2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 11
The True Apostle and the False Teachers. 2 Cor. 11, 1–15.
Paul censures the spirit which gives ear to false teaching: V.3. But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. V.4. For if he that cometh preacheth an other Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or an other gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
But Paul expresses a deep disappointment and fear, namely, that the purity and unsullied virginity, of which he was so proud, may have been corrupted through the work of the false teachers, that their minds may have been led away from simplicity and one-mindedness toward Christ, just as the serpent completely beguiled Eve by his many arts, Gen. 3.
As in the Garden of Eden, Satan, the tempter of mankind, is unceasingly active, deceiving and seducing into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice. This, Paul feared, had taken place in Corinth, for it seemed that the members of that congregation had shown themselves only too willing to listen to strange teachings; their minds were no longer directed toward Christ with singleness of heart, but they were rather giving heed to the voice of the tempter.
Paul means to say, in brief: “But something is worrying me and causing me care, yes, I am jealous and zealous about you (yet with godly zeal, not from anger or hatred), that I yield you to no one else; for I fear nothing so much as that the devil woo you away from Christ. Just as it happened to Eve in paradise, who also was a beautiful bride, decorated with manifold ornament, both external and spiritual, divine, and obedient, and subject to God. But the devil beguiled her and caused her to sin, so that she deserted God and followed the adulterer and led us all with her into the harm in which we are submerged.
“Thus, he says, I am anxious about you, who have once more been brought to Christ and become His bride. For the danger is great, since the devil attacks Christendom without ceasing, and since we are weak, and you must beware and be on your guard with all diligence, lest you, by the guile and craftiness of Satan, be led away from the Word and obedience of Christ, our Lord, who has loved you and given Himself for you” (Luther, 12, 2029).
The apostle substantiates his suspicions: For, indeed, if he that comes were preaching another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you were receiving another spirit which you did not receive, or a different gospel which you did not accept, you bear with him well!
Instability and gullible curiosity seem to be characteristics of newly founded congregations, since they are still lacking the solid doctrinal foundation so necessary to remain firm against temptations and persecutions of every kind. If anyone comes, no matter who he is, and whether or not he has a call or authority, the Corinthians were exhibiting a tolerance and a willingness to hear him which certainly accorded finely with their assumed wisdom, as the apostle ironically remarks.
For here were the false teachers, blandly insisting that they were really proclaiming the complete and perfect Christ, that their understanding of Jesus was so much more encompassing than that of Paul. But the latter tears the mask from their face and declares that the Christ whom they preached was not the Christ of the Gospel, but another Christ, a figment of their imagination; for Christ was not a new lawgiver. So the false teachers also alleged that they were imparting the Spirit properly and in the right measure, as befitted the city of Corinth with its traditions of culture and learning.
But Paul calls that a different spirit, one having nothing in common with the true Spirit of holiness given through the pure preaching of the Gospel. The false teachers had proudly presented themselves as the true preachers of the message of salvation; but Paul declares their proclamation to be a different gospel, one which has nothing in common with the message of redemption through the blood of Christ. Compare Galatians 1, 6-9.
Note: The description of the false teachers, as here given, in a most remarkable manner fits those teachers of our day who arise in the Church and calmly proclaim a new Christ, a different spirit, a social gospel. And, alas! they find many whose facile acceptance of novelty causes them to bear with the glittering phrases finely.