In chapter eleven of 2 Corinthians, Paul had to deal with the situation in a church that had been directly raised up by him. Certain false apostles, deceitful workers, ministers of Satan, visited the church in Corinth and stirred up rebellion against Paul and his teaching. Even though Paul had come to Corinth first and had brought many Corinthians to the Lord through his preaching, the Corinthian believers still accepted the false apostles.
Acts 16 records how Paul came to Macedonia. He was preaching in Asia Minor, in a region God had measured out to him. At a certain time, Paul felt deep within that he should continue his preaching elsewhere. However, he did not know what to do or where to go. He may have thought that he should not go into Europe, but should remain in Asia. Then he had a dream of a Macedonian saying, “Come over into Macedonia, and help us” (Acts 16:9). After considering that dream, Paul concluded that God was calling him to minister in Europe. Thus, he preached the gospel in Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, and Corinth. As a result of this preaching, a church was raised up in Corinth. Sometime afterward, the Judaizers came to Corinth and caused trouble.
It is hard to believe that the saints at Corinth would accept the teaching of the Judaizers. Nevertheless, it is a fact that at least a number of the Corinthians accepted these teachings and were either stirred up or at least influenced by them. Those teachings caused some to doubt Paul’s apostleship and to oppose him and his ministry.
We have seen that Paul had helped the Corinthians to solve a number of problems. But the problem concerning the relationship between the believers at Corinth and the Apostle Paul still needed to be solved. Of course, not all the Corinthians had a problem with Paul. Only some of them had a problem. But even this made it necessary for Paul to devote four chapters to dealing with this problem.
We have seen that Paul is strong in chapter ten and even stronger in chapter eleven, where he speaks of false apostles, deceitful workers, ministers of Satan, and super-apostles. If you were a believer at Corinth who had accepted the teaching of the Judaizers, would you have taken Paul’s word concerning false apostles? It is not very likely. This was the reason Paul was fighting to subdue the rebellious thoughts among the Corinthians.
Let us now go on to see Paul’s way of fighting the battle against Judaistic teachings. In 11:1 he says, “I would that you bear with me in a little foolishness; but indeed, you do bear with me.” The use of the word “foolishness” is an ironic reference to the apostle’s enforced self-vindication and boasting. Here Paul seems to be telling the Corinthians, “Please bear with me in a little foolishness. In all the foregoing, I have been wise. Now I intend to speak in a foolish way. Before I do this, I ask that you bear with me in a little foolishness. I shall not boast or speak foolishly without measure. There will be a limit to what I intend to say.”
In verse 2 Paul continues, “For I am jealous over you with a jealousy of God; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present a pure virgin to Christ.” This jealousy can be compared to the jealousy of a husband over his wife. The word “virgin” in this verse means to be the bride for the Bridegroom (John 3:29), the wife of the Lamb (Rev. 19:7).
By the sounding out of the word recorded in verse 2, Satan is defeated, and all the Judaizers are put down. Whether in Paul’s time or in ours, the Judaizers never minister anything to us that causes us to treasure the Lord Jesus as the One who is dear and precious. On the contrary, what is ministered by the Judaizers stirs up our zeal for religion. The Judaizers today may say something like this, “This teaching is heretical and destroys our religion. It is contrary to the tradition we inherited from our fathers.” The Judaizers throughout the generations and the centuries have sought to protect their religion and to hold on to traditional doctrine.
The Judaizers who came to Corinth may have said, “Yes, we should believe in Jesus Christ. But how can we forsake the law given through Moses by God? This man Paul is heretical. He has destroyed the law, and he is against circumcision. This means the end of our religion. Was God wrong in giving the law? Were Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, and all the other prophets wrong? Is Paul the only one who is right? Paul, who came to you as an apostle, must be condemned.” This is the way the Judaizers spoke in Paul’s time, and this is the way they talk today. Those who oppose the Lord’s recovery often say something like this: “Do you think that everyone and everything is wrong except you? Are your teachings the only teachings that are correct? We shall rise up against the local church and defeat it. This thing must be terminated.”