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The Simplicity of the Gospel
2 Corinthians 11:3
Paul expressed a fear or concern in the above text; that in the same manner Eve was beguiled by the serpent; these brethren would be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. The word "simplicity" to most of us, could most easily be defined as, "the opposite of complicated." Although the meaning of this word in the original text was not limited to this definition, it is included.
Is God "complicated"? The vast majority of the world thinks so, mostly because the religious teachers have taught such. Would God be fair if His message was "complicated?" No! Don't mistake me, Peter said of Paul writings, "...some things are hard to be understood...", but some folks think it is impossible to understand, thus abandoning their responsibility to learn of the Father and come to Him. God would be guilty of discrimination, had his eternal plan been designed exclusively for the "intellectual," or "formally schooled" individual. Surely such cannot be the case!
Religious leaders and the religiously deceived have God's woven plan into a complicated web of intrigue which they can't repeat the same way twice! What possible comfort could a religion afford, which either has its adherents totally confused, or has them so dependent upon the understanding of another man regarding what they’re supposed to believe? My friends, don't be deceived. The Omnipotent God of Heaven is powerful enough to preserve for your understanding, His will, and how that you may please Him, and know it!
How is the simplicity of Christ corrupted? By preachers who pervert the Gospel of Christ. The very next verse (2Cor.11:4) following Paul's statement regarding the simplicity of Christ, says those who preach another Jesus, another spirit, or another Gospel are in this class. The complicated tangle of denominational doctrines do not have their source with God, but rather it is something foreign introduced which "corrupts" the purity and simplicity in Christ. God is not the author of confusion, (1 Cor. 14:33) man is. Paul marveled that the Galatians were "removed" from the Gospel and were embracing "another" which he states "...is not another..." and in a manner of speaking call them Gospel "perverters." (1:7) Why? Because the Gospel is ONE, and it alone will produce the desired result: salvation. The simplicity in Christ is corrupted when man introduces one product of his own thinking into the relationship between him and Christ. Preachers who teach “faith alone saves”, “a person can be saved without (or before) water baptism”, or “repentance or confession need not precede baptism”, complicate and thus corrupt the simplicity in Christ. Preachers who teach that Jesus will return to earth for a literal millennial reign, and attempt to parallel every figure of speech in the book of Revelation to some world event today, corrupt and complicate the simplicity in Christ.
Thank God for the surety and simplicity of the Gospel, the Word of God! It is a testimony to the Omniscient Creator. What man, or men, could write 66 books over a period of thousands of years, with the perfect harmony and simplicity of the Bible? The Gospel is a message which can be learned and obeyed by every individual which has the God given ability to reason. Thank God for the independence that we need not rely on the understanding of another man for salvation, but can rest our hope and understanding on the unchanging God of Heaven and His Word.
Next week we will explore how people in the Lord's Church corrupt the simplicity in Christ. Think about it
