“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
Posted by Chris 
Wings of the Wind 
BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL
January 3, 2014“On November 22, 1963, three great men died within a few hours of each other: C.S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy, and Aldous Huxley. All three believed, in different ways, that death is not the end of human life. Suppose they were right, and suppose they met after death. How might the conversation go?”
In his book, professor Peter Kreeft “imagines their discourse as a modern Socratic dialog..”
“Combining logical argument and literary imagination, Kreeft portrays Lewis as a Christian theist, Kennedy as a modern humanist and Huxley as an Eastern pantheist.”
Everything in quotes above can be found on the back jacket cover of this book published in 1982.
I thought a good way to begin the year was to recommend a book that looks at three different perspectives. If these three men could have had this discussion, it may have gone something like this. If you click on PHOTO SOURCE , the first few pages are available for viewing.
Of course, we’ll never really know what this conversation would have looked like. It probably would not have gone quite as smoothly (if one can call it that). An author has time to think of the main tenants of belief that men have and I would be surprised if each of the three characters would come “off of the cuff” with such quick responses. In spite of this, Mr. Kreeft has, I think, captured the “faiths” of these men and creates a dialog that represents three of today’s prevailing worldviews. As Eastern mysticism and humanism seem to be outpacing Christianity these days, I think the book is a good educational tool.
The book is an easy read; only 114 pages. I have the original but another printing was made in 2008 and I can’t imagine any changes being made.
If you have read the book or do so because of this post, I would appreciate your comments. I plan on reading this book at least once a year to stay familiar with views I don’t hold. In this conversation, I would agree with C.S. Lewis and his Biblical beliefs.
My son got the book online for under $4.
I hope you have a chance to read this interesting book.
CR
IMPORTANT FOLLOW UP:
It is May 19th, 2017. I have just read a review of another book by Peter Kreeft. That review was on my friend Maria’s blog before she stopped blogging. Because of the information in Maria’s blog post, I will no longer be able to recommend anything by Peter Kreeft. In time, I may get a chance to reread this book to see if this entire post needs to come down. Until then, I’m leaving it up because, for whatever reason, I thought it was pretty good the last time I read it.
CR)
PHOTO SOURCE
ANOTHER BOOK REVIEW
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