In the next verse, Paul would tell us more about the enemies of the cross of Christ, that their god is their belly, which tells you their motivation. 

Regardless of whatever they tell you, or how they present, their god is their belly. That begins to introduce us to the concept of what I am calling the modern gods, or the modern idols. 

These are not images that are carved with wood or stone that you can see. In a way, they are carved in the stone of the heart of the people. 

And when John wrote in his final statement in his first epistle that little children guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21), it may seem random and come from nowhere, almost like a throwaway line. 

It seems clear to me that this cannot be talking about carved images, or shapes that you hang on corners - maybe not directly. He dropped it almost like a food for thought.

Beware of idols, is "beware of anything commanding and holding your loyalty, your energy, your focus apart from Christ." 

Paul would come out plainly in another place where he called greed idolatry (Colossians 3:5). And Jesus was clear when He placed mammon and God at the same level when it comes to commanding our devotion. 

Jesus said that you cannot serve God and money (Luke 16:13), and it was clear that He was talking about the love of money. The Bible described the Pharisees who hated that he said as loving money (Luke 16:14). 

But gods/idols go beyond money. And note that John wrote, Guard yourselves against idols - plural.

The question I need to ask myself is, what are the idols in my heart? What do I depend on? What competes for Christ's place in my heart? Is my god my belly, do I mind earthly things, or I am heavenly focused?  

Whose opinion do I prize more than God's? Do I love the praise of men more than God's? 

But we don't need to start with the New Testament to see this concept of idols. 

There is something happening in the heart of these people. God is saying these people want to connect with me, but there is an obstacle to that connection. They are already connected with something else, rivaling the connection they should have with me. They already have other commitments, and they cannot truly be committed to me. Their affections are already tied up something and cannot be for me.

The people Paul was talking about in this focus verse may have all the trappings of being Christians. 

They may go to church, be in leadership. But they are enemies of the cross of Christ. They mind earthly things, is what Paul said. Meaning that it is their pursuit. 

They seek how Christianity would benefit them, rather than how they can serve the cause of Christ, and they lampoon you who genuinely seek to serve the cause of Christ as a fool. They are aggressive liars.

It is interesting that Paul said he had often told this church about these people, these enemies of Christ. And he has tears in his eyes because these are formidable influences. They are not side shows.

And before John wrote "guard yourselves from idols," he urged Christians not to love the world and the things in the world, which are "the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions (1 John 2:15-17)."

Paul is saying we do not need an investigative team to conclude that these people are enemies of the cross. 

The fact that they mind earthly things is enough indictment. They paint Christianity as the gate to material bliss. They seek a Christianity that would make them great among people. 

Paul won't cry, won't call them enemies of the cross, if they are not formidable, if their proposition is not attractive, if they are not effective. He said they live as enemies of the cross of Christ. They are prominent people and they are great in number. He said they are many.

Those people want to say Christianity guarantees money in your bank account. That pull is strong, and many have been caught in that web. 

And what they are doing is not innocent. They are actually causing damage, hence the label, enemies of the cross, which means they lead people towards error, rather than the truth found in Jesus Christ. They counter the work of Christ.

The cross promises resurrection for the believer, and it's about how we are now citizens of heaven. But these enemies want you to put your hope in the world, and damage your soul in the process, create a darkness in you, rather than the light of the truth in Christ. In the process of setting you to gain the world (Matthew 16:26), you lose your life, lose your connection with God.

They set you on the wrong pursuit different from what Paul had been explaining until now, which means you are spending your energy on what does not truly satisfy (Isaiah 55:2). In short, you are sent to chase shadows, chase the temporal, rather than the eternal. That is a poor bargain.

We are to be heavenly-minded, which may not appeal to the natural senses. But these people will twist the word of God to push their earthly-minded agenda. 

A church leader once told me, If it does not make money, it does not make sense. 

What a shame!  

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This book lays out the case for the Sufficiency of Scripture, arguing that it is enough to define the life and practice of Christians and the church. It pushes back against both subtle and blatant violations of this tenet, including Tradition, Imagination, Divination, Emotion, Revelations, and Visions (TIDER).Join the author as he explains:Passages that prohibit adding to or removing from God’s word.Scripture has a special quality that sets it apart from anything else that has ever been written or will ever be written.The need for humility so that we can separate our biases from the truth.There are consequences for either adding to or removing from God’s word.How Jesus and Paul argued for the Sufficiency of Scripture.How the devil is the enemy of the Sufficiency of Scripture, and humans willingly cooperate with him for different reasons.How, “The Scriptures, as a fixed set of documents, is a shared body of agreed reference that defines the contours of truth,” and not the preacher’s charisma or eloquence.Holding to the Sufficiency of Scripture one day doesn’t mean the preacher will always do so, hence the call for carefulness.Why it’s wrong to pit one passage of Scripture against another.That “humans have been building up reasonings apart from and against the light of God’s truth for centuries.”Take the journey to deepen your understanding and appreciation for the Sufficiency of Scripture.

The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® https://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved