“This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Timothy. I am writing to God’s church in Corinth and to all of his holy people throughout Greece. May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.”
2 Corinthians 1:1-2 NLT
In most of Paul’s letters, he starts by laying out his credentials, and particularly his appointment as an Apostle. This was important in those days because there were many false prophets and “messiahs” that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:23-25, “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time”. The apostle John also picked up the theme when he wrote, “Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world” (1 John 4:1). Peter also was aware of the problem when he wrote, “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves” (2 Peter 2:1). The early church was very aware of false prophets and teachers and the believers then were warned to stay on their guard.
In Acts 17:11, we read about the Berean Jews, who heard the preaching of Paul and Silas in their synagogue: “And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth”. We have to remember that in the first century, there was no Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, or New Testament canon at hand to guide the new believers. All that they had was the Hebrew Bible, our Old Testament, to refer to, and, as Paul’s teaching was grounded on the Scripture, and the fulfilment of it in Jesus Christ, he taught from a solid foundation that bore scrutiny. But not by everyone. There were the Gnostics, who had Judeo-Christian roots and preached a message that included special and secret knowledge. They taught that salvation came not through faith or works, but through secret, spiritual knowledge or gnosis. There was more, though. False teachings in the early church were diverse, challenging core doctrines such as the nature of Christ (Docetism denied His humanity, Arianism denied His divinity, Nestorianism split His person), the Trinity (Monarchianism denied it), and salvation (Monetarism added new revelations, some emphasising baptism over faith). But thankfully, over the next two to three hundred years, and with the writing of the Apostles, Christianity as we know it became established. One thing I always do when I hear about a new church or movement is to check out their beliefs, always with an eye on what the Bible teaches.
We might look back at those turbulent years, considering them all history, but we must always be on our guard. 1 Peter 5:8-9a, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith …”. Even today, there are people, good Christians amongst them, who accept teaching that is a bit “off the wall”, and others who deny certain parts of the Bible as being irrelevant today. Much as the Bereans did, we must “search the Scriptures day after day” to ensure that we never get led astray in our faith. Hebrews 13:9, “So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas. Your strength comes from God’s grace, not from rules about food, which don’t help those who follow them”.
Paul had a personal and dramatic revelation directly from Jesus that day on the Damascus Road. In fact, Paul’s revelation was so real that through it, a relationship with Jesus started that shaped the faith to which we belong. There has never been another Paul, and the Holy Spirit stayed with him throughout the rest of his life, guiding his pen as he wrote the Epistles we are so grateful for today. He greeted the Corinthians through his second letter, which followed closely behind his first, with his standard greeting, from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus.” He wasn’t boasting. He just stated the truth. Paul knew his foundations with a surety that we would do well to copy.
Dear Father God. Please grant us the knowledge of Your grace in all that we do, keeping us true to Your Word and to Your Son, Jesus. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 