“You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face.”
2 Corinthians 11:19-20
In 2 Corinthians 11 the apostle Paul is sternly addressing the Corinthians’ foolishness. There were false apostles amongst them and the Corinthians were listening to these wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their freedom in Christ was under attack and they were being coerced back into bondage to rules, regulations, traditions and the like. All the things they had been freed from in Christ. False teaching is always about bondage and slavery. It is for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. [Galatians 5:1]
The idea I want to point out is that the Corinthians were being lied to and deceived by these false teachers. And they were “putting up” with it! They knew the truth, but were entertaining these false ideas. They were “putting up” with being enslaved, being taken advantage of and getting slapped in the face so to speak. Their Christian freedom was being threatened and they just stood there dumb founded and didn’t stand up for the truth!
In my time with Jesus this morning I was telling him about a thought I had the other day that I knew was a tactic from Satan to cause me to fear. It was a silly lie, but it was still bothering me nonetheless. I had been reading in 2 Corinthians 10 about taking our thoughts captive and making them obedient to Christ. So, I picked up from there and continued reading through Ch. 11. This passage in Ch. 11 jumped out to me! You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. [2 Corinthians 11:19-20]
The Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, “you “put up” with Satan’s lies just like those Corinthians were putting up with the false teacher’s lies”. Whoa! Jesus was right! I do this all the time. I often let Satan bully me, taunt me, scare me and put me into bondage with his lies. I fail to stand up and take authority over Satan in Jesus’ name. I play the role of a victim rather than a victor.
I was reminded that I can stand up and so can you! I don’t have to play the victim role in Satan’s games and schemes. I don’t have to cower in fear. Christ has given us authority to stand up! Stand up child of God! You have authority over Satan! God has given you authority! Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. [Matthew 28: 18-20]
God has said, “Child of God, I have given you the keys to my kingdom. I have given you power to stand up to Satan. You are in this world as my representative. I have given you authority in this world.” Now, with great authority comes great responsibility! We are responsible to use our authority to stand up to lies and fear instead of cowering to them. We do not have to “put up” with Satan.
Have you been giving Satan authority in your life and mind without even realizing it? Do you listen to his lies and entertain them? At Crossway we love taking the word of God and letting it teach us the truth about God, ourselves and others. We would love to help you sort out any lies you may have been believing and help you learn to stand in the truth!