FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT
Opening Prayer
Help me Lord to connect with your heart and to mean what I say when I pray.
Read 2 CORINTHIANS 11:1-15
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 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. 3 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. 4 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.
5 I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.”[a] 6 I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. 7 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? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. 9 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. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 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. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 11:5 Or to the most eminent apostles
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
‘He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time.’1
Think Further
It becomes clearer what is at stake. Paul is fighting to keep the Corinthians in the faith by rescuing them from versions of Jesus, the Spirit and the gospel that differ from those he introduced them to (vs 3,4). They are at risk of being deceived by Satan masquerading as an angel of light (vs 13–15). For Paul, no struggle could be more important.
There are more criticisms of Paul. This time the charge is ironic. Paul has been scrupulous in his financial probity to the point of refusing to accept financial help from the Corinthians. Instead, alongside working at his trade, he has relied upon the churches of Macedonia to fund his ministry in Corinth (vs 7–9). He is now being faulted for not taking money! Perhaps behind this there is some disdain for manual workers. Disdain is also evident in that he is being written off as a rhetorician (v 6). The super-apostles are classifying Paul as inferior to themselves (v 5), setting him off along the ‘foolish’ path of proving the opposite (vs 1,12).
At stake is the matter of control. The super-apostles are wresting the church from Paul’s influence because they want to control it (v 20). We infer that they themselves have no hesitation in accepting financial support and argue it is a privilege for the Corinthians to support them.2 The question of control distinguishes a free Christian community from a cult. Crucially, Paul has never had ambitions to wed them to himself but only to Christ (v 2), whom to serve is perfect freedom. The Corinthians had previously made the mistake of thinking that when they were baptized by someone, they were bound to that person.3 Not so. Christ alone is Lord and he does not delegate his lordship.4
Apply
‘It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.’5
Closing prayer
Lord Jesus, you are the faithful King; I trust and honor you alone.
Last Updated on June 21, 2023 by kingstar
