2 Corinthians 11:1-15

(2 Corinthians 11:1-15)

Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles. But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

 

Every Christian has a story. It's a story about snakes. The serpent deceived Eve and made her sin against God. In the Corinthian Church, there was a serpent. The serpent approached the Corinthian Church with a smoldering appearance. The serpent had prior knowledge of Jesus, the Spirit, and the gospel. The serpent knew well that the church was the bride of Christ. The serpent deceives the members of the Corinthian church with a different Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel. The serpent seems to speak of Jesus, the Spirit, and the Gospel, but it plantes another Jesus, another spirit, and a different gospel in the Corinthian Church. It is an old way of reciting the gospel and subtly distorting the gospel. However, their contemptuous words and splendid appearance only seem to be eaten, boam, and covetous to the members of the Corinthian church.

 

The serpent builds up its words and cuts down the gospel of Paul. To the Greeks who considered self-humbling to be humiliating, the words of the serpent, which were graceful and boastful, touched deeply. Thus, Jesus, the Spirit, and the Gospel are distorted by the serpent, and the church that has maintained truth and cleanliness toward Christ becomes corrupt. The moment the church becomes corrupted by delusion, the relationship between them and Jesus is distorted. In this way, the more the serpent's delusion becomes, the more the truth shines.

 

The life Paul shared with the members of the Corinthian church was completely different from that of the false apostles. Paul also spoke of Jesus, and the serpent also spoke of Jesus, but the serpent's base was delusion, and Paul's base was love. 『Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth』. The life Paul showed by loving the Corinthian Church was a life of humiliation. His life was to preach the gospel of God freely. He was also a life of self-care and self-care so as not to disturb others when he was with others. In this way, Paul's love for the Corinthians became a specific service for them in the field of life. The Greeks despised the life of service, but Paul was proud of it. Paul regarded the truth as a testimony to himself. Only in a life of love and service, truth can stay within me and flow to someone.

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