Deceived by his Cunning (2 Cor 11:3-4, 13-15)

2 Corinthians 11:3–4, 13-15 (CSB): “3 But I fear that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your minds may be seduced from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if a person comes and preaches another Jesus, whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you had not received, or a different gospel, which you had not accepted, you put up with it splendidly! ..

13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 So it is no great surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their works.”

How can we discern false spirits, false Gospels, or false apostles?

I used to think that I could rely on my spiritual feelings and impressions to know the Holy Spirit and reliably discern truth

I now understand that false spirits can deceive us.

We need to cautiously test spirits. We need to ensure that we are not following a different Gospel than God revealed to us in his word. We need to ensure that we are not led astray by false doctrines that are seductive and appealing, but not truly from God.