2 Corinthians 11:1-15 Lesson 353

2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Lesson 353

Read both the "King James Bible" and the "New Living Translation."

In this lesson:

Don't be gullible.
Beware of false doctrine and teachers.
Paul rebukes the Corinthians for following a different Messiah, spirit, or gospel (11:3-4).
Paul received no financial help from Corinth (11:7-10).
"Satan disguises himself as an angel of light" (11:14).

Study Tip:

Put the lessons learned from the Bible to work in your life.

The Second Epistle of Paul The Apostle To The Corinthians

The King James Bible

2 Corinthians 11:1-15
The false apostles

1 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me.

2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

5 For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.

6 But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

7 Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?

8 I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.

9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

10 As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

11 Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth.

12 But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we.

13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.

14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Margin notes:

"Bear with me a little in my folly." (11:1) - "Bear with me (Paul) in my foolishness." Paul just pointed out the foolishness of boasting in verse 10:18 (lesson 352). Now he's about to boast about the work done in Corinth.

"Godly jealousy." (11:2) - Jealousy, as described in Exodus 20:4-5.

"I have espoused you to one husband." (11:2) - "I have promised you to one husband (Christ)." The Bible refers to the church as the bride of Christ (Revelations 19:7). As their spiritual father, it was Paul who introduced the Corinthians (brides) to Jesus (Hosea 2:19).

"The serpent beguiled Eve." (11:3) - To learn how the serpent (Satan) deceived Eve, read Genesis 3:1-6. Someday Satan will have his day of reckoning (Revelation 12:9).

"Preacheth another Jesus." (11:4) - "Preaches a false Christ." See also Galatians 1:7-8.

"Ye might well bear with him." (11:4) - "You might well listen to him (false prophets)."

"I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles." (11:5) - This means that Paul was not inferior to even the highest but false apostle.

"Though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge." (11:6) - "Although I am a poor speaker, I have a deep knowledge (of God)."

"Made manifest." (11:6) - "Made clear."

"Have I committed an offence in abasing myself... because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?" (11:7) - "Have I done wrong by lowering myself... and preaching to you for free?" In Paul's day, some believed that the better the preacher, the more he charged, and Paul did not charge.

"I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service." (11:8) - Paul accepted money from the churches in Macedonia (11:9) so he could preach for free in Corinth.

"When I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man." (11:9) - "When I was with you, and in need, I was still not a burden to you." In contrast, false teachers lived comfortably off people and their donations.

"That which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied." (11:9) - 'My needs were fulfilled by the Christians in Macedonia." Paul also earned money by working part-time as a tentmaker (Acts 18:1-3).

"No man shall stop me of this boasting." (11:10) - No one could stop Paul from boasting about how he preached to the Corinthians for free.

"Wherefore? because I love you not?" (11:11) - "Why do I do this? Is it because I don't love you?"

"I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we." (11:12) - "I will cut off any chances from those who want to brag that their teaching is the same as ours."

"False apostles, deceitful workers." (11:13) - Beware of false apostles and deceitful teachers (Philippians 3:2). False teachers are cursed (Galatians 1:8). "The devil has "ministers" just as surely as God does. You may rest assured that all who claim to be ministers of the Gospel are not. Beware of the minister who mixes Law and Grace or who mixes anything with Grace. God's preachers preach salvation by Grace through faith, plus nothing." (Harold G. Ihlefeldt 1920-1971).

"And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel." (11:14) - "And no surprise, Satan can disguise himself as an angel."

New Living Translation

2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Paul and the False Apostles

1 I hope you will put up with a little more of my foolishness. Please bear with me.

2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband-Christ.

3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.

4 You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed.

5 But I don't consider myself inferior in any way to these "super apostles" who teach such things.

6 I may be unskilled as a speaker, but I'm not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every possible way.

7 Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God's Good News to you without expecting anything in return?

8 I "robbed" other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost.

9 And when I was with you and didn't have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be.

10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this.

11 Why? Because I don't love you? God knows that I do.

12 But I will continue doing what I have always done. This will undercut those who are looking for an opportunity to boast that their work is just like ours.

13 These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ.

14 But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

15 So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.

This second Bible text from the "New Living Translation" (Tyndale House, Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois) is a paraphrase and not an accurate word for word translation of the Bible. However, it is a helpful tool when read with the "King James Version."

Today's question:

1. Why does Paul bring up Eve and the serpent? (11:3)

"You must pay for everything in this world one way and another. There is nothing free except the Grace of God. You cannot earn that or deserve it."

Charles McColl Portis, American author

Answer: (Do you agree?)

1. Paul brings up Eve and the serpent (Satan) as a warning to the Corinthians not to follow false prophets (11:4). Like Eve, Corinthians were being "beguiled" away from God.  Still today, we should be wary of false preachers who sound good but are more interested in making money (11:7) or promoting themselves than spreading the word of Christ.  Remember, Satan can disguise himself as a serpent or an angel to deceive us (11:14), and so can his "ministers" (11:15).


Application thoughts for the day:

Satan promised Adam and Eve they would be gods (Genesis 3:5).
How many different ways does Satan lure people astray?
What lessons on false preachers can be learned from this segment?

Will you light a candle today?

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Thanks to the writings and commentary of John Wesley and Adam Clarke. Also, "The Layman's Bible Study Notebook" by Irving Jensen published by Harvest House Publishing, Irvine, California; the "Life Change Series" published by NavPress books, Colorado Springs, Colorado; the "Life Application Study Bible" published by Tyndale House Publishing, Carol Stream, Illinois; the "Quest Study Bible" published by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "Robertson's New Testament Word Studies;" "The MacArthur Bible Commentary" by John MacArthur published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, Tennessee; "Wisdom of the Bible" CD by Topics Entertainment, Inc., Renton, Washington for their inspiring pictures; "My utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio; The "Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge" by Reuben Archer Torrey; "Hope For Each Day" by Billy Graham published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville, Tennessee; "Easton's Bible Dictionary" by Matthew George Easton; "Unger's Bible Dictionary" by Merrill F. Unger, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; "Halley's Bible Handbook" by Henry H. Halley, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan; "The Everyday Bible" published by World Wide Publications, Minneapolis, Minnesota; "The Living New Testament" published by Tyndale house, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Living Translation" published by Tyndale House, Wheaten, Illinois; "The New Testament" translated from the Latin Vulgate, published by Guild Press, New York, New York; BibleGateway.com for all their wonderful links; and of course the "King James Bible." All were critical in putting these lessons together.
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