Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.
2 Corinthians 12:11-21
We live in a day when we analyze everything, thinking we can accomplish everything necessary by sophisticated methodology. Churches, church leaders, and pastors are forever, it seems, looking for new methods, new patterns, new understanding of the demographics of the society around them to find the schemes and plans in which to have effective ministry. But,God is looking for are people whose hearts are totally devoted to Him. Paul was a man who walked with God; a man who was consumed with all the right things and driven by all the right passions, motivations and the right desires. Christian ministry is all about walking with God and knowing God profoundly and deeply. It’s all about having righteous, pure, holy aspirations and motives. It’s all about our hearts, our attitudes and, our motives. Paul is bringing his second letter to the Corinthian church to an end, concluding by going back into his heart. He is letting us see what motivates him, drives him and, compels him. Paul wants the Corinthians to see what a true apostle is like in contrast to false teachers. Paul gives the Corinthian church five characteristics of false teachers that we can see even in today’s climate of apostasy. 1: Pride, seeking fame, large crowds; 2: Selfishness, prosperity and comfort in this world; 3: Deception, corrupting the Truth, subtly and sometimes blatantly; 4: Irreverence, lying and blasphemous; 5: Destroyers, abusing people and leading them into sin. Paul, humbly wanting the Corinthians to know these characteristics, was committed to the church to edify them. So, Paul characterized humility, unselfishness, integrity, reverence, and edification – the very opposite of what characterizes false teachers. Paul says, “I’ve covered the facts. You know I never took anything from you; Titus never defrauded you, coming with a brother widely known and famous among the entire church for his preaching. And you know we did all this so no suspicion could be grounded in any reality whatsoever.” The conscience is the highest court on earth, a God-given device that every person possesses, triggering feelings of shame, remorse, fear, and guilt when we sin. So, Paul says, “We conducted ourselves appropriately; all of us did. You have no reason for such foolish suspicions. I have conducted my ministry with complete integrity and honesty.” God has given to the Church apostles and prophets and evangelists and teaching pastors for the edification of the saints, for the building up of the saints. And Paul was one of those. He was given to the Church for the building of the Church. Christians today must understand the Scriptures in a way to discern the false teachers who come in among us. Christian, how are you doing when it comes to knowing the Scriptures? Could you discern a false teacher/preacher spewing the lies of Satan and his demons who have infiltrated your church?
Source: S C Ball January 6, 2024
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