2 Corinthians, 11:1-8
Jim Pool · May 15, 2005
2 Corinthians (2004-05), No. 45
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262326101654

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Alright, 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Okay, let's do a little bit of a review to kind of get us up to speed with what's going on here. I think this slide that Hal showed us several weeks ago really helped to make things clear, clear for me anyways, that what was going on. Actually, you know what? I printed out the wrong slide, Hal. I did. I don't have it printed out on the overhead.

So, if we think back, the mind of the Corinthians was beginning to be corrupted because of false teachers. were coming in and they were beginning to make accusations towards Paul, say things about Paul and towards Paul that were not true. So their minds were being corrupted and therefore Paul was not able to edify. The purpose here really was the edification of the believer so that God would be glorified, that they would all arrive at the unity of the faith, the full knowledge of the Son of God, I talked about it in Ephesians chapter 4. So, let's just kind of keep that in mind, that their minds were being corrupted, and the purpose of Paul was to edify them, but in order for them to be edified, their corrupted minds had to be, what?

Corrected. Had to be, had some correction going on. So, I just, I mistakenly printed out the wrong slide there. But he, Paul wants the believers to be abiding in Christ, walking by faith, so that they'll be able to reveal His glory, to share His glory, and ultimately to glorify God, that God will be glorified.

But there has to be some correction going on with the believers, some of the believers in Corinth, before that can be taken place. So we're going to dive into this in chapter 11 here. So if you go to the first slide that I gave you, We can see this here. We're going to look at chapter 11 here this morning. So let's pull that up a little bit. So let's just read through chapter 11. Let's read all the way down through our verse 15. 2 Corinthians and chapter 11 and I'll just read it through and I'll be reading from the New American Standard.

I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are bearing with me. For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, that your minds would be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 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. For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in knowledge.

In fact, in every way We have made this evident to you in all things. Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself, that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you. And when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone. For when the brethren came from Macedonia, they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you and will continue to do so. As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the regions of Achaia. Why? Because I do not love you, God knows I do.

But what I am doing, I will continue to do, that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded. just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, distinguishing themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as angels of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their deeds.

Alright, we're obviously not going to get through all of that today. I think it'll probably take us about three weeks to get through those 15 verses there. But this is kind of the direction that we're going to go. Paul's request to be foolish. We're going to look into that.

What does he mean by that? What's he driving at by asking them to bear with him for a little while in some foolishness? And then Paul's godly jealousy. What is godly jealousy? We're going to talk about that. That's an interesting thought, godly jealousy. Why is it that Paul has godly jealousy for these Corinth believers? And then down in verses 5 through the end there, Paul's example of foolishness and his correction. So that's kind of the direction that we will be heading in the next few weeks.

So bear with a few of my slides like the slides got cut off as well. So we got it. We got a new computer and printer. So you think that it would work, you know, absolutely perfect. But it wasn't one to print transparencies very well last night. So the ends got chopped off. I like great spend, spend this money, get a new machine, won't print transparencies very well. And the old one print I'm fine. Yeah, the old one printed them perfectly. It had its other problems, but it printed the transparencies perfectly.

So anyways, back to chapter 11 and verse 1. I wish that you would bear with me in a little foolishness, but indeed you are bearing with me. So this idea here of bearing, you would bear with me, it's actually all one word in the Greek. I wish that you would bear with me. And so the idea here is basically that they would put up with him or that they would endure him. Put up with me or endure me just for a little while. Put up with me here for a minute is kind of what he's driving at.

Interesting that this word is used 15 times in all the New Testament and 5, a third of those 15 times is actually here in this chapter of 2nd Corinthians. We see it used twice actually in verse 1. I wish that you would bear with me in this little foolishness and indeed you are bearing with him there's two usages of it right there and then down in verse 4 he says you bear this beautifully there's a third use of it and then over in verse 19 for you being so wise bear with the foolish gladly for you bear with anyone if he enslaves you, if he devours you, if he takes advantage of you, if he exalts himself, if he hits you in the face. So there's the fifth use of the word bear.

So what's happening is that some of the believers in Corinth are bearing with, they're putting up with, they're enduring some of this false teaching. That's what's going on here. And so Paul is saying, I wish that you would bear with me for a little while. You're bearing with this group, you're listening to this group, you're putting up, you're enduring this group some. Now, please, I'm going to entreat you and beg you to bear with me, put up with me for a little while as well. And he says, bear with me in this foolishness or this folly. Look at that word there, foolishness or folly. It really means without reason or without understanding.

He's going to, in a sense, boast a little bit about himself, and this is foolishness. Because, as we saw back in chapter 10, in verse 17, he says that if he who boasts, let him boast only in the Lord. But look at verse 12, just for a minute, back in chapter 10, in verse 12. For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who compare themselves, But when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.

So those guys are foolish. That's foolishness right there. When they're comparing themselves with either themselves or when they're comparing themselves with other people, that's foolishness. They're without understanding there. So Paul says, bear with me a little bit of foolishness. I'm going to, for a moment, engage in comparing myself with other folks. Now he's not going to, just for a short period of time, engage in this foolishness, actually being without reason or without understanding. So the questions that I think we have to ask are why, by asking them to do this, is Paul trying to defend himself by engaging in, for a short time, having this conversation, asking them to engage to kind of him comparing himself in this foolishness with the others.

Is he trying to defend himself? What do you guys think? Why do you think he's doing this? I don't think he's trying to defend himself. I think he just wants to get their attention and educate them. Yeah, that's right. That's right. So he's not trying to defend himself, but he's actually wanting to help him see the error, which is what we talked about earlier.

They were beginning to buy in to some of what the false teachers were saying. Not all the Corinth believers, but some of them were. So their minds need to be corrected so that they can be edified and built up in the Lord there. So why is it that Paul is asking them to put up with him in a little foolishness?

We basically answered that. And what does he mean by foolishness or folly? And we're going to answer some of those questions a little bit more as we go down through this passage. What's going to happen is Paul is going to specifically address some of the false accusations, like in verse 5, we're going to get to it.

He says, For I consider myself not in the least inferior to the most eminent apostles. There, in a sense, he's comparing himself with other apostles. So he's going to engage there a little bit. In verse 8, he says, I robbed other churches, taking wages from them to serve you. He's answering a false accusation right there.

We're going to get to that one as we come down through the verses. Now look at verse 18 in chapter 11. Since my boasting according to the flesh, since many boast according to the flesh, I will boast also. Now that's kind of an odd statement for for a guy that says in a previous verse, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. That's kind of an interesting two verses there. So he's engaging this for a period of time. Look at verse 22. Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. Are they servants of Christ? I more so. Now look at what he said there in parenthesis.

I speak as if insane. So he says, I'm out of my mind and even engaging with you all this way. This is foolishness. But if this group is speaking foolishness and you're going to engage in what they're saying for a little while, I'm going to engage in kind of the same way.

Why? For the purpose of showing you the error. For the purpose of correction. Not to try to make himself look good or to better himself in any way, but simply to show them their error. We're going to talk through that a little bit more. You know, it almost seems like if you look at 19 after what he said, you know you're not going to 19 since you were reading ahead. It almost sounds like he's, I don't know, almost being a little sarcastic.

Sure, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think so, yeah. Because 19 is kind of what you chuckle when you read 19. Yeah, uh-huh. Well, Jim, and Paul's already set the stage at the end of the last chapter in your house teaching last week. Sure. Right, that's right, that's right. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, as I thought this through and I kind of saw that verse one was kind of key in understanding this whole chapter and I was trying to get my arms around it to understand it. He's not boasting in the flesh, that's for sure. His heart, his understanding and his attitude is simply to boast in the Lord, to glory in the Lord, that's it, hands down. Yet what was happening is that these folks were beginning to be deceived by the false teachers, and the false teachers were beginning to make some headway, or to make some advancement with some of the Corinth believers. So for this short period of time, he engages them.

So I try to come up with an example In my mind, and I came up with, say there's a prominent sports figure, whatever the sports figure might be, golf. Tiger Woods didn't make the cut on Thursday, so he's got no room to boast now about this weekend that he's off. Tennis player, golf player, whatever sports figure that you might be able to come up with in your mind, but say that he's an excellent sports player. is above reproach, his ethics, everything about this sports figure is great. Now, he has a little bit of a following, this sports figure does as all sports figures do, and now they're going to come in, say the media, the press, whatever it might be, and they're going to begin to make some false accusations about this prominent, well-known sports figure. figure whose life is above your perch, they're coming in with false accusations against this guy.

And this guy basically sits back for a while, doesn't say anything, doesn't say anything, just listens to the false accusations, you know, they're getting put on the news or whatever it might be. But eventually, some of the people are beginning to buy in to what the false accusers are saying about this prominent sports figure. So there comes a time when this guy says, okay, wait a minute.

Let me make a few statements. Let me show you guys that these things are not true. They're saying that I'm involved with these sports at the expense of my family. I'm putting my career in front of my family. No. In fact, I bring my family with me to every one of these sporting events. All these other athletes are using steroids. If they're using steroids, I can use steroids too.

So he begins to engage in this kind of foolishness, this foolish conversation to show the people how foolish the false accusations are. Does that make sense? And that's exactly, I think, what it is that Paul is doing here. He's engaging in kind of this foolish conversation, in a sense, with the Corinth believers to make a point. to show how foolish the false accusers are, to show the error of what they're saying, so that he can set them back on the right track. That's kind of the direction of what I think Paul was getting at here.

So, he imitates the foolishness of the false teachers by showing them, and he starts in chapter 11, verse 5 there, as we looked at. But first, what he does in verse 2, He gives them the reason of why it is that he engages in this foolish conversation.

Because of his godly jealousy for them. That's why it is that he dives into this dialogue that he calls foolish, just to ask them to bear with him because of this godly jealousy that he has for them. Any thoughts? Or questions? Hopefully that makes sense because I think understanding that, why he's doing it, what his purpose is, kind of what he's about in verse 1 helps to set the stage for the rest of the chapter there. Okay, so the reason that he's going to be foolish is because of his deep love and of his concern for them, which he calls godly jealousy. Let's just read verse 2 again.

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. For I am jealous of you with a godly jealousy. This is an interesting thought here. What is godly jealousy? What are your thoughts? Think of godly jealousy. It might be something that we don't give much thought to very often until we come across this person in 2 Corinthians 11 too, but what comes to your mind when you think about godly jealousy?

Jealousy is always possessive. And this is not personally possessive. That's right. Can anybody give any examples where maybe there's been some godly jealousy? Let me say this. We don't often think of jealousy as being a right thing. But we usually think of jealousy as being wrong. You don't think of it as being part of the character of Christ. That's right. That's right. That's not what you would think. But I don't think that's the context, obviously, that's being used. Sure. Exactly right.

Yeah. I think a lot, I mean, when I first read this, I think more of that the Lord would have all to come to Him. Yeah. I mean, and it grieves Him when those that he would have be in him turn away. Right. That's right. It grieves him. Sure. That separation. Sure. And that's grieving him. That's what I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think the foundation here is truth, is it not? Yeah. That's right. That's right. And this is in defense of truth. Yeah. Yeah.

Jealousy, I just put down there to mean envy or indignation. I think that the source is very important when we're talking about godly jealousy. The source is either the flesh or the spirit. The source is the flesh. Obviously, you don't have godly jealousy. You have worldly, fleshly, sinful jealousy. But if the source is the spirit, then I think we're talking about what is godly jealousy.

So these believers in Corinth started off right. they started off by faith, grounded in truth, back to what Bob was saying, following after the Lord in light of how Paul had laid it out initially, now they're beginning to be swayed to another kind of doctrine, to another kind of teaching, and because of that, there's godly jealousy.

The spiritual children of Paul are now being swayed by a different spiritual father. I think that's kind of the way that, what he's getting at here. Two examples that I've thought about of godly jealousy. Bob, you mentioned that a while back you asked prayer for your son, who was maybe interested in a Jehovah's Witness. Is that some godly jealousy there, in a sense? I think so. My folks you hear, you know, my sister, their daughter, has married an unbeliever. I think that's some godly jealousy, in a sense, there. And the Bible talks about no greater joy. Does a parent have in this that their children walk in truth? There were probably some times where my parents were jealous and godly jealousy that I would walk in truth. There were times where I didn't. I wasn't walking in truth.

Godly jealousy. So I think in that, there's some practical applications to godly jealousy, sourcing the Spirit. And I think that's what Paul is talking about. Here, Scott? I don't know. You have your interlayer there, 1 Corinthians 13. Good question, that's good. Yeah, love is patient, love is kind, and it is not jealous. What do you have there, Hal? We're in 4, 13-4. Same word, okay.

But I mean, if you think of the term glorying, that term could be also used as boast. It could be boast about right or wrong things. I mean, that same term could be used in both contexts. So perhaps that's the same with jealousy. But I thought your example was stellar. I mean, in terms of the jealous love. Sure, that's right. It's based on truth. That's right, yeah. I think the idea there might be the fact that love is not jealous means it's not discriminating. I think that it's looking at jealousy there in a negative sense, in 1 Corinthians 13. Love isn't jealous in a negative sense. In a fleshly sense. Yeah, exactly. That's right. Source, sure. That's right. That's right. Yeah. That's right. That's almost implying a fleshly source. Yeah, I think so. I think so, sure. Because that's not the character of Christ. Right. That's right. And there's other passages that speak about God as a jealous God. I didn't think to incorporate that into this slide here, but that's one of the attributes of God, that God is a jealous God.

But love is not jealous in a negative sense, I think, as we would think of it in a self-serving, fleshly, sinful sense of jealousy. I just put down Ephesians 4, 26 that says, be angry in sin not. We don't think of jealousy as being something that's okay, nor do we think of anger as being something that is okay.

But the Bible speaks of both those things. And sourced correctly, as we're walking in the Spirit, that it does be angry and there's this godly jealousy. Any other thoughts on godly jealousy? It's a big thing, we could take a whole class on it. Okay, now next we see in this verse that he betrothed or espoused them, meaning that he fitted or joined them together with one husband, and that being Christ. And let me just read the verse to bring it up to speed again. I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I may present you as a pure virgin.

Now this is going to explain some of Paul's jealousy. Why is it that he's jealous? because he espoused them or betrothed them to one husband. And there's beginning to be, in that sense, some adultery coming in here. So, man, Paul is jealous over some of these believers in Corinth that are being swayed away from the truth.

And so I thought that it would be helpful if we saw some of the Jewish wedding customs that were understood and that Paul is speaking to here to help us understand some of the context. Let's just read through this together. Slide number four. It's a little bit lengthy, but very interesting. I think it will really help us to grasp what the Corinth believers understood and thus how they're going to receive what it is that Paul is saying.

The first major step in a Jewish marriage was betrothal. Betrothal involved the establishment of a marriage covenant. By Jesus' time it was usual for such a covenant to be established as a result of the prospective bridegroom taking the initiative. The prospective bridegroom would travel from his father's house to the home of the prospective bride. There he would negotiate with the father of the young woman to determine the price that he must pay to purchase his bride. Once the bridegroom paid the purchase price, the marriage covenant was thereby established, and the young man and woman were regarded to be as husband and wife, a binding relationship.

So, there's been, you know, when Paul makes his statement here, let me just follow from that article, as Paul makes his statement here, that I have betrothed you, or I have espoused you, these folks are receiving this as, in their culture, in their understanding, It's been a binding relationship here. I think that's what Paul is trying to drive at. There's been this relationship that has begun between you and the Lord. It's a binding relationship. From that moment on, back to the article.

From that moment on, the bride was declared to be consecrated or sanctified, set apart exclusively for her bridegroom. As a symbol of the covenant relationship that had been established, the groom and the bride would drink from a cup of wine over which a retrieval benediction had been pronounced. After the marriage covenant had been established, the groom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father's house. There he would remain separate from his bride for a period of 12 months. This period of separation afforded the bride time to gather her goods together and to prepare for married life. Does this sound similar to to Christ's relationship with who? The church? Yeah. That's why I found this thing very interesting. I thought it was worth reading through the whole thing. Cultural insights, I think, can be very helpful.

So the groom occupied himself with the preparation of living accommodations in his father's house to which he could bring his bride. What does John say? I go to prepare a place for you, that when I come again, I will take you also. At the end of the period of separation, the groom would come to take his bride to leave with him.

The taking of the bride usually took place at night. The groom, best man, and other male escorts would leave the groom's father's house and conduct a tortuous procession to the home of the bride. Although the bride was expecting her groom to come for her, she did not know the exact time of his coming. Again, direct correlation to Christ's rapture coming back for the church. As a result, the groom's arrival would be preceded by a shout. This shout would forewarn the bride to be prepared for the coming of the groom.

After the groom received his bride, together with her female attendants, the enlarged wedding party would return from the bride's home to the groom's father's house. Upon arrival there, the wedding party would find that the wedding guest had assembled already. Shortly after arrival, the bride and groom would be escorted by the other members of the wedding party to the bridal chamber. Prior to entering the chamber, the bride remained veiled so that no one could see her face. While the groomsman and bridesmaid would wait outside, the bride and groom would enter the bridal chamber alone. There, in the privacy of that place, they would enter into physical union for the first time, thereby consummating the marriage that they had covenanted earlier. After the marriage was consummated, the groom would announce the consummation to the other members of the wedding party waiting outside the chamber.

These people would pass on the news of the marital union to the wedding guest. Upon receiving this good news, the wedding guest would feast and make merry for the next seven days. and we're going to have the marriage supper of the Lamb with Christ. During the seven days of the wedding fest, there were sometimes called the seven days of chuppah, the bride remained hidden in the bridal chamber. At the conclusion of these seven days, the groom would bring his bride out of the bridal chamber, now with her veil removed, so that all could see who his bride was. Some of it has direct, but some of it doesn't. The veil of it gets a little bit confusing.

Obviously he knew who it was. Maybe not. Some of it gets a little bit fishy. Not fishy, I'm sure this is true of the culture and customs back then. But I don't know about everybody waiting outside while the marriage is consummated. That seems a little bit sketchy. According to today's customs, anyways. I won't make any more comments. They were just drinking wine and partying. Although we do know that sometimes the groom doesn't know who the bride is. Yeah. It goes in a rain even though they're going to the marriage. You know, clarify for me, Jen. Sure. That's right, that's right.

Yeah, I know couples because I've been over in India and different places of the world doing missionary work with a previous church that they literally did not know. And the parents, it was purely an arranged marriage, you know, culturally and customarily. And they didn't know. The first time they saw that person was on their wedding day. And it's funny to listen to them talk and make conversation about it, you know. But that does happen. I guess the question I have, just going tangentially, is second forgiveness. The marriage supper is unclear in terms of time, is it not? We don't know when that supper is. Well, as best I know, it's after the rapture and before the second coming, within that seven year period. But is it before the tribulation or after?

I think it's Deering. I think in Revelation that we can support that somewhat. But it's worth looking into, an eschatology study. Alright, so with that, some cultural things shed there. How the readers would have been receiving the information that Paul is talking about here about being betrothed or espoused to them, Jewish wedding customs, purity during the betrothal period was extremely important. It was viewed as a binding relationship, which is different than today. People can get engaged and they can get disengaged, and that happens quite frequently. And it doesn't seem to be the case here. It seems that this betrothal or this engagement period seems to have a lot heavier weight and a lot more significance and in a sense almost legal authority than it does today. Exactly. Exactly right. Good example. So when he uses this word here, I'm jealous of you with a gout of jealousy, for I betrothed you to one husband." They know. They know what he's driving at. They know what he's talking about here.

So Paul wants the believers to be as a pure virgin to Christ as that woman was to be pure to the person who they were espoused to or engaged to. So what would have been the opposite of them being pure? It would have been defiled or tainted. And what would have defiled or tainted these believers and caused them to not be pure to Christ?

Bad doctrine, okay. Not only bad doctrine, but how about their relationship to bad doctrine? They're beginning to become involved with bad doctrine. They're beginning to believe it. They're beginning to walk in bad doctrine. Absolutely, sure. So I think there's this big shift that's going on. And this is exactly what it is that Paul was afraid of. He says, I'm jealous of you for a godly jealousy. I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid. This is what he opens up in verse 3. But I am afraid. It's exactly what it was that he was afraid of. So, Paul was feeling the jealousy as a father would. whose daughter was being seduced by another man on the eve of a marriage. It was exactly what the jealousy that Paul was experiencing here.

It's sourced, it's right, it's sourced in the Spirit, it's sourced in truth, and it's godly jealousy. It's that kind of jealousy that we talked about earlier with the examples that we gave. So I think the Corinth believers were living pure in their union with Christ, but due to the false teachers, the mindset of some of the believers were being corrupted. Now, not all of them were being corrupted, but some of the mindset of these Corinth believers were being corrupted, and they were beginning to live in adultery to Christ.

And it's not a small, minor issue. Paul's afraid of it, and it's a big deal. And he makes a big deal about it. Any thoughts? That's right. That's exactly right. The price being paid was Christ dying on the cross and shedding his blood for them and that was a price bigger than we'll ever be able to imagine. And so Paul's upset. He's with this godly, righteous, just jealousy. He's kind of fired up about this. It's not a minor thing to be concerned about.

So it continues on in verse 3. He says, But I am afraid, just as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and the purity of devotion to Christ. So he uses this example here of how the serpent deceived Eve.

And let's just read through this account. He uses it as an example. Obviously it's very important for us. So read through this account in Genesis. It's broken up into three persons of this conversation. So God said in Genesis 2, 16-17, That was God's word. Now that was to Adam.

He didn't give that directly to Eve herself, but we could assume that that Adam transferred that information over to Eve. So then Satan comes in and he says, Has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? And the serpent said to the woman, You surely shall not die, for God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Eve said, From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God said, you shall not eat from it or touch it, lest ye die."

So there's the deception that Paul is making reference to here in verse 3 of chapter 11. So is this subtle or is this direct? Pretty direct. Yeah. That's exactly right. Is the deception Direct or is the deception subtle? Pretty subtle, isn't it? The truth is coming at them direct, but the deception is kind of subtle. I think that the deception is coming in here somewhat subtly with these with the believers here in Corinth. They're being, in a sense, seduced subtly by these false teachers.

Look over in Acts chapter 15, verse 1. Let's start up in verse 26. What's happening here in this passage is that Paul and Barnabas are coming off the end of their first journey. and they're coming to give a bit of a report here. So verse 26 of chapter 14, and from there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished. And when they had arrived and gathered the church together, they began to report all things that God had done with them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they spent a long time with the disciples.

Notice 15.1. And some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved." Enter false apostles, false teachers.

And look at how Paul and Barnabas responded. And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others from them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Was it a minor thing? Then Paul and Mark say, well, that's not that big of a deal. I think that's something that we can probably let go.

No, they had great dissension, they had great debate over this, and they decided that they needed to go up to Jerusalem to concern this issue. So, verse 3, Therefore being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they had arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But certain ones in the sects of the Pharisees, who had believed, stood up saying, it is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the law of Moses."

I think that's kind of what we, this is really the issue. This was happening in Corinth. Some of the believers in Corinth were beginning to be swayed, thus entering into spiritual adultery. which is what is causing Paul's gout of jealousy, and it's no small matter. They're beginning to be deceived subtly, just as the serpent deceived Eve. And Paul's afraid of that, and he's making a big deal about it.

Thoughts? Alright, again, I lost my bullets due to my printer. So, bear with me here. Satan thoroughly deceived thee through his unscrupulous conduct of trickery or sophistry. Same thing is happening, I think, with the Corinth believers here. They're being tricked and they're being seduced into this false teaching. Would be corrupted or led astray means simply to spoil or to ruin, to destroy by means of corrupting and thus being led into a worse state. So verse 3 says that he's afraid that your minds would be led astray. That's what he's talking about, that their minds would be spoiled or that their minds would be ruined and that they would be led off of the mark.

From the simplicity that is in Christ, the singleness that is in Christ, or the unaffectedness that is in Christ. And if you boil it down to the gospel, it's really quite simple. Somebody would ask this class, what are the core essentials of the gospel? Can we articulate those in a simple way? Hopefully we could. That's another class, talking about things of that nature. But the gospel is quite simple.

Not only the gospel from the penalty of sin, but also the gospel for the freedom from the power of sin. How did you hit that a couple of weeks ago? Yeah, somebody. You know, the full scope of the gospel, not just the salvation from the penalty of sin, but the salvation from the power of sin.

So, he's afraid that they're being led astray, that their minds are being corrupted from this simplicity, from this childlike faith that is in the gospel. Yeah? That's right. To me that's a profound phrase. The simplicity that is in Christ. You could ponder that infinitely. Yeah, that's right. It's actually a beautiful text. Simplicity that's in Christ. That's right.

It's all wrapped up in Him. Not a story, not of, but in. That's right. in all that comes with that, that by the Spirit we've been baptized into, placed into the body of Christ and the full ramifications that come with the believers are in Christ. In simplicity, Christ is complex, if you think about it. But yet, the message that he portrays in our identification with him is a simple, single-headed message.

Yeah, that's right. And that's what the godly jealousy really is. Is it bad? Is it not? It's all in Christ. The proverbial bottom line. Right. And so what was happening is the proverbial bottom line was beginning to be perverted. The thing of in Christ, well, in Christ and the law. Or in Christ and what you can do is what these guys recorded in Acts 15 and on down were saying. It's that and it's this. Or maybe they were saying it's not even that, but it's this. We have to investigate that a little bit more. If you think about the millennia of history since the cross and all the deviations from this that have occurred. That's right. The world is confused by what Christianity is all about. And no wonder Paul is making a big deal about it.

He doesn't say, it's not important, I don't want to cause a ruckus and I don't want to I don't want to, you know, ruffle the feathers, or I don't want to be that person. He says, no, look, they had great dissension, they had great debate. We're going to Jerusalem to discuss this issue. It's something that we want to go to the mat over. This issue of the simplicity that is in Christ. It's not a peripheral issue type thing.

So my next statement, is it important, or question, my next statement, is it important to pay attention to the details of God's Word, or should we not be concerned about the fine print? Paul was concerned about the fine print. That's a question I think we have to ask ourselves. Should we be concerned about the fine print? Not to be critical in any way, shape or form, but there are lots of people that are not concerned about the fine print. No, but you can't teach the fine print without knowing the book that it's in, right?

That's right. Sure. That's right. I think that's why this last phrase takes on special meaning. Right. That's right. Well, look at today's culture. You have Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, you name it. All these groups that profess to be Christians and the fine print isn't being followed at all. That's right.

That's right. Another fine print. Another fine print, sure. Right. They're so far off from the truth. Right. But if they were to follow, as we would consider the definite article, the fine print, then that would correct their errors. That's right. And that's what Paul is saying.

Paul is saying, I'm concerned about the details. I'm willing to go to Jerusalem over this issue. It's not something that I want to just let pass by. And he's very concerned about it. Let's go through these. Give me a couple more minutes here. Let's read through this because what this shows us is Paul's mind over this type of stuff. OK. OK. OK. Right. OK. What I think about. I think the fine print is every word of the Bible. It says that all scripture is inspired by God. Every word. It's an inclusive inspiration of the scripture. And I think that's what I mean by the fine print.

Some people would say, you know, those arguments over eschatology issues aren't really worth it. They're more of a peripheral issue. Let's put that aside for the sake of unity in other areas. Well, if that were the case, then why did Paul make a big deal about it in Thessalonians? See? Where he responded to their questions.

Where false... some people were saying, well, you know, the second coming has already happened. Well, Paul made that He addressed that as, I think, a very important issue, which some folks would say that's more of an unimportant or more of a peripheral issue, like some of the other doctrinal things that people would see as or not quite as important. In terms of fine print, the fine print is critical, just like, for example, if you get a warranty. And you take that, and something goes wrong with the product that you buy, and you take it back, and they say, well, you didn't read the fine print. It has to do with deception. And it's not warranted to be caused. So the fine print is critical.

Yeah, that's right. And we live in a culture. There was an issue back then, and it's an issue today. culture that is growing to be more and more and more post-modern, which is, which the details are being more and more and more suppressed. And that's, that's beginning, that's just, it's running rampant in lots of different circles. So, yeah. Thoughts, Bob?

Make it. That's why we're here, to interact over the Word of God. Let's stop. We'll pick this up. We'll go through this point here next week. But I'll tell you, sometimes I know when Hal is giving out a big handout and I forget to bring the handout. So bring your handouts next week because we won't re-give out this handout. That way you'll have the notes to interact with.

Let's pray. Father, thanks for our time this morning. Thanks for your word that was given to us. It's completely and inherently inspired. And thanks that we can just look at it in detail. Thanks that we've been given your spirit position in the heavenlies with you in Christ and that because of that we have your mind. So we're simply dependent and humbly before you to teach us what your word means and what these verses here mean that we're looking at this morning. Just be with Vern this morning as he shares more on Ephesians and this service that's ahead. In your name we pray. Amen.