, if we make one similar to it, we had better be telling the truth. If we are not, then we have disgraced the name of Christ to others and we have proven that the name of the very Lord who we have called on doesn’t have any true value to us.

Heavenly Father, help us to be people of integrity that others will see and say, “I know that person can be trusted.” As we bear the name of Your Son, what kind of followers of Him would we be if we were known to willfully cheat, steal, or lie? What value would Your name really be if others knew that we were willing to sacrifice it for falsehood? Be with us and guide us, always remembering our position as followers of Christ. Amen.