2 Corinthians 11:1–3: Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
We see the working of Satan in all this. At the very beginning of the early church the Devil used the method of persecution, but he found that he wasn’t stopping the spread of Christianity. The fact of the matter is that the church has never grown as it did those first one hundred years after Christ lived. It swept across the Roman Empire, and by a.d. 315 it had gone into every nook and corner of the Roman Empire. That was during a period of persecution. When the Devil saw that persecution would not stop the church, he changed to a different tactic. He joined the church. He began to hurt the church from the inside. He still does that today. He attacks the validity of the Word of God, and he tries to discredit the gospel. If that doesn’t work, he tries to discredit the man who preaches the gospel. So he tried to discredit Paul. He is afraid they will be beguiled by Satan just as Eve was beguiled by his subtlety. Paul knows that Satan works “so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 1
Personal Application
- Read 1 Corinthians 15:21-22. What confidence does this verse give us regarding the assurance of our future in heaven with Jesus?
Godly Encouragement
- Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. –James 4:7
A Biblical Thought to Share with Others
Simplicity in Christ is much more satisfying than wildly pleasures. – TWEET IT
A Prayer to Consider
Lord, keep me from agreeing with the tempter’s temptations.
1. Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.
