Messengers of Light - Or Maybe Not
“For such are false apostles, fraudulent workers, being transfigured into apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is being transfigured into a messenger of light. It is no great thing, then, if his servants also are being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness...” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15)
Paul says some “dispensers of righteousness” are Satan’s servants who are appearing to the world as “apostles of Christ”. They are at work in the midst of Christianity. They are not bad people per se, just preachers and teachers preaching and teaching false doctrine, for the most part unaware it is false.
How are we to distinguish them from the true believers and followers of Christ Jesus if they all look the same and may not even realize who they are?
From whom did Paul receive the good news he taught? Not from other men but directly from Jesus Christ...
“But I certify you brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12)
It is interesting to me what he did not teach. He said nothing about the trinity, free will, or eternal separation from God in hell. Yet he stated clearly that he was innocent of the blood of all men for he had taught “the whole counsel of God”…
“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27)
So exactly what did Jesus reveal to Paul and send him to preach and teach?
He taught the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah (Christ) and the Messiah had to suffer death and rise again:
“…that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.” (Acts 17:2-3,10; 18:4).
He taught both Jews and Gentiles that they were UNITED before God in Christ and all would be resurrected from the dead by the grace of God:
1. “…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of ALL Who is over all and through all and IN ALL…to each one of us was given GRACE in accord with the measure of the gratuity of Christ.” (Ephesians 4: 5-6)
2. “…Christ was roused from among the dead…if we have become planted together in the likeness of his death, nevertheless we shall be of the resurrection also.” (Romans 6:5-6)
3. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive…so that God may be All in ALL” (1 Corinthians 15:22-28)
Specifically about law, grace, faith, sin, and the gift of salvation he taught the following, among other things:
1. “…by works of law, no flesh at all shall be justified in His sight, for through the law is the recognition of sin…for ALL have sinned and are wanting of the glory of God” (Romans 3:20, 23)
2. “…God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes…being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10)
3. “For the ration of sin in death, yet the gracious gift of God is life eonian, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
4. “God was in Christ, conciliating the WORLD to Himself, not reckoning THEIR offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
5. “For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you; it is God's approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
6. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of whom am I. But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ should be displaying all His patience, for a pattern of those who are about to be believing on Him for life eonian.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16)
7. “…be leading a mild and quiet life in all devoutness and gravity, for this is ideal and welcome in the sight of our Savior God, Who wills that ALL mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for ALL.” (1 Timothy 2:2-6)
8. “…we rely on the living God, Who is the Savior of ALL mankind, especially of believers. These things be charging and teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:10-11)
For the bible to be the very Word of God, one must be able to harmonize all of it with the revelation Jesus gave to Paul and quoted above. If a doctrine is taught that cannot be harmonized with the above, then it is FALSE and those teaching such...
“...are false apostles, fraudulent workers, being transfigured into apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is being transfigured into a messenger of light. It is no great thing, then, if his servants also are being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness...”
Paul says some “dispensers of righteousness” are Satan’s servants who are appearing to the world as “apostles of Christ”. They are at work in the midst of Christianity. They are not bad people per se, just preachers and teachers preaching and teaching false doctrine, for the most part unaware it is false.
How are we to distinguish them from the true believers and followers of Christ Jesus if they all look the same and may not even realize who they are?
We can only identify them by what they are teaching. If it is not what Paul was teaching, then they are Satan’s servants, not Christ’s, regardless of how sincere they are or righteous they may appear...
"...there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" (Galatians 1:7-8)
"...there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!" (Galatians 1:7-8)
How do we know if they are teaching false doctrine?
By comparing what they teach to the best and most accurate version of the Scripture we have which for me is the Concordant Version which I have made available on the right side of my blog. I sometimes quote other translations because they are more familiar to others, but in this post all quotes are from the Concordant Version...
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11)
By comparing what they teach to the best and most accurate version of the Scripture we have which for me is the Concordant Version which I have made available on the right side of my blog. I sometimes quote other translations because they are more familiar to others, but in this post all quotes are from the Concordant Version...
"Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so." (Acts 17:11)
From whom did Paul receive the good news he taught? Not from other men but directly from Jesus Christ...
“But I certify you brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:11-12)
It is interesting to me what he did not teach. He said nothing about the trinity, free will, or eternal separation from God in hell. Yet he stated clearly that he was innocent of the blood of all men for he had taught “the whole counsel of God”…
“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:26-27)
So exactly what did Jesus reveal to Paul and send him to preach and teach?
He taught the Jews that Jesus is their Messiah (Christ) and the Messiah had to suffer death and rise again:
“…that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead.” (Acts 17:2-3,10; 18:4).
He taught both Jews and Gentiles that they were UNITED before God in Christ and all would be resurrected from the dead by the grace of God:
1. “…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of ALL Who is over all and through all and IN ALL…to each one of us was given GRACE in accord with the measure of the gratuity of Christ.” (Ephesians 4: 5-6)
2. “…Christ was roused from among the dead…if we have become planted together in the likeness of his death, nevertheless we shall be of the resurrection also.” (Romans 6:5-6)
3. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall ALL be made alive…so that God may be All in ALL” (1 Corinthians 15:22-28)
Specifically about law, grace, faith, sin, and the gift of salvation he taught the following, among other things:
1. “…by works of law, no flesh at all shall be justified in His sight, for through the law is the recognition of sin…for ALL have sinned and are wanting of the glory of God” (Romans 3:20, 23)
2. “…God is commending this love of His to us, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes…being enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…being reconciled we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:8-10)
3. “For the ration of sin in death, yet the gracious gift of God is life eonian, in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)
4. “God was in Christ, conciliating the WORLD to Himself, not reckoning THEIR offenses to them, and placing in us the word of the conciliation.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)
5. “For in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you; it is God's approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
6. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, foremost of whom am I. But therefore was I shown mercy, that in me, the foremost, Jesus Christ should be displaying all His patience, for a pattern of those who are about to be believing on Him for life eonian.” (1 Timothy 1:15-16)
7. “…be leading a mild and quiet life in all devoutness and gravity, for this is ideal and welcome in the sight of our Savior God, Who wills that ALL mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth. For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for ALL.” (1 Timothy 2:2-6)
8. “…we rely on the living God, Who is the Savior of ALL mankind, especially of believers. These things be charging and teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:10-11)
For the bible to be the very Word of God, one must be able to harmonize all of it with the revelation Jesus gave to Paul and quoted above. If a doctrine is taught that cannot be harmonized with the above, then it is FALSE and those teaching such...
“...are false apostles, fraudulent workers, being transfigured into apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself is being transfigured into a messenger of light. It is no great thing, then, if his servants also are being transfigured as dispensers of righteousness...”