DCLM Daily Manna 13 September 2026: Danger of Corrupting the Gospel
KEY VERSE: “For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” —2 Corinthians 2:17
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 2:14–17
But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
15 For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:
16 To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]
17 For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God’s Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity and the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight and presence of God.
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In the Spokesman Review of December 8, 1984, we find the story of Pedro De Mesones, who served a three-year prison sentence for mail fraud and conspiracy. He told a congressional panel that, in three years of “expediting” medical degrees, he provided about 100 clients with false transcripts showing they had fulfilled the medical requirements of schools they did not attend.
“Clients paid me from $5,225 to $27,000 for my services,” De Mesones said. “In all, I earned about $1.5 million in those three years. I only got to keep about $500,000 of this total. The rest went for bribes and expenses.”
Fraud not only exists in the secular world, but it is sadly present even among the clergy. There are so-called men of God who carry certificates from Bible schools and colleges but showcase lives that are not complementary to their calling. Paul, in his second letter to the Corinthians, breaks it all down for us. He tells of the air or aura around the minister, which draws both saints and sinners unto him to hear the truth about the divine demands upon man. He warns that the saint will become a savour of death unto death if not made a savour of life unto life.
When the gospel is corrupted, it becomes a different variant, or another gospel, which lacks the essential ingredients to make it whole. Those whom the Apostle accuses of the contrary practice—of corrupting the Word of God—seem to have been Jews who accepted Jesus to be Christ and His gospel to be divine, yet adulterated it by intermingling it with the Law of Moses and their own traditions. In doing this, their principal intention was to make a gain of Christ, which consequently brought them under the necessity of concealing the end they proposed, as well as the means they used to obtain it.
On the contrary, those who intend the good of humanity are by no means concerned to hide their intentions. They come out plain. They do not present a gospel with private interpretation. If the benefit we propose in preaching is to ourselves alone, it is often in our interest to keep it private. If the benefit we propose is to others, it is always in our interest to make it public.
Corrupting the gospel can take the form of adding to, subtracting from or embellishing it with worldly contents so that it loses its form and strength. We should, as believers and preachers of the gospel, be wary, vigilant and contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints. We should avoid all forms of adulteration and wrong practices by those who preach the gospel to fill up their bellies. We should always ensure that all our dealings in connection with Christ’s commission are transparent.
Thought for the Day
The gospel corrupters soon perish with their filthy lucre
The Bible in One Year: Numbers 11–13
DCLM Daily Manna 13 September 2026
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