Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is no great thing therefore if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- BSB It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.
- NKJV Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
- NASB Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.
- NLT So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
It is no wonder that Satan's servants pose as ministers of righteousness, but their end will match their deeds. Their judgment is certain.
Overview
Paul concludes that the false apostles' righteous facade is exactly what one would expect from agents of Satan. Yet their final destiny will correspond to their true works, not their disguise. This sober assurance of coming judgment comforts the church while warning against being deceived by appearances.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 28
- Phil 3:19Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)
- Rev 9:11And they had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon.
- 2 Cor 3:9For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
- Acts 13:10And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
- Matt 7:15–16Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
- 2 Cor 11:23Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.
- Jude 1:4For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Jer 23:14–15I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.
- 2 Pet 2:3And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
- Isa 9:14–15Therefore the LORD will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush, in one day.
- 2 Pet 2:13–22And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
- 2 Kgs 5:13And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
- Eph 6:12For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
- Rev 20:2–3And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
- 1 Cor 9:11If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?
- Jer 29:32Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he shall not have a man to dwell among this people; neither shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith the LORD; because he hath taught rebellion against the LORD.
- Ezek 13:10–15Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:
- Ezek 13:22Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:
- Jude 1:10–13But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
- Jer 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
- 2 Th 2:8–12And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
- Gal 1:8–9But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
- 2 Cor 11:13For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
- Rev 19:19–21And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.
- Rev 13:14And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
- Rev 13:2And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
- Rev 20:7–10And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
- Jer 28:15–17Then said the prophet Jeremiah unto Hananiah the prophet, Hear now, Hananiah; The LORD hath not sent thee; but thou makest this people to trust in a lie.
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In Christ all God's promises are 'Yes and Amen'; though rich, he became poor to make us rich, and in him God reconciles the world, making us new creations.
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Original language
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