A preacher speaks about Jesus, offers spiritual experiences, and claims to bring good news. Why would Paul warn the congregation against him? The Corinthians are tolerating teachers who proclaim another Jesus and a different gospel, and Paul fears they are being deceived as Eve was. The danger is harder to recognize because it comes dressed in righteousness. How can the Church distinguish faithful preaching from an attractive counterfeit?
The Rev. Steven Theiss, serving St. John Lutheran Church of The American Association of Lutheran Churches in Pocahontas, Missouri, joins the Rev. Dr. Phil Booe to study 2 Corinthians 11:1–15.
What happens when Christians turn their pastors into rival teams, take one another to court, and leave their neighbors hungry at the Lord’s Supper? Corinth gives Paul plenty to write about. Questions about marriage, meat sacrificed to idols, spiritual gifts, and the resurrection bring the apostle into the daily life of a church struggling with pride and division. Through it all, he keeps bringing them back to Christ crucified and risen.
In 2 Corinthians, the strained relationship between Paul and the people he loves brings its own painful questions about forgiveness, faithful ministry, suffering, and weakness. These letters give us the treasure in jars of clay, the promise of resurrection, and the assurance that Christ’s grace is sufficient. Join Thy Strong Word as we study 1 and 2 Corinthians verse by verse and hear what God speaks to a troubled church He has called His own.
Thy Strong Word, hosted by Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, pastor of St. John Lutheran Church of Luverne, MN, reveals the light of our salvation in Christ through study of God’s Word, breaking our darkness with His redeeming light. Each weekday, two pastors fix our eyes on Jesus by considering Holy Scripture, verse by verse, in order to be strengthened in the Word and be equipped to faithfully serve in our daily vocations. Submit comments or questions to: thystrongword@kfuo.org.
Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation. Through the mission gifts of people like you, LHF translates, publishes, distributes and introduces books that are Bible-based, Christ-centered and Reformation-driven. Learn more at lhfmissions.org.
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Paul and the False Apostles
[1] 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. [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.
[7] Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge? [8] I robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you. [9] And when I was with you and was in need, I did not burden anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my need. So I refrained and will refrain from burdening you in any way. [10] As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. [11] And why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
[12] And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. [13] For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. [14] And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. [15] So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
