Simplicity
There’s something beautiful about simplicity. It declutters, unclouds, and clears away things that seem important but are not.
The English dictionary defines it this way as a noun: the quality or condition of being easy to understand or do, a thing that is plain, natural, or easy to understand, the quality or condition of being plain or natural.
Simplicity is the state or quality of being simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated.
It seems there is never a shortage of those willing to complicate the New Covenant Gospel message, which magnifies Christ alone, by twisting it with many demands and conditions that are not found in the simplicity of preaching found in the Scriptures.
This was a great concern of the Apostle Paul.
2Corinthians 11:1 Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me. 2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. 3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
There is a simplicity in Christ that is not meant to be convoluted with extras. Paul speaks of how the serpent deceived Eve by craftiness.
The word craftiness in the Greek panourgia can mean trickery, sophistry, craftiness, or subtilty. In this case, the translators chose craftiness as an adjective, meaning clever at achieving one's aims by indirect or deceitful methods. It is akin to a salesman twisting the truth in such a way as to get you to question what you first knew about the product.
Paul speaks of another Jesus he had not preached to them, their receiving a different spirit than the original spirit they had not received, or a different gospel that they had not accepted but were willing to tolerate. Oh, the dangers of tolerating mixture!
Unity, solely for the sake of unity, is a disaster that is looking for a place to happen. It leads to confusion and disruption of genuine faith at the simplest level. There are some things we are not meant to accept or tolerate.
1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed in the world, Received up in glory.
That view of the mystery of godliness is simple but clear. Add a few self-proclaimed theologians to the mix, and we will have a ten-page thesis on the subject that has run-on sentences and is hard to understand. Simplicity aids us in avoiding needless compromises that put us at risk regarding the truth concerning Jesus, His gospel, and the Covenant we are now under. Oh, the beauty of simplicity.
