Nearly forty years ago one of the spiritual leaders in our church family attended a two-day event sponsored by a group that challenged the validity of his freedom and faith in Christ. He was told that he was not experiencing the totality of the gospel and needed to do certain things in order for that to occur in his life. The approach was fear driven and moved him away from the ‘freedom that is in Christ,’ into legalistic bondage. When I went to visit him and his wife to see what was happening, they shared that we were not preaching the whole gospel. As he explained the nature of what he was taught, I tried to show them the folly of that understanding. However, I was unable to persuade them that what they were now embracing was not the biblical position that believers have in Christ. I was perplexed by how rapidly they had turned away from the truth. As it happened, I was preaching a series on Colossians then, when a light of understanding came to me what had occurred.
Be sure that no one leads you away with false and empty teaching that is only human, which comes from the ruling spirits of this world, and not from Christ.[i]
The strength of evil is its deceptive nature. Paul is about to expose the insidious nature of what was transpiring and the underlying source of the conflict, evil, and divisiveness in the Corinthian church. Outsiders had come into the life of the church and taught a distortion of the gospel which Paul needed to address. Motivated out of a deep love and desire for the Corinthians to walk in holiness and purity, Paul, as a spiritual father, was jealous for his spiritual children in order to present them to Christ as a pure bride to Jesus, their heavenly bridegroom.
Paul realizes that some of the Corinthians had tolerated the folly of these false teachers and their boastings. We now enter a polemic or an approach that Paul feels reluctant to do, but because of the self-aggrandizement of these false teachers. Paul states that he will use boasting in an ironic sense to depreciate the value of the false teacher’s message and boasts. His desire is to warn these believers of the duplicity and danger that they were experiencing. He was hoping to awaken them from the danger of this spiritual deception.
Paul exposes these false messengers, who are propagating a false Jesus, Spirit, and gospel. We are going to examine his approach in dealing with this deception and discover why it is critical that we expose evil particularly as it relates to God’s message to us.
THE FIRST WAY IN DEALING WITH FALSE MESSENGERS IS TO PRESENT THE TRUTH
We need to bring darkness into the light. Once evil is exposed it is easier to address. Secrecy is one of the powerful tools of evil which creates self-destruction in our lives when we do not address it in our own lives.
Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.[ii]
The truth brings freedom, while falsehood leads to bondage in people’s lives. The means by which these false teachers undermined the gospel was first by attacking Paul’s credibility and secondly, challenging his message. Paul is reluctant but realizes that he needs to explain his life in order to protect the integrity of the gospel message. Therefore, he explains the reason for the foolishness of boasting of his own credibility. We need to remember that he had just stated that we should boast in the Lord. So, what is driving Paul to defend himself with boasting regarding his ministry credentials? He is not doing it for his sake but for the sake of the church in Corinth.
I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.[iii]
- The first reason for boasting is his godly jealousy over them to be presented as a pure virgin to Christ.
Kent Hughes shares Paul’s zeal and godly jealousy over the believers in Corinthian.
Paul’s intense paternal zeal was fed by the true and present danger that the Corinthians might be led astray, and the bridal image just mentioned quite naturally brought to his mind the first human bride and how she was led astray by her deceiver. When Eve fell, it was not because she was beaten into submission by Satan, but by his encircling her soul with sequential coils of deception as he promised Eve things he could not deliver. So it was with the betrothed Corinthian community as they were susceptible to Satan’s cunning as he led them away from Christ into the promise of a more triumphant, victorious, prosperous Christianity—a Christianity that was dismissive of taking up the cross and weakness and suffering. Indeed, Satan was so cunning that he had convinced many of the Corinthians that it was Paul who was the cunning one (cf. 12:16). The wolves in the church that devour sheep do not howl and bare their teeth. They come in sheep’s clothing, smiling, reciting Scripture, full of understanding, promising something more than Christ.[iv]
David Garland points out the culpability or responsibility that Eve had to bear for her sin.
Eve was not exonerated [clear of blame or responsibility] from her sin because she was taken in by the supreme trickster, and neither will the Corinthians be exonerated. It is not difficult to deceive those who wish to be deceived. Their desires already primed their own hearts to be disobedient. Eve was deceived by the exciting unholy feelings in her heart. The Corinthians’ penchant for error and illusions of grandeur, believing themselves to be kings who already reigned (1 Cor 4:8), made them easy marks for grandiloquent [extravagant language] opponents to inject their poisonous notions.[v]
- Secondly, he is concerned that they are embracing a distorted gospel message that will lead them astray.
What are the criteria for identifying that someone is preaching a false Jesus, Spirit, and gospel as opposed to the genuine Jesus, Spirit and gospel? For the Corinthians, the ‘other Jesus’ is one Paul did not preach. The Jesus Paul preached is Jesus Christ crucified (1 Cor 1:23) and Jesus Christ as Lord (4:5). Jesus as Lord requires humble submission and makes absolute moral demands. Any gospel that has no moral core, fosters boasting, and soft-pedals sacrifice is no gospel.[vi]
Jesus not only gives His life for us, but requires us to give everything to him, including our own lives. David Garland explains what Paul means by this other Jesus.
‘Another Jesus’ refers to a different interpretation of Jesus that is not congruent with the facts of Jesus’ life and death. Paul’s emphasis in 13:4, that Christ was ‘crucified in weakness,’ suggests the possibility that the rivals presented a Jesus who was not ‘weak, suffering or humiliated.’ They may talk about Christ, but Christ crucified is not the heart of their gospel nor does it influence the way they live.[vii]
The Christian life is a fulfilling life, a life of freedom, but it is also a very demanding and challenging life. It calls for a death to self. We need to have a biblical understanding of who Jesus is, how He lived, died, and was raised from the dead. We need to understand that God became flesh and died a substitutionary death on our behalf. That is the Jesus Paul preached. Our understanding must move past simply knowledge of the facts to application in how we live.
William Barclay tells the story of a group of people at a dinner party who agreed that each should recite something after the meal. A well-known actor rose and, with all the resources of elocution and dramatic art, recited the Twenty-third Psalm. He sat down to tremendous applause. A quiet man followed him with his own recitation of this psalm. At first there were a few snickers. But by the time he had ended, his hearers had fallen into a stillness that was more eloquent than any applause. When he sat down, the actor leaned across the table and said, ‘Sir, I know the psalm, but you know the shepherd’ (Barclay 1954:247). Similarly, Paul’s opponents may have spoken with great skill and ability, but Paul preached from personal conviction. He knew the real Christ.[viii]
THE SECOND WAY IN DEALING WITH FALSE MESSENGERS IS THE EXAMPLE OF OUR LIFE
Integrity of life speaks louder than simple words. Lifestyle amplifies our words. We in turn need to allow the gospel message to shape our attitudes and character. The power of the gospel is evident in the transformation of lives. When we walk in integrity it validates not only our lives but the message and power of the gospel as well as exposing the falsity of people who live a sinful lifestyle and have reframed the gospel to justify their sin. These are people who are accommodating society and seeking worldly approval.
- Not inferior to the ‘super apostles.’
So, why is Paul now boasting? He wants to assure the Corinthians that he is not inferior to these outsiders coming with a distortion of the gospel message. Later in this chapter we find that Paul did not boast of his strengths, rather he boasted of his weaknesses. In other words, it is not about him, but Jesus. While these false apostles boasted about themselves.
I do not think I am in the least inferior to those ‘super-apostles.’ I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.[ix]
Paul now answers the two charges that are leveled against him: (1) that his speaking is inferior and (2) that he doesn’t charge for his message, which in the opponents’ minds suggests the inferiority of Paul’s message. Paul acknowledges that he is not a rhetorician but that does not mean that he is a poor communicator. On the contrary, Paul’s ability to communicate the gospel is powerful. While they are focusing on the style and method of delivery, Paul is concerned about the substance of the message. Paul had communicated this truth in his first letter.
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.[x]
For Paul, it was the message that mattered; for the false teachers it was about their communication skills. For Paul, his message pointed to Jesus; for the false teachers, their message pointed to themselves and their experiences and contentions.
- Paul’s argument for not receiving finances.
Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine.[xi]
Kent Hughes explains why this charge against Paul about taking fees had any validity in that day.
Traveling speakers and professional philosophers in Paul’s day were accorded status by the fees they charged. In fact, a cheap fee was thought to imply that the message wasn’t important. Therefore Paul’s refusal to accept money for his ministry in Corinth was negatively interpreted to mean either 1) an admission that his teaching was of low caliber, 2) that his message wasn’t worth much, 3) that he gave the gospel away because nobody would pay for it, or 4) that he was not really an apostle. Add to this the fact that the ‘super-apostles’ charged for their renditions of the gospel and you have the picture.[xii]
What is fascinating is that Paul would receive funds from churches only when he had left and was in a new, unreached, sphere of ministry, bringing the gospel to others. How humbling to realize that Paul had received gifts from the more poverty-stricken region of Macedonia in bringing the gospel to the more financially affluent Corinthians. The gospel strikes at the heart of human pride and self-dependency. Paul now states that his sacrifices that were made was because of his love for them, but in sharing his approach to ministry, he is also revealing the motivation for his bringing the gospel and also exposing the false motivation (fiscal gain) of these false messengers.
Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do! And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about.[xiii]
THE THIRD WAY MENTIONED HERE IN DEALING WITH FALSE MESSENGERS IS EXPOSING THEIR LIES AND LIFESTYLE
The key to exposing evil is to address the false message and the motivation and lifestyle of the messengers. The reason is in order to discredit their false message which would lead the Corinthians away from the truth and bring condemnation into their lives. Paul now exposes the source of their message.
For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.[xiv]
Scott Hafemann explains the language Paul uses here to expose these false apostles.
The verb translated ‘masquerading’ signifies the idea ‘to change the form of, transform … change or disguise oneself into or as something.’ It is best taken here to signify ‘disguising oneself.’ The opponents are ‘deceitful workmen’ in that, though false or pseudo-apostles, they are pretending to be genuine apostles.[xv]
The nature of deception is when people pretend to be something they are not. In other words, they are living a lie.
Paul’s statement is sobering. Church leaders can seem genuine in appearance and profession and yet in actuality be Satan’s minions. How one sees through the outward guise to the inner truth is not stated. But it is clear to Paul that the Corinthian intruders have disguised themselves in this fashion. The charge is a serious one. If the Corinthian intruders really are Satan’s servants, then they are not merely Paul’s opponents but also enemies of Christ.[xvi]
Paul is making the argument here from the greater to the lesser. If Satan can deceive people as he certainly deceived Eve with his false promise in the garden, ‘coming as a messenger to enlighten’, then certainly these “super apostles” who were coming to enlighten the Corinthians are simply replicating their master, Satan. Paul now states emphatically that their reward will be according to their actions. Their lies simply lead people astray and into bondage. A severe eternal judgment will fall on these false messengers.
The importance of calling out evil and its deception is critical for the wellbeing of the people of God. Jesus warned us that deception is part of the challenges that we will face in our lives. In Matthew 24, Jesus talks about the days ahead.
‘If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, “Look, here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!” do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.’[xvii]
There have always been people who distort God’s message. The bible calls them false prophets. God allows false prophets to test the condition of our own hearts. Do we want the truth, or do we want to believe the lie? There is a part in each of us that we are blind to, but God is aware of it and that it needs to be exposed so we will be cleansed from wanting what is wrong. God wants to cleanse our hearts so that we will have healthy and godly desires. How will we handle it in our own life? Will we respond to God’s warning? Will we warn others of deception? Will they listen? If we embrace lies, they will lead us into bondage and self-destruction.
The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sort of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.[xviii]
Why do people perish? Because they refuse to love the truth and so be saved. One of the problems with sin is that its very nature is deceptive, and this is generally facilitated in the human heart because of our desire to suppress the truth (cf. Heb. 3:13, Rom. 1:18).
We must remember that truth is not just right ideas or teaching, but truth is a person. Jesus stated that He is the way, the truth and the life. Let us pray that we are alert and diligent, as we have been admonished by John to test the spirits to see whether they are from God (cf. 1 John 4:1).
Let us pray that God would give us discernment, but above all a heart that loves the truth and so be saved from deception.
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[i] Colossians 2:8, New Century Version, Thomas Nelson Version, 2005.
[ii] Proverbs 28:13, The New International Version of the Bible, Zondervan, 2011.
[iii] 2 Corinthians 11:1-4.
[iv] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, (Crossway Books, 2006), 194-95.
[v] David Garland, 2 Corinthians, The New American Commentary, Vol. 29, (Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1999), 463.
[vi] Ibid, 466.
[vii] Ibid.
[viii] William Barclay, 2 Corinthians, 1954, 247; as quoted by Linda Belleville, 2 Corinthians, InterVarsity New Testament Commentaries, Vol. 8, (Downers Grove, Il: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 2 Cor. 11:1-5.
[ix] 2 Corinthians 11:5-6.
[x] 1 Corinthians 1:17.
[xi] 2 Corinthians 11:7-10.
[xii] Kent Hughes, 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, (Crossway Books, 2006), 196.
[xiii] 2 Corinthians 11:11-12.
[xiv] 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
[xv] Scott Hafemann, 2 Corinthians, (Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 434.
[xvi] Linda Belleville, 2 Corinthians, 2 Co 11:13–15.
[xvii] Matthew 24:22-25.
[xviii] 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12.
