Another Jesus

Here’s The Word:

2 Corinthians 11:3-4 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. 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.

I think the saddest thing about history is that the further away it is, the less relevant it seems. This also seems to be the very reason why we repeat the same mistakes; then and now are completely different (contemporarily and contextually) and somehow we don’t assume that we could fall victim to the same subtleties over and over again.

Even when we read this scripture, many of us if we’re honest see its audience as at least a little “dull” mentally. As if they almost want to be duped because it’s SO EASY to stay on a straight path once it’s been firmly placed in front of you. Oh! How I wish that were true but we know that it isn’t. The Bible is replete with passages on how quickly we fall into the ditches on either side of the narrow path.

It’s evident from the verse above that we need to keep a close and intimate relationship with The Spirit of God that enlightens Scripture and leads us into Godly wisdom because there are also ‘other’ spirits that come in subtly to impress themselves on our doctrine. Although it’s easy to see the error in things like Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormonism, there are many, many other subtleties that actively gaining traction that can make you very unpopular if you point out their dissonance with The Bible.

This is not a new phenomenon, it’s an age old and tenacious spirit that continues to find potholes in our understanding. These potholes become footholds that then become strongholds because at the end of the day, there really is no “other” Christ; any counterfeit, any disingenuous exhibition, any benevolent display is to be scrutinized against Scripture to prove its foundation and fruit. To compromise Christ into a better relatable, more palatable, homogenized composition of things we're comfortable with is not the kind of thing to be easily dismissed. Warnings such as this are pretty good indicators that grace won't turn a blind eye.

I also hope you’ve seen through your reading that blame is never a good answer for being fooled, no matter how well devised the trickery was. Loyalty and unity are good and beautiful things, but neither are never worth diluting the clear presentation of Christ and His Gospel. Our persistent diligence to stay true to the ‘simplicity’ remains our responsibility.


In Him,
Cros