In 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 Paul writes, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.” (NIV).
When Paul expresses his concern for “the church,” that is, Christ’s bride, not to be deceived as Eve was by the Serpent, he is speaking to both men and women, because “the church” includes both. Yet historically it has been men who have been the appointed leaders of churches. And just as it was Adam’s responsibility not to allow deception to come into the garden, so it has been the same for men throughout the church age. If you do not recognize your own vulnerability as a man, and thus the vulnerability of the church, for being deceived as Eve was by the Serpent, then chances are you have already been deceived and may have now become a deceiver of others.
Spiritual Widowhood’s chief aim is, therefore, to present what I believe to be a crucial, if not the crucial litmus test for us, based on Scripture, for determining whether we have not only been deceived, but have now become the deceivers of others, and if found to be true what the consequences will then be for us as the church going forward.
