As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law; but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh.
— Galatians 6:12-13
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
— Matthew 23:15
For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
— Romans 10:2
Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us: and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. I write not these things to shame you, but as my beloved sons I warn you.
— 1 Corinthians 4:8-14
As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia. Wherefore? because I love you not? God knoweth. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
— 2 Corinthians 11:10-15
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
— Romans 16:17
The Zeal of False Apostles, by Martin Luther.
They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them.
— Galatians 4:17
Paul exposes the false apostles for their flattery. Satan’s servants try to impress the simple people. Paul says that by good words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the simple—Romans 16:18. They tell me that by my stubbornness in doctrines, I am destroying the harmony of the church. They say it would be better if we would make some slight concession rather than cause such commotion and controversy in the church regarding articles which are not even fundamental doctrines. My reply is: cursed be any love or harmony which demands for its preservation that we place the Word of God in jeopardy. Do you know why the false apostles are so zealous about you? They expect you to reciprocate, and that would leave me out. If their zeal were right, they would not mind your loving me. But they hate my doctrine and want to destroy it. In order to make this happen, they go about to alienate your hearts from me, and to make me obnoxious to you. Paul brings the false apostles into suspicion. He questions their motives. He maintains that their zeal is a mere pretense to deceive the Galatians.
Our Savior Christ also warned us, saying: beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing—Matthew 7.
Paul was considerably disturbed by the commissions and changes that followed in the wake of his preaching. He was accused of being a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world—Acts 24. In Philippi, the townspeople cried that he troubled their city and taught customs which were not lawful for them to receive—Acts 16. All troubles, calamities, famines, wars were laid to the charge of the gospel of the apostles. However, the apostles were not deterred by such slander from preaching the gospel. They knew that they ought to obey God rather than men, and that it was better for the world to be upset than to be ignorant of Christ. Do you think for a moment that these reactions did not worry the apostles? They were not made of iron. They foresaw the revolutionary character of the gospel. They also foresaw the dissensions that would creep into the church. It was bad news for Paul when he heard that the Corinthians were denying the resurrection of the dead, and that the churches he had planted were experiencing all kinds of difficulties, and that the gospel was being supplanted by false doctrines. But Paul knew that the gospel was not to blame. He did not resign his office, because he knew that the gospel he preached was the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The same criticism, which was leveled at the apostles, is leveled at us. The doctrine of the gospel, we are told, is the cause of all the present unrest in the world. There is no wrong that is not laid to our charge. But why? We do not spread wicked lies. We preach the glad tidings of Christ. Our opponents will bear us out when we say that we never fail to urge respect for the constituted authorities, because that is the will of God. All the slander cannot discourage us. We know that there is nothing the devil hates worse than the gospel. It is one of his tricks to blame the gospel for every evil in the world. Formerly, when the traditions of the fathers were taught in the church, the devil was not excited as he is now. It goes to show that our doctrine is of God. Else, behemoth, would lie under shady trees in the covert of the reed and fence—Job 40:21. The fact that he is again walking about us as a roaring lion to stir up riots and disorder is a sure sign that he has begun to feel the effect of our preaching.
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