Godly Jealousy

A Study on II Corinthians

Godly Jealousy

II Cor. 11:1-6

Theme. God wants us to love Him supremely.

Introduction: Human jealousy can be a monster that will destroy a person. Some people have to deal with it quite often in their lives and most jealousies are unwarranted. The Bible describes in this section the right kind of jealousy. This is the kind of jealousy God mentions in the 10 commandments in which He demands total love. This means that our devotion and dedication is to be to Him and Him alone. It is the motive and object of jealousy that is important. There is a place for a spiritual father’s passionate concern for the exclusive and pure devotion to Christ as His spiritual children and a place for anger at potential violators of that purity.

In today’s terms: We ought to love Christ and there should be nothing else that takes us away from that. This means loyalty and devotion. It comes from a person’s character. Proper jealousy is built upon loyalty. Loyalty is the quality of faithful adherence to God and His truth. We want our kids loyal to their parents and have a godly jealousy for that loyalty.

Tonight, I have a godly jealousy for our church to be loyal to Christ and to His church.

Here God shows us this Godly jealousy and what it teaches.

I. The reason vv. 1-2

A. His love v.1

1. True love is never envious but has the right to be jealous over those who are loved.

2. A husband has the right to be jealous over his wife and should resist any rival.

3. Paul had already stated that bragging and words mean nothing, but here he wants them to know of his love for them.

4. His driving motivation for them is his undying devotion to them.

B. His ministry v.2

1. Paul used the illusion of a father who has a daughter whom is engaged.

2. He sees his responsibility to guard her purity and wants to present her at the wedding as a pure bride.

3. The church is a bride and Paul had shared the gospel with them.

4. They are now saved and waiting for the coming Bridegroom: Jesus Christ.

5. His ministry continues in guarding them from the rival of their love for Christ

a. Guard the purity of the church by warning them

“Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.” (Acts 20:31)

b. Guard the purity of the church by preaching: II Tim. 4:2

c. Guard the purity of the church by example

“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2–3)

II. The resistance vv. 3-4

A. The motive v.3

1. The person behind the corrupted message is Satan.

2. This reference goes back to Gen 3-where Satan beguiled the mind of Eve.

3. The devil can burden our conscience when we sinned, blind the minds of unbelievers, and buffet our bodies.

4. The focus on the mind of Satan is to tell lies and gets us to question God’s Word.

5. Satan has a counterfeit gospel Gal :6-12-which mixes truth with error.

6. The simplicity refers to the basics of the Christian life and the Judaizers were trying to corrupt their thinking regarding Christ.

B. The message v.4

1. Preach another Jesus-there are counterfeit Jesus’s out there-claim to be identified with Christ but are not.

2. Many a false teacher out there do not believe Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.

3. Any Jesus who needs human effort for salvation is not the Jesus of the Bible.

4. They come with another spirit which is not the Holy Spirit-the Holy Spirit never leads us to do anything contrary to God’s Word.

5. Another gospel is not the gospel Paul preached to them.

6. The Corinthians were giving every preacher a hearing and Paul was saying don’t listen and don’t receive them.

III. The response vv. 5-6

A. His position v.5

1. The Judaizers were accusing him of not being an apostle.

2. He wants them to know he is just as much an apostle as the other apostles.

3. Paul was saying that he was in no way inferior to the original apostles.

4. He had the same authority, the same heart, the same calling, and love for the Lord.

B. His practice v. 6

1. Paul was a brilliant man but did not use intellectual terminology.

2. Paul used simple language where the average reader could understand.

3. The message needs to be understandable for the common man.

4. Some people will glamorize the rhetoric of certain people who do not say anything.

5. The Godly ministry of Paul was clearly manifested to them and they did not need to question his spirit.

Conclusion: Godly jealousy means a Godly loyalty and love for the Lord Jesus Christ.