“But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.”
These words were penned by the Apostle Paul through the Holy Spirit in approximately 40-47 A.D. I ran across this section of scripture in Mr. Spurgeon’s Devotional Bible. Regarding 2 Corinthians Charles Spurgeon comments:
“The Second Epistle to the Corinthians was written by Paul from Macedonia, after Titus had returned from Corinth, and informed him how the Corinthian church had received his first letter (written fairly recently by some accounts). The news was of a mingled kind, and caused him both joy and sorrow. The Apostle seems at the time of writing it to have been much troubled and perplexed.”
God’s Word continually amazes me with its mysteries. Here we find a possibly troubled man of God communicating through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that there is a simplicity in our faith. Mankind tends to make everything so difficult. There are some things of God that are, well, uncomplicated. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” I find this verse straightforward and to the point.
The Gospel is not a difficult message. See the Link entitled “The Gospel” at the top of this blog.
I am not, in any way, trying to discourage those who are digging deeply into God’s Word to discover things they do not know. On the contrary, I think every Christian should be doing this as were the Bereans.
There is another part of these verses that stands out. It is the section that states: “For if one comes and preaches another Jesus….” It shouldn’t be a surprise to Christians then, if there are many Jesus’ out there. If Paul was dealing with them, we will have to be able to recognize them. Examples would be the Jesus of the: Muslims; Mormons; Jehovah’s Witnesses; Hindus; etc. Many believe that Jesus was a prophet or a good man and not God in the flesh. I was speaking to a young Jewish man online the other day and had to explain that Mormons believe that they may be gods some day. “As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become..” You may see the origin of this statement HERE.
The purpose of this post is to support Paul’s message in the verse above that our core beliefs are simple. At the same time, there are many mysteries. How can man fully grasp “everlasting” or a “Triune God?” These are things we’ll never understand this side of heaven but we believe them because the Bible teaches them.
If you want to clear away the clutter of all of the confusion out there, meditate on these verses. Then, when you are ready, ask God to give you wisdom as you search His Word for answers.
God’s blessings…
Chris Reimers
MAN MADE AUTHORITY?
March 23, 2014I would guess that 98% of the critical posts on this blog that deal with churches point at the problems within the Protestant Church. I cannot help but share, however, this informative documentary by Keith Thompson the same young apologist who did the sadly truthful film on “Word of Faith” teachers within the Protestant Church. You can see this documentary by typing “Word of Faith” in the search box at the right.
Many Catholic and Protestant scholars are quoted in this documentary. Each statement is documented. I have not checked all of Keith’s documentation but thus far I have found his documentaries trustworthy. If anyone finds any statement here that is inaccurate, I would like to know.
For my Catholic friends, I would recommend that you start this documentary at the 4:06 mark. The statements there are at the heart of the mission of this film. What are the essential and non-essential matters of our faith? In fact, I differ some with Keith’s position on five point Calvinism. It is a theological matter but a secondary or tertiary one in importance, not an essential one.
The cry of the day is “unity.” This section of the film shows that Catholics have as many different problems in this area as we Protestants.
As far as atrocities and deception (one of the chapters), I must admit that many “Protestant” churches currently are guilty of the same. Some Protestant churches have allowed gay leaders and have not taken any type of stand on abortion or proper marriage. As far as I know, 1/2 of Catholics take a strong stand on these issues. In fact, I have found that Catholics seem, in general, more active in the anti-abortion battle. This does not, of course, make Catholic theology correct.
At the same time I am, and will always be, after the truth. One of my favorite verses has always been: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness…”
I am a sinner saved by the grace of God…alone.
cr
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