2 Corinthians 11:4; Another Jesus, Another Spirit, Another Gospel
2 Corinthians 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
A gospel that does not save. A message void of divine power to transport a soul bound for hell to alter course to go to heaven. How frightening to find such false teachers masquerading for the truth. The church has been hijacked by spiritual terrorists!
The Apostle Paul now speaks about the reality of someone who has come to Corinth to proclaim another Jesus, a different spirit, and a different gospel.
| someone proclaims a Jesus | other than the one we proclaimed |
| you receive a spirit | different from the one you received |
| [you accept] a gospel | different from the one you accepted |
Notice the triad: Jesus, spirit, gospel; and note the three verbs: proclaimed, received, accepted. Also, the Greek adjective allos (other), which usually means another of the same kind, has the same meaning as the Greek word heteros (other, in the sense of different). Their correlation here is based on the parallel of proclaiming Jesus and accepting the gospel, for both activities are similar.¹
Indeed, false teachers abound today. They are organized, well funded, and sometimes well respected. [Swindoll]
Who are these false teachers? The false teachers that Paul had to contend with came in a couple of main varieties. The first were the Judaizers – those who believed that people could be saved only if they followed the Old Testament Law. In their book, even the Gentiles who accepted Jesus as their Messiah had to be circumcised and accept the old covenant as well as Jesus. The second heresy came from the Docetists – those influenced by Greek philosophy who rejected the full humanity of Jesus, disparaged the physical body and the physical creation, and refused to believe in bodily resurrection. It is likely that the Corinthians had encountered both heresies – Docetists who rejected the physical resurrection (1 Corinthians 15) and Judaizers who desired to contradict Paul’s gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Christ alone (Galatians 1-2). [Swindoll]
In the Council of Chalcedon (451 AD), the historic Christian and Biblical view was finally stated: Christ is one person with a fully divine nature and a fully human nature, and His natures are without mix, without change, without division, without separation.
Amen.
¹Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 19, p. 361). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.