For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
2 Corinthians 11:4 (NIV)
Most often, what causes our spiritual defeat is our lack of Christian conviction. We believe in Jesus, but we doubt His love and His desire to care for us, especially in difficult times. This attitude encourages false teachers to take advantage of our lack of faith to lead us away from God's way. The assembly in Corinth was facing a similar situation that caught Paul's attention.
Paul exhorts them and warns them at the same time about the situation because he sees that they have received and accepted the teaching of those who preached a gospel different from that of Christ crucified. When Paul speaks of "someone", he is directly referring to those who had come from outside to divert the faith of believers. In our churches today, this other gospel is the prosperity gospel, the gospel of healing and miracles. If we do not know Christ as He is taught in His Word, we are in danger of abandoning saving faith to run after the lusts of the world.
Christ died for the forgiveness of your sins, rose again to give you eternal life, and sits at the right hand of God interceding for you day and night. Only faith in His sacrifice guarantees such hope. No other gospel can give you what God offers you at the price of your faith. If anyone tells you that money, success, and worldly riches can save you, tell them that only grace makes God’s salvation possible in Jesus Christ. Do not be deceived by any other gospel.
May the grace and peace of God be with you all.
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