Corruption  From  Simplicity

by David A. DePra

For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused

you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to

Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve

through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the

simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that comes preaches 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. (II Cor. 11:2-4)

     "Simplicity that is in Christ." Quite a statement from the apostle

Paul. And one we need to examine, for Paul says that there is a

danger that our minds might be "corrupted" FROM that simplicity.

     What is "simplicity in Christ?" And what is it that might corrupt

our minds from it?

Corruption From Simplicity

     First, let's quickly look at the words Paul uses in our passage

from II Corinthians. The word "simplicity" is the Greek, "haplotes."

It means "single," as opposed to "double." So when Paul talks of

"simplicity in Christ," he is talking about a single-mindedness of

faith and loyalty. He is talking about having one's mind made up

and one's motivation headed in that single direction -- that of Jesus

Christ. From this we can see how "simplicity" in Christ speaks of a

purity, rather than a mixture. Singleness of heart as opposed to

duplicity. No man can serve two masters.

     The word "corrupted" is "phtheiro," which means "to destroy by

bringing down into a worse state." When contrasted to the word

"simplicity," we see a clear picture. Paul is warning us against

dividing our faith, obedience, and devotion between Christ and

something else.

     Now note: Paul is not talking about those who reject Christ. No.

He is writing to SAVED CHRISTIANS. He is talking about a

condition which Christian people might come under which will result

in corruption. Something which we try to have along side of Christ,

but which divides our hearts, our love, our surrender, and our focus,

between Christ and that other thing.

     Corruption is now defined. It is duplicity. It is, yes -- saying I

believe and am devoted to Christ -- but trying to be devoted to Him

and something else. It is a corruption of mind and heart which is the

result of having areas which I have never surrendered.

     Paul specifically mentions the Genesis story with reference to

having our minds corrupted from the singleness of purpose in

Christ. So now turn let's turn to the book of Genesis and read the

account:

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which

the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath

God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the

woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of

the garden. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the

garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,

lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, "You shall not

surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of this tree, then

your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing

good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good

for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be

desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,

and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.

(Gen. 3:1-6)

     First, there are a couple of things to get established about what

is happening here. Number one on the list is the fact that Eve knew

exactly what God has said, didn't she? Sure. No confusion about it.

She quoted God word for word. At that point, we find no corruption,

but only the Truth, and Eve's witness to it.

     Then something happened. The serpent calls God a liar. He

says, "You shall not die." And he tells Eve that "knowing good and

evil" would be a good thing -- make them like "gods." In effect,

the serpent paints God out to be one who was withholding from

Adam and Eve that which was good and right.

     One thing we have to remember about this story -- or we are

never going to understand the magnitude of it's importance -- is that

Adam and Eve were, up to this point, living in full fellowship with

God. They had NO sin nature. There was nothing about them

which was damaged through sin. There had been no death in the

world. So they could not claim that "their spirit was willing, but their

flesh was weak." It wasn't weak. They were at one with God.

     Often we try to put ourselves in the place of Adam and Eve. But

we cannot. We have no clue of what it is like to be totally free of

all sin and all flesh. Indeed, even if we are saved and sanctified, we

still have the flesh to contend with. Adam and Eve never had this.

They would not have even know what you were talking about if you

mentioned it.

     Adam, from the first, and then Eve, knew only God. They had

never lived a single moment without total fellowship with Him. Thus,

when we find the serpent calling God a liar, Eve knew God wasn't

a liar. Yet she was tricked; beguiled. How?

     Actually, you can see what happened right in the verse. The

serpent spoke, and Eve did what? Well despite the fact that what

she was told was a direct contradiction of God, she entertained the

possibility. Then she examined the tree. It LOOKED to be exactly

what the serpent claimed. And thus, based on what Eve saw, and

felt -- rather than upon what God had said -- she ate.

     Here we see corruption from simplicity or singleness of mind. It

is to trust my mind -- and my observations -- instead of God. It is to

believe my feelings, opinions, and senses -- rather than believe

God.

     The world does this all the time. But more and more Christians

are doing it. It no longer matters what God has said. "Hath God

said......?" If we think differently, then God must be wrong. Of

course, we have figured out a way to avoid saying God is wrong.

We just say the Bible doesn't apply. Perhaps it is outdated.

     There are many areas where Christians have allowed corruption

to enter. One of them is evolution. Many Christians believe it. This,

despite the fact that eight times in the New Testament Adam is

spoken of as a real person. This despite the fact that the reality

of Jesus Christ as Saviour depends on the fact that we needed a

Saviour -- because we were all born in sin. Deny Adam and you

must deny the sin nature. THAT is hardly something which could

have evolved.

     But we have PROVED evolution, haven't we? Well, actually, no.

There is really no way to prove a process which you cannot see.

One which takes millions of years for each minute change. You can

only "prove" it by establishing a premise and interpreting everything

you find according to it.

    In this day and age, many of us cannot fathom the possibility that

there could be an entire science, accepted by many experts, which

is totally false. We think that kind of deception is for ages past. It

could never be the case today. But it is the case today. And

Christians need to come to grips with this and stop fence sitting.

     Evolution does not agree with the Bible. It cannot. It denys the sin

of Adam and calls the NT a liar when it treats Adam like a person.

     Another area is homosexuality. Despite the Biblical statements

to the effect that it is sin, today Christians are affirming it. No longer

is it a sin which we are to help people out of, but something God has

ordained. It is to be celebrated. It has gotten to the point where

where certain "experts" have now stated that the Greek and Hebrew

languages themselves have a built in bias, as a product of their

times. Stay tuned for more of this. In time, we will find a way to

dismiss all sin, and even the need for a Saviour -- and we'll find it

right in the Bible.

     Much Christian leadership today doesn't have the guts or the

moral integrity to stand for hardly anything anymore. We read the

Bible, bow our heads, close it, and then go right on in total disregard

of it. Do we really think that there is not going to be a day of

reckoning for this? I mean, a PERSONAL day of reckoning, as well

as a collective one?

     The Bible says that we WILL reap what we sow. Not maybe. But

always. It says that if this were not so, God is mocked. The scary

part about this is that God is not going to have to lift a finger to

punish us. Our punishment is that we have become those who have

no longer any conviction of sin. And THAT is what we are going to

take with us when we pass on.

Corruption

     Can we see what is happening here? We are adjusting the Truth

to fit us, instead of allowing God to adjust us to the Truth. We are

deliberately refusing to believe the Bible because we think we

know better. THAT is corruption of the mind -- away from the

simplicity and singleness of heart in Christ.

     Eve looked at the tree and couldn't see any evidence that what

God said was true. In fact, it looked like what the serpent said was

true. And so, she went right by faith and obedience in God, and ate.

We have been doing the same very since.

     Of course, the "engine" which drives this is pride. It is ME

reserving the right to decide for myself. Reserving the right to OWN

myself -- which is the essence of all sin. This is what Eve fell into.

Eve was tricked. Deceived. But incredibly, the Bible never says

this about Adam. Why? Because he was innocent? No, because

he was MORE guilty. The point is, when Eve gave Adam that fruit,

he was not deceived. He ate, knowing exactly what he was doing.

     Thus, Adam was totally without excuse. That is why he lost what

he lost. The magnitude of his sin was so great that it plunged

everything into the realm of sin and death.

     Corruption from singleness of heart is not a rare thing. It is, in

fact, one of the most common mistakes Christians make. For

instance, Jesus said, "You cannot serve God and mammon." How

many Christians believe that? How many live like they believe it?

How many CHURCHES serve God instead of mammon?

     Most of us think that we can operate -- inwardly and outwardly --

exactly like the world does, and be serving God. Just as long as

we say we are. But what does it mean to SERVE anything?

It means to take orders from it; to look to it for answers; to base my

choices on it; to be governed by it. To live for it. So ask: What do

I look to for my decisions in life? God? Or money? Jesus said I

cannot look to both. I must choose one or the other.

     Corruption from singleness of heart, to a heart of duplicity, is

the result of having my life governed by more than one thing. As

Christians, our goal is to be the single purpose of God's will in our

lives. But if we don't make our choices along this line when the

time comes, we can preach about it all we want. We are letting a

corruption in. We are deceived.

     Paul gives us these warnings for a reason. Do we suppose that

if Adam and Eve -- who had no sin nature -- could be deceived in

this way, that we are somehow smarter than they? Hardly. The fact

is, we are capable of being deceived in this way everyday.   The

key is to STOP looking at what we think, feel, suppose, and above

all -- WANT -- and to keep our eyes focused on what God has said.

If we do, we will find out that we KNOW. We know what is right and

wrong much more than most of us would like to admit.

     Singleness of mind is a product of unconditional surrender. For

when I am sold out completely to allowing God to have His way

with me, there is no possibility that I am going to allow into my heart

those things which would rival Him as my Lord.