Transforming themselves into the Apostles of Christ. From this it appears that these detractors of Paul were not believers who were impelled by mere vanity or by envy of Paul, but were heretics; for, in ver15 , he calls them false apostles and ministers of Satan.
Secondly, he censures their hypocrisy in that, in order that they might impose on the Christians, they took to themselves the appearance and name of the Apostles of Christ, as though they were of Christ, and preachers of the Christian faith. The Calvinists of the present day are of the same kind, for they deform and profane everything sacred—our rites, sacraments, churches, monasteries, sanctuaries, altars, all true worship, religion, and godliness-and yet wish to be looked upon and spoken of as reformers.
What do you say? They that preach Christ, they that take not money, they that bring not in a different gospel, false apostles? 'Yes,' he says, and for this very reason most of all, because they make pretense of all these things for the purpose of deceiving. Deceitful workers, for they do work indeed, but pull up what has been planted. For being well aware that otherwise they would not be well received, they take the mask of truth and so enact the drama of error. 'And yet,' says one, 'they take no money.' That they may take greater things; that they may destroy the soul. Yea rather, even that was a falsehood; and they took money but did it secretly: and he shows this in what follows. And indeed he already hinted this where he said, that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we: 2 Corinthians 11:12 in what follows, however, he hinted it more plainly, saying, If a man devour you, if a man take you captive, if a man exalt himself, you bear with him. 2 Corinthians 11:20 But at prese...
The false apostles looked good on the surface, but underneath they robbed the soul. Indeed, they took money as well, though they were careful to conceal that as much as possible.
And after this manner the most atheistical heresy of the Simonians was first established in Rome; and the devil wrought by the rest of the false apostles
