2 Corinthians 11:1–3

In the light of the coming day, when the Lord will commend His servants, praising oneself in front of one's fellows appears to be nothing but folly. Paul admits this in the first verse of our chapter. He had been speaking about himself in the previous chapter, and he says more about himself in this one. But his whole aim was to assure the Corinthians that his apostolic mission was real and genuine. He pleads guilty to this "folly" and asks them to bear with him in it.

The apostle loved to spend himself in the service of Christ or the saints. He hated to say a word about himself even when the occasion called for it, at least when it might look like self-defence. His wisdom, and his joy, was to testify of Christ. To speak of himself even as His servant he counts "folly," however necessary. But it is part of the enemy's tactics to undermine, lower, and if possible destroy a true servant of the Lord... For can anything be more likely to frustrate testimony to Christ than to blacken the one who carries it, in his motives, ways, and aims?

You can see the point of this opening verse by looking back at verse 12 of the last chapter. He is about to do, in his own way, what he had there called unwise. For this deliberate act of folly he asks them to be patient with him, since glorying in the Lord left no proper room for self-commendation of any kind. So if he now seemed to contradict in practice the rule of life he had just set before them, let them remember this: it is to them, and for their sakes, that he exposes his weakness. They might well bear with him, for he was no willing actor. Their own readiness to believe the claims of his critics had forced him onto the stage.

It is humbling yet instructive to contrast the apostle's pain at having to speak like this with the all too obvious pleasure many a servant of Christ takes in personal stories. Such stories seem to have no aim but to prove his own cleverness at the expense of poor Mr. This or Mr. That, or the great sacrifices he has made for the truth, or the outstanding excellence of his own line of things in the testimony of Christ.

If it seems strange that Paul asks the Corinthians to bear with a little folly in him, let us still remember that it is God who inspires him to write as he does. Paul thought it folly to speak of himself and of his own labours for Christ, and would far rather have avoided it. But God required it here, and His inspiring it keeps it fully free from exaggeration or from exalting a man too highly... It is valuable for our day, when men exalt themselves and claim to be apostles or something like it. Measure such a claim against Paul's character, labour, and sufferings, and these modern claims will collapse in utter shame.

These chapters hold much that is of deep importance for all saints, and for all time. We gain greatly by having it given to us not as theory, but as actual practice, worked out between the apostle and some of his fellow believers.

Almost everyone speaks of jealousy as something evil; Scripture hardly ever does. It even speaks of a jealousy that comes from God. Paul can say to believers, "I feel a divine jealousy for you"… His love for Christ, and his love for the saints, made him jealous in case anyone or anything should come between them and Christ. He had no pity for anyone who used false teaching to lure the saints away from Christ.

The Jews treated betrothal as binding as marriage, and only a divorce could end it… Scripture also uses it as a picture of God's favour to Israel, His ancient people, in a future day, when He will "betroth" them to Himself for ever (Hosea 2:19-20). It pictures too where the church stands with Christ. Paul wrote to the believers at Corinth, "I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ" (2 Cor. 11:2). The conduct of the saints should be true to this betrothal.

As an ambassador of Christ he represented Christ. As God's effective messenger of grace he had betrothed the church at Corinth to the Lord, gathering from her lips a virgin confession of His saving name. He wanted to present her to the true Bridegroom on the coming day, still in the first, unchilled love of her betrothal. True gospel service presents to Christ what Christ will Himself present in glory to Himself… Notice that the apostle is not speaking here of individual believers, but of the whole company of the saved at Corinth.

"Chaste" means purity of body and blamelessness of life. It also carries the thought of something marked by awe, something very rare in the way this godless world runs. And it carries the thought of something costly, given up in sacrifice. If we want to bring joy to the heart of Christ, we must refuse the flesh.

The Song of Solomon does not go beyond the day of betrothal, but Paul points to the wedding day, when the betrothed one is presented to Christ as a pure virgin. What does he mean by a pure virgin? He means one who is true, one against whom not a breath of reproach could be raised. So he warns them: "I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ."

This is the destiny of the saints. They are loved, washed, sanctified, justified, with this close relationship to Christ in view. To the apostle that relationship was completely real and sure. It was not so to those who lowered the standard — the standard of future hope, of present separateness, and of conscious nearness to Christ in love and holiness. They lowered it by allowing themselves ease in this life, and links with the world in its aims and ways, its philosophy or even its religion… We are betrothed now to one husband, Christ Himself, and we are called to judge not only our conduct but our unsuitable thoughts and feelings.

Surely Revelation 12:9 and Revelation 20:1, together with 2 Corinthians 11:3, are enough to decide this question. Satan made use of that subtle animal, before it was reduced to its humiliating condition.

Verse 3 is very important, because it exposes the way the great adversary sets the trap for our feet. In 2 Corinthians 4 we were told how he blinds the minds of those who do not believe. Here we find that some have believed, so his blinding tactics have failed with them. Even so, he is still stubbornly active. He aims to deceive them, as he once deceived Eve. When he acts with cunning as the serpent, he is more dangerous than when he attacks as a roaring lion.

The enemy's approach was indeed subtle. It was to awaken distrust of God in Eve's heart. Could it be good to refuse man the fruit of any tree in the garden? Distrust of God opens the door to every sin.

Their minds at Corinth were beginning to be corrupted by someone who came with impressive claims in the flesh. Eve was not satisfied with what God had made her. She listened to the lie of the serpent when he offered her to become like God. In the same way, the Corinthians were not satisfied simply with what Christ had made them. They were seeking wisdom of the flesh.

The devil, in the form of a serpent, deceived Eve in a very subtle and crafty way. Step by step he corrupted her mind as to God, and led her to act apart from her husband and independently of him. He works in the same way today. He aims at diverting us from simplicity and from true subjection to Christ.

This expression means two things. First, a view of gospel truth so clear and unhindered that it convinces both heart and mind of its absolute excellence and perfection. Second, a faith strong and simple enough to set the believer knowingly in Christ, and so to separate him in heart and spirit from the world. Only those who look at Him with a single heart and eye have the assured and delighted sense of completeness in Christ. This is the believer's true excellence, and to cast him down from it is the constant effort of the enemy.

There were "false brothers" who not only made a Christian profession but claimed to be apostles... they came to the saints with such an impressive outward show that they appeared as angels of light and ministers of righteousness. These men used satanic subtlety. They perverted the truth by preaching "another Jesus," "another Spirit," and "another gospel."

The more Christ is a living person to the soul, the more that soul recognises the reality of Satan's work against it. The enemy is a real and active adversary who must be resisted. To feel nothing of his schemes is the awful sign of an unbelief, common and growing in the Christian world.

After all, it is not knowing Satan that keeps us aware of his schemes and able to spot them. It is keeping in God's presence... The moment we know a thing is of Satan, the temptation is over if we are walking with God... The devil has this character of subtlety, like the serpent, and not always open opposition. But the place of obedience to God will always upset him.