Monday, 8 June 2020 2 Corinthians 11:1-33
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. -2 Corinthians 11:3 [KJV]
Right from the Garden of Eden the attack is on the mind of man. But through His resurrection, Jesus Christ has liberated humankind from slavery “…so that by his [Christ] death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death." (Heb.2:14-15)
In the beginning, the devil beguiled (deceived) Eve’s mind with the statement “...you will be like God…” (Genesis 3:5) We read in Genesis that God imposed only ONE prohibition “do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gene.2:17paraphrased). It is to say as Ravi Zacharias has stated: “Do not play God!” The resultant impact of man playing God in the Garden of Eden was that the minds of unbelievers were blinded by the devil (2 Cor.4:4). However, Paul here unveils another program “the god of this world” orchestrates now through his cunning craftiness to lead astray the enlightened minds of the believers from their devotion to Christ. (2Cor.11:3)
In 2Cor.11:4 Paul describes three of the deceptive methods:
another Jesus
different spirit
different gospel
Sadly in today’s Christendom the above three factors play a detrimental role in pulling away people from their simplistic manner of faith in Christ but rather bind them on to a very legalistic framework which is most often based on fear and control!!
How do we identify these craftiness? The best way to know counterfeit is to know the real. When we know who Jesus is, we will easily be able to identify the counterfeit!! 1Timothy 1:15 says “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners…” At His birth the angel told Mary, to name Him “Jesus” since He was going to save His people from sin!! The primary reason of Jesus’ coming to this earth was to save sinners – all others are secondary- healing, deliverance form demonic bondage, success etc. etc. It is true that when a person’s life is changed through his surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ everything else changes – because He gives the “SHALOM” of God that has everything in it. But to “advertise” Jesus as a “quick fix” to all problems and an easy method to prosperity, is a distortion from the principles of the Word of God. This is “another Jesus.”
To know the different spirit, we need to know the Holy Spirit. He is our Advocate, He will always lift up Jesus Christ, He is the Comforter, He is the Counselor, He is our Guide. One of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit is prophecy. According to 1Cor.14:3 prophecy has to bring either or all of these: edification, exhortation and consolation – if not it is the work of a “different spirit.” Christians need to be aware of those who prophesy to mislead them.
The real gospel is defined in 2 Timothy 2:8 “… Jesus Christ risen from the dead, descendant of David...”
Jesus Christ – (He is the anointed Savior) –> the divinity of Jesus Christ
Risen from the dead – (He is alive today and forever) –> the eternity of Jesus Christ
Descendant of David – (He was born like any other human) –> the humanity of Jesus Christ
In this age where truth is becoming relative, let us hold fast the true Gospel that we may not waver -Eph.4:14 (TLB) says "Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth.”
Aim: “Him we preach,… that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” (Colossians 1:28)
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