Receiving the Truth & Rejecting the Lie

2 Corinthians 11 1-4

v.1 Paul wants the Corinthians to bear with him for a short time in his folly. Paul did not enjoy talking about himself. Fools commend themselves. Yet Paul would have to speak up for himself in order to put to silence his critics. Paul seems to be apologizing for defending himself. He does not want to be confused with the false teachers. Proverbs 26:4-5 help explain Paul’s dilemma. In these verses we see that there are times when we shouldn’t engage a fool and there are other times we have to play his game in order to keep our integrity. Discernment is essential in such cases.

v.2 Paul’s motive for defending himself was his love for the Corinthians. He was jealous over them with a godly jealousy. God is jealous (Exodus 20:5). God’s jealousy demands that He be first in our life. That jealousy is also a concern for us. God wants us to be holy.

Paul says that he bethrothed the Corinthians to one husband. Betrothal was a practice used by the Jews. It was a period of time in which two people were engaged to be married. Sometimes it began when two people were only children. The betrothal was legally binding. The only way to get out of it was through death or divorce. It was the responsibility of the father to make sure the betrothed bride remained pure for her husband.

Paul saw himself as the spiritual father of the Corinthians (1 Cor.4:15). The Corinthians were the Bride of Christ. He felt it was his responsibility to help them remain pure until the day they met the Lord. That is why he had a godly jealousy over them. He did not want their affection on anyone other than the person of Christ.

v.3 Paul had some serious concerns about the Corinthians. In fact, they had caused him to be afraid. His fear was that the Corinthians would be deceived. Satan deceived Eve. He convinced her that God had placed restrictions in her life because He did not want her to be like Himself (Gen. 3:1-7). Her deception resulted in sin. Satan deceived Eve through his subtlety. To be subtle means to be crafty. It speaks of a person who is skilled in deceptiveness. Satan is such a being.

Notice that Satan’s deception is aimed toward the mind (see 10:3-5). Satan wants to corrupt our minds so we will not believe the truth. That is what he did to Eve. That is what he was attempting to do through the false teachers in the Corinthian church. Their doctrines were aimed toward the minds of the Corinthians.

Believers are to have a sincere devotion to Christ. Any teaching that takes away from our sincere devotion to Christ alone is a false teaching. Satan wants attention off of Jesus. False doctrines place too much of an emphasis on man, works, special days, etc. these doctrines take glory away from Christ.

v.4 Paul is about to give three counterfeits that the false teachers were attempting to bring into the church. These are new doctrines that were not present when the church was first established. Paul is warning the Corinthians not to receive these doctrines into the church.

Another Jesus. Notice that Paul warns them against another Jesus whom Paul had not preached. The Jesus Paul preached was:

* God. 1 Tim. 3:16

* Man. 1 Tim. 3:16

* Crucified. 1 Cor. 2:2

* Risen. 1 Cor. 15:4

* Sacrifice for our sins. 1 Cor. 15:3

One of the first doctrines attacked by false teachers is the deity of Christ. To determine if a person is a false teacher or not find out what they believe about Christ.

Another Spirit. The Corinthians who were saved had received the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. It is in this way that God lives within the believer (1 Cor. 3:16). Many false teachers promote the false idea that the Spirit is simply the power of God or some type of force. The Corinthians are to reject that idea as well as those who teach that. Those who had received the true Spirit of God would bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). Those with another spirit would manifest error and immorality (Gal. 5:19-21).

Another Gospel. The false teachers brought another gospel into the church. There is only one gospel that can bring salvation. That is the gospel that Paul proclaimed. Paul felt so strongly about the integrity of the gospel that he said anyone who preached another gospel should be accursed (Gal. 1:7-8).

The gospel Paul preached was:

* The entire world is guilty before God. Romans 3:23

* Christ paid the sin debt that the world owed. Romans 6:23

* Salvation is by grace through faith in Jesus. Ephesians 2:8-10

* Man cannot be justified by works. Romans 3:20

*Genuine repentance leads to faith in Christ and salvation. 2 Cor. 7:10

Any other gospel is void of saving power. The Corinthians should shun any such teaching. If our churches change the gospel we will not be offering salvation to a lost world. We will have done Satan a great service.

Thoughts To Consider

1. Sometimes you have to speak up for yourself.

2. Godly preachers do not want your attention to be on them but on Christ.

3. Most of Satan’s attacks are directed toward our intellect.

4. There are people we should expose and shun because of their false teachings.