2 Corinthians 11:1-4 NKJV

“Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. 2For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!”

Betrothed to One Husband

What was Paul saying here? By him sharing with the people the gospel of our salvation, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord, and by the people believing in Jesus, dying with him to sin, being reborn of the Spirit, and then walking in obedience to the Lord’s commands, in practice, he served as the pastor who married the two together. For he essentially performed the wedding ceremony where they said, “Yes!” to Jesus, to be his bride, and for Jesus to be their husband. But they were now beginning to accept the lies as truth.

And so he let them know that he was jealous for them with a godly jealously, much like a Christian man or woman might be jealous with a godly jealousy when their spouse begins to drift away and to show interest in someone else in place of them. But the concern for their spouse is not from selfish motives, but it is out of a heart of love for them, and a desire to see them walk with the Lord in obedience to his commands and to have a godly marriage where they treat each other with honor, love, value, and respect.

So, if we have spouses who, although they may profess faith in Jesus, are living in adultery against the Lord and their spouse, in practice, we should be concerned. We should be grieved in our spirits. And if many professing Christians are giving lip service only to the Lord while their true god is themselves and entertainment and sexual adultery and idolatry, this should grieve us, as well (see 1 Corinthians 5:1-13). We should be burdened for those who have lost their way and pray for them to repent and obey God.

For we live in an age when it appears that the majority of them calling themselves “ministers of the gospel” are spreading lies to the people, instead of the truth. So many have diluted and altered the gospel to exclude the need for biblical repentance and obedience to our Lord’s commands, in practice. And many who teach the need to repent and to obey God teach it as something optional, i.e. as something we should do, but with an open door to not do and still be regarded a Christian on one’s way to heaven.

What is the gospel Jesus and Paul and the other apostles taught?

Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).

For by God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires. For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23).

For God’s grace, which is bringing us salvation, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for Jesus’ return. For it is not the one who claims he is “in Christ” who is “in Christ,” but it is the one who has denied self, died with Christ to sin, and who is now walking in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in practice, and no longer in sin. We have the hope and the promise of eternal life with God in heaven (see Titus 2:11-14; 1 John 1-3).

Not of Ourselves

Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV

“8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

So, what’s this saying? Well, we know that the grace of God, by which we are saved, is training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives. So grace is not a free ride to heaven based off lip service only. And salvation, which is progressive, is deliverance out of bondage (addiction) to sin so we can now walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands. And faith comes from God and it is persuaded of God as to his righteousness and holiness, and of our sinfulness, and of our need to deny self, die to sin, and obey our Lord.

And since it is not of ourselves, not of our own fleshly works, not only can we do nothing to earn or to deserve our salvation, but we do not get to define what that salvation looks like, either, for it is not of human flesh, but of God. And Jesus died on that cross to put our sins to death with him so we will die to sin and obey God in practice. And “works” are not excluded from our salvation, for we are, by faith in Jesus Christ, his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk (in conduct, in practice) in them, all for the glory of God.

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

My Sheep

Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

My sheep hear me. They know me.
They listen to my voice and obey.
I call them and lead them.
They know my voice, so they follow me.
They will never follow strangers.
They will run away from them.
The voice of a stranger they know not;
They do not follow him.

So, I tell you the truth that
I am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever enters
Not by the gate; other way,
He is the thief and a robber.
Listen not, the sheep to him.

Oh, I am the Good Shepherd,
Who laid his own life down for the sheep.
I know them. They know me.
They will live with me eternally.
The thief only comes to steal and
Kill and to destroy the church.
I have come to give you life that
You may have it to the full…

They know my voice, so they follow me.

With a Godly Jealousy
An Original Work / June 19, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love