2
Corinthians 11:1-15
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear
with me! 2 For I
feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to
present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But
I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will
be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus
than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one
you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted,
you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed,
I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am
unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have
made this plain to you in all things.
7 Or
did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I
preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting support from
them in order to serve you. 9 And
when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers
who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from
burdening you in any way. 10 As
the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the
regions of Achaia. 11 And
why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 And
what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those
who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same
terms as we do. 13 For
such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as
apostles of Christ. 14 And
no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no surprise
if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their
end will correspond to their deeds.
St Paul is jealous with respect to these people in Corinth. He
has used other people’s money to take time and serve them. He has even worked
to support himself. He did not want to burden them, with money. He now
encourages not their wallets but their spirits.
Stay true to the faith that you have confessed. Stay faithful to
your confession. St Paul taught them about the Holy Trinity. St Paul taught
them about the love of Christ. St Paul taught them about the judgment of God.
But there are many others that are going to twist and change this message.
There are going to be many people dressed in sheeps clothing but will be
ravenous wolves.
These people will may even tell us about how good, faithful,
strong, powerful, and holy people we are. Learn this fast that they are lying.
You are an evil, of little-faith, weak, powerless, and unholy creature. You are
in need of someone to save you. You are in need of a perfect, holy, and divine
human being to come and save you from your sins. Jesus Christ, God’s only son, comes
to die for your sins. He comes to strengthen your faith and spirit. He comes to
cleanse you from all unrighteousness and make you good and holy. (But until
Christ returns you are still a sinner.)
No comments:
Post a Comment