Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Use of the Sacred (2 Corinthians 11:1-6)
We are very excited to start our new five-week series on Spiritual Warfare. We placed this series at this time to prepare us for a strong temptation that comes at us during national elections. The temptation is to misunderstand where our true fight is to take place. This series builds on our political series, in which we argued that the greatest good the Church can do for the land that it is in is to protect its purity. A healthy church is a gift to any community. We need to engage in politics, but our highest priority is protecting our purity and credibility with our community.
As I was reading, studying, and praying about this series, I was convicted by a specific insight Paul wrote to the believers in Ephesus. We will actually recite this passage together each time we start our teaching time during this series.
Ephesians 6:12-13, “12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”
These verses reminded me of where my fight really is. My “fight” or “wrestling” is not against people or politicians primarily. It is against spiritual powers. I think Satan loves to keep our focus on his puppets, proxies, and prisoners and away from his demonic power structure. This is similar to a drug cartel trying to convince us that addicts are the enemy and not themselves. Political campaigns love to create enemies, use warfare language, and demonize people. As followers of Christ, we can not fall for this distraction. We are at war, not with our neighbors, but for our neighbors.
During this series, we will look at the places where Satan seeks to attack the Church and defile its purity. I believe you will be surprised by some of the spaces in which Satan seeks to attack us. In this series, I think you will be shocked at how active Satan and his forces are in the Church and in the lives of Christians. There is a serious war taking place, and being blind to it will not save us from it. Our goal will be to expose where demonic battles are taking place and how to fight these battles. Today, we will look at how Satan loves to use religion to compromise our devotion to Christ.
Big Idea: Satan speaks religion. False teaching is one of the primary weapons of the Devil. What is surprising about this false teaching is how closely it resembles sound teaching. Often, we think the great intellectual enemy of Christianity is atheism. It is not. The antagonist of faithfulness in the Scriptures is false religion. This “false religion” is not just promoted outside the Church but infiltrates the Church. Let me show you how Paul spoke of false teaching in the Church as a satanic Trojan horse that destroys communities from within.
2 Corinthians 11:1-3, “I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! 2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. 3 But 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.”
First, it is important to hear Paul’s heart for his congregation. Paul uses the illustration of a betrothal to describe his love and concern for this church in Corinth. Marriages among the Jews of Paul’s day had two separate ceremonies: the betrothal and the wedding. The betrothal was legally binding and would take a divorce to end. Unfaithfulness during a betrothal was considered an act of adultery. It was much more serious than our idea of engagement. During the betrothal period, the father was responsible for protecting the virginity of his daughter. He wanted to preserve her purity for the day she would be physically and spiritually united to her husband.
In his first letter to this church, Paul referred to himself as their spiritual “father” (1 Cor. 4:15). Paul felt a moral obligation to protect the spiritual purity of this church as a Jewish father would feel the need to protect his daughter's sexual purity. The Church was in a betrothal period, which would end with Christ's Second Coming, when all believers would be united with Him. Paul had invested 18 months (Acts 18:11) of his life with this church and didn’t want them to be led astray from following Christ.
I can empathize with Paul’s paternal affection in this passage. I was pretty young when I became a lead pastor for the first time. I was 30 years old when I became the lead pastor at Knott Avenue Christian Church. I had only served as a young adult pastor at this church for about a year. When I accepted the lead role, I was excited and enthusiastic. I underestimated how emotionally challenging this new assignment would be. Within the first few weeks of leading the church, I was overwhelmed by the burden of caring for so many people. It felt like every week, I was confronted with a grieving family, a failing marriage, a victim of abuse, or a divisive member. I have two very vivid memories of counseling two married couples and pleading with them not to throw away their marriage. Thankfully, one turned from their selfish way of living and made the sacrifices necessary to ensure their marriage would move in a healthier direction. The other couple chased after selfish pleasures and shipwrecked their family right in front of me. I had a difficult time handling the emotional weight of the relational carnage I was witnessing. It was like each situation left shrapnel in my soul. Paul could not bear to see his beloved church fall victim to Satan's schemes. The following few verses explain the strategy Satan employed to harm this church.
1 Corinthians 11:4-6, “4 For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. 5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles. 6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.”
Paul believed that Satan stood behind the false teachers invading the church of Corinth. This is clear from verse 3, in which Paul compares the false teachers' behavior to that of the “serpent,” Satan, who tempted Eve in Genesis 3, and verses 13-15, where he calls these false apostles “servants” of Satan. Demonic influence is invading the church through these false teachers.
Paul notes two things that mark out these demonically empowered leaders. One is related to the content of their teaching, and the second is connected to their charisma. In content, they are described as teaching “another” Jesus and a “different” spirit and gospel. What I find most interesting about their teaching is how they hijack biblical topics. They are not teaching outright paganism but slightly distorted biblical concepts. They are teaching about Jesus, but not the Jesus of Scriptures. They are referencing the Holy Spirit and proclaiming a “good news” (gospel), but not in a way that aligns with the witness of the apostles, the closest followers of Jesus. Paul’s understanding of these ideas was in line with the apostles, as he made clear in his first letter to this church (1 Corinthians 15:3-9). Satan uses religious things to lead us to worship anything but the one true God. Satan doesn't care what you worship as long as it isn’t Jesus of Nazareth.
I find it alarming how subtle and fatal Satan's tactics are in relation to false teaching. He uses good things to lead us in bad directions. Notice that when he tempted Jesus, he used Scripture. His citation was out of context and misinterpreted, but he still used the sacred to seduce him. Paul speaks of the Satanic use of the sacred to seduce Christians in Colossians.
Colossians 2:16-23, “16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” 20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
“Elemental spirits” is best understood as referring to demonic powers. These “elemental spirits” will use “Sabbath,” “festivals,” and dietary restrictions to damage believers' spiritual growth and devotion to the “Head,” Christ. Although some of the practices described in this passage are related to paganism and false religion, the majority are connected to the religious practices of the Old Testament. These were things that God specifically commanded His people to do. Demonic false teaching manipulated and distorted these practices to lead God’s people away from following His Son, Jesus Christ. Satan is deceptive!
Paul also notes the charisma of these false teachers. He describes them as skilled in speaking (v. 6), which is most likely a reference to their rhetorical ability, and assertiveness in their leadership (v. 20-21). On the other hand, Paul describes himself as unskilled in “speaking” and presenting a much humbler posture. In 1 Corinthians, Paul said that he came to these believers in “weakness” and with a sense of “fear and trembling.” The last phrase is used in the Old Testament to describe a humble posture before the glory of the Lord.
These “super-apostles” were arrogant and captivating. They relied on their creative abilities to craft a compelling speech. They were more like propagandists than pastors. Are we also susceptible to being seduced by the same characteristics in spiritual leaders today? We favor the loud and boisterous orators who display strength and charm. Paul, on the other hand, promotes humility and gentleness. Pastors are not salesmen or bullies who use manipulation and force to convince people to follow them. Unfortunately, as social creatures, we are often appraising the prestige of the people around us to gain status from being in their proximity. We collect religious podcasters who are so distant from our spiritual lives that they couldn’t see sin in our lives with a telescope. I think Satan loves to create distance between believers and their local pastors by causing them to be infatuated with podcasters. If he can increase the distance between you and spiritual accountability through religious media, he will view it as a fair trade-off.
Satan speaks religion. It is scary how covert the schemes of Satan are. In Hollywood, the demonic is portrayed as overt and terrifying. Demonic activity is creepy, but recall that when Satan engaged with Eve and Jesus, he wasn’t trying to get them to scream; he was attempting to seduce them. He distorted God’s words in an attempt to lead them away from God. Satan loves to use religious disguises. To prevail against this strategy, we must study God’s Word.
The best way to discern error is to have an intimate knowledge of the truth. The Bible is a big book, and it’s hard to grasp every concept it contains. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of content in the Scriptures. We need to be spiritual realists and understand that spiritual growth takes time.
The best advice I can give you is to read the Bible with friends. Reading the Bible on your own is good, but not good enough. Satan is reading the Bible with you. He will distort and manipulate it to get you to believe something false and act sinfully. You need other people in your life to help you understand the Scriptures and discern the lies of the devil. Why fight the Devil on your own? Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Scriptures as you read them, and ask a friend to read them with you. Play three-on-one, and not one-on-one with the Devil.
Life-Level Application
Head: Read Galatians 1:6-9, 2:15-16. What does Paul mean by “another gospel”? How does he differentiate it from the true gospel? What are examples of seeking “justification” by works of the law?
Heart: Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. In verse 1, Paul mentions that he did not come with “lofty speech or wisdom.” What does this suggest about his style of communication and the values of the Corinthian culture? What does Paul mean by a “demonstration of the Spirit and of power” in verse 4? How might this contrast with the rhetorical skill valued in Corinthian society? In verse 5, Paul expresses that the faith of the Corinthians should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God. What implications does this have for how believers should understand their faith?
Hand: Read 2 Corinthians 12:20-21. What specific behaviors is Paul worried he might find among the Corinthians upon his visit? How are these behaviors connected to the false teaching they are entertaining in chapter 11? What do these verses suggest about the nature of sin and community accountability within the church?
Habit: How often do you have conversations with others about the Bible? When was the last time a friend casually mentioned something they learned from the Bible? What did they share with you? How can you increase these types of conversations in your life?