"Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him."
Today's short and simple quote is one of the most important in the entire New Testament when it is applied to the conduct of modern "Christianity".
Herein, Paul, knowing that there would be many false teachers who would come to destroy the simple doctrine of Jesus Christ, spoke of "the simplicity that is in Christ". That simple phrase had very powerful implications then and now as it explains the easy means by which God's grace can be received by the lost unto eternal salvation.
Today, Paul's fear has been realized many times over in that most every group claiming to preach Christianity, impose false restrictions on salvation by making it seem almost impossible for the common sinner to achieve.
Sadly, there are just a few remaining true Christian denominations who still preach "the simplicity that is in Christ" as the ONLY means by which one can achieve eternal salvation. Most other isms claim that one must either be immersed in water (baptized) or that one must repent then live a life completely above sin in the flesh, or both. Some put other unscriptural restrictions on salvation.
Jesus Himself gave explicit instructions as to how we are to achieve eternal salvation in John 5:24, when He said; "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, HATH everlasting life, and SHALL NOT COME INTO CONDEMNATION; but is IS PASSED from death unto life."
We should note that those instructions did not include water baptism as a requirement, and neither did they require living a perfect life after repentance. Jesus, when He was slain, buried, and rose again, did it all for us so that all we need to do is believe in him; "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." (Acts 16-31)
That is "the simplicity that is in Christ".~
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