Masqueraders

 The other day I wrote about an idea that struck me while reading 2 Corinthians 10. The same thing happened when I went on to Chapter 11. Sometimes the Holy Spirit underlines a verse or line because you don't remember ever seeing it before, because He has something new to show you in it, or because He simply wants you to think on it in this moment. Let's look at vv. 14-15.

"...Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve" (NIV).

Satan has a good past; he was an archangel. So, though he's no longer an angel of light, he can "play one on TV," so to speak. His servants (and v. 13 reveals that the reference is to false teachers, i.e., human beings), then, won't find it much of a stretch to pose as servants of another kind--servants of righteousness. Of the Lord, in other words. 

This means that people who are actively or unknowingly (being deceived themselves) working for the enemy's dominion are among the church, disguised as servants of the Kingdom. And we're believing most of them. Some will be uncovered, and others we'll see through, but not all will be detected. Who some of them are would astound us. This has always been so, will always be so until the end, and is the reason why exposures in the church shouldn't shake us. Disappoint, yes. Sadden, yes. But not shake the faith of believers or discourage unbelievers away from Jesus. Those who are only pretending to belong to Christ do not lessen the trustworthiness of Christ or the sincerity of those who are truly His. They are being purged, and at times the purging is necessary.  

If they are actual believers who have fallen, then restore them, if they are truly repentant and not prematurely bounced back into ministry. Other Scripture passages address this scenario. But I don't believe these are the people Paul is discussing here. He ends verse 15 with the words, "Their end will be what their actions deserve." These are not believers, in other words. And though they may fool some for a lifetime, or their own lifetime, in the end God is not mocked. We can trust Him on that.