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¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.

Paul has just finished “boasting” of the purity of his message, and his delivery of it, compared to other preachers who have been coming around to preach “the gospel” to the Corinthians… but a false one.  Based on what Paul is boasting on, my guess is that these other preachers have been making their living off their traveling Jesus show.  But, they are not really concerned about the Corinthians’ salvation… just about making a buck.  And so, because of the Corinthians’ willingness to put up with this, and willingness to listen to false teachings and insincere hearts, Paul is worried.  He is worried to the extent that he has made sure to stand out in a way that would reveal his sincerity over the others, by not accepting money to pay for his food, care, or lodgings.  He even had additional physical needs (got sick perhaps?) and didn’t bother the Corinthians with it, receiving his physical relief from others, so that the Corinthians could not accuse him of anything.  He took a similar attitude in his first letter to the Corinthians, when he was disgusted by their bragging about whose baptism they were baptized into… he was so grateful that he only baptized one or two of them, and so couldn’t brag about their “baptism in Paul”.  Well, I guess some things just don’t change.  And one of the things that has not changed is Paul’s love for this small city.  So, he writes to them to set them straight, pointing out the false apostles working for Satan, who are “masquerading as servants of righteousness.”

A servant of righteousness is a servant of God’s righteousness, or God’s justice.  Anyone who truly serves God is slave to God’s justice.  And what is His justice?  As we’ve read in the Old Testament, God’s justice is saving those who turn from evil to good, and condemning those who turn from good to evil.  God’s justice does not measure your life’s quantity of good against its quantity of evil, but concerns itself with how you end.  It is why Paul can write elsewhere that only one can win the race, but run so as to win.  I first heard this as a Christian, but the concept was Jewish before it was Christian!  And it is that attitude which God looks for. Remember the manna in the desert? It wasn’t about gathering the right amount, because no one could.  But, those who obediently tried, and obediently brought it to the priests for measurement found theirs to measure exactly right! And those who did not went hungry… because God looks at how you finish.  And at the end of your life, you either believe God when He speaks or you don’t; you either obey or you don’t.  And if you do, then you are justified before God to go home and be with Him.  That is God’s justice, and that is what we are servants of.  Servants of God’s justice.

False apostles are not servants of God’s justice. They are diametrically opposed to God and His justice.  Many are opposed outright, believing what God says, having it accounted to them as righteousness, but then throwing that righteousness on the floor like it’s worth nothing.  More however don’t even believe what God says, or just don’t care when He says it.  But, they’ll repeat it to others from the pulpit, putting their own spin on it in order to maximize giving, so they can buy their next Mercedes.  These are the people that Paul is trying to insulate the church at Corinth against, pointing out that these are servants of Satan, masquerading as servants of righteousness.

I think it might be instructive to check out Paul’s attitude toward the Corinthians, because it will equip us as well as the Corinthians to know what a servant of God looks like… it’s not complete list mind you, but it will serve you well:

• Humble: “I hope you will put up with a little of my foolishness; but you are already doing that.” — Though sometimes part of Satan’s show, a self-deprecating attitude can be the indication that the preacher you’re listening to realizes he is no higher than you.  My own pastor describes himself as a sheep with a bell on.  It makes me smile, and gives me perspective, and shows he has perspective, too.
• Passionate for you and for Christ: ”I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ”
• Concerned about your relationship with God: ”But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.”
• Honest about your failings: ”For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”
• Honest about his own weakness, yet confident in his own strengths: “But I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.”
• Willing to minister without living off you, if it would be a stumbling block: “Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge?”
• Uses collections to allow ministering to other churches: “I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.”
• Caring for you, without requiring you care for him: ”And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so.”
• Talks not only of Jesus’ love for you, but shows his own love for you as well: “As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!”
• Equipping you to know false prophets: “And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ.”

Now, a false prophet can probably emulate some of these attitudes, and a good pastor might not emulate them all.  However, I think this is a good list of guidelines for discerning those preachers who are slaves to God’s justice over those who are slaves to Satan’s deceit.

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