Monday Devo
Scripture:
2 Corinthians 11
3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.
Commentary:
11:3 As at the time of Eve’s fall in the garden (Gen. 3:1–13), the serpent’s (i.e., Satan’s; see 2 Cor. 4:4; 6:15; 11:14–15) cunning, now represented by Paul’s opponents, consists in calling into question the sufficiency of God’s provisions and the truth of his word, which is now focused in Christ (see 1:20).
11:4 The instrument of Satan’s deception is the opponents’ preaching of another Jesus (instead of the Jesus proclaimed by Paul), a different spirit (not the Holy Spirit but some false or demonic spirit), and a different gospel (rather than the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ alone). The “gospel” of Paul’s opponents may have promised everyone health and wealth but no suffering, contrary to Paul’s message and experiences noted in 4:5; 5:14–15, 18–19; etc.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2236.
11:4 The instrument of Satan’s deception is the opponents’ preaching of another Jesus (instead of the Jesus proclaimed by Paul), a different spirit (not the Holy Spirit but some false or demonic spirit), and a different gospel (rather than the gospel of salvation by faith in Christ alone). The “gospel” of Paul’s opponents may have promised everyone health and wealth but no suffering, contrary to Paul’s message and experiences noted in 4:5; 5:14–15, 18–19; etc.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 2236.
Questions:
- At the end of chapter 2, Peter continues with warnings against false teachers. He is telling us how to spot them among us. Scripture is FULL of warnings to not be led astray. Why? Because we are, by our nature, prone to wander. Paul's writings, like this verse in 2 Corinthians, warn us over and over to not be deceived, to be on guard, to not be blown around by every new teaching, and to be on the lookout for wolves among the sheep. How prone do you think YOU are to wander?
- The sad truth is, just because a book is "Christian" or a pastor preaches powerful messages, we can't just accept them as truth. Peter and Paul are warning us and urging us to be discerning. They say that we should be proactively skeptical when it comes to the content we consume. When you hear a sermon or read a Christian book, do you accept it wholesale? Or do you look at it skeptically?
Pray:
- That God would give you a discerning spirit.
- That you would stay sober-minded.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
5. Why do I follow Jesus? I follow Jesus because Jesus rose from the dead proving that He is the way, the truth and the life.
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
(Matthew 7:24-27; John 14:6)
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