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want to share with us something that we could call a sequel to last week’s message, although in another light. Last week, we examined Developing Godly Character In A Crooked And Perverse World. And we must understand that if we are not going to be part and parcel of the crookedness and perversion that is in the world, it is important that we understand the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus. So, we will be examining in this short piece what has been titled: Understanding the Simplicity that is in Christ. I want us to begin our meditation from the book of 2 Corinthians 11:1-4. The Bible says:
Listen to Podcast: UNDERSTANDING THE SIMPLICITY THAT IS IN CHRIST
“Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”
Most of the times, the heart can tend towards crookedness and perversion if it is shifted away from the simplicity that is in Christ. In Hebrews 3:12-14, Paul wrote and said: “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…”
The phrase ‘simplicity that is in Christ’ as used in that context connotes two things. First, it connotes the message of Christ in its simplest form as conveyed through the messages of the gospel, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He came in the flesh, died and resurrected on the third day, and He is right now seated at the right hand of the Father. This is the simplicity that is in Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 says: “Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve.”
The second connotation of the phrase also shows our devotion to Christ. The simplicity that is in Christ talks about our devotion to Him alone because if you read that verse in The Passion Translation (2 Corinthians 11:1-4), this is the way it reads: “But now I’m afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s clever lies, your thoughts may be corrupted and you may lose your single-hearted devotion and pure love for Christ.” So, the simplicity that Paul was talking about there simply was referring to our pure love for Christ and devotion to Him. Verse 4 further shows us something important. It says: “For you seem to gladly tolerate anyone who comes to you preaching a pseudo-Jesus, not the Jesus we have preached. You have accepted a spirit and gospel that is false, rather than the Spirit and gospel you once embraced. How tolerant you have become of these imposters.”
The apostle Paul here expresses fear over the fact that the Corinthian church could be swayed from their devotion to Christ through the cunning craftiness of Satan. And this deception he said sometimes come through false teachings and false teachers, presenting Christ Jesus in a way and manner that is not consistent with the Scripture and this is the main reason it has been difficult for the hearts of many to be established in grace and in truth. The wrong gospel cannot establish anyone in faith and in the grace that is found in Christ Jesus. Paul also warned the church in Galatia about the same matter in Galatians 1:6-9. The Bible says:
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
Any other gospel is the gospel that attempts to perverts the simplicity that is in Christ through false teachings and false doctrines:
1). That the death of Christ does not atone for the sins of the world, especially, those who would believe,
2). That mankind can save itself by being religious or pious;
3). That man can exonerate himself from the consequences of sin and death,
4). That Christ did not die and resurrect on the third day,
5). That outside of the grace of God that has saved man, man still need the works of the law to maintain that saving grace.
How To Maintain the Simplicity that is Christ
#1. Let you heart be established in Grace. “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” [Hebrews 13:9] Now, grace is not a license to continue to sin. Paul said: “shall we continue to sin and expect that grace abound”, he said: “GOD FORBID.” Those who think that the grace of God is a license to continue in their lawlessness and haven’t understood what grace really and it is because they have been taught wrongly.
For example, if the Bible says we have been saved by grace, then it means that that same grace that saved us cannot teach us to continue to sin. Titus 2:11-14 says: “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
#2. Let your Substance remain With Christ [Colossians 2:16-19]. Despite the false teachings and wrong doctrines that we have today, it is important that our substance is found in Christ and nothing more. Religion would present to you a pseudo-Jesus, and not the real Jesus, but if your substance is not deep rooted in Christ, it would affect your simplicity in Christ Jesus. Let us read Colossians 2:16-19 to see something. The Bible says:
“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths [Rediscovering the Sabbaths as Disciples how that our bodies now is the place and habitation for God and the need to keep it holy and pure for Him], 17 which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ. 18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.”
I pray the Lord will help us!
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
