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“For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive another spirit which you have not received, or another gospel which you have not accepted, you bear this beautifully.” 2nd Cor. 11:4

 “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to another gospel, which is (really) not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.  But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Gal. 1:6-8

The last clause of the first verse listed above, that reads, “you bear this beautifully” gives the connotation of:  “him you will accept.” Because the context of the verse is another person coming and preaching another Jesus.  So the idea here is that not only is this person accepted, but their doctrine (of another Jesus) is accepted as well.

There are many people out there today who are proclaiming “another Jesus.” I like how Keith Green stated it: “Instead of the awesome majesty of Jehovah, today the Lord is presented as a sort of  ‘“ice cream-man Santa Claus.”’ And the Church is the ‘“candy store”’ where you can get ‘“every goodie your heart desires.”’ Jesus Himself is  portrayed as ‘“a sweetie pie,”’ so good, so loving, so forgiving, and so gentle, that you can almost hear the preacher whisper, “’Aw, He  wouldn’t hurt a fly…’” But what happened to “’It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God’” (Heb 10:31) or “’The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom’? (Pro 9:10)?'”

The Holy Spirit through Paul not only taught us that there are ones out there preaching “another Jesus” but there are some out there preaching “another gospel.”  And by accepting another gospel, you are really receiving “another spirit” (a lying spirit, a deceiving spirit, doctrines of demons).  There are many out there today whom I call spiritual perverts.  We don’t put up with perverts in the natural; so then why in the world would we put up with spiritual perverts?!! The definition of the word Pervert from the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is: “To cause to turn aside or away from what is good or true or morally right. Corrupt. Misdirect. Misinterpret. To twist the meaning or sense of.”

So we can glean some truths from these verses.  1) There are some who are portraying Jesus as somebody different than how He portrayed Himself, or how the writers of the New Testament portrayed Him.  2) There are many who are receiving other “spirits” other than the Spirit of Christ.  3) The gospel is being portrayed in a different light than what Jesus and the Apostles said it was.

And people sure want (and expect) Jesus to be someone other than who He claimed to be.  He was, and still is, God.  And God hates sin with everything in Him.  People seem to think that the God of the New Testament overlooks sin because of Christ.  People want Christ to really be this sin-accepting, sin-understanding, sin-lenient God.  HE IS NOT!!! Jesus is and was the God of the Old Testament who said, “…and that will by no means clear the guilty.”  It is He who also said, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.” He said in John 8 that the one who serves sin (lives in or commits [practices]) will not live in God’s house forever!! Jesus was God manifested in the flesh.

Jesus is the exact mirror representation of all who God is and of all that God said in the Old Testament.  Did you know that almost all of what Jesus said in the New Testament can be found in the Old Testament? God does not change!! Grace raises the standard. Even God said through Paul, “For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:26-31

God is not who you want Him to be – God is not who you think He should be – God is God, and He is not to be trifled with.  Jesus said in Luke 12:5, “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear Him, which after He hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear Him!”  So don’t accept another Jesus.  Read the four gospels, and come to know who this Jesus really is, and what He said.  People are easily swayed and swept away…and it’s only because they have no foundation in God’s word.  If you have a foundation in God’s word, the waves of false doctrine can beat against your house, and it will not fall.  Jesus said that His words (the Bible) are the foundation.

When people believe that Jesus is someone else than who He claimed to be (it’s usually a God of their own imagination), then they open up the door to receive “another spirit.” This is a deadly place to be in.  For these lying spirits will tell you whatever you want to hear.  They major on lies like: “It’s okay to sin, it’s not really that big of a deal.” Or “God surely doesn’t require that much from you.” Or “You can’t help it, everyone sins.”

Another Jesus = another spirit.  It’s not the Spirit of Christ…it’s the spirit of another jesus.  A jesus that has nothing to do with Heaven, holiness, separation, or sanctification.

And this leads us to “another gospel”…which we will pick up next week.