2 Corinthians 10:7-12 ESV
“Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ's, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ's, so also are we. For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed. I do not want to appear to be frightening you with my letters. For they say, ‘His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.’ Let such a person understand that what we say by letter when absent, we do when present. Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.”
The Apostle Paul was suffering from false criticisms over his ministry, and so he was in the process of defending his actions and of refuting those who were falsely coming against him. So, he talked about how he did not wage war according to the flesh, and that he did not use weapons of warfare of the flesh, but of the Spirit, which have divine power to destroy strongholds and any arguments and lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God. And he shared, too, how he and his companions (or the other apostles) practiced taking every thought captive to obey Jesus Christ (1).
Now when we follow Jesus Christ with our lives, and we are walking in obedience to his commands, and we are living holy lives to the glory of God, and when we are sharing the truth of the gospel (the whole counsel of God) with others, we, too, are going to come under false criticisms sometimes. But before we write the criticisms off as false, we should examine our own hearts and lives and words against the Scriptures to make certain that we are not speaking falsely nor hypocritically regarding the Scriptures and regarding our walks of faith in Jesus Christ.
And then we can speak with confidence in our own defense regarding the truth we were speaking and with regard to our own walks of faith, too.
Now, I get criticisms from time to time, but I get encouragements, too. Usually most of the criticisms center around the altered and diluted gospel message that so many people are accepting as truth versus the full gospel message (the whole counsel of God) such as what Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. And so there will be people who will try to convince me that the lies are the truth and the truth is the lie, etc. And so they may accuse me of being legalistic or of teaching works salvation or of teaching a false gospel message. So, they may attack me personally.
Some of the criticism I face also stems from the fact that I speak out against the institutional market-driven churches of today and how they, in themselves, are not the church. And I speak of how we don’t have to attend one of these market-driven “churches” to be in a right relationship with God or to be walking in pure fellowship with God, but how we, the body of Christ, are the church, and that wherever we gather together for God’s purposes that we are not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. But some people still assume if I don’t go to a building called “church” on a Sunday morning that I am “not in church,” and thus I am out of God’s will.
And I am not certain here what Paul was being criticized for exactly, but there is an inference here that he was also being accused of not being in right standing with God or that perhaps he wasn’t a Christian because of something he did or said that they didn’t approve of and agree with. And they thought that he was too serious and strong in his letters, and I have been accused of being too serious, too. I had one pastor tell me that he was warned about people like me, i.e. “people with strong convictions,” as though that was a bad thing to have strong convictions.
And then Paul spoke against those who were measuring (judging) them (he and the other apostles, I assume) by their own selves, and how that was not wise. And I, too, have faced a lot of that kind of criticism, as people will sometimes judge me by their own standards, and their own selves, and their own traditions and culture and practices, etc. But we, when we do judge, are to judge rightly and justly and according to the truth of the Scriptures, and not according to our own selves or our own culture and traditions, etc. For God’s standards are what we are all to live by, not by our culture.
So, again, if you are walking in obedience to the Lord, and if you are doing what he says, according to what the Scriptures teach, you will most likely be falsely criticized and even mocked and ignored and rejected and persecuted for your seriousness about God and his word, and for your walks of holiness and righteousness, and because you do stand out as different, and because you are sharing the truth of the gospel, and not the lies. But if you face this, don’t lose heart. Don’t get discouraged. And do not fear what other humans may say or do against you. But be strong in the Lord and in his strength.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; Jn 15:1-21; Jn 16:33; Jn 17:14; Ac 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
What the Lord Says
An Original Work / February 24, 2014
Based off Isaiah 43:1-44:5
This is what the Lord says to you:
Fear not, for I have chosen you.
I have summoned you by your name.
You are mine. I died, you to save.
When you go through your trials, so deep,
I will be with you; you will not sink.
You are so precious always to me.
Trust in your Lord, Savior and King.
This is what the Lord says to you:
He who gave salvation to you;
Who delivered you from your sin;
Takes your burdens now upon Him:
Forget the former things of your life.
Give of your heart not now up to strife.
See all the new things I have for you.
Walk in vict’ry. Trust in what’s true.
This is what the Lord says to you:
He who made you; who will help you:
Do not fear what humans may do.
Walk in freedom. Follow what’s true.
Drink of my Spirit given for you.
Trust in my mercy, for I love you.
I have a plan for all of your life.
Follow my ways. Do what is right.
https://vimeo.com/87634334
(1) https://runwithit.blog/2023/06/05/destroying-arguments-against-god/
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