Lesson 22 – 2 Corinthians Chapter 11:12-25
“Spiritual Catfishing: Paul’s Guide to Recognizing Deception”
We’ve been sitting in the gallery of the courtroom as Paul has been his own defense lawyer. Paul has been presenting his case very well… what else would you expect from Paul our champion. We closed last time with Paul declaring his fatherly love for the Corinthian believers with a question.
Why? Because I do not love you?
The answer was painfully obvious. Everything Paul had endured, sacrificed, and invested in them, proved his love beyond any debate. The question wasn’t for information, it was for impact. It was Paul’s way of shaking them awake to a truth that they should have never doubted.
At the end of verse 11 it says, God knows! Nothing exists that God doesn’t know about, and it holds true for what Paul was going through. There may have been times when Paul felt like banging his head against a wall, but God knew all his frustrations, and what Paul went through should minister to all of us as well.
Paul had poured his time, his gifts, and his resources into the Corinthian church, along with all the emotional investment, the tears, and the heartbreak that came with shepherding them. Now the work itself was brought into danger, through the craftiness and flattering words of those false apostles who were undermining all that he had built.
If you’ve ever invested deeply in someone, your kids, a friend, a ministry, a relationship, and then watched someone else come along and pull them away with lies and manipulation, you know exactly what Paul was feeling.
It wasn’t just frustration. It was the pain of watching something you built with love get threatened by people who didn’t care about you at all, namely the false apostles.
2 Cor. 11:12:
“But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast.”
To paraphrase, Paul is saying, “I’m going to keep doing exactly what God has called me to do, no matter what it costs me. In the end, the people trying to make themselves look equal to us, they won’t be able to hide behind their bragging when their fruit starts speaking for itself.”
This is where the proverbial rubber meets the road. Paul was going to continue to do what he had been doing all along, and nothing was going to stop him.
Humility and truth were on Paul’s side. The truth is this: Paul was ready to do whatever was needed so that the ministry would truly work, and its working was the thing that mattered most to him.
You see, Paul was called by God, and these false apostles were not. Paul was willing to sweat and bear the weight of the work himself, but the false teachers, in stark contrast, would never be found engaging in the labor of their own hands.
The false teachers were in a quagmire, they were all about raking in the “big bucks” and when it came to money, Paul could care less about money.
The false apostles had gotten themselves into a real pickle. They’d been happily taking money from the Corinthians, so now they were stuck. If they kept taking the cash, they looked bad next to Paul, who wasn’t charging anything, but if they stopped taking money, well, that wasn’t happening. They weren’t exactly in ministry for the love of the game. So basically, they backed themselves into a corner and couldn’t wiggle out of it without exposing their true motives.
Checkmate… hopefully the Corinthians were watching closely.
2 Cor. 11:13:
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.”
Paul is calling a spade a spade here, and it’s just the honest truth. Before this he was soft-soaping them with phrases like…
“The many who were guilty of peddling the word of God.”
“As some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.”
“As those who commend themselves.”
“As those who preach another Jesus and a different gospel”
And then sarcastically… “the most eminent apostles.”
Now the gloves were off, because the time had come for Paul to bluntly and directly expose them for who they really were.
Warren Wiersbe; “How tragic it is when unstable believers are swayed by the “fair speech” of satan’s ministers, instead of standing firm on the basic truths of the Gospel taught to them by faithful pastors and teachers.”
When it came to protecting God’s honor, Christ’s name, and the truth of the Gospel, Paul didn’t play around. He wasn’t wishy‑washy or afraid of hurting someone’s feelings.
While some people with shallow convictions might have called him “intolerant,” Paul called it what it was. He unashamedly exposed those false apostles for who they really were… servants of satan, pretending to be men of God. Paul calls them false apostles.
There’s a Greek word for false apostles, it’s sue-da-postolos, and guess what it means… one who falsely claims to be an ambassador of Christ (which is no surprise). The interesting part is, this is only place you will find it in the New Testament.
The premise is nothing new in the Bible.
Jeremiah 14:14:
“And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart.”
There has always been scoundrels trying to undermine the work of the Lord, and the instigator is always satan, which is no different from what Paul was facing. Here they bear the name of deceitful workers, wolves in sheep’s clothing, just as Jesus warned us.
Matthew 7:15:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”
We see here that they stand before him in a way that feels larger than life, demanding that Paul face them head‑on. The garment they come in is disguising themselves as apostles of Christ (NASB).
2 Cor. 11:14:
“No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
This is not a side note in Scripture, it is a central theme of how deception works.
Satan presents evil in a form that looks good, holy, wise, or even spiritually enlightening. Satan doesn’t show up looking evil like most think, he imitates what people associate with truth, purity, or a revelation from the Lord. It’s so important that we keep reminding ourselves that the most dangerous forms of evil will not look evil at all.
Gen. 3:1a:
“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.”
Paul exposes the false apostles in Corinth who posed as servants of Christ, while imitating satan’s tactics of appearing righteous. The message they presented looked spiritual on the surface, but it was rotten to the core underneath.
We’ve seen what Paul was going through, but what might this look like for us today?
We will find messages that speak much of love, yet deny the truth. Teachers who call themselves “Christian” while removing repentance, sin, and the authority of Scripture… pastors who only want you to feel good at all times. If sin is never addressed, flee from that church.
Deception will rise from leaders who speak with the voice of Scripture, yet call people to self‑worship, prosperity, or a softened kind of morality. They shine like light only because they wrap themselves in the words that we’re used to hearing. We will see cultural messages that say, “If it feels good, it must be good.”
There are churches out there that encourage people to follow their heart, instead of God’s Word. It looks like kindness on the surface, but it leads a person away from holiness. Stay away from people who claim to offer you a “new revelation,” a “higher consciousness,” or a “deeper truth.”
There are an overwhelming number of churches pushing ideologies that preach human goodness while denying human sin; systems that promise liberation, but enslave people to self, addiction, or pride.
Even in the light of day, satan’s deception looks like wisdom, compassion, spirituality, or righteousness. It’s not the darkness that fools people, it’s the false light that catches us off-guard.
When it comes to satan’s tactics the scenarios are unending. The angel of light doesn’t have the pitchfork, horns, and pointed tail that history has portrayed, that’s why it’s so important for us to know our enemy, and to read our Bible and pray every day.
2 Cor. 11:15:
“Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
Again, Paul is talking about satan’s servants. We know they’re sneaky and cunning, manipulative, and very good at brainwashing. We see an abundance of it in today’s society.
There are moments when we as believers feel weighed down, because so often it looks like evil is gaining the upper hand. Let God’s Word lift you up!
Jeremiah 12:1 (NLT):
“Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you. So let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy?
Have you ever asked these same questions?
Psalm 37:1-2, 7:
“Do not fret because of evildoers, nor be envious of the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.”
(Vs7) “Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.”
To be honest, I often feel like the wicked aren’t being dealt with quickly enough. Still, not my will but God’s will be done. We may see evil people commit the most vile acts without any consequences, but judgment is coming to be sure.
The false apostles of yesterday and satan’s servants of today, be warned…
Paul says…
Whose end will be according to their works…
Matthew 7:21-23:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Satan’s servants are the ones who practice lawlessness. I can’t even imagine how a person would feel when Jesus says to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
Thank God I’ll never know because I have Jesus in my heart.
2 Cor. 11:16:
“I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little. What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting.”
In a sense, Paul is saying, “Since you’re questioning my apostleship, I must speak this way, but don’t place that on the Lord.” We could say Paul was pushed into a corner. How often do we see the same thing today, the Lord is blamed for the cringe worthy actions of those who claim to be led by Him even though it’s His Spirit that produces peace, humility, and self‑control.
Christians take a hit when people do weird stuff “in the Lord’s name.” Paul clearly tries to distance himself from anything like this. Paul didn’t want to boast, and he might have been thinking about Proverbs 26:5 at this time: “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”
Paul and John the Baptist probably had the same mind-set… Jesus must increase and I must decrease!
2 Cor. 11:17-18:
“What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast.”
This had to be spiritually painful for Paul. Before Paul entered into what he viewed as a foolish kind of self‑defense, he first distanced himself from those who truly were acting foolishly. He didn’t want to be mistaken for the false apostles who constantly boasted about themselves, something he was never inclined to do.
To understand Paul’s point, we need to define the word “fool.”
The Greek word moros refers to someone who is spiritually foolish… not because they lack intelligence, but because they reject what they know is right.
The other word, aphrōn, means without reflection or good sense, someone acting impulsively or without reason.
In short:
Moros = foolish through rebellion
Aphrōn = foolish through poor judgment… and this is the term Paul uses here.
If they insisted on seeing him as a fool, Paul urged them to at least treat him the same way they treated the false apostles, granting him the same space to speak even if they thought his words were foolish.
I think the thing that was really irking Paul was, he was going to have to stoop down to the level of the false apostles, but he humbled himself anyway, because their spiritual well‑being mattered more than his comfort.
John Piper writes this about humility, “Humility is not a popular trait in the modern world. It’s not touted on the talk shows or celebrated in farewell speeches or commended in diversity seminars or listed with corporate core values…
In my local newspaper recently a guest editorial captured the atmosphere of our time that asphyxiates humility:
“There are some who naively cling to the nostalgic memory of God. The average churchgoer takes a few hours out of the week to experience the sacred… but the rest of the time, he is immersed in a society that no longer acknowledges God as an omniscient and omnipotent force to be loved and worshipped. …Today we are too sophisticated for God. We can stand on our own; we are prepared and ready to choose and define our own existence.”
I think this article captures the attitude of the false apostles, they had no humility and were only focused on their own existence.
I also will boast…
The atmosphere Paul was breathing in was indeed hostel to humility! We famously say, “the patience of Job,” here we have “the patience of Paul.”
2 Cor. 11:19-21:
“For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise! For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold… I speak foolishly… I am bold also.”
This is Paul’s final disclaimer before getting into his boasting…
(NLT) “After all, you think you are so wise, but you enjoy putting up with fools! You put up with it when someone enslaves you, takes everything you have, takes advantage of you, takes control of everything, and slaps you in the face. I’m ashamed to say that we’ve been too “weak” to do that! But whatever they dare to boast about… I’m talking like a fool again… I dare to boast about it, too.”
According to rabbinical tradition, a teacher could actually strike a student who didn’t agree with him. So, the false apostles weren’t only taking advantage of the Corinthians, they were even laying hands on some of them, and not in a good way.
Getting slapped in the face was about as insulting as it gets, yet, shockingly, the Corinthians put up with that kind of extreme humiliation from these false apostles. If I didn’t know better, I would say they were under a spell. With satan involved, it’s entirely possible.
It’s important that we highlight Paul’s most sarcastic remark so far… To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! Unless you know that this is sarcasm you would totally take this the wrong way.
One pastor writes: “What appeared to be “weakness” in his refusal to enslave, exploit, entrap, dominate, or humiliate the Corinthians was in fact strength, confirming both the authenticity of his apostleship and the sincerity of his love for them.”
Paul’s deep concern for the Corinthians and his desire to shield them from the abusive false apostles, is what drove him into the detailed defense of his apostleship that follows.
To boast about himself troubled Paul greatly. Boasting was something he put down, unless the boasting was about the Lord, then he was all for it. The future of the Corinthians was on the line, so now boasting would become a necessary evil. Rest assured, Paul’s boasting would in no way be braggadocious.
2 Cor. 11:22:
“Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I.”
The false apostles, we might say, just “strolled into Corinth waving the Jewish banner.” They were declaring to the crowds, “We are highly honorable Jewish men… follow us.” I don’t know if they said that, but you get the picture.
They declared they were Hebrews… so is Paul.
They declared they were Israelites… so is Paul.
They say they’re from the seed of Abraham… well, so is Paul.
During Paul’s era, the label Hebrew identified Jews from Palestine who spoke Hebrew or Aramaic, distinguishing them from the Hellenistic Jews who had adopted Greek as their primary language.
Phil. 3:5:
“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;”
Paul was highly educated, and like other educated men of that time, he spoke Greek, but he wasn’t a Hellenistic Jew. (Jews who lived in a Greek‑influenced environment).
To be an Israelite meant you were a descendant of Jacob; they could be called “sons of Israel.” They have the identity of being “God’s chosen people.”
The seed of Abraham… Paul was a descendant of Abraham by blood. Paul explicitly identifies himself as ethnically Jewish, from a tribe that traces its ancestry directly back to Abraham.
Romans 11:1:
“I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin.”
Benjamin was one of the twelve sons of Jacob (Israel), who was the grandson of Abraham. Paul’s genealogy runs: Abraham → Isaac → Jacob → Benjamin → Paul.
In Jewish thinking, being a “son of Abraham” is not only biological, it is also covenantal. To be part of Israel is to belong to the people God chose through Abraham.
What about Christian believers today? Believers today are considered descendants of Abraham in the same way Paul describes in the New Testament… not by physical lineage, but by faith in Christ.
Gal. 3:29 (NLT):
“And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.”
It’s nice being grafted into the family of God!
2Co 11:23:
“Are they ministers of Christ?… I speak as a fool… I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often.”
Paul could have easily defended himself by pointing to his impressive background… his training under the famous Gamaliel, his connections with the Jerusalem leadership, or even his intense zeal for Judaism that drove him to persecute the church.
Paul also might have highlighted all the ways God used him after he came to Christ, the places he ministered, the converts he made, and all the churches he started, but he chose a very different kind of résumé, one that didn’t look impressive to the world, but clearly marked him as a genuine servant of God… a bond slave.
I speak as a fool… or “I speak as if insane,” this is Paul’s reaction to his question… Are they servants of Christ? Or Are they ministers of Christ? This is repulsive to Paul, so much so, as we used to say in the 80’s, “Gag me with a spoon.”
These demonic false apostles, (I say demonic because I think they were under the influence of satan) could never be ministers of Christ… because they were preaching another gospel.
Gal. 1:9:
“As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
I don’t know what things were like for the false apostles after their encounter with Paul, but I’m pretty sure things got a little heated once they came face to face with God.
Paul says in contrast to the false apostles, I am more… there’s bragging here, but it’s just the plain truth.
The false apostles may have had their so-called documents in hand, but Paul had the scars of the narrow path he traveled on. Jesus ordained it…
Acts 9:15-16 [Jesus speaking to Ananias]:
“But the Lord said to him, ‘Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.’”
2 Tim. 3:12:
“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Indeed, Paul suffered. To all the believers out there, if you’re saying to yourself that you’re not really feeling much persecution, it might be time to re-examine your narrow path.
In labors more abundant… labor (cop’-oss). Hopefully this is something we all can relate to; it describes working to where you work-up a sweat, even to the point of exhaustion. You’ve probably done it, but not so much for the false apostles; the hardest work they did was trying to keep the dirt off their flashy robes.
The false apostles would see to it that they would always have the best, a life of ease and comfort, and since they were part of his kingdom, satan would never attack them.
I can tell you from experience, there’s nothing more satisfying than working up a sweat for the Lord… no bragging, just the facts ma’am. 😊
In stripes above measure…
This is something that I hope none of us will experience… being whipped or taking a beating. It happened to Paul so many times that he lost count. I believe God supernaturally kept Paul alive through those times.
Acts 16:22-23 [Paul and Silas]:
“Then the multitude rose up together against them; and the magistrates tore off their clothes and commanded them to be beaten with rods. And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.”
Acts 14:19:
“Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.”
If we’re keeping score, so far Paul is way ahead of the false apostles.
In prisons more frequently…
The church father Clement of Rome, writing at the close of the first century, said Paul was imprisoned seven times. I doubt the false apostles were ever even arrested.
How often do we ever see the elite go to prison? Things haven’t changed much over the centuries.
In deaths often… I think the NASB translation works better here; it says “in danger of death.”
Ever since Paul’s conversion on the Road to Damascus, people have been trying to kill him.
Acts 23:12-14 (NLT):
“The next morning a group of Jews got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty of them in the conspiracy. They went to the leading priests and elders and told them, ‘We have bound ourselves with an oath to eat nothing until we have killed Paul’.”
Paul was always mission minded as we will continue to see, there was no fear of death with Paul. Remember, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
This should encourage all of us as well. We can live fully for the Lord, and if following Him costs us our life… then we’re with Jesus. Either way, we win.
2 Cor. 11:24-25:
From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;”
Now Paul gets into the details of his apostle experience!
Five times Paul was whipped with forty lashes, some translations say thirty-nine. There was a Jewish law for this… no more than forty stripes could be given. So, to be safe, they would stop at thirty-nine just in case they mis-counted.
Ancient flogging was brutal:
The whip was made of leather cords, sometimes weighted with bone or metal. It tore skin, muscle, and tissue, it caused massive blood loss, and it could expose bone… infection afterward was common and deadly.
A weak, elderly, or already injured man could easily die from it. This is why I said God supernaturally kept Paul alive… he was whipped five times.
Three times I was beaten with rods…
Roman beatings were even worse! Paul also endured Roman beatings with rods which were: harsher, less regulated, and often fatal… Roman enforcers had no mercy.
Once I was stoned…
No, Paul wasn’t in L.A. smoking a bong with Cheech and Chong and getting high. Stoning in Paul’s day was one of the most brutal forms of execution in the ancient world. It wasn’t a quick or clean death either, it was violent, chaotic, and intentionally humiliating. Stoning wasn’t a punishment meant to “teach a lesson.” It was designed to end a person’s life. The goal was: massive blunt‑force trauma, skull fractures, internal bleeding, and crushing injuries. Most victims died from head wounds or chest impact.
It was also a community execution; unlike Roman crucifixion (done by soldiers), stoning was carried out by a crowd. Each person throwing a stone at you had plenty of energy to give it their all.
Many Bible teachers believe Paul’s stoning in Lystra is the moment he was caught up to heaven… but Paul never explicitly says so. Just something to ponder.
Three times I was shipwrecked…
Paul logged a lot of miles by sea. Acts records nine voyages before he wrote 2 Corinthians, and he probably took at least that many more afterward… one of which ended in a shipwreck.
A night and a day I have been in the deep…
After one of those shipwrecks, Paul spent a night and a day… in the deep clinging for life to a piece of wreckage until he was rescued.
Did you ever watch a TV show that you were totally engrossed in and all of a sudden the screen flashes… To Be Continued?
This is one of those times. 😊