Hi all,
After last week's message did you check your soaps and body washes to see which are soaps and which are not? LOL.
The false spiritual 'soap' in this series is what Paul described in II Corinthians 11:3-4 and through the rest of the chapter. He was afraid they were 'washing themselves' with another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit:"I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, so too you might your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity and purity in Christ."
The word 'deceived' is 'to completely seduce', and 'corrupted' is 'to shrivel or wither'. 'Minds' is 'exert mental effort (about)'. 'Purity' is 'hagnos', meaning 'the state of being pure' or 'blameless'. The verse in Greek then:I am afraid that as the serpent completely seduced Eve by his trickery, so too you would exert mental effort which causes you to wither or shrivel away from the simplicity and cleanness of Christ."
This describes how a person would leave the True Jesus, Spirit and gospel to believe counterfeits of each. This series is about the how and why of that process.
Verse 4 says:"If one comes preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you (previously) had not accepted, (now) you will receive (them)."
What he writes is that at the first, they would not have and did not, receive a different Jesus, gospel and Spirit, but now they have veered off to receive such error. They did not even know they were believing a different Jesus, Spirit and gospel, that is how subtle Satan's seduction is.
It is later in the chapter that he writes of some of their characteristics. First, in verse 4 he says at the end:"(now) you tolerate all that." In verses 6-9 Paul says he is not a skilled speaker, contrasting the presentation of the false as being delivered by good speakers, well polished in their presentation.
Paul says in verses 8-9 that he received financial support from other churches, not them, so that he would not be a burden to them. This indicates those presenting a false Jesus, Spirit and gospel try to get money from you (or in our times, advertisers who base pay to the provider on the number of clicks/views they get), whereas Paul rarely if ever mentioned receiving or requiring financial support.
In verse 13 he writes:"They are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." The Greek reads this way:"For such are false apostles workers deceitful disguising themselves as apostles of Christ." The Greek word 'dolios' is translated 'deceitful', and means 'full of guile (ulterior motives)'. The Greek word translated 'transforming themselves' is a long one, but worth looking at:meta-schematzio. It is made of 'meta' which means 'to bring about change' and 'schema' where we get the English word 'scheme', meaning by deceit to change the appearance or substance.
But wait - it gets worse. In verses 18-20 Paul turns to the people who turn aside to receive a false Jesus, false Spirit, false gospel. In verse 18 he says they 'glory (boast, emphasize) after the flesh', meaning these people are all about the appearance, not the substance. They appear to be the true.
In verse 19 he says:"You put up with mindless/stupid/ignorant people because you consider yourselves so wise." The Greek word 'aphron' is used here, from 'phren' meaning mindless, stupid, ignorant, egotistical'. Paul said in leaving the pure Jesus, Spirit and gospel, they were so deceived they accepted the teachings of these stupid people. He did not hold back on those spreading false teachings!
But wait, there's more!
Verse 20:"For you endure it if a man assumes control of your souls and makes slaves of you, or devours [your substance, spends your money] and preys upon you, or deceives and takes advantage of you, or is arrogant and puts on airs, or strikes you in the face."
These false teachers are money hungry, does things to control and manipulate others, takes advantage of your desire to know, and even insults you - and Paul writes, you gladly believe what they say, not realizing you've been seduced away from the true Jesus, the true Spirit, the true gospel. Wow, sounds like he is talking to the social media followers of today!
Another Jesus
The challenge in Paul's day was a lack of understanding of God's love and grace. A false teaching called Gnosticism arose that blended Jesus with other gods and goddesses of the day. They denied the literal resurrection of Jesus, teaching that He spiritually arose, so that Christ is in each person, truth is in each person, and in essence, each must decide his or her own truth. Physical things were evil and going to pass anyway, so they taught you can live however you like and still be a Christian, still go to heaven. Sounds like modern culture doesn't it? Modern culture wants another Jesus, one that says love everyone, there is no sin, find your spirituality and truth and you'll be fine, let others believe what they want...and we all go to heaven.
Another gospel - what does it look like?
We must compare the real gospel, the genuine, to better see the false gospel.
A false gospel would bring a Jesus that doesn't cause us to stop sinning. A false gospel says you don't have to change for Jesus loves you just as you are. A false gospel says Jesus suffered so you don't have to - meaning a smooth and prosperous life in every way. A false gospel would say as long as you are spiritual you are okay for Christ is in you and that's enough.
The real gospel is about laying down our lives for Christ and for others. The real gospel is giving up our life to become more like Him. The real gospel doesn't ask what can Jesus do for me, rather, what can I do for Jesus? The false gospel adds Him to our lives like some 'soccer mom' looking at her day to figure out where she can fit Jesus into her busy life. No, the real gospel is giving Him our lives to do with as He pleases.
Jesus spoke of being hated for His sake. Jesus spoke of carrying our own cross, which is defined in the epistles, but especially in I Peter 4:1-2. He says as Christ suffered in the flesh so too we should have that thinking, for he who is dead ceases from a life of sin. Jesus spoke of a relationship with Him and the Father.
A friend once told me when he went to India his host told him:"We preach a different (gospel) than you do in America." When he asked what he meant, his host replied:"You preach if you believe in Jesus you will be healed, if you believe in Jesus He will restore your family, your wealth, your health. We preach if you believe in Jesus you may lose your health, you may lose your family, you may lose your wealth, you may lose your life." Which one sounds closer to the real gospel?
Next week I saved the best for last; A false spirit, how to identify it and its ministers. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
After last week's message did you check your soaps and body washes to see which are soaps and which are not? LOL.
The false spiritual 'soap' in this series is what Paul described in II Corinthians 11:3-4 and through the rest of the chapter. He was afraid they were 'washing themselves' with another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit:"I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, so too you might your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity and purity in Christ."
The word 'deceived' is 'to completely seduce', and 'corrupted' is 'to shrivel or wither'. 'Minds' is 'exert mental effort (about)'. 'Purity' is 'hagnos', meaning 'the state of being pure' or 'blameless'. The verse in Greek then:I am afraid that as the serpent completely seduced Eve by his trickery, so too you would exert mental effort which causes you to wither or shrivel away from the simplicity and cleanness of Christ."
This describes how a person would leave the True Jesus, Spirit and gospel to believe counterfeits of each. This series is about the how and why of that process.
Verse 4 says:"If one comes preaching another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you (previously) had not accepted, (now) you will receive (them)."
What he writes is that at the first, they would not have and did not, receive a different Jesus, gospel and Spirit, but now they have veered off to receive such error. They did not even know they were believing a different Jesus, Spirit and gospel, that is how subtle Satan's seduction is.
It is later in the chapter that he writes of some of their characteristics. First, in verse 4 he says at the end:"(now) you tolerate all that." In verses 6-9 Paul says he is not a skilled speaker, contrasting the presentation of the false as being delivered by good speakers, well polished in their presentation.
Paul says in verses 8-9 that he received financial support from other churches, not them, so that he would not be a burden to them. This indicates those presenting a false Jesus, Spirit and gospel try to get money from you (or in our times, advertisers who base pay to the provider on the number of clicks/views they get), whereas Paul rarely if ever mentioned receiving or requiring financial support.
In verse 13 he writes:"They are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." The Greek reads this way:"For such are false apostles workers deceitful disguising themselves as apostles of Christ." The Greek word 'dolios' is translated 'deceitful', and means 'full of guile (ulterior motives)'. The Greek word translated 'transforming themselves' is a long one, but worth looking at:meta-schematzio. It is made of 'meta' which means 'to bring about change' and 'schema' where we get the English word 'scheme', meaning by deceit to change the appearance or substance.
But wait - it gets worse. In verses 18-20 Paul turns to the people who turn aside to receive a false Jesus, false Spirit, false gospel. In verse 18 he says they 'glory (boast, emphasize) after the flesh', meaning these people are all about the appearance, not the substance. They appear to be the true.
In verse 19 he says:"You put up with mindless/stupid/ignorant people because you consider yourselves so wise." The Greek word 'aphron' is used here, from 'phren' meaning mindless, stupid, ignorant, egotistical'. Paul said in leaving the pure Jesus, Spirit and gospel, they were so deceived they accepted the teachings of these stupid people. He did not hold back on those spreading false teachings!
But wait, there's more!
Verse 20:"For you endure it if a man assumes control of your souls and makes slaves of you, or devours [your substance, spends your money] and preys upon you, or deceives and takes advantage of you, or is arrogant and puts on airs, or strikes you in the face."
These false teachers are money hungry, does things to control and manipulate others, takes advantage of your desire to know, and even insults you - and Paul writes, you gladly believe what they say, not realizing you've been seduced away from the true Jesus, the true Spirit, the true gospel. Wow, sounds like he is talking to the social media followers of today!
Another Jesus
The challenge in Paul's day was a lack of understanding of God's love and grace. A false teaching called Gnosticism arose that blended Jesus with other gods and goddesses of the day. They denied the literal resurrection of Jesus, teaching that He spiritually arose, so that Christ is in each person, truth is in each person, and in essence, each must decide his or her own truth. Physical things were evil and going to pass anyway, so they taught you can live however you like and still be a Christian, still go to heaven. Sounds like modern culture doesn't it? Modern culture wants another Jesus, one that says love everyone, there is no sin, find your spirituality and truth and you'll be fine, let others believe what they want...and we all go to heaven.
Another gospel - what does it look like?
We must compare the real gospel, the genuine, to better see the false gospel.
A false gospel would bring a Jesus that doesn't cause us to stop sinning. A false gospel says you don't have to change for Jesus loves you just as you are. A false gospel says Jesus suffered so you don't have to - meaning a smooth and prosperous life in every way. A false gospel would say as long as you are spiritual you are okay for Christ is in you and that's enough.
The real gospel is about laying down our lives for Christ and for others. The real gospel is giving up our life to become more like Him. The real gospel doesn't ask what can Jesus do for me, rather, what can I do for Jesus? The false gospel adds Him to our lives like some 'soccer mom' looking at her day to figure out where she can fit Jesus into her busy life. No, the real gospel is giving Him our lives to do with as He pleases.
Jesus spoke of being hated for His sake. Jesus spoke of carrying our own cross, which is defined in the epistles, but especially in I Peter 4:1-2. He says as Christ suffered in the flesh so too we should have that thinking, for he who is dead ceases from a life of sin. Jesus spoke of a relationship with Him and the Father.
A friend once told me when he went to India his host told him:"We preach a different (gospel) than you do in America." When he asked what he meant, his host replied:"You preach if you believe in Jesus you will be healed, if you believe in Jesus He will restore your family, your wealth, your health. We preach if you believe in Jesus you may lose your health, you may lose your family, you may lose your wealth, you may lose your life." Which one sounds closer to the real gospel?
Next week I saved the best for last; A false spirit, how to identify it and its ministers. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
cwowi.org and email me at [email protected]
RSS Feed