Such Men are False Apostles

“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. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” (2 Corinthians 11:12-15 ESV)

The context is that of Paul addressing the Corinthian church regarding their disloyalty to their husband, Jesus Christ, because at least some (or many) of them were putting up with false teachers and a false gospel message. They were being led astray by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming, and their thoughts were being led astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ, or at least they were on the precipice of such a situation as this due to their tolerance of the false teachers among them.

Now these false teachers were evidently passing themselves off as apostles of Christ Jesus who were equal in stature with Paul and the other apostles. But the gospel that they were teaching was not the gospel of Jesus Christ, nor were they presenting a true biblical picture of who Jesus is and was. And it is the same today with so many false teachers within the gatherings of the church, at least here in America, who are teaching a distorted gospel and an altered character of God/Christ to make them more acceptable to the flesh.

So, the apostle Paul came to his own defense for the sake of the defense of the gospel and for the sake of those who were or who were potentially being led astray by these false teachers. And he let the people know plainly that these men were not servants of the Lord Jesus, but they were false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And he regarded them, thus, as servants of Satan who disguises himself as an angel of light. For they were disguising themselves as servants of righteousness.

And, again, we are faced with the same situation in the gatherings of the church (or what are falsely called “church”) here in America. Many who proclaim that they are servants of the Lord and ministers of the gospel are really deceitful workmen working for Satan (knowingly or unknowingly), who are teaching a gospel of man, and not of God. It may sound like truth, and they may be using the Scriptures, but most of them are taking the Scriptures out of context and are twisting them to say what is not truth.

Now, in order to deceive the people, they cleverly blend the truth and the lies together so that it sounds like truth, but it is twisted truth which is a lie. And some of them skillfully use the art of misimpressions (indirect lies) in order to deceive the people in a way which is difficult to prove. It sounds like truth, and there is truth thrown in with it, but it is distorted truth. But it sounds good, and it appeals to human flesh, and so the masses appear to be buying into the lies while they are rejecting the truth of the gospel.

So, what they are mostly teaching is that Jesus died to forgive us our sins so that we can go to heaven when we die. So all we have to do is make a verbal profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all our sins are forgiven and heaven is guaranteed us when we die, but regardless of how we live. Many are even teaching against repentance and against obedience to the Lord, calling that “works salvation,” which they claim is not of God. And the masses are flocking to that message so they can live however they want.

But Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. So, if we hold on to our old lives (save them), we will lose them for eternity. But if we lose our lives (die to sin and to self), for the sake of Christ, and now we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, then we have the hope of eternal life. For Jesus died to free us from our addiction to sin so that we will now walk in obedience to his commands in holy living (see Luke 9:23-26).

So, if we believe the false gospel which tells us that no obedience and no repentance are required of us by God, but that our profession of faith in the Lord is enough to secure us heaven when we die, by his grace, then we should be aware that the Bible does not support that gospel. For if we remain walking in sin and not in obedience to our Lord in holy living, we will die in our sins. We will not have eternal life with God regardless of what our lips profess. But if we are walking in obedience to our Lord, by the grace of God, in his power, then heaven is promised us when we die.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

Who Believes?  

An Original Work / October 3, 2013

Based off Isaiah 53

Gospel message, who believes?

Jesus Christ died on a tree,

Saving us from all our sin,

So we might be cleansed within.

Had no beauty found in Him,

That we should desire Him.

Man of sorrows, suffering;

Crushed for our iniquities.

Surely He has borne our griefs;

From our sadness, brings relief.

Bore the stripes; forsaken, He,

So forgiven we might be.

We, like sheep, have gone astray,

Each of us turned his own way.

Jesus calls, “Repent today;

My commandments, now obey.”

Jesus said, to come to him,

We must die to all our sin.

Crucified with Him, we live,

Walking in His righteousness.

Suff’ring servants, we will be,

Taking His identity on us,

When confessing Him

As our Savior, Lord and King.

https://vimeo.com/115517757