John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 11:3

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity and the purity that is toward Christ." — 2 Corinthians 11:3 (ASV)

But I fear. He begins to explain the nature of that virginity he has mentioned: our clinging to Christ alone, sincerely, with our whole heart.

God, indeed, everywhere requires from us that we be joined with Him in body and in spirit. He warns us that He is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), ready to avenge with the utmost severity the wrong done to Him if anyone draws back from Him. This connection, however, is accomplished in Christ, as Paul teaches in Ephesians (Ephesians 5:25, 27).

He now points out its means: this happens when we remain in the pure simplicity of the gospel. For just as in human marriages, written contracts are drawn up, so the spiritual connection between us and the Son of God is confirmed by the gospel, like a written contract. Let us maintain the fidelity, love, and obedience that we have promised there; He, on His part, will be faithful to us.

Now Paul says he is concerned that the minds of the Corinthians may not be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Paul, it is true, says in Greek εἰς Χριστόν, which Erasmus renders as towards Christ.

However, the Old Interpreter, in my opinion, has come closer to Paul’s intention. For by the simplicity that is in Christ is meant that which keeps us in the unadulterated and pure doctrine of the gospel and admits no foreign elements. By this, Paul implies that people’s minds are adulterated whenever they turn aside, even in the slightest, to one side or the other, from the pure doctrine of Christ.

And this is not without good reason. For who would not condemn a married woman as guilty of unchastity as soon as she lends an ear to a seducer? So, in the same way, when we accept wicked and false teachers, who are Satan’s vile agents, we show all too clearly that we are not maintaining conjugal fidelity towards Christ.

We must also take note of the term simplicity. For Paul’s fear was not that the Corinthians would suddenly and openly withdraw completely from Christ. Rather, his fear was that by turning aside, little by little, from the simplicity they had learned, to pursue profane and foreign schemes, they would eventually become adulterated.

He brings forward a comparison: as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty. For if false teachers display an appearance of wisdom, if they have eloquence to persuade, if they plausibly work their way into the minds of their hearers and instill their poison by flattering deceptions, it was in a similar way that Satan also beguiled Eve. He did not openly declare himself an enemy, but crept in secretly under a plausible but false pretext.