2 Corinthians
7:2-4
“Make room in your hearts for us. We
have wronged no one, we have corrupted no one, we have taken advantage of no
one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in
our hearts, to die together and to live together. I am acting with great
boldness toward you; I have great pride in you; I am filled with comfort. In
all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.”
You and I understand that Paul is
writing to the church at Corinth, but why is he asking them to make room in
their hearts for him and others whom he has sent to bring the teaching of Jesus
Christ to them? And no sooner than Paul left false teachers came in with
a Jesus plus gospel, they implied Paul was wrong at best in his teaching, and
many said he was a heretic. They claimed that to be a Christ follower one
must obey and live according to Mosaic regulations. On Paul’s second
visit to Corinth, it was not a good visit; it was very painful what he
encountered for the false teachers had been very successful at getting the
Corinthians to disown Paul.
It seems clear that Paul wrote a now
lost letter of rebuke (2 Corinthians 2:3-4, 9) and sent it by Titus. When
Titus returned to Paul, he came with good news that many in the church had
repented, and now accepted Paul as an apostle of Jesus Christ as is recorded in
verses 5-7 of this chapter.
Had Jesus not taught that false
prophets and the teacher would come to the church in Matthew 24:10-12, “And then many
will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false
prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be
increased, the love of many will grow cold.” And in Romans
16:17-18, are we not given this instruction: “I appeal to
you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles
contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such
persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth
talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.” And in
Colossians 2:8, we have this wise counsel; “See to it that
no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human
tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according
to Christ.”
This past week Jan and I drove to
Corpus Christi and as I was driving I got into those small grooves at the far
right side of the road that can wake you up and keep you from danger.
This thought came to my mind; that is what happens when I put the word of God
into my mind and when I hear a teacher or preacher misusing the Scriptures the
Holy Spirit brings to my soul, I’m hitting the groove, wake-up. As a
follower of Christ, you need the warnings that Scripture puts into your memory
and how they guide you in a world of deception and false teachers.
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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