Text -- 2 Corinthians 4:3-18 (NET)

4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing, 4:4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe so they would not see the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. 4:5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. 4:6 For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.

An Eternal Weight of Glory

4:7 But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that the extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us. 4:8 We are experiencing trouble on every side, but are not crushed; we are perplexed, but not driven to despair; 4:9 we are persecuted, but not abandoned; we are knocked down, but not destroyed, 4:10 always carrying around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our body. 4:11 For we who are alive are constantly being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our mortal body. 4:12 As a result, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 4:13 But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, “I believed; therefore I spoke,” we also believe, therefore we also speak. 4:14 We do so because we know that the one who raised up Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus and will bring us with you into his presence. 4:15 For all these things are for your sake, so that the grace that is including more and more people may cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God. 4:16 Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. 4:17 For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 4:18 because we are not looking at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen. For what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per phrase)

Robertson: 2Co 4:3

It is veiled in them that are perishing ( en tois apollumenois estin kekalummenon ).

Periphrastic perfect passive of kaluptō , to veil in both condition (first class) and conclusion. See note on 2Co 2:15. for "the perishing."

Robertson: 2Co 4:4

The god of this world ( ho theos tou aiōnos toutou ).

"Age,"more exactly, as in 1Co 1:20. Satan is "the god of this age,"a phrase nowhere else in the N.T., but Jesus uses the same idea in Joh 12:31; Joh 14:30 and Paul in Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12 and John in 1Jo 5:19. Satan claimed the rule over the world in the temptations with Jesus.

Robertson: 2Co 4:4

Blinded ( etuphlōsen ).

First aorist active of tuphloō , old verb to blind (tuphlos , blind). They refused to believe (apistōn ) and so Satan got the power to blind their thoughts. That happens with wilful disbelievers.

Robertson: 2Co 4:4

The light ( ton phōtismon ).

The illumination, the enlightening. Late word from photizō , to give light, in Plutarch and lxx. In N.T. only in 2Co 4:4, 2Co 4:6. Accusative case of general reference here with the articular infinitive (eis to mē augasai that should not dawn). That is, if augasai is intransitive as is likely, though it is transitive in the old poets (from augē , radiance. Cf. German Auge =eye). If it is transitive, the idea would be "that they should not see clearly the illumination, etc."

Robertson: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves ( ou gar heautous kērussomen ).

Surely as poor and disgusting a topic as a preacher can find.

Robertson: 2Co 4:5

But Christ Jesus as Lord ( alla Christon Iēsoun Kurion ).

Kurion is predicate accusative in apposition.

Robertson: 2Co 4:5

As your servants for Jesus’ sake ( doulous humōn dia Iēsoun ).

Your bond-slave for the sake of Jesus. This is the sufficient reason for any preacher’ s sacrifice, "for Jesus’ sake."

Robertson: 2Co 4:6

God who said ( ho theos ho eipōn ).

Paraphrase of Gen 1:3.

Robertson: 2Co 4:6

Who shined ( hos elampsen ).

Like a lamp in the heart (cf. Mat 5:15). Miners carry a lamp on the forehead, Christians carry one in their hearts lit by the Spirit of God.

Robertson: 2Co 4:6

To give the light ( pros phōtismon ).

For the illumination.

Robertson: 2Co 4:6

In the face of Jesus Christ ( en prosōpōi Iēsou Christou ).

The Christian who looks on the face of Jesus Christ as Moses looked upon the glory of God will be able to give the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God. See note on 2Co 2:10 for prosōpon .

Robertson: 2Co 4:7

This treasure ( ton thēsauron touton ).

On thēsauron see note on Mat 6:19. It is the power of giving the illumination of the knowledge of the glory of God (2Co 4:6). "The power is limitless, but it is stored in very unlikely receptacles"(Plummer). This warning Paul gives in contrast (de ) with the exultation of 2Co 4:6 (Bernard).

Robertson: 2Co 4:7

In earthen vessels ( en ostrakinois skeuesin ).

This adjective is common in the lxx with skeuos , aggos and aggeion . It occurs again in 2Ti 2:20 with skeuē . It is found also in the papyri with skeuos as here. It is from ostrakon , baked clay (same root as osteon , bone), so many fragments of which are found in Egypt with writing on them. We are but earthen jars used of God for his purposes (Rom 9:20.) and so fragile.

Robertson: 2Co 4:7

The exceeding greatness ( hē huperbolē ).

See note on 1Co 12:31 for this word, "the preeminence of the power."This is God’ s purpose (hinȧ̇ēi ). God, not man, is the dynamo (dunamis ). It comes from God (tou theou , ablative) and does not originate with us (mē ex hēmōn ).

Robertson: 2Co 4:8

Pressed ( thlibomenoi ).

From thlibō , to press as grapes, to contract, to squeeze. Series of present passive participles here through 2Co 4:9 that vividly picture Paul’ s ministerial career.

Robertson: 2Co 4:8

Yet not straitened ( all' ou stenochōroumenoi ).

Each time the exception is stated by all' ou . From stenochōreō (stenochōros , from stenos , narrow, chōros , space), to be in a narrow place, to keep in a tight place. Late verb, in lxx and papyri. In N.T. only here and 2Co 6:12.

Robertson: 2Co 4:8

Yet not unto despair ( all' ouk exaporoumenoi ).

Late perfective compound with eẋ of exaporeō . A very effective play on words here, lost, but not lost out.

Robertson: 2Co 4:9

Forsaken ( egkataleipomenoi ).

Double compound of old verb eġkatȧleipō , to leave behind, to leave in the lurch.

Robertson: 2Co 4:9

Smitten down ( kataballomenoi ).

As if overtaken.

Robertson: 2Co 4:9

Destroyed ( apollumenoi ).

Perishing as in 2Co 4:3. Was Paul referring to Lystra when the Jews stoned him and thought him dead?

Robertson: 2Co 4:10

Bearing about ( peripherontes ).

Ignatius was called Theophoros , God-bearer. See 1Co 15:31 where Paul says "I die daily"and Phi 3:10; Col 1:24.

Robertson: 2Co 4:10

The dying of Jesus ( tēn nekrōsin tou Iēsou ).

Late word from nekroō , to put to death. In Galen. In N.T. only here and Rom 4:19.

Robertson: 2Co 4:11

Are alway delivered unto death ( eis thanaton paradidometha ).

This explains 2Co 4:10.

Robertson: 2Co 4:12

Death worketh in us ( ho thanatos en hēmin energeitai ).

Middle voice present tense of the old verb to operate, be at work. Physical death works in him while spiritual life (paradox) works in them.

Robertson: 2Co 4:13

According to that which is written ( kata to gegrammenon ).

This formula in legal documents in the papyri ( Bible Studies , p. 250). Paul makes adaptation of the words in Psa 95:1.

Robertson: 2Co 4:13

We also believe ( kai hēmeis pisteuomen ).

Like the Psalmist. And therefore can speak with effect. Otherwise useless.

Robertson: 2Co 4:13

Shall present us with you ( kai parastēsei sun hēmin ).

This shows that Paul was not certain that he would be alive when Jesus comes as has been wrongly inferred from 1Co 7:29; 1Co 10:11; 1Co 15:51.

Robertson: 2Co 4:15

Being multiplied through the many ( pleonasasa dia tōn pleionōn ).

Late word pleonazō from pleon , more, "making more through the more,"with play on pleon . One can think of Bunyan’ s Grace Abounding .

Robertson: 2Co 4:16

Wherefore we faint not ( dio ouk egkakoumen ).

Repeats from 2Co 4:1.

Robertson: 2Co 4:16

Our outward man ( ho exō hēmōn anthrōpos )

, our inward man (ho esō hēmōn ). In Rom 7:22; Col 3:9; Eph 4:22., we have the inward man and the outward for the higher and the lower natures (the spirit and the flesh). "Here the decay (diaphtheiretai ) of the bodily organism is set over against the growth in grace (anakainoutai , is refreshed) of the man himself"(Bernard). Plato ( Republ. ix, p. 589) has ho entos anthrōpos . Cf. "the hidden man of the heart"(1Pe 3:4).

Robertson: 2Co 4:16

Day by day ( hēmerāi kai hēmerāi ).

This precise idiom is not in lxx nor rest of N.T. It may be colloquial use of locative in repetition.

Robertson: 2Co 4:17

Our light affliction which is for the moment ( to parautika elaphron tēs thlipeseōs hēmōn ).

Literally, "the for the moment (old adverb parautika , here only in N.T.) lightness (old word, in N.T. only here and Mat 11:30)."

Robertson: 2Co 4:17

More and more exceedingly ( kath' huperbolēn eis huperbolēn ).

Like piling Pelion on Ossa, "according to excess unto excess."See note on 1Co 12:31.

Robertson: 2Co 4:17

Eternal weight of glory ( aiōnion baros doxēs ).

Careful balancing of words in contrast (affliction vs. glory, lightness vs. weight, for the moment vs. eternal).

Robertson: 2Co 4:18

While we look not ( mē skopountōn hēmōn ).

Genitive absolute with participle of skopeō from skopos , goal.

Robertson: 2Co 4:18

Temporal ( proskaira ).

Rather temporary, for a season (pros kairon ). Late word. See note on Mat 13:21. See 1Co 13:12; Heb 11:1.

Vincent: 2Co 4:3

Hid ( κεκαλυμμένον )

Rev., veiled , in accordance with the imagery of ch. 3.

Vincent: 2Co 4:4

The god of this world ( ὁ θεὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου )

The phrase occurs only here. Compare Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12; Joh 12:31; Joh 14:30. Satan is called god in the rabbinical writings. " The first God is the true God; but the second god is Samael." " The matron said, 'Our god is greater than thy God; for when thy God appeared to Moses in the bush, he hid his face; when, however, he saw the serpent, which is my god, he fled." '

Vincent: 2Co 4:4

The light ( τὸν φωτισμὸν )

Only here and 2Co 4:6. Lit., the illumination , act of enlightening .

Vincent: 2Co 4:4

Image of God

Compare Col 1:15; Joh 17:5; Phi 2:6; Phi 3:21. Christ's light is also God's. Compare Heb 1:3, Rev., effulgence (ἀπαύγασμα , compare αὐγάσαι shine , in this passage). Theodoret says: " The effulgence is both from the fire and with the fire, and has the fire as its cause, yet is not divided from the fire; for whence comes the fire, thence also comes the effulgence."

Vincent: 2Co 4:4

Shine ( αὐγάσαι )

Only here in the New Testament. From αὐγή brightness , which also occurs but once, Act 20:11, daybreak . In classical Greek of the sun especially. Rev., dawn is legitimate as a translation, but hardly here, since Paul is going back to the figure of 2Co 3:18.

Vincent: 2Co 4:6

Who commanded the light to shine ( ὁ εἰπὼν φῶς λάμψαι )

The correct reading is λάμψει shall shine ; so that we should render, it is God that said light shall shine . So Rev.

Vincent: 2Co 4:6

To give the light of the knowledge ( πρὸς φωτισμὸν τῆς γνώσεως ).

Lit., for the illumination , as 2Co 4:4. In order that the knowledge may lighten. Knowledge, if not diffused, is not of the nature of light.

Vincent: 2Co 4:6

In the face of Jesus Christ

Containing the thought of 2Co 3:18. The knowledge of the divine glory becomes clear revelation to men in the face of Christ as it appears in the Gospel: " So that in this seen countenance that clear-shining knowledge has the source of its light, as it were, its focus" (Meyer).

Vincent: 2Co 4:7

This treasure

The divine light which is the guide and inspiration of the apostolic ministry.

Vincent: 2Co 4:7

In earthen vessels ( ἐν ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν )

The adjective occurs only here and 2Ti 2:10. Herodotus says of the king of Persia: " The great king stores away the tribute which he receives after this fashion: he melts it down, and, while it is in a liquid state, runs it into earthen vessels, which are afterward removed, leaving the metal in a solid mass" (iii., 96). Stanley cites the story of a Rabbi who was taunted with his mean appearance by the emperor's daughter, and who replied by referring to the earthen vessels in which her father kept his wines. At her request the wine was shifted to silver vessels, whereupon it turned sour. Then the Rabbi observed that the humblest vessels contained the highest wisdom. The idea of light in earthen vessels is, however, best illustrated in the story of the lamps and pitchers of Gideon, Jdg 7:16. In the very breaking of the vessel the light is revealed.

Vincent: 2Co 4:7

Excellency ( ὑπερβολὴ )

Lit., a throwing beyond . Hence preeminence , excellence . See on exceeding , Rom 7:13. Rev. renders exceeding greatness . The reference is to the fullness of power apparent in the apostolic ministry.

Vincent: 2Co 4:7

Of God - of us ( τοῦ Θεοῦ - ἐξ ἡμῶν )

The A.V. misses the difference between the two expressions. Of God is belonging to God; God's property: from (ἐξ ) is proceeding from ourselves. Rev., of God - from ourselves .

Vincent: 2Co 4:8

Troubled ( θλιβόμενοι )

See on tribulation, Mat 13:21. The verb also has the meaning of to straiten , contract , as Mat 7:14, where τεθλιμμένη , A.V. narrow , is properly rendered by Rev. straitened .

Vincent: 2Co 4:8

Distressed ( στενοχωρούμενοι )

Only here and 2Co 6:12. From στενός narrow , and χῶρος a space . Hence cramped . The A.V. gives no suggestion of the figurative paradox. We are pressed closely , yet not cramped . Rev., pressed on every side , yet not straitened .

Vincent: 2Co 4:8

Perplexed ( ἀπορούμενοι )

From ἀ not , and πόρος a passage . Lit., to be unable to find a way out .

Vincent: 2Co 4:8

In despair ( ἐξαπορούμενοι )

Rev., very neatly, rendered unto despair . The word expresses an advance of thought on perplexed , yet on the same line. We are perplexed , but not utterly perplexed. The play between the Greek words cannot be rendered.

Vincent: 2Co 4:9

Persecuted - forsaken ( διωκόμενοι - ἐγκαταλειπόμενοι )

Rev., for persecuted , pursued , the primary meaning of the verb, thus giving vividness to the figure. Forsaken , lit., left behind in (some evil plight). The figure is, pursued by enemies , but not left to their power: left in the lurch .

Vincent: 2Co 4:9

Cast down - destroyed ( καταβαλλόμενοι - ἀπολλύμενοι )

This carries on the previous figure. Though the pursuers overtake and smite down , yet are we not killed . Rev., smitten down . In all these paradoxes the A.V. fails to bring out the metaphors.

Vincent: 2Co 4:10

Bearing about

Ignatius, addressing the Ephesians, says: " Ye are God-bearers, shrine-bearers, Christ-bearers" (" Epistle to Ephesians," 9). In the Antiochene Acts, Trajan alludes to Ignatius as " the one who declares that he bears about the crucified." Ignatius was known as Θεοφόρος God bearer , and so styles himself in the introductions of his epistles.

Vincent: 2Co 4:10

Dying ( νέκρωσιν )

Only here and Rom 4:19. Primarily a putting to death , and thence the state of deadness , as Rom 4:19. Here in the former sense. Paul says, in effect, " our body is constantly exposed to the same putting to death which Jesus suffered. The daily liability to a violent death is something, which we carry about with us." Compare 1Co 15:31; Rom 8:36. This parallel with Christ's death is offset by the parallel with Christ's triumph - life through resurrection.

Vincent: 2Co 4:10

That the life also ( ἵνα )

In order that . The purport , according to God's purpose, of this daily dying is to set forth the resurrection-life through Christ in us. Compare Rom 5:10.

Vincent: 2Co 4:13

The same spirit of faith

The same, namely, which is set forth in the following passage. Spirit of faith: not distinctly the Holy Spirit, nor, on the other hand, a human faculty or disposition, but blending both; faith as a gift of the Spirit of God. See on Spirit , Rom 8:4, sec. 5.

Vincent: 2Co 4:13

I believed, etc.

Cited from Sept., Psa 115:10. The Septuagint mistranslates the Hebrew, which is, " I believed though I said ," etc.

Vincent: 2Co 4:15

The abundant grace ( ἡ χάρις πλεονάσασα )

Lit., the grace having abounded . Rev., the grace being multiplied . Grace is the divine gift of spiritual energy which is shown in the labor, suffering, and triumph of the apostles.

Vincent: 2Co 4:15

Might through the thanksgiving of many redound ( διὰ τῶν πλειόνων τὴν εὐχαριστίαν περισσεύση )

Numerous arrangements of these words are proposed. Through (διά ) should govern the many , not thanksgiving ; and redound should be transitive, cause to abound , and governing thanksgiving . So Rev., the grace , being multiplied through the many , may cause the thanksgiving to abound . The thought is on the line of 2Co 4:12, that the sufferings and risks of the apostles promote spiritual life in the Church. The grace of God, thus manifest in the apostles, shall be multiplied through the increasing number of those who share it, and shall thus make thanksgiving more abundant for the fruits of this grace as exhibited in the apostles and in the Church.

Redound (A.V.) is from the Latin redundare to surge back . Therefore, primarily, of a fullness or overflow from the setting back of a tide. So Milton:

" The evil, soon

Driven back, redounded as a flood on those

From whom it sprang."

Generally, to abound. From this arises the secondary sense, to conduce , contribute to ; that is, to make the causes mount up , or abound , so as to produce the effect. So Addison: " The care of our national commerce redounds more to the riches and prosperity of the public," etc.

Vincent: 2Co 4:16

Outward man - inward man

The material and spiritual natures.

Vincent: 2Co 4:16

Perish ( διαφθείρεται )

Rev., much better, is decaying . Perish implies destruction : the idea is that of progressive decay .

Vincent: 2Co 4:16

Is renewed ( ἀνακαινοῦται )

Better, is being renewed , the process of renewal going on along with the process of decay. Stanley cites a line attributed to Michael Angelo: " The more the marble wastes the more the statue grows." Compare Euripides: " Time does not depress your spirit, but it grows young again: your body, however, is weak" (" Heraclidae," 702, 703)

Vincent: 2Co 4:16

Day by day ( ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ )

Lit., by day and day . A Hebrew form of expression.

Vincent: 2Co 4:17

Our light affliction which is but for a moment ( τὸ παραυτίκα ἐλαφρὸν τῆς θλίψεως ἡμῶν )

Lit., the present light (burden) of our affliction .

Vincent: 2Co 4:17

Worketh ( κατεργάζεται )

Works out : achieves .

Vincent: 2Co 4:17

A far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory ( καθ ' ὑπερεβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν αἰώνιον βάρος δόξης )

Rev., more and more exceedingly an eternal weight , etc. An expression after the form of Hebrew superlatives, in which the emphatic word is twice repeated. Lit., exceedingly unto excess . The use of such cumulative expressions is common with Paul. See, for example, Phi 1:23, lit., much more better ; Rom 8:37, abundantly the conquerors ; Eph 3:20, exceeding abundantly , etc. Note how the words are offset: for a moment , eternal ; light , weight ; affliction , glory .

Vincent: 2Co 4:18

Seen - not seen

Compare the beautiful passage in Plato's " Phaedo," 79.

Wesley: 2Co 4:3

As well as the law of Moses.

Wesley: 2Co 4:4

What a sublime and horrible description of Satan! He is indeed the god of all that believe not, and works in them with inconceivable energy.

Wesley: 2Co 4:4

Not only veiled, the eye of their understanding.

Wesley: 2Co 4:4

Is properly the reflection or propagation of light, from those who are already enlightened, to others.

Wesley: 2Co 4:4

Hence also we may understand how great is the glory of Christ. He that sees the Son, sees the Father in the face of Christ. The Son exactly exhibits the Father to us.

Wesley: 2Co 4:5

The fault is not in us, neither in the doctrine they hear from us.

Wesley: 2Co 4:5

As able either to enlighten, or pardon, or sanctify you.

Wesley: 2Co 4:5

As your only wisdom, righteousness, sanctification.

Wesley: 2Co 4:5

Ready to do the meanest offices.

Wesley: 2Co 4:5

Not for honour, interest, or pleasure.

Wesley: 2Co 4:6

The hearts of all those whom the god of this world no longer blinds. God who is himself our light; not only the author of light, but also the fountain of it.

Wesley: 2Co 4:6

Of his glorious love, and of his glorious image.

Wesley: 2Co 4:6

Which reflects his glory in another manner than the face of Moses did.

Wesley: 2Co 4:7

Not only the apostles, but all true believers.

Wesley: 2Co 4:7

Of divine light, love, glory.

Wesley: 2Co 4:7

In frail, feeble, perishing bodies. He proceeds to show, that afflictions, yea, death itself, are so far from hindering the ministration of the Spirit, that they even further it, sharpen the ministers, and increase the fruit. That the excellence of the power, which works these in us, may undeniably appear to be of God.

Wesley: 2Co 4:8

_The four articles in this verse respect inward, the four in the next outward, afflictions. In each clause the former part shows the "earthen vessels;" the latter, "the excellence of the power." Not crushed - Not swallowed up in care and anxiety.

Wesley: 2Co 4:8

What course to take, but never despairing of his power and love to carry us through.

Wesley: 2Co 4:10

Wherever we go.

Wesley: 2Co 4:10

Continually expecting to lay down our lives like him.

Wesley: 2Co 4:10

That we may also rise and be glorified like him.

Wesley: 2Co 4:11

Who are not yet killed for the testimony of Jesus.

Wesley: 2Co 4:11

Are perpetually in the very jaws of destruction; which we willingly submit to, that we may "obtain a better resurrection."

Wesley: 2Co 4:12

You live in peace; we die daily.

Wesley: 2Co 4:12

Living or dying, so long as we believe, we cannot but speak.

Wesley: 2Co 4:13

Which animated the saints of old; David, in particular, when he said, I believed, and therefore have I spoken - That is, I trusted in God, and therefore he hath put this song of praise in my mouth.

Wesley: 2Co 4:13

We preach the gospel, even in the midst of affliction and death, because we believe that God will raise us up from the dead, and will present us, ministers, with you, all his members, "faultless before his presence with exceeding joy." Psa 116:10.

Wesley: 2Co 4:15

Whether adverse or prosperous.

Wesley: 2Co 4:15

For the profit of all that believe, as well as all that preach.

Wesley: 2Co 4:15

Which continues you alive both in soul and body.

Wesley: 2Co 4:15

For thanksgiving invites more: abundant grace.

Wesley: 2Co 4:16

Because of this grace, we faint not.

Wesley: 2Co 4:16

The body.

Wesley: 2Co 4:16

The soul.

Wesley: 2Co 4:17

The beauty and sublimity of St. Paul's expressions here, as descriptive of heavenly glory, opposed to temporal afflictions, surpass all imagination, and cannot be preserved in any translation or paraphrase, which after all must sink infinitely below the astonishing original.

Wesley: 2Co 4:18

Men, money, things of earth.

Wesley: 2Co 4:18

God, grace, heaven.

JFB: 2Co 4:3

Yea, even if (as I grant is the case).

JFB: 2Co 4:3

Rather (in reference to 2Co 3:13-18), "veiled." "Hid" (Greek, Col 3:3) is said of that withdrawn from view altogether. "Veiled," of a thing within reach of the eye, but covered over so as not to be seen. So it was in the case of Moses' face.

JFB: 2Co 4:3

In the case only of them: for in itself the Gospel is quite plain.

JFB: 2Co 4:3

Rather, "that are perishing" (1Co 1:18). So the same cloud that was "light" to the people of God, was "darkness" to the Egyptian foes of God (Exo 14:20).

JFB: 2Co 4:4

Translate, "In whose case."

JFB: 2Co 4:4

The worldly make him their God (Phi 3:19). He is, in fact, "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that ruleth in the children of disobedience" (Eph 2:2).

JFB: 2Co 4:4

"understandings": "mental perceptions," as in 2Co 3:14.

JFB: 2Co 4:4

The same as "them that are lost" (or "are perishing"). Compare 2Th 2:10-12. SOUTH quaintly says, "when the malefactor's eyes are covered, he is not far from his execution" (Est 7:8). Those perishing unbelievers are not merely veiled, but blinded (2Co 3:14-15): Greek, not "blinded," but "hardened."

JFB: 2Co 4:4

Translate, "The illumination (enlightening: the propagation from those already enlightened, to others of the light) of the Gospel of the glory of Christ." "The glory of Christ" is not a mere quality (as "glorious" would express) of the Gospel; it is its very essence and subject matter.

JFB: 2Co 4:4

Implying identity of nature and essence (Joh 1:18; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3). He who desires to see "the glory of God," may see it "in the face of Jesus Christ" (2Co 4:6; 1Ti 6:14-16). Paul here recurs to 2Co 3:18. Christ is "the image of God," into which "same image" we, looking on it in the mirror of the Gospel, are changed by the Spirit; but this image is not visible to those blinded by Satan [ALFORD].

JFB: 2Co 4:5

Their blindness is not our fault, as if we had self-seeking aims in our preaching.

JFB: 2Co 4:5

Rather, "Christ as Lord," and ourselves as your servants, &c. "Lord," or "Master," is the correlative term to "servants."

JFB: 2Co 4:6

Proof that we are true servants of Jesus unto you.

JFB: 2Co 4:6

Greek, "By speaking the word, commanded light" (Gen 1:3).

JFB: 2Co 4:6

Rather, as Greek, "is He who shined." (It is God) who commanded light, &c., that shined, &c., (Job 37:15): Himself our Light and Sun, as well as the Creator of light (Mal 4:2; Joh 8:12). The physical world answers to the spiritual.

JFB: 2Co 4:6

In themselves dark.

JFB: 2Co 4:6

That is, to propagate to others the light, &c., which is in us (compare Note, see on 2Co 4:4).

JFB: 2Co 4:6

Answering to "the glory of Christ" (see on 2Co 4:4).

JFB: 2Co 4:6

Some of the oldest manuscripts retain "Jesus." Others omit it. Christ is the manifestation of the glory of God, as His image (Joh 14:9). The allusion is still to the brightness on Moses' "face." The only true and full manifestation of God's brightness and glory is "in the face of Jesus" (Heb 1:3).

JFB: 2Co 4:7

"Lest any should say, How then is it that we continue to enjoy such unspeakable glory in a mortal body? Paul replies, this very fact is one of the most marvellous proofs of God's power, that an earthen vessel could bear such splendor and keep such a treasure" [CHRYSOSTOM, Homilies, 8.496, A]. The treasure or "the light of the knowledge of the glory of God." The fragile "earthen vessel" is the body, the "outward man" (2Co 4:16; compare 2Co 4:10), liable to afflictions and death. So the light in Gideon's pitchers, the type (Jdg 7:16-20, Jdg 7:22). The ancients often kept their treasures in jars or vessels of earthenware. "There are earthen vessels which yet may be clean; whereas a golden vessel may be filthy" [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Co 4:7

That the power of the ministry (the Holy Spirit), in respect to its surpassing "excellency," exhibited in winning souls (1Co 2:4) and in sustaining us ministers, might be ascribed solely to God, we being weak as earthen vessels. God often allows the vessel to be chipped and broken, that the excellency of the treasure contained, and of the power which that treasure has, may be all His (2Co 4:10-11; Joh 3:30).

JFB: 2Co 4:7

Rather, as Greek, "may be God's (may be seen and be thankfully [2Co 4:15] acknowledged to belong to God), and not (to come) from us." The power not merely comes from God, but belongs to Him continually, and is to be ascribed to him.

JFB: 2Co 4:8

Greek, "BEING hard pressed, yet not inextricably straitened; reduced to inextricable straits" (nominative to "we have," 2Co 4:7).

JFB: 2Co 4:8

Greek, "in every respect" (compare 2Co 4:10, "always"; 2Co 7:5). This verse expresses inward distresses; 2Co 4:9, outward distresses (2Co 7:5). "Without were fightings; within were fears." The first clause in each member of the series of contrasted participles, implies the earthiness of the vessels; the second clause, the excellency of the power.

JFB: 2Co 4:8

Greek, "not utterly perplexed." As perplexity refers to the future, so "troubled" or "hard pressed" refers to the present.

JFB: 2Co 4:9

By God and man. Jesus was forsaken by both; so much do His sufferings exceed those of His people (Mat 27:46).

JFB: 2Co 4:9

Or "struck down"; not only "persecuted," that is, chased as a deer or bird (1Sa 26:20), but actually struck down as with a dart in the chase (Heb 11:35-38). The Greek "always" in this verse means, "throughout the whole time"; in 2Co 4:11 the Greek is different, and means, "at every time," "in every case when the occasion occurs."

JFB: 2Co 4:10

That is, having my body exposed to being put to death in the cause of Jesus (the oldest manuscripts omit "the Lord"), and having in it the marks of such sufferings, I thus bear about wheresoever I go, an image of the suffering Saviour in my own person (2Co 4:11; 2Co 1:5; compare 1Co 15:31). Doubtless, Paul was exposed to more dangers than are recorded in Acts (compare 2Co 7:5; 2Co 11:26). The Greek for "the dying" is literally, "the being made a corpse," such Paul regarded his body, yet a corpse which shares in the life-giving power of Christ's resurrection, as it has shared in His dying and death.

JFB: 2Co 4:10

Rather, "may be." The name "Jesus," by itself is often repeated here as Paul seems, amidst sufferings, peculiarly to have felt its sweetness. In 2Co 4:11 the same words occur with the variation, "in our mortal flesh. The fact of a dying, corpse-like body being sustained amidst such trials, manifests that "the (resurrection) life also," as well as the dying, "of Jesus," exerts its power in us. I thus bear about in my own person an image of the risen and living, as well as of the suffering, Saviour. The "our" is added here to "body," though not in the beginning of the verse. "For the body is ours not so much in death, as in life" [BENGEL].

JFB: 2Co 4:11

In the power of Christ's "life" manifested in us, in our whole man body as well as spirit (Rom 8:10-11; see on 2Co 4:10; compare 2Co 5:15). Paul regards his preservation amidst so many exposures to "death," by which Stephen and James were cut off, as a standing miracle (2Co 11:23).

JFB: 2Co 4:11

Not by chance; by the ordering of Providence, who shows "the excellency of His power" (2Co 4:7), in delivering unto DEATH His living saints, that He may manifest LIFE also in their dying flesh. "Flesh," the very element of decay (not merely their "body"), is by Him made to manifest life.

JFB: 2Co 4:12

The "death" of Christ manifested in the continual "perishing of our outward man" (2Co 4:16), works peculiarly in us, and is the means of working spiritual "life" in you. The life whereof we witness in our bodily dying, extends beyond ourselves, and is brought by our very dying to you.

JFB: 2Co 4:13

Translate as Greek, "BUT having," &c., that is, not withstanding the trials just mentioned, we having, &c.

JFB: 2Co 4:13

Compare Rom 8:15, on the usage of "spirit of faith." The Holy Spirit acting on our spirit. Though "death worketh in us, and life in you" (2Co 4:12), yet as we have the same spirit of faith as you, we therefore [believingly] look for the same immortal life as you [ESTIUS], and speak as we believe. ALFORD not so well translates, "The same . . . faith with that described in the Scriptures" (Psa 116:10). The balance of the sentence requires the parallelism to be this, "According to that which is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak," namely, without fear, amidst "afflictions" and "deaths" (2Co 4:17).

JFB: 2Co 4:14

By faith (2Co 5:1).

JFB: 2Co 4:14

At the resurrection (1Co 6:13-14).

JFB: 2Co 4:14

The oldest manuscripts have "with Jesus."

JFB: 2Co 4:14

Vividly picturing the scene before the eyes (Jud 1:24).

JFB: 2Co 4:14

(2Co 1:14; 1Th 2:19-20; 1Th 3:13).

JFB: 2Co 4:15

Confirming his assertion "with you" (2Co 4:14), and "life . . . worketh in you" (2Co 4:12).

JFB: 2Co 4:15

Whether the afflictions and labors of us ministers (2Co 4:8-11), or your prosperity (2Co 4:12; 1Co 3:21-22; 1Co 4:8-13).

JFB: 2Co 4:15

(2Ti 2:10).

JFB: 2Co 4:15

Rather, "That grace (the grace which preserves us in trials and works life in you), being made the greater (multiplied), by means of the greater number (of its recipients), may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God." [CHRYSOSTOM] (2Co 1:11; 2Co 9:11-12). The Greek is susceptible also of this translation, "That grace, being made the greater (multiplied) on account of the thanksgiving of the greater number (for grace already received), may abound (abundantly redound) to," &c. Thus the Greek for "abound" has not to be taken in an active sense, but in its ordinary neuter sense, and so the other Greek words. Thanksgiving invites more abundant grace (2Ch 20:19-22; Psa 18:3; Psa 50:23).

JFB: 2Co 4:16

Notwithstanding our sufferings. Resuming 2Co 4:1.

JFB: 2Co 4:16

The body, the flesh.

JFB: 2Co 4:16

"is wearing away"; "is wasted away" by afflictions.

JFB: 2Co 4:16

Our spiritual and true being, the "life" which even in our mortal bodies (2Co 4:11) "manifests the life of Jesus."

JFB: 2Co 4:16

"is being renewed," namely, with fresh "grace" (2Co 4:15), and "faith" (2Co 4:13), and hope (2Co 4:17-18).

JFB: 2Co 4:17

"Our PRESENT light (burden of) affliction" (so the Greek; compare Mat 11:30), [ALFORD]. Compare "now for a season . . . in heaviness" (1Pe 1:6). The contrast, however, between this and the "ETERNAL weight of glory" requires, I think, the translation, "Which is but for the present passing moment." So WAHL. "The lightness of affliction" (he does not express "burden" after "light"; the Greek is "the light of affliction") contrasts beautifully with the "weight of the glory."

JFB: 2Co 4:17

Rather, "worketh out."

JFB: 2Co 4:17

Rather, "in a surpassing and still more surpassing manner" [ALFORD]; "more and more exceedingly" [ELLICOTT, TRENCH, and others]. Greek, "in excess and to excess." The glory exceeds beyond all measure the affliction.

JFB: 2Co 4:18

As our aim.

JFB: 2Co 4:18

"earthly things" (Phi 3:19). We mind not the things seen, whether affliction or refreshment come, so as to be seduced by the latter, or deterred by the former [CHRYSOSTOM].

JFB: 2Co 4:18

Not "the invisible things" of Rom 1:20, but the things which, though not seen now, shall be so hereafter.

JFB: 2Co 4:18

Rather, "for a time"; in contrast to eternal. English Version uses "temporal" for temporary. The Greek is rightly translated in the similar passage, "the pleasures of sin for a season."

Clarke: 2Co 4:3

But if our Gospel be hid - Κεκαλυμμενον· Veiled; he refers to the subject that he had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. If there be a veil on the Gospel, it is only to the wilfully blind; and if any man’ s heart be veiled that hears this Gospel, it is a proof that he is among the lost, απολλυμενοι, those who are fully under the power of sin; who have given up themselves to work wickedness; persons who are mere heathens, or live like such, and yet such as Jesus Christ came to seek and save; for the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally, but is a common epithet to point out a man without the Gospel and without God in the world. Christ commands his disciples in preaching the Gospel to go to προβατα τα απολωλοτα, the Lost sheep of the house of Israel; Mat 10:6; for himself says, Mat 18:11, and Luk 19:10 : The Son of man is come ζητησαι και σωσαι το απολωλος, to seek and to Save that which is Lost. And such persons he represents under the parable of the lost sheep; for to find το απολωλος, that which is Lost, the good shepherd leaves the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness, and goes in search of it; Mat 18:12; Luk 15:4. The word more properly signifies, in all those connections, and in the parallel passages, not those who Are Lost, but those who are perishing; and will perish, if not sought and saved.

Clarke: 2Co 4:4

In whom the god of this world, etc. - We see here that those whose minds are blinded, are they who believe not; and because they believe not, their minds continue in darkness, and are proper subjects for Satan to work on; and he deepens the darkness, and increases the hardness. But who is meant by the god of this world? It is generally answered, the same who is called the prince of this world, Joh 16:11. But the question recurs, who is the prince of this world? and the answer to both is, Satan. The reader will do well to consult the notes on Joh 12:31, and the concluding observations on Joh 14:30. I must own I feel considerable reluctance to assign the epithet ὁ Θεος, The God, to Satan; and were there not a rooted prejudice in favor of the common opinion, the contrary might be well vindicated, viz. that by the God of this world the supreme Being is meant, who in his judgment gave over the minds of the unbelieving Jews to spiritual darkness, so that destruction came upon them to the uttermost. Satan, it is true, has said that the kingdoms of the world and their glory are his, and that he gives them to whomsoever he will; Mat 4:8, Mat 4:9. But has God ever said so? and are we to take this assertion of the boasting devil and father of lies for truth? Certainly not. We are not willing to attribute the blinding of men’ s minds to God, because we sometimes forget that he is the God of justice, and may in judgment remove mercies from those that abuse them; but this is repeatedly attributed to him in the Bible, and the expression before us is quite a parallel to the following, Isa 6:9 : Go and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the Heart of this People Fat, and Make their Ears Heavy, and Shut their Eyes; Lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, etc. And see the parallel places, Mat 13:14, Mat 13:15; Mar 4:12; Joh 12:40; and particularly Rom 11:8-10 : God Hath Given Them the Spirit of Slumber, Eyes that they Should not See, and Ears that they Should not Hear; let their Eyes be Darkened, etc. Now all this is spoken of the same people, in the same circumstances of wilful rebellion and obstinate unbelief; and the great God of heaven and earth is he who judicially blinds their eyes; makes their hearts fat, i.e. stupid; gives them the spirit of slumber: and bows down their back, etc. On these very grounds it is exceedingly likely that the apostle means the true God by the words the god of this world

And as to the expression this world, αιωνος τουτου, we are not to imagine that it necessarily means wicked men, or a wicked age; for it is frequently used to express the whole mundane system, and all that is called time: Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither εν τουτῳ τῳ αιωνι, in This World, nor in the world to come; Mat 12:32. In Luk 20:34, the children, υἱοι του αιωνος τουτου, of This World, mean simply mankind at large in their state of probation in this lower world, in opposition to their state in the world to come. The same meaning the word has in several other places, to which l need not refer; it simply implying the present state of things, governed by the Divine providence, in contradistinction from the eternal state: and it is very remarkable that, in 1Ti 1:17, God himself is called Βασιλευς των αιωνων, the King of the World; what we call King eternal; but here it evidently means him who governs both worlds, and rules in time and eternity. This character among the Asiatics is considered essential to God; and therefore in the very first surat of the Koran he is called Rubbi Alalameen , "the Lord of both worlds,"an expression perfectly similar to that above. But it is needless to multiply examples; they exist in abundance. Some, and particularly the ancient fathers, have connected του αιωνος τουτου with των απιστων, and have read the verse: But God hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world, etc. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Photius, Theophylact, and Augustine, all plead for the above meaning; and St. Augustine says that it was the opinion of almost all the ancients

Clarke: 2Co 4:4

Lest the light of the glorious Gospel - They have resisted the grace which God gave them, and have refused to yield to the evidences which amply prove the Messiahship of Jesus; and therefore their eyes were judicially darkened, as it is said in the prophet: He hath closed their eyes, and hath given them the spirit of slumber. That is, they have shut their eyes against the light, and their blindness and stupor are the consequence

By glorious Gospel we are to understand the luminous Gospel; that which comes with so much light and evidence to every candid mind

Clarke: 2Co 4:4

Who is the image of God - Christ is called, Heb 1:3, the brightness of God’ s glory, and the express image of his person. See the note at Heb 1:3.

Clarke: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves - We neither proclaim our own wisdom nor power; we have nothing but what we have received; we do not wish to establish our own authority, nor to procure our own emolument

Clarke: 2Co 4:5

But Christ Jesus the Lord - We proclaim the author of this glorious Gospel as Christ, ὁ Χριστος, the same as המשיח hammashiach , the Messiah, the Anointed One; him of whom the prophets wrote; and who is the expectation, as he is the glory, of Israel, We proclaim him as Jesus יהושע Yehoshua , the Savior and Deliverer, who saves men from their sins. See Mat 1:21. And we proclaim Jesus of Nazareth to be the long-expected Messiah; and that there will be none other. And farther we proclaim this Jesus the Messiah to be the Lord, ὁ Κυριος, the great Ruler who has all power in heaven and earth; who made and governs the world; and who can save to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Such was the Redeemer preached by St. Paul

Clarke: 2Co 4:5

And ourselves your servants - Labouring as fervently and as faithfully for your eternal interests as your most trusty slaves can do for your secular welfare. And we do this for Christ’ s sake; for although we by our labor show ourselves to be your servants, yea, your slaves, δουλους, yet it is a voluntary service; and we are neither employed by you nor receive our wages from you. We belong to Jesus; and are your servants on his account, and by his order.

Clarke: 2Co 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness - The apostle refers here to Gen 1:3. For when God created the heavens and the earth Darkness was on the face of the deep; and God said, Let There Be Light; and there was light. Thus he caused the light to shine out of darkness

Clarke: 2Co 4:6

Hath shined in our hearts - He has given our hearts the glorious light of the Gospel, as he has given the world the glorious light of the sun. As sure, therefore, as God is the author of the light and the creator of the universe, so sure is he the author of the Gospel; it is no human invention; and is as far beyond the power of man’ s wisdom and might, as the creation of the world is beyond all created power, energy, and skill

Clarke: 2Co 4:6

The light of the knowledge - To give us that light, that we might enlighten others; this appears to me to be the design of the apostle’ s προς φωτισμον της γνωσεως της δοξης του Θεου, or, as Dr. Whitby paraphrases it, to give us, and enable us to give to others, the light of the knowledge of God through Christ

Clarke: 2Co 4:6

In the face of Jesus Christ - It is in and through Jesus that we can receive the Divine light, and it is in and by him that we can be made partakers of the Divine glory. The light mercy, holiness, and glory of God, are reflected upon and communicated to us through Jesus the Christ; and it is εν προσωπῳ, in the appearance and person of Jesus Christ that these blessings are communicated to us.

Clarke: 2Co 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels - The original, οστρακινοις σκευεσιν, signifies, more literally, vessels made of shells, which are very brittle; and as the shell is the outward part of a fish, it is very fit, as Dr. Hammond observes, to resemble our bodies in which our souls dwell. The Platonists make two bodies of a man: the one they call οξημα ψυχης, the chariot of the soul; the other, that which we see and touch; and this they call οστρακινον which is the same to us as the shell is to the fish. The word οστρακον not only signifies a shell, or vessel made of shell, but also πηλος ωπτημενος, an earthen vessel which has been burnt in the kiln, and earthen vessels or pottery in general; the difference between σκευη οστρακινα, earthen ware, and σκευη κεραμεως, the potter’ s vessel, is this: the latter implies the vessel as it comes out of the hands of the potter Before it is burnt; and the other is the vessel After it has passed through the kiln. St. Chrysostom, speaking of this difference, observes that the vessels once baked in the kiln, if broken, are incapable of being restored, δια την εκ τουπυρος εγγινομενην αυτοις ἁπαξ αντιτυπιαν, because of the hardness once gotten by fire; whereas the others are of clay unbaken, if they be spoiled ῥᾳδιωϚπρος το δευτερον επανελθῃ σχημα, they may easily, by the skill of the potter, be restored to some second form. See Hammond. This comports excellently with the idea of St. Paul: our bodies are in a recoverable form: they are very frail, and easily marred; but by the skill of the workman they may be easily built up anew, and made like unto his glorious body. The light and salvation of God in the soul of man is a heavenly treasure in a very mean casket

The rabbins have a mode of speech very similar to this. "The daughter of the emperor thus addressed Rabbi Joshua, the son of Chananiah: O! how great is thy skill in the law, and yet how deformed thou art! what a great deal of wisdom is laid up in a sordid vessel! The rabbi answered, Tell me, I pray thee, of what are those vessels in which you keep your wines? She answered, They are earthen vessels. He replied, How is it, seeing ye are rich, that ye do not lay up your wine in silver vessels, for the common people lay up their wine in earthen vessels? She returned to her father, and persuaded him to have all the wine put into silver vessels; but the wine turned acid; and when the emperor heard it he inquired of his daughter who it was that had given her that advice? She told him that it was Rabbi Joshua. The rabbi told the whole story to the emperor, and added this sentence: The wisdom and study of the law cannot dwell in a comely man. Caesar objected, and said, There are comely persons who have made great progress in the study of the law. The rabbi answered, Had they not been so comely they would have made greater progress; for a man who is comely has not an humble mind, and therefore he soon forgets the whole law."See Schoettgen. There is a great deal of good sense in this allegory; and the most superficial reader may find it out

Clarke: 2Co 4:7

That the excellency of the power may be of God; and not of us - God keeps us continually dependent upon himself; we have nothing but what we have received, and we receive every necessary supply just when it is necessary; and have nothing at our own command. The good therefore that is done is so evidently from the power of God, that none can pretend to share the glory with him.

Clarke: 2Co 4:8

We are troubled on every side - We have already seen, in the notes on the ninth chapter of the preceding epistle, that St. Paul has made several allusions to those public games which were celebrated every fifth year at the Isthmus of Corinth; and those games have been in that place particularly described. In this and the three following verses the apostle makes allusion to the contests at those games; and the terms which he employs in these verses cannot be understood but in reference to those agonistical exercises to which he alludes. Dr. Hammond has explained the whole on this ground; and I shall here borrow his help. There are four pairs of expressions taken from the customs of the agones

1.    Troubled on every side, yet not distressed

2.    Perplexed, but not in despair

3.    Persecuted, but not forsaken. Cast down, but not destroyed

Three of these pairs belong to the customs of wrestling; the fourth, to that of running in the race

Clarke: 2Co 4:8

Troubled on every side, etc. - Εν παντι θλιβομενοι . The word θλιβεσθαι, belongs clearly to παλη wrestling. So says Aristotle, Rhet. lib. i. cap. 5, (and the Scholiast on that place), ὁ γαρ δυναμενος - θλιβειν και κατεχειν, παλαιστικος· "He that can gripe his adversary, and take him up, is a good wrestler;"there being two dexterities in that exercise

1.    to gripe, an

2.    to throw down, which Hesychius calls ωθειν and κρατειν ; the first of these is here mentioned, and expressed by θλιβεσθαι, to be pressed down; to which is here opposed, as in a higher degree, στενοχωρεισθαι, to be brought to distress, as when one cannot get out of his antagonist’ s hands, nor make any resistance against him. So in Isaiah: στενοχωρουμενοι ου δυναμεθα μαχεσθαι, we are brought to such extremities that we can fight no longer

Clarke: 2Co 4:8

Perplexed, but not in despair - Απορουμενοι, αλλ ’ ουκ εξαπορουμενοι . The word απορεισθαι, to be in perplexity, is fit for the wrestler, who being puzzled by his antagonist’ s skill knows not what to do: so in Hesychius, απορουντες, αμηχανουντες, they that are not able to do or attempt any thing, yet are not εξαπορουμενοι, they miscarry not finally, ορθοι ἱσταμενοι, stand after all upright; ουκ απογινωσκοντες και ἡττωμενοι, despair not, nor are they overcome, but find a happy issue out of all, being at last conquerors.

Clarke: 2Co 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken - Διωκομενοι, αλλ ’ ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι . The διωκομενοι, pursued, is peculiar to the δρομος, or race, when one being foremost others pursue, and get up close after him, endeavoring to outstrip him, but cannot succeed: this is the meaning of ουκ εγκαταλειπομενοι, not outstripped, or outgone, as the word implies. So in Plutarch: τους απολειφθεντας ου στεφανουσι, they do not crown them that are distanced or left behind. So says the apostle, 1Co 9:24 : All run, but only One receiveth the Prize

Clarke: 2Co 4:9

Cast down, but not destroyed - Καταβαλλομενοι αλλ ’ ουκ απολλυμενοι . This also belongs to wrestlers, where he that throws the other first is conqueror. And so Hesychius: καταβαλει, νικησει, ῥιψει, to cast down is to overcome, to throw. And then, the being not destroyed signifies that, although they were thrown down-cast into troubles and difficulties, yet they rose again, and surmounted them all.

Clarke: 2Co 4:10

Always bearing about in the body, etc. - Being every moment in danger of losing our lives in the cause of truth, as Jesus Christ was. We, in a word, bear his cross, and are ready to offer up our lives for him. There is probably an allusion here to the marks, wounds, and bruises which the contenders in those games got, and continued to carry throughout life

Clarke: 2Co 4:10

That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest - That in our preservation, the success of our ministry, and the miracles we work, we might be able to give the fullest demonstration that Jesus is risen again from the dead; and that we are strengthened by him to do all these mighty works.

Clarke: 2Co 4:11

For we which live - And yet, although we are preserved alive, we are in such continual dangers that we carry our life in our hands, and are constantly in the spirit of sacrifice. But the life - the preserving power, of Christ is manifest in our continual support.

Clarke: 2Co 4:12

Death worketh in us, etc. - We apostles are in continual danger, and live a dying life; while you who have received this Gospel from us are in no danger.

Clarke: 2Co 4:13

We having the same spirit of faith - As David had when he wrote Psa 116:10 : I believed, therefore have I spoken: we also believe that we shall receive the fulfillment of all God’ s promises; and being fully convinced of the truth of the Christian religion, we speak and testify that our deliverance is from God; and that he does not fail those who trust in him, and that he saves to the uttermost them who come unto him through Christ Jesus.

Clarke: 2Co 4:14

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord, etc. - And though we shall at last seal this truth with our blood, we fear not, being persuaded that as the body of Christ was raised from the dead by the power of the Father, so shall our bodies be raised, and that we shall have an eternal life with him in glory.

Clarke: 2Co 4:15

For all things are for your sakes - We proclaim all these truths and bear all these sufferings for your sakes, thinking all our sufferings nothing if we can gain converts to Christ, and build believers up on their most holy faith

Clarke: 2Co 4:15

That the abundant grace - Ἡ χαρις πλεονασασα· The abounding benefit - the copious outpouring of the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit, by which you have been favored and enriched, may, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God: i.e. that the gratitude of the multitudes which have been converted may keep pace with the blessings which they have received, and περισσευσῃ, abound, as these blessings have abounded.

Clarke: 2Co 4:16

For which cause we faint not - Ουκ εκκα κουμεν . See on 2Co 4:1 (note). Here we have the same various reading; εγκακουμεν, we do no wickedness; and it is supported by BDEFG, and some others: but it is remarkable that Mr. Wakefield follows the common reading here, though the various-reading is at least as well supported in this verse as in verse first. The common reading, faint not, appears to agree best with the apostle’ s meaning

Clarke: 2Co 4:16

But though our outward man - That is, our body - that part of us that can be seen, heard, and felt, perish - be slowly consumed by continual trials and afflictions, and be martyred at last

Clarke: 2Co 4:16

Yet the inward man - Our soul - that which cannot be felt or seen by others, is renewed - is revived, and receives a daily increase of light and life from God, so that we grow more holy, more happy, and more meet for glory every day

It was an opinion among the Jews that even spirits stood in need of continual renovation. They say that "God renews the angels daily, by putting them into the fiery river from which they proceeded, and then gives them the same name they had before."And they add, that in like manner he renews the hearts of the Israelites every year, when they turn to him by repentance. It is a good antidote against the fear of death to find, as the body grows old and decays, the soul grows young and is invigorated. By the outward man and the inward man St. Paul shows that he was no materialist: he believed that we have both a body and a soul; and so far was he from supposing that when the body dies the whole man is decomposed, and continues so to the resurrection, that he asserts that the decays of the one lead to the invigorating of the other; and that the very decomposition of the body itself leaves the soul in the state of renewed youth. The vile doctrine of materialism is not apostolic.

Clarke: 2Co 4:17

For our light affliction, etc. - Mr. Blackwall, in his sacred classics, has well illustrated this passage. I shall here produce his paraphrase as quoted by Dr. Dodd: "This is one of the most emphatic passages in all St. Paul’ s writings, in which he speaks as much like an orator as he does as an apostle. The lightness of the trial is expressed by το ελαφρον της θλιψεως, the lightness of our affliction; as if he had said, it is even levity itself in such a comparison. On the other hand, the καθ ’ ὑπερβολην εις ὑπερβολην, which we render far more exceeding, is infinitely emphatical, and cannot be fully expressed by any translation. It signifies that all hyperboles fall short of describing that weight - eternal glory, so solid and lasting, that you may pass from hyperbole to hyperbole, and yet, when you have gained the last, are infinitely below it. It is every where visible what influence St. Paul’ s Hebrew had on his Greek: כבד cabad , signifies to be heavy, and to be glorious; the apostle in his Greek unites these two significations, and says, Weight of Glory.

St. Chrysostom’ s observations on these words are in his very best manner, and are both judicious and beautiful

ΤΙΟΗΣΙ παραλληλα τα παροντα τοις μελλουσι· το παραυτικα προς το αιωνιον· το ελαφρον προς το βαρυ· την θλιψιν προς την δοξαν· και ουδε τουτοις αρκειται, αλλ ’ ἑτεραν τιθησι λεξιν, διπλασιαζων αυτην, και λεγων, καθ ’ ὑπερβολην εις ὑπερβολην - τουτεστι, μεγεθος ὑπερβολικως ὑπερβολικον

"The apostle opposes things present to things future; a moment to eternity; lightness to weight; affliction to glory. Nor is he satisfied with this, but he adds another word, and doubles it, saying, καθ ’ ὑπερβολην εις ὑπερβολην . This is a magnitude excessively exceeding."See Parkhurst, sub voce ὑπερβολη .

Clarke: 2Co 4:18

While we look not at the things which are seen - Μη σκοπουντων . While we aim not at the things which are seen; do not make them our object; are not striving to obtain them; for they are not worthy the pursuit of an immortal spirit, because they are seen; they are objects to which the natural eye can reach; and they are προσκαιρα, temporary; they are to have a short duration, and must have an end. But the things which we make our scope and aim are not seen; they are spiritual, and therefore invisible to the eye of the body; and besides, they are αιωνΐα, eternal - things that are permanent; that can have no end; they are things which belong to God; holiness, happiness, and the endless communication and fruition of himself

But we must remark that the light afflictions work out this far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory only to those who do not look at the things which are seen. A man may be grievously afflicted, and yet have his eye bent on temporal good; from his afflictions he can derive no benefit; though many think that their glorification must be a necessary consequence of their afflictions, and hence we do not unfrequently hear among the afflicted poor, "Well, we shall not suffer both here and in the other world too."Afflictions may be means of preparing us for glory, if, during them, we receive grace to save the soul; but afflictions of themselves have no spiritual nor saving tendency; on the contrary, they sour the unregenerated mind, and cause murmurings against the dispensations of Divine Providence. Let us, therefore, look to God, that they may be sanctified; and when they are, then we may say exultingly, These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. O world to come, in exchange for the present! O eternity, for a moment! O eternal communion in the holy, blessed, and eternal life of God, for the sacrifice of a poor, miserable, and corrupted life here on earth! Whoever sets no value on this seed of a blessed eternity knows not what it comprehends. That which the eyes of the flesh are capable of perceiving is not worthy of a soul capable of possessing God. Nothing which is of a perishable nature can be the chief good of a being that was made for eternity! - Quesnel.

Calvin: 2Co 4:3

3.But if our gospel is hid It might have been an easy thing to pour calumny upon what he had said as to the clearness of his preaching, because he had many adversaries. That calumny he repels with stern authority, for he threatens all who do not acknowledge the power of his gospel, and warns them that this is a token of reprobation and ruin. “ Should any one affirm that he does not perceive that manifestation of Christ of which I boast, he clearly shows himself, by this very token, to be a reprobate, ⁴³³ for my sincerity in the work of instructing ⁴³⁴ is clearly and distinctly perceived by all that have eyes. Those, therefore, from whom it is hid, must be blind, and destitute of all rational understanding.” The sum is this — that the blindness of unbelievers detracts nothing from the clearness of his gospel; for the sun is not less resplendent, that the blind do not perceive his light. ⁴³⁵

But some one will say that this applies equally to the law, for in itself it is a lamp ⁴³⁶ to guide our feet, (Psa 119:105,) enlightens the eyes, (Psa 19:8,) etc., and is hid only from those that perish. I answer that, when Christ is included in the law, the sun shines forth through the midst of the clouds, so that men have light enough for their use; but when Christ is disjoined from it, there is nothing left but darkness, or a false appearance of light, that dazzles men’s eyes instead of assisting them. It is, however, a token of great confidence, that he ventures to regard as reprobates all that reject his doctrine. It is befitting, however, that all that would be looked upon as ministers of God’s word should be endued with the like confidence, that with a fearless confidence they may unhesitatingly summon all the adversaries of their doctrine to the judgment-seat of God, that they may bring thence a sure condemnation.

Calvin: 2Co 4:4

4.Whose minds the god of this world He intimates, that no account should be made of their perverse obstinacy. “They do not see,” says he, “the sun at mid-day, because the devil has blinded their understandings.” No one that judges rightly can have any doubt, that it is of Satan that the Apostle speaks. Hilary, as he had to do with Arians, who abused this passage, so as to make it a pretext for denying Christ’s true divinity, while they at the same time confessed him to be God, twists the text in this way — “God hath blinded the understandings of this world.” In this he was afterwards followed by Chrysostom, with the view of not conceding to the Manicheans their two first principles. ⁴³⁷ What influenced Ambrose does not appear. Augustine had the same reason as Chrysostom, having to contend with the Manicheans.

We see what the heat of controversy does in carrying on disputes. Had all those men calmly read Paul’s words, it would never have occurred to any one of them to twist them in this way into a forced meaning; but as they were harassed by their opponents, they were more concerned to refute them, than to investigate Paul’s meaning. But what occasion was there for this? For the subterfuge of the Arians was childish — that if the devil is called the god of this world, the name of God, as applied to Christ, does not express a true, eternal, and exclusive divinity. For Paul says elsewhere, many are called gods, (1Co 8:5;) but David, on the other hand, sings forth — the gods of the nations are demons. ⁴³⁸ (Psa 96:5.) When, therefore, the devil is called the god of the wicked, on the ground of his having dominion over them, and being worshipped by them in the place of God, what tendency has this to detract from the honor of Christ? And as to the Manicheans, this appellation gives no more countenance to the Manicheans, than when he is called the prince of this world. (Joh 14:30.) ⁴³⁹

There is, therefore, no reason for being afraid to interpret this passage as referring to the devil, there being no danger in doing so. For should the Arians come forward and contend, ⁴⁴⁰ that Christ’s divine essence is no more proved from his having the appellation God applied to him, than Satan’s is proved from its being applied to him, a cavil of this nature is easily refuted; for Christ is called God without any addition, ⁴⁴¹ nay, he is called God blessed for ever. (Rom 9:5.) He is said to be that God who was

in the beginning, before the creation of the world.
(Joh 1:1.)

The devil, on the other hand, is called the god of this world, in no other way than as Baal is called the god of those that worship him, or as the dog is called the god of Egypt. ⁴⁴² The Manicheans, as I have said, for maintaining their delusion, have recourse to other declarations of Scripture, as well as this, but there is no difficulty in refuting those also. They contend not so much respecting the term, as respecting the power. As the power of blinding is ascribed to Satan, and dominion over unbelievers, they conclude from this that he is, from his own resources, the author of all evil, so as not to be subject to God’s control — as if Scripture did not in various instances declare, that devils, no less than the angels of heaven, are servants of God, each of them severally in his own manner. For, as the latter dispense to us God’s benefits for our salvation, so the former execute his wrath. Hence good angels are called powers and principalities, (Eph 3:10,) but it is simply because they exercise the power given them by God. For the same reason Satan is the prince of this world, not as if he conferred dominion upon himself, or obtained it by his own right, or, in fine, exercised it at his own pleasure. On the contrary, he has only so much as the Lord allows him. Hence Scripture does not merely make mention of the good spirit of God, and good angels, but he also speaks of evil spirits of God. An evil spirit from God came upon Saul. (1Sa 16:14.) Again, chastisements through means of evil angels. (Psa 78:49.)

With respect to the passage before us, the blinding is a work common to God and to Satan, for it is in many instances ascribed to God; but the power is not alike, nor is the manner the same. I shall not speak at present as to the manner. Scripture, however, teaches that Satan blinds men, ⁴⁴³ not merely with God’s permission, but even by his command, that he may execute his vengeance. Thus Ahab was deceived by Satan, (1Kg 22:21,) but could Satan have done this of himself? By no means; but having offered to God his services for inflicting injury, he was sent to be a

lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.
(1Kg 22:22.)

Nay more, the reason why God is said to blind men is, that after having deprived us of the right exercise of the understanding, and the light of his Spirit, he delivers us over to the devil, to be hurried forward by him to a reprobate mind, (Rom 1:28,) gives him the power of deception, and by this means inflicts just vengeance upon us by the minister of his wrath. Paul’s meaning, therefore, is, that all are possessed by the devil, who do not acknowledge his doctrine to be the sure truth of God. For it is more severe to call them slaves of the devil, ⁴⁴⁴ than to ascribe their blindness to the judgment of God. As, however, he had a little before adjudged such persons to destruction, (2Co 4:3,) he now adds that they perish, for no other reason than that they have drawn down ruin upon themselves, as the effect of their own unbelief.

Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine upon them This serves to confirm what he had said — that if any one rejected his gospel, it was his own blindness that prevented him from receiving it. “For nothing,” says he, “appears in it but Christ, and that not obscurely, but so as to shine forth clearly.” He adds, that Christ is the image of God, by which he intimates that they were utterly devoid of the knowledge of God, in accordance with that statement —

He that knoweth not me knoweth not my Father.
(Joh 14:7.)

This then is the reason, why he pronounced so severe a sentence upon those that had doubts as to his Apostleship — because they did not behold Christ, who might there be distinctly beheld. It is doubtful whether he employed the expression, the gospel of the glory of Christ, as meaning the glorious gospel, agreeably to the Hebrew idiom; or whether he means by it — the gospel, in which Christ’s glory shone forth. The second of these meanings I rather prefer, as having in it more completeness.

When, however, Christ is called the image of the invisible God, this is not meant merely of his essence, as being the “co-essential of the Father,” as they speak, ⁴⁴⁵ but rather has a reference to us, because he represents the Father to us. The Father himself is represented as invisible, because he is in himself not apprehended by the human understanding. He exhibits himself, however, to us by his Son, and makes himself in a manner visible. ⁴⁴⁶ I state this, because the ancients, having been greatly incensed against the Arians, insisted more than was befitting on this point — how it is that the Son is inwardly the image of the Father by a secret unity of essence, while they passed over what is mainly for edification — in what respects he is the image of God to us, when he manifests to us what had otherwise been hid in him. Hence the term image has a reference to us, as we shall see again presently ⁴⁴⁷ The epithet invisible, though omitted in some Greek manuscripts, I have preferred to retain, as it is not superfluous. ⁴⁴⁸

Calvin: 2Co 4:5

5.For we preach not ourselves Some make this to be an instance of Zeugma, ⁴⁴⁹ in this manner: We preach not ourselves to be lords, but God’s only Son, whom the Father has set over all things, to be the one Lord. ⁴⁵⁰ I do not, indeed, find fault with that interpretation, but as the expression is more emphatic (εμφατικωτερα) and has a more extensive signification, ⁴⁵¹ when it is said, that one preaches himself. I am more inclined to retain this interpretation, especially as it is almost unanimously approved of. For there are other ways in which men preach themselves, than by arrogating to themselves dominion, as for example, when they aim at show, rather than at edification — when they are desirous in any way to have distinction — when, farther, they make gain of the gospel. Ambition, therefore, and avarice, and similar vices in a minister, taint the purity of his doctrine, so that Christ has not there the exclusive distinction. Hence, he that would preach Christ alone, must of necessity forget himself.

And ourselves your servants Lest any one should mutter out the objection—”But in the mean time you say many things respecting yourself,” he answers, that he desires nothing farther, than that he should be their servant. “Whatever things I declare respecting myself (so loftily, and boastfully, in your opinion) have this object in view — that I may in Christ serve you advantageously.” It follows, that the Corinthians are excessively proud and ungrateful, if they reject this condition. Nay more, it follows, that they had been previously of a corrupt judgment, inasmuch as they had not perceived his holy affection.

Here, however, all pastors of the Church are admonished as to their state and condition, for by whatever title of honor they may be distinguished, they are nothing more than the servants of believers, and unquestionably, they cannot serve Christ, without serving his Church at the same time. An honorable servitude, it is true, this is, and superior to any principality, ⁴⁵² but still it is a servitude, so that Christ alone may be elevated to distinction — not encumbered by the shadow of a single rival ⁴⁵³ Hence it is the part of a good pastor, not merely to keep aloof from all desire of domineering, but to regard it as the highest pitch of honor, at which he aspires — that he may serve the people of God. It is the duty of the people, on the other hand, to esteem the servants of Christ first of all on the ground of the dignity of their Master, and then farther on account of the dignity and excellence of their office, that they may not despise those, whom the Lord has placed in so illustrious a station.

Calvin: 2Co 4:6

6.God who commanded light to shine out of darkness I see that this passage may be explained in four different ways. In the first place thus: “God has commanded light to shine forth out of darkness: that is, by the ministry of men, who are in their own nature darkness, He has brought forward the light of His gospel into the world.” Secondly, thus: “God has made the light of the gospel to take the place of the law, which was wrapt up in dark shadows, and thus, He has brought light out of darkness. ” Those that are fond of subtleties, would be prepared readily to receive expositions of that sort, but any one, who will examine the matter more closely, will perceive, that they do not correspond with the Apostle’s intention. The third exposition is that of Ambrose: “When all things were involved in darkness, God kindled up the light of His gospel. For mankind were sunk in the darkness of ignorance, when God on a sudden shone forth upon them by his gospel.” The fourth is that of Chrysostom, who is of opinion, that Paul alluded to the creation of the world, in this way: “God, who by his word created light, drawing it, as it were, out of the darkness ⁴⁵⁴ — that same Being has now enlightened us in a spiritual manner, when we were buried in darkness.” This transition, ⁴⁵⁵ from light that is visible and corporeal to what is spiritual, has more of elegance, and there is nothing forced in it. The preceding one, ⁴⁵⁶ however, is not unsuitable. Let every one follow his own judgment.

Hath shined in our hearts He speaks of a twofold illumination, which must be carefully observed — the one is that of the gospel, the other is secret, taking place in our hearts. ⁴⁵⁷ For as God, the Creator of the world, pours forth upon us the brightness of the sun, and gives us eyes to receive it, so, as the Redeemer, in the person of his Son, He shines forth, indeed, upon us by His gospel, but, as we are blind, that would be in vain, if He did not at the same time enlighten our understandings by His Spirit. His meaning, therefore, is, that God has, by His Spirit, opened the eyes of our understandings, so as to make them capable of receiving the light of the gospel.

In the face of Jesus Christ In the same sense in which he had previously said that Christ is the image of the Father, (2Co 4:4) he now says, that the glory of God is manifested to us in his face. Here we have a remarkable passage, from which we learn that God is not to be sought out (Job 11:7) in His unsearchable height,

(for He dwells in light that is inaccessible, 1Ti 6:16,)

but is to be known by us, in so far as He manifests himself in Christ. Hence, whatever men desire to know respecting God, apart from Christ, is evanescent, for they wander out of the way. True, indeed, God in Christ appears in the first instance to be mean, but he appears at length to be glorious in the view of those, who hold on, so as to come from the cross to the resurrection. ⁴⁵⁸ Again we see, that in the word person ⁴⁵⁹ there is a reference made to us, ⁴⁶⁰ because it is more advantageous for us to behold God, as He appears in His only-begotten Son, than to search out His secret essence.

Calvin: 2Co 4:7

7.But we have this treasure Those that heard Paul glorying in such a magnificent strain as to the excellence of his ministry, and beheld, on the other hand, his person, contemptible and abject in the eyes of the world, might be apt to think that he was a silly and ridiculous person, and might look upon his boasting as childish, while forming their estimate of him from the meanness of his person. ⁴⁶⁴ The wicked, more particularly, caught hold of this pretext, when they wished to bring into contempt every thing that was in him. What, however, he saw to be most of all unfavorable to the honor of his Apostleship among the ignorant, he turns by an admirable contrivance into a means of advancing it. First of all, he employs the similitude of a treasure, which is not usually laid up in a splendid and elegantly adorned chest, but rather in some vessel that is mean and worthless; ⁴⁶⁵ and then farther, he subjoins, that the power of God is, by that means, the more illustrated, and is the better seen. “Those, who allege the contemptible appearance of my person, with the view of detracting from the dignity of my ministry, are unfair and unreasonable judges, for a treasure is not the less valuable, that the vessel, in which it is deposited, is not a precious one. Nay more, it is usual for great treasures to be laid up in earthen pots. Farther, they do not consider, that it is ordered by the special Providence of God, that there should be in ministers no appearance of excellence, lest any thing of distinction should throw the power of God into the shade. As, therefore, the abasement of ministers, and the outward contempt of their persons give occasion for glory accruing to God, that man acts a wicked part, who measures the dignity of the gospel by the person of the minister.”

Paul, however, does not speak merely of the universal condition of mankind, but of his own condition in particular. It is true, indeed, that all mortal men are earthen vessels Hence, let the most eminent of them all be selected, and let him be one that is adorned to admiration with all ornaments of birth, intellect, and fortune, ⁴⁶⁶ still, if he be a minister of the gospel, he will be a mean and merely earthen depository of an inestimable treasure Paul, however, has in view himself, and others like himself, his associates, who were held in contempt, because they had nothing of show.

Calvin: 2Co 4:8

8.While we are pressed on every side This is added by way of explanation, for he shows, that his abject condition is so far from detracting from the glory of God, that it is the occasion of advancing it. “We are reduced,” says he, “to straits, but the Lord at length opens up for us an outlet; ⁴⁶⁷ we are oppressed with poverty, but the Lord affords us help. Many enemies are in arms against us, but under God’s protection we are safe. In fine, though we are brought low, so that it might seem as if all were over with us, ⁴⁶⁸ still we do not perish.” The last is the severest of all. You see, how he turns to his own advantage every charge that the wicked bring against him. ⁴⁶⁹

Calvin: 2Co 4:10

10.The mortification of Jesus ⁴⁷⁰ He says more than he had done previously, for he shows, that the very thing that the false apostles used as a pretext for despising the gospel, was so far from bringing any degree of contempt upon the gospel, that it tended even to render it glorious. For he employs the expression — the mortification of Jesus Christ — to denote everything that rendered him contemptible in the eyes of the world, with the view of preparing him for participating in a blessed resurrection. In the first place, the sufferings of Christ, ⁴⁷¹ however ignominious they may be in the eyes of men, have, nevertheless, more of honor in the sight of God, than all the triumphs of emperors, and all the pomp of kings. The end, however, must also be kept in view, that we suffer with him, that we may be glorified together with him. (Rom 8:17.) Hence he elegantly reproves the madness of those, who made his peculiar fellowship with Christ a matter of reproach. At the same time, the Corinthians are admonished to take heed, lest they should, while haughtily despising Paul’s mean and abject appearance, do an injury to Christ himself, by seeking an occasion of reproach ⁴⁷² in his sufferings, which it becomes us to hold in the highest honor.

The word rendered mortification, ⁴⁷³ is taken here in a different sense from what it bears in many passages of Scripture. For it often means self-denial, when we renounce the lusts of the flesh, and are renewed unto obedience to God. Here, however, it means the afflictions by which we are stirred up to meditate on the termination of the present life. To make the matter more plain, let us call the former the inward mortification, and the latter the outward. Both make us conformed to Christ, the one directly, the other indirectly, so to speak. Paul speaks of the former in Col 3:5, and in Rom 6:6, where he teaches that

our old man is crucified, that we may walk in newness of life

He treats of the second in Rom 8:29, where he teaches, that we were predestinated by God to this end — that we might be conformed to the image of his Son. It is called, however, a mortification of Christ only in the case of believers, because the wicked, in the endurance of the afflictions of this present life, share with Adam, but the elect have participation with the Son of God, so that all those miseries that are in their own nature accursed, are helpful to their salvation. All the sons of God, it is true, have this in common, that they bear about the mortification, of Christ; ⁴⁷⁴ but, according as any one is distinguished by a larger measure of gifts, he, in that proportion, comes so much the nearer to conformity with Christ in this respect.

That the life of Jesus Here is the best antidote to adversity — that as Christ’s death is the gate of life, so we know that a blessed resurrection will be to us the termination of all miseries, ⁴⁷⁵ inasmuch as Christ has associated us with himself on this condition, that we shall be partakers of his life, if in this world we submit to die with him.

The sentence that immediately follows may be explained in two ways. If you understand the expression delivered unto death as meaning to be incessantly harassed with persecutions and exposed to dangers, this would be more particularly applicable to Paul, and those like him, who were openly assailed by the fury of the wicked. And thus the expression, for Jesus’ sake, will be equivalent to for the testimony of Christ. (Rev 1:9.) As, however, the expression to be daily delivered unto death, means otherwise — to have death constantly before our eyes, and to live in such a manner, that our life is rather a shadow of death, ⁴⁷⁶ I have no objection, that this passage, also, should be expounded in such a way as to be applicable to all believers, and that, too, to every one in his order. Paul himself, in Rom 8:36, explains in this manner Psa 44:22. In this way for Christ’s sake would mean — because this condition is imposed upon all his members. Erasmus, however, has rendered it, with not. so much propriety, we who live. The rendering that I have given is more suitable — while we live. For Paul means that, so long as we are in the world, we resemble the dead rather than the living.

Calvin: 2Co 4:12

12.Hence death indeed This is said ironically, because it was unseemly that the Corinthians should live happily, and in accordance with their desire, and that they should, free from anxiety, take their ease, while in the mean time Paul was struggling with incessant hardships. ⁴⁷⁷ Such an allotment would certainly have been exceedingly unreasonable. It was also necessary that the folly of the Corinthians should be reproved, inasmuch as they contrived to themselves a Christianity without the cross, and, not content with this, held in contempt the servants of Christ, because they were not so effeminate. ⁴⁷⁸ Now as death denotes all afflictions, or a life full of vexations, so also life denotes a condition that is prosperous and agreeable; agreeably to the maxim: “Life is — not to live, but to be well. ” ⁴⁷⁹

Calvin: 2Co 4:13

13.Having the same spirit This is a correction of the foregoing irony. He had represented the condition of the Corinthians as widely different from his own, (not according to his own judgment, but according to their erroneous view,) inasmuch as they were desirous of a gospel that was pleasant and free from all molestation of the cross, and entertained less honorable views of him, because his condition was less renowned. Now, however, he associates himself with them in the hope of the same blessedness. “Though God spares you, and deals with you more indulgently, while he treats me with somewhat more severity, this diversity, nevertheless, will be no hinderance in the way of the like glorious resurrection awaiting both of us. For where there is oneness of faith, there will, also, there be one inheritance.” It has been thought, that the Apostle speaks here of the holy fathers, who lived under the Old Testament, and represents them as partakers with us, in the same faith. This, indeed, is true, but it does not accord with the subject in hand. For it is not Abraham, or the rest of the fathers, that he associates with himself in a fellowship of faith, but rather the Corinthians, whereas they separated themselves from him by a perverse ambition. “However my condition,” says he, “may appear to be the worse for the present, we shall, nevertheless, one day be alike participants in the same glory, for we are connected together by one faith.” Whoever will examine the connection attentively, will perceive, that this is the true and proper interpretation. By metonymy, he gives the name of the spirit of faith ⁴⁸¹ to faith itself, because it is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

As it is written What has given occasion for the mistake ⁴⁸² is, that he quotes the testimony of David. It ought, however, to be taken in connection with the confession — not with the oneness of faith, or if you prefer it, it agrees with what follows — not with what goes before, in this way: “Because we have an assured hope of a blessed resurrection, we are bold to speak and preach what we believe, as it is written, I believed, therefore have I spoken ” Now, this is the commencement of Psa 116:0, ⁴⁸³ where David acknowledges, that, when he had been reduced to the last extremity, he was so overpowered that he almost gave way, but, having soon afterwards regained confidence, he had overcome that temptation. Accordingly, he opens the Psalm thus: I believed, therefore will I speak. For faith is the mother ⁴⁸⁴ of confession. Paul, it is true, stirring himself up to imitate him, ⁴⁸⁵ exhorts the Corinthians to do the same, and, in accordance with the common Greek translation, has used the preterite instead of the future, but this is of no consequence ⁴⁸⁶ For he simply means to say, that believers ought to be magnanimous, and undaunted, in

confessing ⁴⁸⁷ what they have believed with their heart.
(Rom 10:9.)

Let now our pretended followers of Nicodemus ⁴⁸⁸ mark, what sort of fiction they contrive for themselves in the place of faith, when they would have faith remain inwardly buried, and altogether silent, and glory in this wisdom — that they utter, during their whole life, not a single word of right confession.

Calvin: 2Co 4:15

15.For all things are for your sakes He now associates himself with the Corinthians, not merely in the hope of future blessedness, but also in these very afflictions, in which they might seem to differ from him most widely, for he lets them know, that, if he is afflicted, it is for their benefit. Hence it follows, that there was good reason why they should transfer part of them to themselves. What Paul states, depends first of all on that secret fellowship, which the members of Christ have with one another, but chiefly on that mutual connection and relationship, which required more especially to be manifested among them. Now this admonition was fraught with great utility to the Corinthians, and brought with it choice consolation. For what consolation there is in this — that while God, sparing our weakness, deals with us more gently, those that are endowed with more distinguished excellence, are afflicted for the common advantage of all! They were also admonished, that, since they could not aid Paul otherwise, they should, at least, help him by their prayers and sympathy.

That the grace which hath abounded That agreement ⁴⁸⁹ between the members of Christ he now commends on the ground of the fruit that springs from it — its tendency to advance the glory of God. By a metonymy, according to his usual manner, he means, by the term grace, that blessing of deliverance, of which he had made mention previously — that,

while he was weighed down, he was, nevertheless, not in anxiety: while oppressed with poverty, he was not left destitute, etc.,
(2Co 4:8,)

and in fine, that he had a deliverance continually afforded him from every kind of evil ⁴⁹⁰ This grace, he says, overflows. By this he means, that it was not confined to himself personally, so that he alone enjoys it, but it extends itself farther — namely, to the Corinthians, to whom it was of great advantage. When he makes the overflowing of God’s gift consist in gratitude, tending to the glory of its Author, he admonishes us, that every blessing that God confers upon us perishes through our carelessness, if we are not prompt and active in rendering thanks.

Calvin: 2Co 4:16

16.For which cause we faint not ⁴⁹¹ He now, as having carried his point, rises to a higher confidence than before. “There is no cause,” says he, “ why we should lose heart, or sink down under the burden of the cross, the issue of which is not merely so desirable to myself, but is also salutary to others.” Thus he exhorts the Corinthians to fortitude by his own example, should they happen at any time to be similarly afflicted. Farther, he beats down that insolence, in which they in no ordinary degree erred, inasmuch as under the influence of ambition, they held a man in higher estimation, the farther he was from the cross of Christ.

Though our outward man The outward man, some improperly and ignorantly confound with the old man, for widely different from this is the old man, of which we have spoken in Rom 4:6. Chrysostom, too, and others restrict it entirely to the body; but it is a mistake, for the Apostle intended to comprehend, under this term, everything that relates to the present life. As he here sets before us two men, so you must place before your view two kinds of life — the earthly and the heavenly. The outward man is the maintenance of the earthly life, which consists not merely in the flower of one’s age, (1Co 7:36,) and in good health, but also in riches, honors, friendships, and other resources. ⁴⁹² Hence, according as we suffer a diminution or loss of these blessings, which are requisite for keeping up the condition of the present life, is our outward man in that proportion corrupted. For as we are too much taken up with the present life, so long as everything goes on to our mind, the Lord, on that account, by taking away from us, by little and little, the things that we are engrossed with, calls us back to meditate on a better life. Thus, therefore, it is necessary, that the condition of the present life should decay, ⁴⁹³ in order that the inward man may be in a flourishing state; because, in proportion as the earthly life declines, does the heavenly life advance, at least in believers. For in the reprobate, too, the outward man decays, ⁴⁹⁴ but without anything to compensate for it. In the sons of God, on the other hand, a decay of this nature is the beginning, and, as it were, the cause of production. He says that this takes place daily, because God continually stirs us up to such meditation. Would that this were deeply seated in our minds, that we might uninterruptedly make progress amidst the decay of the outward man!

Calvin: 2Co 4:17

17.Momentary lightness As our flesh always shrinks back from its own destruction, whatever reward may be presented to our view, and as we are influenced much more by present feeling than by the hope of heavenly blessings, Paul on that account admonishes us, that the afflictions and vexations of the pious have little or nothing of bitterness, if compared with the boundless blessings of everlasting glory. He had said, that the decay of the outward man ought to occasion us no grief, inasmuch as the renovation of the inward man springs out of it. As, however, the decay is visible, and the renovation is invisible, Paul, with the view of shaking us off from a carnal attachment to the present life, draws a comparison between present miseries and future felicity. Now this comparison is of itself abundantly sufficient for imbuing the minds of the pious with patience and moderation, that they may not give way, borne down by the burden of the cross. For whence comes it, that patience is so difficult a matter but from this, — that we are confounded on having experience of evils for a brief period, ⁴⁹⁵ and do not raise our thoughts higher? Paul, therefore, prescribes the best antidote against your sinking down under the pressure of afflictions, when he places in opposition to them that future blessedness which is laid up for thee in heaven. (Col 1:5.) For this comparison makes that light which previously seemed heavy, and makes that brief and momentary which seemed of boundless duration.

There is some degree of obscurity in Paul’s words, for as he says, With hyperbole unto hyperbole, ⁴⁹⁶ so the Old Interpreter, and Erasmus ⁴⁹⁷ have thought that in both terms the magnitude of the heavenly glory, that awaits believers is extolled; or, at least, they have connected them with the verb worketh out. To this I have no objection, but as the distinction that I have made is also not unsuitable, I leave it to my readers to make their choice.

Worketh out an eternal weight Paul does not mean, that this is the invariable effect of afflictions; for the great majority are most miserably weighed down here with evils of every kind, and yet that very circumstance is an occasion of their heavier destruction, rather than a help to their salvation. As, however, he is speaking of believers, we must restrict exclusively to them what is here stated; for this is a blessing from God that is peculiar to them — that they are prepared for a blessed resurrection by the common miseries of mankind.

As to the circumstance, however, that Papists abuse this passage, to prove that afflictions are the causes of our salvation, it is exceedingly silly; ⁴⁹⁸ unless, perhaps, you choose to take causes in the sense of means, (as they commonly speak.) We, at least, cheerfully acknowledge, that

we must through many tribulations ⁴⁹⁹
enter into the kingdom of heaven, (Act 14:22,)

and as to this there is no controversy. While, however, our doctrine is, that the momentary lightness of afflictions worketh out in us an eternal weight ⁵⁰⁰ of life, for this reason, that all the sons of God are

predestinated to be conformed to Christ, (Rom 8:29,)

in the endurance of the cross, and in this manner are prepared for the enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance, which they have through means of God’s gracious adoption; Papists, on the other hand, imagine that they are meritorious works, ⁵⁰¹ by which the heavenly kingdom is acquired.

I shall repeat it again in a few words. We do not deny that afflictions are the path by which the heavenly kingdom is arrived at, but we deny that by afflictions we merit the inheritance, ⁵⁰² which comes to us in no other way than through means of God’s gracious adoption. Papists, without consideration, seize hold of one little word, with the view of building upon it a tower of Babel, (Gen 11:9,) — that the kingdom of God is not an inheritance procured for us by Christ, but a reward that is due to our works. For a fuller solution, however, of this question, consult my Institutes. ⁵⁰³

Calvin: 2Co 4:18

While we look not Mark what it is, that will make all the miseries of this world easy to be endured, — if we carry forward our thoughts to the eternity of the heavenly kingdom. For a moment is long, if we look around us on this side and on that; but, when we have once raised our minds heavenward, a thousand years begin to appear to us to be like a moment. Farther, the Apostle’s words intimate, that we are imposed upon by the view of present things, because there is nothing there that is not temporal; and that, consequently, there is nothing for us to rest upon but confidence in a future life. Observe the expression, looking at the things which are unseen, ⁵⁰⁴ for the eye of faith penetrates beyond all our natural senses, and faith is also on that account represented as a looking at things that are invisible. (Heb 11:1.)

Defender: 2Co 4:4

The "god of this world ['age']" is Satan. In Joh 12:31, Jesus called him "the prince of this world" (Joh 14:30), and John noted that "the whole world lieth in wickedness [literally 'the wicked one']" (1Jo 5:19). When even brilliant intellectuals seem unable to understand and accept the easy-to-understand gospel of Christ, especially His works of creation and redemption, it is because their minds have been blinded to these wonderful truths. We must pray for God "to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God" (Act 26:18)."

Defender: 2Co 4:6

Paul here draws a beautiful analogy of our new creation in Christ to His primeval creation of the world. Both we and the world were initially born in darkness - we in spiritual darkness, through innate sin, and the world in physical darkness (Gen 1:2). Then, as God called for physical light to "divide" the darkness (Gen 1:3-5), so He has divided the darkness in our hearts by the spiritual illumination of Him who is "the light of the world" (Joh 8:12). Yet, just as there continues to be a "conflict" between day and night, there also continues a battle in our souls between the old darkness and the new light. However, in the age to come, "there shall be no night there" (Rev 21:25), and thenceforth, we always "shall walk in the light of it" (Rev 21:24), having been made "like him; for we shall see him as he is" (1Jo 3:2)."

Defender: 2Co 4:13

The comfort of the psalmist in his afflictions was faith in God's Word, and Paul testified the same of himself (Psa 116:10)."

Defender: 2Co 4:17

Paul's afflictions were hardly "light" by human standards (2Co 11:23-33). These were only momentary in the scales of eternity and were "light" in comparison to the "weight" of glory yet to come (Rom 8:18)."

TSK: 2Co 4:3

our : Rom 2:16; 1Th 1:5; 1Ti 1:11

it is : 2Co 4:4, 2Co 2:15, 2Co 2:16, 2Co 3:14; Mat 11:25; 1Co 1:18; 2Th 2:9-11

TSK: 2Co 4:4

the god : Mat 4:8, Mat 4:9; Joh 12:31, Joh 12:40, Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11; 1Co 10:20; Eph 2:2, Eph 6:12; 1Jo 5:19 *Gr: Rev 20:2, Rev 20:3

blinded : 2Co 3:14; 1Ki 22:22; Isa 6:10; Joh 12:40

lest : 2Co 4:6, 2Co 3:8, 2Co 3:9, 2Co 3:11, 2Co 3:18; Joh 8:12, Joh 12:35; Act 26:18; Col 1:27; 1Ti 1:11; Tit 2:13

the image : Joh 1:14, Joh 1:18, Joh 12:45, Joh 14:9, Joh 14:10, Joh 15:24; Phi 2:6; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3

shine : 2Co 4:6; Psa 50:2; Isa 60:1, Isa 60:2; 2Pe 1:19; 1Jo 2:8

TSK: 2Co 4:5

we : Mat 3:11; Joh 1:21-23, Joh 3:27-31, Joh 7:18; Act 3:12, Act 3:13, Act 8:9, Act 8:10, Act 10:25, Act 10:26; Act 14:11-15; Rom 15:17, Rom 15:18; 1Co 1:13-15, 1Co 1:23, 1Co 3:5, 1Co 3:6, 1Co 10:33; Phi 1:15; 1Th 2:5, 1Th 2:6; Tit 1:11; 1Pe 5:2-5; 2Pe 2:3

Christ : 2Co 1:19; Mat 23:8; Act 2:36, Act 5:31, Act 10:36; Rom 14:8, Rom 14:9; 1Co 1:23, 1Co 2:2, 1Co 8:6; 1Co 12:3, 1Co 15:47; Phi 2:11

and : 2Co 1:24, 2Co 5:14, 2Co 5:15; Mat 20:25-27; Luk 22:25, Luk 22:26; Joh 13:14, Joh 13:15; Rom 15:1, Rom 15:2; 1Co 9:19-23; Gal 5:13; 2Ti 2:10

TSK: 2Co 4:6

who : Gen 1:3, Gen 1:14, Gen 1:15; Psa 74:16, Psa 136:7-9; Isa 45:7

hath : Gr. is he who hath

shined : Eph 1:17, Eph 5:8; 2Pe 1:19

the light : 2Co 4:4, 2Co 3:18; Exo 33:18-23, Exo 34:5-7; Psa 63:2, Psa 90:16; Isa 6:1-3, Isa 35:2, Isa 40:5; Isa 60:2; Joh 11:40; Act 7:55, Act 7:56; 1Pe 2:9

in the : Luk 10:22; Joh 1:14, Joh 12:41, Joh 14:9, Joh 14:10; Phi 2:6; Col 1:15; Heb 1:3; 1Pe 1:12

TSK: 2Co 4:7

this : 2Co 4:1, 2Co 6:10; Mat 13:44, Mat 13:52; Eph 3:8; Col 1:27, Col 2:3

in : 2Co 5:1, 2Co 10:10; Jdg 7:13, Jdg 7:14, Jdg 7:16-20; Lam 4:2; 1Co 1:28, 1Co 4:9-13; Gal 4:13, Gal 4:14; 2Ti 2:20

that : 2Co 3:5, 2Co 3:6, 2Co 12:7-9, 2Co 13:4; 1Co 2:3-5; Eph 1:19, Eph 1:20, Eph 2:5, Eph 2:8, Eph 2:9; Col 2:12; 1Th 1:5

TSK: 2Co 4:8

troubled : 2Co 1:8-10, 2Co 6:4, 2Co 7:5, 2Co 11:23-30

yet : 2Co 4:16, 2Co 4:17, 2Co 12:10; 1Sa 28:15, 1Sa 30:6; Psa 56:2, Psa 56:3; Pro 14:26, Pro 18:10; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 8:35-37; Jam 1:2-4; 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 4:12-14

not in despair : or, not altogether without help, or means, 1Sa 31:4; Job 2:9, Job 2:10; Psa 37:33; Joh 14:18; 1Co 10:13

TSK: 2Co 4:9

but : Psa 9:10, Psa 22:1, Psa 37:25, Psa 37:28; Isa 62:4; Heb 13:5

cast : 2Co 7:6; Job 5:17-19, Job 22:29; Psa 37:24, Psa 42:5, Psa 42:11; Isa 43:2

TSK: 2Co 4:10

bearing : 2Co 1:5, 2Co 1:9; Rom 8:17, Rom 8:18; Gal 6:17; Phi 3:10,Phi 3:11; Col 1:24

that : 2Co 13:4; Joh 14:19; Act 18:9, Act 18:10; Rom 8:17; 2Ti 2:11; 1Pe 4:13; Rev 1:17

TSK: 2Co 4:11

are alway : Psa 44:22, Psa 141:7; Rom 8:36; 1Co 15:31, 1Co 15:49

our : 2Co 5:4; Rom 8:11; 1Co 15:53, 1Co 15:54

TSK: 2Co 4:12

death : 2Co 12:15, 2Co 13:9; Act 20:24; 1Co 4:10; Phi 2:17, Phi 2:30; 1Jo 3:16

TSK: 2Co 4:13

the same : Act 15:11; Rom 1:12; 1Co 12:9; Heb. 11:1-40; 2Pe 1:1

I believed : Psa 116:10

we also : 2Co 3:12; Pro 21:28

TSK: 2Co 4:14

that : 2Co 5:1-4; Isa 26:19; Joh 11:25, Joh 11:26; Rom 8:11; 1Co 6:14, 1Co 15:20-22; 1Th 4:14

shall present : 2Co 11:2; Eph 5:27; Col 1:22, Col 1:28; Jud 1:24

TSK: 2Co 4:15

all : 2Co 1:4-6; Rom 8:28; 1Co 3:21-23; Col 1:24; 2Ti 2:10

the abundant : 2Co 1:11, 2Co 8:19, 2Co 9:11, 2Co 9:12; Psa 50:14, Psa 50:23; Gal 1:24; Eph 3:20,Eph 3:21; Col 3:16, Col 3:17; Heb 13:15, Heb 13:16; 1Pe 2:9, 1Pe 4:11; Rev 4:8-11, Rev 5:8-14, Rev 19:4-6

TSK: 2Co 4:16

we : 2Co 4:1; Psa 27:13, Psa 119:81; Isa 40:29; 1Co 15:58

though : 2Co 12:15; Job 19:26, Job 19:27; Psa 73:26; Isa 57:1, Isa 57:2; Mat 5:29, Mat 5:30

the : Rom 7:22; Eph 3:16; 1Pe 3:4

is : Psa 51:10; Isa 40:31; Rom 12:2; Eph 4:23; Col 3:10; Tit 3:5

day by : Luk 11:3

TSK: 2Co 4:17

our : 2Co 11:23-28; Psa 30:5; Isa 54:8; Act 20:23; Rom 8:18, Rom 8:34, Rom 8:37; 1Pe 1:6, 1Pe 4:7; 1Pe 5:10

worketh : Psa 119:67, Psa 119:71; Mat 5:12; Rom 5:3-5; Phi 1:19; 2Th 1:4, 2Th 1:6; Heb 12:10,Heb 12:11; Jam 1:3, Jam 1:4, Jam 1:12

far : 2Co 3:18; Gen 15:1; Psa 31:19, Psa 73:24; Isa 64:4; Luk 6:23; Rom 2:7; 1Co 2:9; 1Pe 1:7, 1Pe 1:8, 1Pe 5:10; 1Jo 3:2; Jud 1:24

TSK: 2Co 4:18

we : 2Co 5:7; Rom 8:24, Rom 8:25; Heb 11:1, Heb 11:25-27, Heb 12:2, Heb 12:3

for : Mat 25:46; Lev 16:25, Lev 16:26; 2Th 2:16; 1Jo 2:16, 1Jo 2:17, 1Jo 2:25

rdrb rdrs rdrw30 rsp20

Commentary -- Word/Phrase Notes (per Verse)

Barnes: 2Co 4:3

But if our gospel be hid - Paul here calls it his gospel, because it was that which he preached, or the message which he bore; see note, Rom 16:25. The sense here is, "if the gospel which I preach is not understood; if its meaning is obscure or hidden; if its glory is not seen."It is "implied"here, that to many the beauty and glory of the gospel was not perceived. This was undeniable, notwithstanding the plainness and fullness with which its truths were made known. The "object"of Paul here is, to state that this fact was not to be traced to any lack of clearness in the gospel itself, but to other causes, and thus probably to meet an objection which might be made to his argument about the clearness and fullness of the revelation in the gospel. In the language which Paul uses here, there is undoubted allusion to what he had said respecting Moses, who put a veil upon his face, 2Co 3:13. He had hid, or concealed his face, as emblematic of the nature of his institutions (note, 2Co 3:14); and here Paul says that it was not to be denied that the gospel was "veiled"also to some. But it was not from the nature of the gospel. It was not because God had purposely concealed its meaning. It was not from any lack of clearness in itself. It was to be traced to other causes.

It is hid to them that are lost - On the meaning of the word rendered here as "lost;"see the note, 2Co 2:15, rendered there as "perish."It is hid among them who are about to perish; who are perishing ( ἐν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις en tois apollumenois ); those who deserve to perish. It is concealed only among that class who may be designated as the perishing, or as the lost. Grotins explains this, "those who deserve to perish, who foster their vices, and will not see the truth which condemns those vices."And he adds, that this might very well be, for, "however conspicuous the gospel was in itself, yet like the sun it would not be visible to the blind."The cause was not in the gospel, but in themselves. This verse teaches, therefore:

(1) That the beauty of the gospel may be hidden from many of the human family. This is a matter of simple fact. There are thousands and million to whom it is preached who see no beauty in it, and who regard it as foolishness.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 hat there is a class of people who may be called, even now, "the lost."They are lost to virtue, to piety, to happiness, to hope. They deserve to perish; and they are hastening to merited ruin. This class in the time of Paul was large; and it is large now. It is composed of those to whom the gospel is hidden, or to whom it appears to be veiled, and who see no beauty in it. It is made up indeed of all the profane, polluted, and vile; but their "characteristic"feature is, that the gospel is hidden from them, and that they see no beauty and glory in it.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 his is not the fault of the gospel. It is not the fault of the sun when people shut their eyes and will not see it. It is not the fault of a running stream, or a bubbling fountain, if people will not drink of it, but rather choose to die of thirst. The gospel does not obscure and conceal its own glory anymore than the sun does. It is in itself a clear and full revelation of God and his grace; and that glory is adapted to shed light upon the benighted minds of people.

Barnes: 2Co 4:4

In whom - In respect to whom; among whom; or in whose hearts. The design of this verse is to account for the fact that the glory of the gospel was not seen by them. It is to be traced entirely to the agency of him whom Paul here calls "the god of this world."

The god of this world - There can be no doubt that Satan is here designated by this appellation; though some of the fathers supposed that it means the true God, and Clarke inclines to this opinion. In Joh 12:31, he is called "the prince of this world."In Eph 2:2, he is called "the prince of the power of the air."And in Eph 6:12, the same bad influence is referred to under the names of "principalities, and powers,""the rulers of the darkness of this world,"and "spiritual wickedness in high places."The name "god"is here given to him, not because he has any divine attributes, but because he actually has the homage of the people of this world as their god, as the being who is really worshipped, or who has the affections of their hearts in the same way as it is given to idols. By "this world"is meant the wicked world; or the mass of people. He has dominion over the world. They obey his will; they execute his plans; they further his purposes, and they are his obedient subjects. He has subdued the world to himself, and was really adored in the place of the true God; see the note on 1Co 10:20. "They sacrificed to devils and not to God."Here it is meant by the declaration that Satan is the god of this world:

(1) That the world at large was under his control and direction. He secured the apostasy of man, and early brought him to follow his plans; and he has maintained his scepter and dominion since. No more abject submission could be desired by him than has been rendered by the mass of people.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he idolatrous world particularly is under his control, and subject to him; 1Co 10:20. He is worshipped there; and the religious rites and ceremonies of the pagan are in general just such as a mighty being who hated human happiness, and who sought pollution, obscenity, wretchedness, and blood would appoint; and over all the pagan world his power is absolute. In the time of Paul all the world, except the Jews and Christians, was sunk in pagan degradation.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e rules in the hearts and lives of all wicked people - and the world is full of wicked people. They obey him, and submit to his will in executing fraud, and rapine, and piracy, and murder, and adultery, and lewdness; in wars and fightings; in their amusements and pastimes; in dishonesty and falsehood. The dominion of Satan over this world has been, and is still almost universal and absolute; nor has the lapse of 1,800 years rendered the appellation improper as descriptive of his influence, that he is the god of this world. The world pursues his plans; yields to his temptations; neglects, or rejects the reign of God as he pleases; and submits to his scepter, and is still full of abomination cruelty, and pollution, as he desires it to be.

Hath blinded the minds of them which believe not - Of all who discern no beauty in the gospel, and who reject it. It is implied here:

(1) That the minds of unbelievers are blinded; that they perceive no beauty in the gospel. This is often affirmed of those who reject the gospel, and who live in sin; see the 2Co 2:13 note; Mat 23:16-17, Mat 23:26 notes; Luk 4:18 note; Joh 9:39; Joh 12:40 notes; Rom 11:7 note. The sense is, that they did not see the spiritual beauty and glory of the plan of redemption. They act in reference to that as they would in reference to this world, if a bandage were over their eyes, and they saw not the light of the sun, the beauty of the landscape, the path in which they should go, or the countenance of a friend. All is dark, and obscure, and destitute of beauty to them, however much beauty may be seen in all these objects by others.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 hat this is done by the agency of Satan; and that his dominion is secured by keeping the world in darkness. The affirmation is direct and positive, that it is by his agency that it is done. Some of the "modes"in which it is done are the following:

(a) By a direct influence on the minds of people. I do not know why it is absurd to suppose that one intellect may, in some way unknown to us, have access to another, and have power to influence it; nor can it be proved that Satan may not have power to pervert the understanding; to derange its powers; to distract its attention; and to give in view of the mind a wholly delusive relative importance to objects. In the time of the Saviour it cannot be doubted that in the numerous cases of demoniacal possessions, Satan directly affected the minds of people; nor is there any reason to think that he has ceased to delude and destroy them.

(b) By the false philosophy which has prevailed - a large part of which seems to have been contrived as if on purpose to deceive the world, and destroy the peace and happiness of people.

© By the systems of superstition and idolatry. All these seem to be under the control of one Master Mind. They are so well conceived and adapted to prostrate the moral powers; to fetter the intellect; to pervert the will; to make people debased, sunken, polluted, and degraded; and they so uniformly accomplish this effect, that they have all the marks of being under the control of one mighty Mind, and of having been devised to accomplish His purposes over people.

(d) By producing in the minds of people a wholly disproportionate view of the value of objects. "A very small object held before the eye will shut out the light of the sun."A piece of money of the smallest value laid on the eye will make everything appear dark, and prevent all the glory of mid-day from reaching the seat of vision. And so it is with the things of this world. They are placed directly before us, and are placed directly between us and the glory of the gospel. And the trifles of wealth and of fashion; the objects of pleasure and ambition, are made to assume an importance in view of the mind which wholly excludes the glory of the gospel, and shuts out all the realities of the eternal world. And he does it:

(e) By the blinding influence of passion and vice. Before a vicious mind all is dark and obscure. There is no beauty in truth, in chastity, or honesty, or in the fear and love of God. Vice always renders the mind blind. and the heart hard, and shrouds everything in the moral world in midnight. And in order to blind the minds of people to the glory of the gospel, Satan has only to place splendid schemes of speculation before people; to tempt them to climb the steeps of ambition; to entice them to scenes of gaiety; to secure the erection of theaters, and gambling houses, and houses of infamy and pollution; to fill the cities and towns of a land with taverns and dram-shops; and to give opportunity everywhere for the full play and unrestrained indulgence of passion; and the glory of the gospel will be as effectually unseen as the glory of the sun is in the darkest night.

Lest the light ... - This passage states the design, for which Satan blinds the minds of people. It is because he "hates"the gospel, and wishes to prevent its influence and spread in the world Satan has always hated and opposed it, and all his arts have been employed to arrest its diffusion on earth. The word "light"here means excellence, beauty, or splendor. Light is the emblem of knowledge, purity, or innocence; and is here and elsewhere applied to the gospel, because it removes the errors, and sins, and wretchedness of people, as the light of the sun scatters the shades of night. This purpose of preventing the light of the gospel shining on people, Satan will endeavor to accomplish by all the means in his power. It is his "grand"object in this world, because it is by the gospel only that people can be saved; by that that God is glorified on earth more than by anything else; and because, therefore, if he can prevent sinners from embracing that, he will secure their destruction, and most effectually show his hatred of God. And it is to Satan a matter of little importance what people "may be,"or "are,"provided they are not Christians. They may be amiable, moral, accomplished, rich, honored, esteemed by the world, because in the possession of all these he may be equally sure of their ruin, and because, also, these things may contribute somewhat to turn away their minds from the gospel. Satan, therefore, will not oppose plans of gain or ambition; he will not oppose purposes of fashion and amusement; he may not oppose schemes by which we desire to rise in the world; he will not oppose the theater, the ballroom, the dance, or the song; he will not oppose thoughtless mirth; but the moment the gospel begins to shine on the benighted mind, that moment he will make resistance, and then all his power will be concentrated.

The glorious gospel - Greek ‘ The gospel of the glory of Christ,’ a Hebraism for the glorious gospel. Mr. Locke renders it, "the glorious brightness of the light of the gospel of Christ,"and supposes it means the brightness, or clearness, of the doctrine wherein Christ is manifested in the gospel. It is all light, and splendor, and beauty, compared with the dark systems of philosophy and paganism. It is glorious, for it is full of splendor; makes known the glorious God; discloses a glorious plan of salvation; and conducts ignorant, weak, and degraded man to a world of light. No two words in our language are so full of rich and precious meaning, as the phrase "glorious gospel."

Who is the image of God - Christ is called the image of God:

(1)    In respect to his divine nature, his exact resemblance to God in his divine attributes and perfections; see Col 1:15; and Heb 1:3; and,

(2)    In his moral attributes as Mediator, as showing forth the glory of the Father to people. He "resembles"God, and in him we see the divine glory and perfections embodied, and shine forth.

It is from his "resemblance"to God in all respects that he is called his image; and it is through him that the divine perfections are made known to people. It is an object of special dislike and hatred to Satan that the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on people, and fill their hearts. Satan hates that image; he hates that people should become like God; and he hates all that has a resemblance to the great and glorious Yahweh.

Barnes: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves - The connection here is not very apparent, and the design of this verse has been variously understood. The connection seems to me to be this. Paul gives here a reason for what he had said in the previous parts of the Epistle respecting his conduct in the ministry. He had said that his course had been open, and pure, and free from all dishonest arts and tricks, and that he had not corrupted the Word of God, or resorted to any artifice to accomplish his designs; 2Co 2:17; 2Co 4:1-2. The "reason"of this he here says is, that he had not preached himself, or sought to advance his own interest. He regarded himself as sent to make known a Saviour; himself as bound by all means to promote his cause, and to imitate him. Other people - the false teachers, and the cunning priests of the pagan religion - sought to advance their own interest, and to perpetuate a system of delusion that would be profitable to themselves; and they therefore resorted to all arts, and stratagems, and cunning devices to perpetuate their authority, and extend their influence. But the fact that Paul and his associates went forth to make known the Lord Jesus, was a reason why they avoided all such dishonest arts and artifices. "We are merely the "ambassadors"of another. We are not "principals"in this business, and do not despatch it as a business of our own, but we transact it as the "agents"for another, that is, for the Lord Jesus, and we feel ourselves bound, therefore, to do it as he would have done it himself; and as he was free from all trick, and dishonest art, we feel bound to be also."This seems to me to be the design of this passage. Ministers may be said to preach themselves in the following ways:

(1) When their preaching has a primary reference to their own interest; and when they engage in it to advance their reputation, or to secure in some way their own advantage. When they aim at exalting their authority, extending their influence, or in any way promoting their own welfare.

\caps1 (2) w\caps0 hen they proclaim their own opinions and not the gospel of Christ; when they derive their doctrines from their own reasonings, and not from the Bible.

\caps1 (3) w\caps0 hen they put themselves forward; speak much of themselves; refer often to themselves; are vain of their powers of reasoning, of their eloquence, and of their learning, and seek to make these known rather than the simple truths of the gospel. In one word, when self is primary, and the gospel is secondary; when they prostitute the ministry to gain popularity; to live a life of ease; to be respected; to obtain a livelihood: to gain influence; to rule over a people; and to make the preaching of the gospel merely an occasion of advancing themselves in the world. Such a plan, it is implied here, would lead to dishonest arts and devices, and to trick and stratagem to accomplish the end in view. And it is implied here, also, that to avoid all such tricks and arts the true way is not to preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ.

But Christ Jesus the Lord - This Paul states to be the only purpose of the ministry. It is so far the sole design of the ministry that had it not been to make known the Lord Jesus, it would never have been established; and whatever other objects are secured by its appointment, and whatever other truths are to be illustrated and enforced by the ministry, yet, if this is not the primary subject, and if every other object is not made subservient to this, the design of the ministry is not secured. The word "Christ"properly means the anointed that is, the Messiah, the anointed of God for this great office (see the note, Mat 1:1); but it is used in the New Testament as a proper name, the name that was appropriate to "Jesus."Still it may be used with a reference to the fact of the Messiahship, and not merely as a proper name, and in this place it may mean that they preached Jesus as the Messiah, or the Christ and defended his claims to that high appointment. The word "Lord"also is used to designate him Mar 11:3; Joh 20:25; and when it stands by itself in the New Testament, it denotes the Lord Jesus (note, Act 1:24); but it properly denotes one who has rule or authority, or proprietorship; and it is used here not merely as a part of the appropriate title of the Saviour, but with reference to the fact that he had the supreme headship, or lordship over the church and the world. This important passage, therefore, means, that they made it their sole business to make known Jesus the Messiah, or the Christ, as the supreme head and Lord of people that is, to set forth the Messiahship and the lordship of Jesus of Nazareth appointed to these high offices by God. To do this, or to preach Jesus Christ the Lord, implies the following things:

(1) To prove that he is the Messiah so often predicted in the Old Testament, and so long expected by the Jewish people. To do this was a very vital part of the work of the ministry in the time of the apostles, and was essential to their success in all their attempts to convert the Jews; and to do this will be no less important in all attempts to bring the Jews now or in future times to the knowledge of the truth. No man can be successful among them who is not able to prove that Jesus is the Messiah. It is not indeed so vital and leading a point now in reference to those to whom the ministers of the gospel usually preach; and it is probable that the importance of this argument is by many overlooked, and that it is not urged as it should be by those who "preach Christ Jesus the Lord."It involves the whole argument for the truth of Christianity. It leads to all the demonstrations that this religion is from God; and the establishment of the proposition that Jesus is the Messiah, is one of the most direct and certain ways of proving that his religion is from heaven. Because:

(a)    It contains the argument from the fulfillment of the prophecies - one of the main evidences of the truth of revelation; and,

(b)    It involves an examination of all the evidences that Jesus gave that he was the Messiah sent from God, and of course an examination of all the miracles that he performed in attestation of his divine mission.

The first object of a preacher, therefore, is to demonstrate that Jesus is sent from God in accordance with the predictions of the prophets.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 o proclaim the truths that he taught. To make known his sentiments, and his doctrines, and not our own. This includes, of course, all that he taught respecting God, and respecting man; all that he taught respecting his own nature, and the design of his coming; all that he taught respecting the character of the human heart, and about human obligation and duty; all that he taught respecting death, the judgment, and eternity - respecting an eternal heaven, and an eternal hell. To explain, enforce, and vindicate his doctrines, is one great design of the ministry; and were there nothing else, this would be a field sufficiently ample to employ the life; sufficiently glorious to employ the best talents of man. The minister of the gospel is to teach the sentiments and doctrines of Jesus Christ, in contradistinction from all his own sentiments, and from all the doctrines of mere philosophy. He is not to teach science, or mere morals, but he is to proclaim and defend the doctrines of the Redeemer.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e is to make known the facts of the Saviour’ s life. He is to show how he lived - to hold up his example in all the trying circumstances in which he was placed. For he came to show by his life what the Law required; and to show how people should live. And it is the office of the Christian ministry, or a part of their work in preaching "Christ Jesus the Lord,"to show how he lived, and to set forth his self-denial, his meekness, his purity, his blameless life, his spirit of prayer, his submission to the divine will, his patience in suffering, his forgiveness of his enemies, his tenderness to the afflicted, the weak, and the tempted; and the manner of his death. Were "this"all, it would be enough to employ the whole of a minister’ s life, and to command the best talents of the world. For he was the only perfectly pure model; and his example is to be followed by all his people, and his example is designed to exert a deep and wide influence on the world. Piety flourishes just in proportion as the pure example of Jesus Christ is kept before a people; and the world is made happier and better just as that example is kept constantly in view. To the frivolous and the thoughtless, the ministers of the gospel are to show how serious and calm was the Redeemer; to the worldly-minded, to show trow he lived above the world; to the avaricious, how benevolent he was; to the profane and licentious, how pure he was; to the tempted, how he endured temptation; to the afflicted, how patient and resigned; to the dying, how he died: to all, to show how holy, and heavenly-minded, and prayerful, and pure he was; in order that they may be won to the same purity, and be prepared to dwell with him in his kingdom.

\caps1 (4) t\caps0 o set forth the design of his death. To show why he came to die; and what was the great object to be effected by his sufferings and death. To exhibit, therefore, the sorrows of his life; to describe his many trials; to dwell upon his sufferings in the Garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross. To show why he died, and what was to be the influence of his death on the destiny of man. To Show how it makes an atonement for sin; how it reconciles God to man; how it is made efficacious in the justification and the sanctification of the sinner. And were there nothing else, this would be sufficient to employ all the time, and the best talents in the ministry. For the salvation of the soul depends on the proper exhibition of the design of the death of the Redeemer. There is no salvation but through his blood; and hence, the nature and design of his atoning sacrifice is to be exhibited to every man, and the offers of mercy through that death to be pressed upon the attention of every sinner.

\caps1 (5) t\caps0 o set forth the truth and the design of his resurrection. To prove that he rose from the dead, and that he ascended to heaven; and to show the influence of his resurrection on our hopes and destiny. The whole structure of Christianity is dependent on making out the fact that he rose; and if he rose, all the difficulties in the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead are removed at once, and his people will also rise. The influence of that fact, therefore, on our hopes and on our prospects for eternity, is to be shown by the ministry of the gospel; and were there nothing else, this would be ample to command all the time, and the best talents of the ministry.

\caps1 (6) t\caps0 o proclaim him as "Lord."This is expressly specified in the passage before us. "For we preach Christ Jesus the Lord;"we proclaim him as the Lord. That is, he is to be preached as having dominion over the conscience; as the Supreme Ruler in his Church; as above all councils, and synods, and conferences, and all human authority; as having a right to legislate for his people; a right to prescribe their mode of worship; a right to define and determine the doctrines which they shall believe. He is to be proclaimed also as ruling over all, and as exalted in his mediatorial character over all worlds, and as having all things put beneath his feet; Psa 2:6; Isa 9:6-7; Mat 28:18; Joh 17:2; Eph 1:20; Heb 2:8.

And ourselves your servants ... - So far as we make any mention of ourselves, it is to declare that we are your servants, and that we are bound to promote your welfare in the cause and for the sake of the Redeemer. That is, they were their servants in all things in which they could advance the interests of the Redeemer’ s kingdom among them. The doctrine is, that they regarded themselves as under obligation not to seek their own interest, or to build up their own reputation and cause, but to seek the welfare of the church; and promote its interests, as a servant does that of his master. They should not seek to lord it over God’ s heritage, and to claim supreme and independent authority. They were not masters but servants. The church at large was the master, and they were its servants. This implies the following things:

(1) That the "time"of ministers belongs to the church, and should be employed in its welfare. It is not their own; and it is not to be employed in farming, or in speculating, or in doing business, or in idleness, or in lounging, or in unprofitable visiting, or in mere science, or in reading or making books that will not advance the interests of the church. The time of the ministry is not for ease, or ambition, or self-indulgence, but is to promote the interests of the body of Christ. So Paul felt, and so he lived.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 heir "talents"belong to the church. All their original talents, and all that they can acquire, should be honestly devoted to the welfare of the church of the Redeemer.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 heir best efforts and plans, the avails of their best thoughts and purposes, belong to the church, and should be honestly devoted to it. Their strength and vigor, and influence should be devoted to it, as the vigor, and strength, and talent, and skill of a servant belong to the master; see Psa 137:5-6. The language of the ministry, as of every Christian, should be:

I love thy church, O God,

Her walls before thee stand,

Dear as the apple of thine eye,

And graven on thy hand,

If e’ er to bless thy sons.

My voice or hands deny,

These hands let useful skill forsake,

This voice in silence die.

If e’ er my heart forget.

Her welfare or her wo,

Let every joy this heart forsake,

And every grief o’ erflow.

For her my tears shall fall,

For her my prayers ascend,

To her my cares and toils be given,

Until toils and cares shall end.

And it implies:

(4) That they are the servants of the church in time of trial, temptation, and affliction. They are to devote themselves to the comfort of the afflicted. They are to be the guide to the perplexed. They are to aid the tempted. They are to comfort those that mourn, and they are to sustain and console the dying. They are to regard themselves as the servants of the church to accomplish these great objects; and are to be willing to deny themselves, and to take up their cross, and to consecrate their time to the advancement of these great interests. And they are, in all respects, to devote their time, and talents, and influence to the welfare of the church, with as much single-mindedness as the servant is to seek the interest of his master. It was in this way eminently that Paul was favored with the success with which God blessed him in the ministry; and so every minister will be successful, just in proportion to the single-mindedness with which he devotes himself to the work of preaching Jesus Christ the Lord.

Barnes: 2Co 4:6

For God, who commanded ... - The design of this verse seems to be, to give a reason why Paul and his fellow-apostles did not preach themselves, but Jesus Christ the Lord, 2Co 4:5. That reason was, that their minds had been so illuminated by that God who had commanded the light to shine out of darkness, that they had discerned the glory of the divine perfections shining in and through the Redeemer, and they therefore gave themselves. to the work of making him known among people. The doctrines which they preached they had not derived from people in any form. They had not been elaborated by human reasoning or science, nor had they been imparted by tradition. They had been communicated directly by the source of all light - the true God - who had shined into the hearts that were once benighted by sin. Having been thus illuminated, they had felt themselves bound to go and make known to others the truths which God had imparted to them.

Who commanded the light ... - Gen 1:3. God caused it to shine by his simple command. He said, "let there be light, and there was light."The fact that it was produced by "his saying so"is referred to here by Paul by his use of the phrase ( ὁ εἰπὼν ho eipōn ) "Who saying,"or speaking the light to shine from darkness. The passage in Genesis is adduced by Longinus as a striking instance of the sublime.

Hath shined in our hearts - Margin, "It is he who hath."This is more in accordance with the Greek, and the sense is, "The God who at the creation bade the light to shine out of darkness, is he who has shined into our hearts; or it is the same God who has illuminated us, who commanded the light to shine at the creation.""Light"is every where in the Bible the emblem of knowledge, purity, and truth; as darkness is the emblem of ignorance, error, sin, and wretchedness. See note, Joh 1:4-5. And the sense here is, that God had removed this ignorance, and poured a flood of light and truth on their minds. This passage teaches, therefore, the following important truths in regard to Christians - since it is as applicable to all Christians, as it was to the apostles:

(1) That the mind is by nature ignorant and benighted - to an extent which may be properly compared with the darkness which prevailed before God commanded the light to shine. Indeed, the darkness which prevailed before the light was formed, was a most striking emblem of the darkness which exists in the mind of man before it is enlightened by revelation, and by the Holy Spirit. For:

\tx720 \tx1080 (a)    In all minds by nature there is deep ignorance of God, of His Law, and His requirements; and,

(b) This is often greatly deepened by the course of life which people lead; by their education; or by their indulgence in sin, and by their plans of life; and especially by the indulgence of evil passions.

The tendency of man if left to himself is to plunge into deeper darkness, and to involve his mind more entirely in the obscurity of moral midnight. "Light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil,"Joh 3:19.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 his verse teaches the fact, that the minds of Christians are illuminated. They are enabled to see things as they are. This fact is often taught in the Scriptures; see 1Jo 2:20; 1Co 2:12-15. They have different views of things from their fellow-men, and different from what they once had. They perceive a beauty in religion which others do not see, and a glory in truth, and in the Saviour, and in the promises of the gospel, which they did not see before they were converted. This does not mean:

\tx720 \tx1080 (a)    That they are superior in their powers of understanding to other people - for the reverse is often the fact; nor,

(b)    That the effect of religion is at once to enlarge their own intellectual powers, and make them different from what they were before in this respect.

But it means that they have clear and consistent views; they look at things as they are; they perceive a beauty in religion and in the service of God which they did not before. They see a beauty in the Bible, and in the doctrines of the Bible, which they did not before, and which sinners do not see. The temperate man will see a beauty in temperance, and in an argument for temperance, which the drunkard will not; the benevolent man will see a beauty in benevolence which the churl will not: and so of honesty, truth, and chastity. And especially will a man who is reformed from intemperance, impurity, dishonesty, and avarice, see a beauty in a virtuous life which he did not before see. There is indeed no immediate and direct enlargement of the intellect; but there is an effect on the heart which produces an appropriate and indirect effect on the understanding.

It is at the same time true, that the practice of virtue, that a pure heart, and that the cultivation of piety all tend to regulate, strengthen, and expand the intellect, as the ways of vice and the indulgence of evil passions and propensities tend to enfeeble, paralyze, darken, and ruin the understanding; so that, other things being equal, the man of most decided virtue, and most calm and elevated piety, will be the man of the clearest and best regulated mind. His powers will be the most assiduously, carefully, and conscientiously cultivated and he will feel himself bound to make the most of them. The influence of piety in giving light to the mind is often strikingly manifested among unlettered and ignorant Christians. It often happens, as a matter of fact, that they have by far clearer, and more just and elevated views of truth than people of the most mighty intellects, and most highly cultivated by science and adorned with learning. but who have no piety; and a practical acquaintance with their own hearts, and a practical experience of the power of religion in the days of temptation and trial is a better enlightener of the mind on the subject of religion than all the learning of the schools.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 his verse teaches, that it is the "same God"who enlightens the mind of the Christian that commanded the light at first to shine. He is the source of all light. He formed the light in the natural world; he gives all light and truth on all subjects to the understanding; and he imparts all correct views of truth to the heart. Light is not originated by man; and man on the subject of religion no more creates the light which beams upon his benighted mind than he created the light of the sun when it first shed its beams over the darkened earth. "All truth is from the sempiternal source of light divine;"and it is no more the work of man to enlighten the mind. and dissipate the darkness from the soul of a benighted sinner, than it was of man to scatter the darkness that brooded over the creation, or than he can now turn the shades of midnight to noonday. All this work lies beyond the proper province of man; and is all to be traced to the agency of God - the great fountain of light.

\caps1 (4) i\caps0 t is taught here that it is the "same power"that gives light to the mind of the Christian which at first commanded the light to shine out of darkness. It requires the exertion of the same Omnipotence; and the change is often as remarkable, and surprising. Nothing can be conceived to be more grand than the first creation of light - when by one word the whole solar system was in a blaze. And nothing in the moral world is more grand than when by a word God commands the light to beam on the soul of a benighted sinner. Night is at once changed to day; and all things are seen in a blaze of glory. The works of God appear different; the Word of God appears different; and a new aspect of beauty is diffused over all things. If it be asked in what way God thus imparts light to the mind, we may reply:

(a)    By his written and preached word. All spiritual and saving light to the minds of people has come through his revealed truth. Nor does the Spirit of God now give or reveal any light to the mind which is not to be found in the Word of God. and which is not imparted through that medium.

(b)    God makes use of his providential dealings to give light to the minds of people. They are then, by sickness, disappointment, and pain, made to see the folly and vanity of the things of this world, and to see the necessity of a better portion.

©    It is done especially and mainly by the influences of the Holy Spirit. It is directly by his agency that the heart becomes affected, and the mind enlightened.

It is his province in the world to prepare the heart to receive the truth; to dispose the mind to attend to it: to remove the obstructions which existed to its clear perception; to enable the mind clearly to see the beauty of truth, and of the plan of salvation through a Redeemer. And whatever may be the means which may be used, it is still true that it is only by the Spirit of God that people are ever brought to see the truth clearly and brightly. The same Spirit that inspired the prophets and apostles also illuminates the minds of people now, removes the darkness from their minds, and enables them clearly to discover the truth as it is in Jesus. See the notes, 1Co 2:10-15.

To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God - This shows the "object,"or the "effect"of enlightening the mind. It is that Christians may behold the divine glory. The meaning is, that it is for the purpose of enlightening and instructing them concerning the knowledge of the glory of God - Bloomfield. Doddridge renders it, "the luster of the knowledge of God’ s glory."Tyndale, "to give the light of the knowledge of the glorious God."The sense is, that the purpose of his shining into their hearts was to give light ( πρὸς pros φωτισμὸν phōtismon ) that is, unto the enlightening; and the purpose of that light was to acquaint them with the knowledge of the divine glory.

In the face of Jesus Christ - That is, that they might obtain the knowledge of the divine glory as it shines in the face of Jesus Christ; or as it is reflected on the face, or the person of the Redeemer. There is undoubted allusion here to what is said of Moses 2Co 3:13 when the divine glory was reflected on his face, and produced such a splendor and magnificence that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look upon it. The sense here is, that in the face or the person of Jesus Christ the glory of God shone clearly, and the divinity appeared without a veil. The divine perfections, as it were, illuminated him, as the face of Moses was illuminated; or they shone forth through him, and were seen in him. The word rendered "face"here ( προσώπον prosōpon ) may mean either face or person; see the note, 2Co 2:10. The sense is not materially affected which ever translation is preferred. It is, that the divine perfections shone in and through the Redeemer. This refers doubtless to the following truths:

(1)    That the glory of the divine "nature"is seen in him, since he is "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person."Heb 1:3. And it is in and through him that the glory of the divine perfections are made known,

(2)    That the glory of the divine "attributes"are made known through him, since it is through him that the work of creation was accomplished Joh 1:3; Col 1:16; and it is by him that the mercy and goodness of God have been manifested to people.

(3)\caps1     t\caps0 hat the glory of the divine "moral character"is seen through him, since when on earth he manifested the embodied divine perfections; he showed what God is when incarnate; he lived as became the incarnate God - he was as pure and holy in human nature as God is in the heavens.

And there is not, that we know of, one of the divine attributes or perfections which has not at some period, or in some form, been evinced by Jesus Christ. If it be the prerogative of God to be eternal, he was eternal; Isa 9:6; Rev 1:8, Rev 1:18. If it be the prerogative of God to be the creator, he was also the creator Joh 1:3; if to be omniscient, he was omniscient Mat 11:27; Luk 10:22; if to be omnipresent, he is omnipresent Mat 18:20; if to be almighty, he was almighty Isa 9:6; if to raise the dead, to give life, he did it (Joh 5:21; Joh 12:43-44; if to still waves and tempests, he did it Mar 4:39; if to be full of benevolence, to be perfectly holy, to be without a moral stain or spot, then all this is found in Jesus Christ. And as the wax bears the perfect image of the seal - perfect not only in the outline, and in the general resemblance, but in the filling up - in all the lines, and features, and letters on the seal, so it is with the Redeemer. There is not one of the divine perfections which has not the counterpart in him, and if the glory of the divine character is seen at all, it will be seen in and through him.

Barnes: 2Co 4:7

But we have this treasure - The treasure of the gospel; the rich and invaluable truths which they were called to preach to others. The word "treasure"is applied to those truths on account of their inestimable worth. Paul in the previous verses had spoken of the gospel, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, as full of glory, and infinitely precious. This rich blessing had been committed to him and his fellow-laborers, to dispense it to others, and to diffuse it abroad. His purpose in this and the following verses is, to show that it had been so entrusted to them as to secure all the glory of its propagation to God, and so also as to show its unspeakable value. For this purpose, he not only affirms that it is a treasure, but says that it had been so entrusted to them as to show the power of God in its propagation; that it had showed its value in sustaining them in their many trials; and "they"had showed their sense of its worth by being willing to endure all kinds of trial in order to make it everywhere known, 2Co 4:8-11. The expression here is similar to that which the Saviour uses when he calls the gospel "the pearl of great price,"Mat 13:46.

In earthen vessels - This refers to the apostles and ministers of religion, as weak and feeble; as having bodies decaying and dying; as fragile, and liable to various accidents, and as being altogether unworthy to hold a treasure so invaluable; as if valuable diamonds and gold were placed in vessels of earth of coarse composition, easily broken, and liable to decay. The word "vessel"( σκεῦος skeuos ) means properly any utensil or instrument; and is applied usually to utensils of household furniture, or hollow vessels for containing things, Luk 8:16; Joh 19:29. It is applied to the human body, as made of clay, and therefore frail and feeble, with reference to its "containing"anything, as, e. g., treasure; compare note on Rom 9:22-23. The word rendered "earthen,"( ὀστρακίνοις ostrakinois ) means that which is made of shells (from ὄστρακινον ostrakinon ), and then burnt clay, probably because vessels were at first made of burnt shells. It is suited well to represent the human body; frail, fragile, and easily reduced again to dust. The purpose of Paul here is, to show that it was by no excellency of his nature that the gospel was originated; it was in virtue of no vigor and strength which he possessed that it was propagated; but that it had been, of design, committed by God to weak, decaying, and crumbling instruments, in order that it might "be seen"that it was by the power of God that such instruments were sustained in the trials to which they were exposed, and in order that it might be manifest to all that it was not originated and diffused by the power of those to whom it was entrusted. The idea is, that they were altogether insufficient of their own strength to accomplish what was accomplished by the gospel. Paul uses a metaphor similar to this in 2Ti 2:20.

That the excellency of the power - An elegant expression, denoting the exceeding great power. The great power referred to here was that which was manifested in connection with the labors of the apostles - the power of healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out devils; the power of bearing persecution and trial, and the power of carrying the gospel over sea and land, in the midst of danger, and in spite of all the opposition which people could make, whether as individuals or as combined; and especially the power of converting the hearts of sin ners, of humbling the proud, and leading the guilty to the knowledge of God, and the hope of heaven. The idea is, that all this was manifestly beyond human strength; and that God had of design chosen weak and feeble instruments "in order"that it might be everywhere seen that it was done not by human power but by his own. The instrumentality employed was altogether "disproportionate"in its nature to the effect produced.

May be of God - May evidently appear to be of God; that it may be manifest to all that it is God’ s power and not ours. It was one great purpose of God that this should be kept clearly in view. And it is still done. God takes care that this shall be apparent. For:

(1) It is "always"true, whoever is employed, and however great may be the talents, learning, or zeal of those who preach, that it is by the power of God that people are converted. Such a work cannot be accomplished by man. It is not by might or by strength; and between the conversion of a proud, haughty, and abandoned sinner, and the power of him who is made the instrument, there is such a manifest disproportion, that it is evident it is the work of God. The conversion of the human heart is not to be accomplished by man.

\caps1 (2) m\caps0 inisters are frail, imperfect, and Sinful, as they were in the time of Paul. When the imperfections of ministers are considered; when their frequent errors, and their not unfrequent moral obliquities are contemplated; when it is remembered how far many of them live from what they ought to do, and how few of them live in any considerable degree as becometh the followers of the Redeemer, it is wonderful that God blesses their labor as he does; and the matter of amazement is not that no more are converted under their ministry, but it is that so many are converted, or that any are converted; and it is manifest tidal it is the mere power of God.

\caps1 (3) h\caps0 e often makes use of the most feeble, and unlearned, and weak of his servants to accomplish the greatest effects. It is not splendid talents, or profound learning, or distinguished eloquence, that is always or even commonly most successful. Often the ministry of such is entirely barren; while some humble and obscure man shall have constant success, and revivals shall attend him wherever he goes. It is the man of faith, and prayer, and self-denial, that is blessed; and the purpose of God in the ministry, as in everything else, is to "stain the pride of all human glory,"and to show that he is all in all.

Barnes: 2Co 4:8

We are troubled - We the apostles. Paul here refers to some of the trials to which he and his fellow laborers were subjected in making known the gospel. The "design"for which he does it seems to be to show them:

(1)    What they endured in preaching the truth;

(2)    To show the sustaining power of that gospel in the midst of afflictions; and,

(3)    To conciliate their favor, or to remind them that they had endured these things on their account, 2Co 4:12-15.

Perhaps one leading design was to recover the affections of those of the Corinthians whose heart had been alienated from him, by showing them how much he had endured on their account. For this purpose he freely opens his heart to them, and tenderly represents the many and grievous pressures and hardships to which love to souls, and theirs among the rest, had exposed him - Doddridge. The whole passage is one of the most pathetic and beautiful to be found in the New Testament. The word rendered "troubled"( θλιβόμενοι thlibomenoi , from θλίβω thlibō ) may have reference to wrestling, or to the contests in the Grecian games. It properly means, to press, to press together; then to press as in a crowd where there is a throng Mar 3:9; then to compress together Mat 7:14; and then to oppress, or compress with evils, to distress, to afflict, 2Th 1:6; 2Co 1:6. Here it may mean, that he was encompassed with trials, or placed in the midst of them so that they pressed upon him as persons do in a crowd, or, possibly, as a man was close pressed by an adversary in the games. He refers to the fact that he was called to endure a great number of trials and afflictions. Some of those trials he refers to in 2Co 7:5. "When we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears."

On every side - In every respect. In every way. We are subjected to all kinds of trim and affliction.

Yet not distressed - This by no means expresses the force of the original; nor is it possible perhaps to express it in a translation. Tyndale renders it, "yet we are not without our shift."The Greek word used here ( στενοχωρούμενοι stenochōroumenoi ) has a relation to the word which is rendered "troubled."It properly means "to crowd into a narrow place; to straiten as to room; to be so straitened as not to be able to turn oneself."And the idea is, that though he was close pressed by persecutions and trials, yet he was not so hemmed in that he had no way to turn himself; his trials did not wholly prevent motion and action. He was not so closely pressed as a man would be who was so straitened that he could not move his body, or stir hand or foot. He had still resources; he was permitted to move; the energy of his piety, and the vigor of his soul could not be entirely cramped and impeded by the trials which encompassed him. The Syriac renders it: "In all things we are pressed, but are not suffocated."The idea is, he was not wholly discouraged, and disheartened, and overcome. He had resources in his piety which enabled him to bear up under these trials, and still to engage in the work of preaching the gospel.

We are perplexed - ( ἀπορούμενοι aporoumenoi ). This word (from ἄπορος aporos , "without resource,"which is derived from α a , the alpha privative ("not"), and πόρος poros , way, or exit) means to be without resource; to know not what to do; to hesitate; to be in doubt and anxiety, as a traveler is, who is ignorant of the way, or who has not the means of prosecuting his journey. It means here, that they were often brought into circumstances of great embarrassment, where they hardly knew what to do, or what course to take. They were surrounded by foes; they were in want; they were in circumstances which they had not anticipated, and which greatly perplexed them.

But not in despair - In the margin, "not altogether without help or means."Tyndale renders this: "We are in poverty, but not utterly without somewhat."In the word used here, ( ἐξαπορούμενοι exaporoumenoi ) the preposition is intensive or emphatic, and means "utterly, quite."The word means to be utterly without resource; to despair altogether; and the idea of Paul here is, that they were not left "entirely"without resource. Their needs were provided for; their embarrassments were removed; their grounds of perplexity were taken away; and unexpected strength and resources were imparted to them. When they did not know what to do; when all resources seemed to fail them, in some unexpected manner they would be relieved and saved from absolute despair. How often does this occur in the lives of all Christians! And how certain is it, that in all such cases God will interpose by his grace, and aid his people, and save them from absolute despair.

Barnes: 2Co 4:9

Persecuted - Often persecuted, persecuted in all places. The Book of Acts shows how true this was.

But not forsaken - Not deserted; nor left by God Though persecuted by people, yet they experi enced the fulfillment of the divine promise that he would never leave nor forsake them. God always interposed to aid them; always saved them from the power of their enemies; always sustained them in the time of persecution. It is still true. His people have been often persecuted. Yet God has often interposed to save them from the hands of their enemies; and where he has not saved them from their hands, and preserved their lives, yet he has never left them, but has sustained, upheld, and comforted them even in the dreadful agonies of death.

Cast down - Thrown down by our enemies, perhaps in allusion to the contests of wrestlers, or of gladiators.

But not destroyed - Not killed. They rose again; they recovered their strength; they were prepared for new conflicts. They surmounted every difficulty, and were ready to engage in new strifes, and to meet new trials and persecutions.

Barnes: 2Co 4:10

Always bearing about in the body - The expression used here is designed to show the great perils to which Paul was exposed. And the idea is, that he had on his body the marks, the stripes and marks of punishment and persecution, which showed that he was exposed to the same violent death which the Lord Jesus himself endured; compare Gal 6:17; "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus."It is a strong energetic mode of expression, to denote the severity of the trials to which he was exposed, and the meaning is, that his body bore the marks of his being exposed to the same treatment as the Lord Jesus was; and evidence that he was probably yet to die in a similar manner under the hands of persecutors; compare Col 1:24.

The dying of the Lord Jesus - The death; the violent death. A death similar to that of the Lord Jesus. The idea is, that he was always exposed to death, and always suffering in a manner that was equivalent to dying. The expression is parallel to what he says in 1Co 15:31. "I die daily;"and in 2Co 11:23, where he says, "in deaths oft."It does not mean that he bore about literally the dying of the Lord Jesus, but that he was exposed to a similar death. and had marks on his person which showed that he was always exposed to the same violent death. This did not occur once only, or at distant intervals, but it occurred constantly, and wherever he was it was still true that he was exposed to violence, and liable to suffer in the same manner that the Lord Jesus did.

That the life also of Jesus ... - This passage has received a considerable variety of interpretation. Grotius renders it, "such a life as was that of Christ, immortal, blessed, heavenly."Locke, "That also the life of Jesus, risen from the dead, may be made manifest by the energy that accompanies my preaching in this frail body."Clarke supposes that it means, that he might be able in this manner to show that Christ was risen from the dead. But perhaps, Paul does not refer to one single thing in the life of the Lord Jesus, but means that he did this in order that in all things the same life, the same kind of living which characterized the Lord Jesus might be manifested in him; or that he resembled him in his sufferings and trials, in order that in all things he might have the same life in his body. Perhaps, therefore, it may include the following things as objects at which the apostle aimed:

(1) A desire that his "life"might resemble that of the Lord Jesus. That there might be the same self-denial; the same readiness to suffer; the same patience in trials; the same meekness, gentleness, zeal, ardor, love to God, and love to people evinced in his body which was in that of the Lord Jesus. Thus understood, it means that he placed the Lord Jesus before him as the model of his life, and deemed it an object to be attained even by great self-denial and sufferings to be conformed to him.

\caps1 (2) a\caps0 desire to attain to the same life in the resurrection which the Lord Jesus had attained to. A desire to be made like him, and that in his body which bore about the dying of the Lord Jesus, he might again live after death as the Lord Jesus did. Thus understood, it implies an earnest wish to attain to the resurrection of the dead, and accords with what he says in Phi 3:8-11, which may perhaps be considered as Paul’ s own commentary on this passage, which has been so variously, and so little understood by expositors. "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead;"compare Col 1:24. It intimates Paul’ s earnest desire and longing to be made like Christ in the resurrection (compare Phi 3:21); his longing to rise again in the last day (compare Act 26:7); his sense of the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection and his readiness to suffer anything if he might at last attain to the resurrection of the just, and be ready to enter with the Redeemer into a world of glory. The attainment of this is the high object before the Christian, and to be made like the Redeemer in heaven, to have a body like his, is the grand purpose for which they should live; and sustained by this hope they should be willing to endure any trials, and meet any sufferings, if they may come to that same "life"and blessedness above.

Barnes: 2Co 4:11

For we which live - Those of us, the apostles and ministers of the Redeemer who still survive. James the brother of John had been put to death Act 12:2; and it is probable also that some other of the apostles had been also. This verse is merely explanatory of the previous verse.

Are alway delivered unto death - Exposed constantly to death. This shows what is meant in 2Co 4:10, by bearing about in the body the dying the Lord Jesus; see the note on 1Co 15:31.

In our mortal flesh - In our body. In our life on earth; and in our glorified body in heaven; see the note on 2Co 4:10.

Barnes: 2Co 4:12

So then death worketh in us - We are exposed to death. The preaching of the gospel exposes us to trials which may be regarded as death working in us. Death has an energy over us ( ἐνεργεῖται energeitai , is at work, is active, or operates); it is constantly employed in inflicting pains on us, and subjecting us to privation and trials. This is a strong and emphatic mode of saying that they were always exposed to death. We are called to serve and glorify the Redeemer, as it were, by repeated deaths and by constantly dying.

But life in you - You live as the effect of our being constantly exposed to death. You reap the advantage of all our exposure to trials, and of all our sufferings. You are comparatively safe; are freed from this exposure to death; and will receive eternal life as the fruit of our toils, and exposures. Life here may refer either to exemption from danger and death; or it may refer to the life of religion; the hopes of piety; the prospect of eternal salvation. To me it seems most probable that Paul means to use it in the latter sense, and that he designs to say that while he was exposed to death and called to endure constant trial, the effect would be that they would obtain, in consequence of his sufferings, the blessedness of eternal life; compare 2Co 4:15. Thus understood, this passage means, that the sufferings and self-denials of the apostles were for the good of others, and would result in their benefit and salvation; and the design of Paul here is to remind them of his sufferings in their behalf, in order to conciliate their favor and bind them more closely to him by the remembrance of his sufferings on their account.

Barnes: 2Co 4:13

We having the same spirit of faith - The same spirit that is expressed in the quotation which he is about to make; the same faith which the psalmist had. We have the very spirit of faith which is expressed by David. The sense is, we have the same spirit of faith which he had who said, "I believed,"etc. The phrase, "spirit of faith,"means substantially the same as faith itself; a believing sense or impression of the truth.

According as it is written - This passage is found in Psa 116:10. When the psalmist uttered the words, he was greatly afflicted; see Psa 116:3, Psa 116:6-8. In these circumstances, he prayed to God, and expressed confidence in him, and placed all his reliance on him. In his affliction he spoke to God; he spoke of his confidence in him; he proclaimed his reliance on him; and his having spoken in this manner was the result of his belief, or of his putting confidence in God. Paul, in quoting this, does not mean to say that the psalmist had any reference to the preaching of the gospel; nor does he mean to say that his circumstances were in all respects like those of the psalmist. The circumstances resembled each other only in these respects:

(1)    That Paul, like the psalmist, was in circumstances of trial and affliction; and,

(2)    That the language which both used was that which was prompted by faith - faith, which led them to give utterance to the sentiments of their hearts; the psalmist to utter his confidence in God, and the holms by which he was sustained, and Paul to utter his belief in the glorious truths of the gospel; to speak of a risen Saviour, and to show forth the consolations which were thus set before people in the gospel.

The sentiments of both were the language of faith. Both, in afflictions, uttered the language of faith; and Paul uses here, as he often does, the language of the Old Testament, as exactly expressing his feelings, and the principles by which he was actuated.

We also believe ... - We believe in the truths of the gospel; we believe in God, in the Saviour, in the atonement, in the resurrection, etc. The sentiment is, that they had a firm confidence in these things, and that, as the result of that confidence they boldly delivered their sentiments. It prompted them to give utterance to their feelings. "Out of the abundance of the heart,"said the Saviour, "the mouth speaketh,"Mat 12:34. No man should attempt to preach the gospel who has not a firm belief of its truths; and he who does believe its truths will be prompted to make them known to his fellow-men. All successful preaching is the result of a firm and settled conviction of the truth of the gospel; and when such a conviction exists, it is natural to give utterance to the belief, and such an expression will be attended with happy influences on the minds of other people; see the note on Act 4:20.

Barnes: 2Co 4:14

Knowing - Being fully confident; having the most entire assurance. It was the assured hope of the resurrection which sustained them in all their trials. This expression denotes the full and unwavering belief, in the minds of the apostles, that the doctrines which they preached were true. They knew that they were revealed from heaven, and that all the promises of God would be fulfilled.

Shall raise up us also - All Christians. In the hope of the resurrection they were ready to meet trials, and even to die. Sustained by this assurance, the apostles went forth amidst persecutions and opposition, for they knew that their trials would soon end, and that they would be raised up in the morning of the resurrection, to a world of eternal glory.

By Jesus - By the power or the agency of Jesus. Christ will raise up the dead from their graves, Joh 5:25-29.

And shall present us with you - Will present us before the throne of glory with exceeding joy and honor. He will present us to God as those who have been redeemed by his blood. He will present us in the courts of heaven, before the throne of the eternal Father, as his ransomed people; as recovered from the ruins of the fall; as saved by the merits of his blood. They shall not only be raised up from the dead; but they shall be publicly and solemnly presented to God as his, as recovered to his service, and as having a title in the covenant of grace to the blessedness of heaven.

Barnes: 2Co 4:15

For all things are for your sakes - All these things; these glorious hopes, and truths, and prospects; these self-denials of the apostles, and these provisions of the plan of mercy.

For your sakes - On your account. They are designed to promote your salvation. They are not primarily for the welfare of those who engage in these toils and self-denials; but the whole arrangement and execution of the plan of salvation, and all the self-denial evinced by those who are engaged in making that plan known, are in order that you might be benefitted. One object of Paul in this statement, doubtless, is, to conciliate their favor, and remove the objections which had been made to him by a faction in the church at Corinth.

That the abundant grace - Grace abounding, or overflowing. The rich mercy of God that should be manifested by these means. It is implied here, that grace would abound by means of these labors and self-denials of the apostles. The grace referred to here is that which would be conferred on them in consequence of these labors.

Through the thanksgiving of many - That many may have occasion of gratitude to God; that by these labors more persons may be led to praise him. It was an object with Paul so to labor that as many as possible might be led to praise God, and have occasion to thank him to all eternity.

Redound to the glory of God - That God may have augmented praise; that his glory in the salvation of people may abound. The sentiment of the passage is, that it would be for the glory of God that as many as possible should be brought to give praise and thanksgivings to him; and that, therefore, Paul endeavored to make as many converts as possible. He denied himself; he welcomed toil; he encountered enemies; he subjected himself to dangers; and he sought by all means possible to bring as many as could be brought to praise God. The word "redound"( περισσεύῃ perisseuē ) here means abound, or be abundant; and the sense is, that the overflowing grace thus evinced in the salvation of many would so abound as to promote the glory of God.

Barnes: 2Co 4:16

For which cause - With such an object in view, and sustained by such elevated purposes and desires. The sense is, that the purpose of trying to save as many as possible would make toil easy, privations welcome, and would be so accompanied by the grace of God, as to gird the soul with strength, and fill it with abundant consolations.

We faint not - For an explanation of the word used here, see the note on 2Co 4:1. We are not exhausted, desponding, or disheartened. We are sustained, encouraged, emboldened by having such an object in view.

But though our outward man perish - By outward man, Paul evidently means the body. By using the phrases, "the outward man,"and the "inward man,"he shows that he believed that man was made up of two parts, body and soul. He was no materialist. He has described two parts as constituting man, so distinct: that while the one perishes, the other is renewed; while the one is enfeebled, the other is strengthened; while the one grows old and decays, the other renews its youth and is invigorated. Of course, the soul is not dependent on the body for its vigor and strength, since it expands while the body decays; and of course the soul may exist independently of the body, and in a separate state.

Perish - Grows old; becomes weak and feeble; loses its vigor and elasticity under the many trials which we endure, and under the infirmities of advancing years. It is a characteristic of the "outer man,"that it thus perishes. Great as may be its vigor, yet it must decay and die. It cannot long bear up under the trials of life, and the wear and tear of constant action, but must soon sink to the grave.

Yet the inward man - The soul; the undecaying, the immortal part.

Is renewed - Is renovated, strengthened, invigorated. His powers of mind expanded; his courage became bolder; he had clearer views of truth; he had more faith in God. As he drew nearer to the grave and to heaven, his soul was more raised above the world, and he was more filled with the joys and triumphs of the gospel. The understanding and the heart did not sympathize with the suffering and decaying body; but, while that became feeble, the soul acquired new strength, and was fitting for its flight to the eternal world. This verse is an ample refutation of the doctrine of the materialist, and proves that there is in man something that is distinct from decaying and dying matter, and that there is a principle which may gain augmented strength and power, while the body dies; compare note, Rom 7:22.

Day by day - Constantly. There was a daily and constant increase of inward vigor. God imparted to him constant strength in his trials, and sustained him with the hopes of heaven, as the body was decaying, and tending to the grave. The sentiment of this verse is, that in an effort to do good, and to promote the salvation of man, the soul will be sustained in trials, and will be comforted and invigorated even when the body is weary, grows old, decays, and dies. It is the testimony of Paul respecting his own experience; and it is a fact which has been experienced by thousands in their efforts to do good, and to save the souls of people from death.

Barnes: 2Co 4:17

For our light affliction - This verse, with the following, is designed to show further the sources of consolation and support which Paul and his fellow-laborers had in their many trials. Bloomfield remarks on this passage, that "in energy and beauty of expression, it is little inferior to any in Demosthenes himself, to whom, indeed, and to Thucydides in his orations, the style of the apostle, when it rises to the oratorical, bears no slight resemblance."The passage abounds with intensive and emphatic expressions, and manifests that the mind of the writer was laboring to convey ideas which language, even after all the energy of expression which he could command, would very imperfectly communicate. The trials which Paul endured, to many persons would have seemed to be anything else but light. They consisted of want, and danger, and contempt, and stoning, and toil, and weariness, and the scorn of the world, and constant exposure to death by land or by sea; see 2Co 4:7-10, compare 2Co 11:23-27. Yet these trials, though continued through many years, and constituting, as it were, his very life, he speaks of as the lightest conceivable thing when compared with that eternal glory which awaited him. He strives to get an expression as emphatic as possible, to show that in his estimation they were not worthy to be named in comparison with the eternal weight of glory. It is not sufficient to say that the affliction was "light"or was a mere trifle; but he says that it was to endure but for a moment. Though trials had followed him ever since he began to make known the Redeemer, and though he had the firmest expectation that they would follow him to the end of life and everywhere Act 20:23, yet all this was a momentary trifle compared with the eternal glory before him. The word rendered "light"( ἐλαφρὸν elaphron ) means that which is easy to bear, and is usually applied to a burden; see Mat 11:30, compare 2Co 1:17.

Which is but for a moment - The Greek word used here ( παραυτίκα parautika ) occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It is an adverb, from αὐτίκα autika , αὐτός autos , and means properly, "at this very instant; immediately."Here it seems to qualify the word "light,"and to be used in the sense of momentary, transient. Bloomfield renders it, "for the at present lightness of our affliction."Doddridge, "for this momentary lightness of our affliction, which passes off so fast, and leaves so little impression that it may be called levity itself."The apostle evidently wished to express two ideas in as emphatic a manner as possible; first, that the affliction was light, and, secondly, that it was transient, momentary, and soon passing away. His object is to contrast this with the glory that awaited him, as being heavy, and as being also eternal.

Worketh for us - see the note, 2Co 4:12. Will produce, will result in. The effect of these afflictions is to produce eternal glory. This they do:

(1)    By their tendency to wean us from the world;

(2)    To purify the heart, by enabling us to ‘ break off from the sins on account of which God afflicts us;

(3)    By disposing us to look to God for consolation and support in our trials;

(4)    By inducing us to contemplate the glories of the heavenly world, and thus winning us to seek heaven as our home; and,

(5)    Because God has graciously promised to reward his people in heaven as the result of their bearing trials in this life.

It is by affliction that he purifies them Isa 48:10; and by trial that he takes their affections from the objects of time and sense, and gives them a relish for the enjoyments which result from the prospect of perfect and eternal glory.

A far more exceeding - καθ ̓ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν kath' huperbolēn eis huperbolēn . There is not to be found any where a more energetic expression than this. The word ( ὑπερβολή huperbolē ), used here (whence our word "hyperbole") means properly a throwing, casting, or throwing beyond. In the New Testament it means excess, excellence, eminence; see 2Co 4:7. "The excellency of the power."The phrase καθ ̓ ὑπερβολὴν kath' huperbolēn means exceedingly, supereminently, Rom 7:13; 1Co 12:31; 2Co 1:8; Gal 1:13. This expression would have been by itself intensive in a high degree. But this was not sufficient to express Paul’ s sense of the glory which was laid up for Christians. It was not enough for him to use the ordinary highest expression for the superlative to denote the value of the object in his eye. He therefore coins an expression, and adds εἰς ὑπερβολὴν eis huperbolēn . It is not merely eminent; but it is eminent unto eminence; excess unto excess; a hyperbole unto hyperbole - one hyperbole heaped upon another; and the expression means that it is "exceeding exceedingly"glorious; glorious in the highest possible degree - Robinson. Mr. Slade renders it, "infinitely exceeding."The expression is the Hebrew form of denoting the highest superlative; and it means that all hyperboles fail of expressing that eternal glory which remains for the just. It is infinite and boundless. You may pass from one degree to another; from one sublime height to another; but still an infinity remains beyond. Nothing can describe the uppermost height of that glory; nothing can express its infinitude.

Eternal - This stands in contrast with the affliction that is for a moment ( παραυτίκα parautika ). The one is momentary, transient; so short, even in the longest life, that it may be said to be an instant; the other has no limits to its duration. It is literally everlasting.

Weight - βάρος (baros ). This stands opposed to the ( ἐλαφρὸν elaphron ) light affliction. That was so light that it was a trifle. It was easily borne. It was like the most light and airy objects, which constitute no burden. It is not even here called a burden, or said to be heavy in any degree. This is so heavy as to be a burden. Grotins thinks that the image is taken from gold or silver articles, that are solid and heavy, compared with those that are mixed or plated. But why may it not refer to the insignia of glory and honor; a robe heavy with gold, or a diadem or crown, heavy with gold or diamonds: glory so rich, so profuse as to be heavy? The affliction was light; but the crown, the robe, the adornings in the glorious world were not trifles, or baubles, but solid, substantial, weighty. We apply the word weighty now to that which is valuable and important, compared with that which is of no value, probably because the precious metals and jewels are heavy; and it is by them that we usually estimate the value of objects.

Of glory - ( δόξης doxēs ). The Hebrew word כבוד kabowd denotes weight as well as glory. And perhaps Paul had that use of the word in his eye in this strong expression. It refers here to the splendor, magnificence, honor, and happiness of the eternal world. In this exceedingly interesting passage, which is worthy of the deepest study of Christians, Paul has set in most beautiful and emphatic contrast the trials of this life and the glories of heaven. It may be profitable to contemplate at a single glance the view which he had of them, that they may be brought distinctly before the mind.

The one is:

1.    Affliction, θλίψις thlipsis .

2.    Light , ἐλαφρὸν elaphron .

3.    For a moment, παραυτίκα parautika .

The other is, by contrast,

(1)    Glory, δόξή doxa .

(2)    Weight, βάρος baros .

(3)    Eternal, αἰώνιον aiōnion .

(4)    Eminent, or excellent, καθ ̓ ὑπερβολὴν kath' huperbolēn .

(5)    Infinitely excellent, eminent in the highest degree, εἰς ὑπερβολὴν eis huperbolēn .

So the account stands in the view of Paul; and with this balance in favor of the eternal glory, he regarded afflictions as mere trifles, and made it the grand purpose of his life to gain the glory of the heavens. What wise man, looking at the account, would not do likewise?

Barnes: 2Co 4:18

While we look ... - Or, rather, we not looking at the things which are seen. The design of this is, to show in what way the afflictions which they endured became in their view light and momentary. It was by looking to the glories of the future world, and thus turning away the attention from the trials and sorrows of this life. If we look directly at our trials; if the mind is fixed wholly on them, and we think of nothing else, they often appear heavy and long. Even comparatively light and brief sufferings will appear to be exceedingly difficult to bear. But if we can turn away the mind from them and contemplate future glory; if we can compare them with eternal blessedness, and feel that they will introduce us to perfect and everlasting happiness, they will appear to be transitory, and will be easily borne. And Paul here has stated the true secret of bearing trials with patience. It is to look at the things which are unseen. To anticipate the glories of the heavenly world. To fix the eye on the eternal happiness which is beyond the grave; and to reflect how short these trials are, compared with the eternal glories of heaven; and how short they will seem to be when we are there.

The things which are seen - The things here below; the things of this life - poverty, want, care, persecution, trial, etc.

The things which are not seen - The glories of heaven, compare Heb 11:1.

The things which are seen are temporal - This refers particularly to the things which they suffered. But it is as true of all things here below. Wealth, pleasure, fame, the three idols which the people of this world adore, are all to endure but for a little time. They will all soon vanish away. So it is with pain, and sorrow, and tears. All that we enjoy, and all that we suffer here, must soon vanish and disappear. The most splendid palace will decay; the most costly pile will moulder to dust; the most magnificent city will fall to ruins; the most exquisite earthly pleasures will soon come to an end; and the most extended possessions can be enjoyed but a little time. So the acutest pain will soon be over; the most lingering disease will soon cease; the evils of the deepest poverty, want, and suffering will soon be passed. There is nothing on which the eye can fix, nothing that the heart can desire here, which will not soon fade away; or, if it survives, it is temporary in regard to us. We must soon leave it to others; and if enjoyed, it will be enjoyed while our bodies are slumbering in the grave, and our souls engaged in the deep solemnities of eternity. How foolish then to make these our portion, and to fix our affections supremely on the things of this life? How foolish also to be very deeply affected by the trials of this life, which at the furthest can be endured but a little longer before we shall be forever beyond their reach!

The things which are not seen are eternal - Everything which pertains to that state beyond the grave:

(1) God is eternal; not to leave us as our earthly friends do.

\caps1 (2) t\caps0 he Saviour is eternal - to be our everlasting friend.

\caps1 (3) t\caps0 he companions and friends there are eternal. The angels who are to be our associates, and the spirits of the just with whom we shall live, are to exist forever. The angels never die; and the pious dead shall die no more. There shall be then no separation, no death-bed, no grave, no sad vacancy and loss caused by the removal of a much-loved friend.

\caps1 (4) t\caps0 he joys of heaven are eternal; There shall be no interruption; no night; no cessation; no end. Heaven and all its joys shall be everlasting; and he who enters there shall have the assurance that those joys shall endure and increase while eternal ages shall roll away.

\caps1 (5) i\caps0 t may be added, also, that the woes of hell shall be eternal. They are now among the things which to us "are not seen;"and they, as well as the joys of heaven, shall have no end. Sorrow there shall never cease; the soul shall there never die; the body that shall be raised up "to the resurrection of damnation"shall never again expire. And when all these things are contemplated, well might Paul say of the things of this life - the sorrows, trials, privations, and persecutions which he endured, that they were light, and were for a moment."How soon will they pass away; how soon shall we all be engaged amidst the unchanging and eternal realities of the things which are not seen!

Remarks

1. Ministers of the gospel have no cause to faint or to be discouraged, 2Co 4:1. Whatever may be the reception of their message, and whatever the trials to which they may be subjected, yet there are abundant sources of consolation and support in the gospel which they preach. They have the consciousness that they preach a system of truth; that they are proclaiming that which God has revealed; and, if they are faithful, that they have his smiles and approbation. Even, therefore, if people reject, and despise their message, and if they are called to endure many privations and trials, they should not faint. It is enough for them that they proclaim the truth which God loves, and that they meet with his approbation and smiles. Trials will come in the ministry as every where else, but there are also special consolations. There may be much opposition and resistance to the message, but we should not faint or be discouraged. We should do our duty, and commit the result to God.

2. The gospel should be embraced by those to whom it comes, 2Co 4:2. If it has their reason and conscience in its favor, then they should embrace it without delay. They are under the most sacred obligation to receive it, and to become decided Christians. Every man is bound, and may be urged to pursue, that course which his conscience approves; and the gospel may thus be pressed on the attention of all to whom it comes.

3. If people wish peace of conscience, they should embrace the gospel, 2Co 4:2. They can never find it elsewhere. No man’ s conscience is at peace from the fact that he does not repent, and love God and obey the gospel. His heart may love sin; but his conscience cannot approve it. That is at peace only in doing the work of God; and that can find self-approbation only when it submits to him, and embraces the gospel of his Son. Then the conscience is at ease. No man ever yet had a troubled conscience from the fact that he had embraced the gospel, and was an humble and decided Christian. Thousands and million have had a troubled conscience from the fact that they have neglected it. No man on a death-bed ever had a troubled conscience because he embraced religion too early in life. Thousands and million have been troubled when they came to die, because they neglected it so long, or rejected it altogether. No man when death approaches has a troubled conscience because he has lived too much devoted to God the Saviour, and been too active as a Christian. But O how many have been troubled then because they have been worldly-minded, and selfish, and vain, and proud? The conscience gives peace just in proportion as we serve God faithfully; nor can all the art of man or Satan give peace to one conscience in the ways of sin, and in the neglect of the soul.

4. Ministers should preach the truth - the simple truth - and nothing but the truth, 2Co 4:2. They should make use of no false art, no deception, no trick, no disguise. They should be open, sincere, plain, pure in all their preaching, and in their manner of life. Such was the course of the Saviour; such the course of Paul; and such a course only will God approve and bless.

5. This is a deluded world, 2Co 4:4. It is blinded and deceived by him who is here called the "god of this world."Satan rules in the hearts of people; and he rules by deceiving them, and in order to deceive them. Everything which operates to prevent people from embracing the gospel has a tendency to blind the mind. The man who is seeking wealth as his only portion, is blinded and deceived in regard to its value. The man who is pursuing the objects of ambition as his main portion, is deceived in regard to the true value of things. And he, or she, who pursues pleasure as the main business of life, is deceived in regard to the proper value of objects. It is impossible to conceive of a world more deluded than this. We can conceive of a world more sinful, and more miserable, and such is hell; but there is no delusion and deception there. Things are seen as they are; and no one is deceived in regard to his character or prospects there. But here, every impenitent man is deceived and blinded. He is deceived about his own character; about the relative value of objects; about his prospects for eternity; about death, the judgment, heaven, hell. On none of these points has he any right apprehension; and on none is it possible for any human power to break the deep delusion, and to penetrate the darkness of his mind.

6. People are in danger, 2Co 4:4. They are under deep delusion, and they tread unconcerned near to ruin. They walk in darkness - blinded by the god of this world, and are very near a precipice, and nothing will rouse them from their condition. It is like children gathering flowers near a deep gulf, when the pursuit of one more flower may carry them too far, and they will fall to rise no more. The delusion rests on every unsanctified mind; and it needs to remain but a little longer, and the soul will be lost. That danger deepens every day and every hour. If it is continued but a little longer it will be broken in upon by the sad realities of death, judgment, and hell. But then it will be too late. The soul will be lost - deluded in the world of probation; sensible of the truth only in the world of despair.

7. Satan will practice every device and art possible to prevent the gospel from shining upon the hearts of people. That light is painful and hateful to his eyes, and he will do all that can be done to prevent its being diffused. Every art which long-tried ingenuity and skill can devise, will be resorted to; every power which he can put forth will be exerted. If he can blind the minds of people, he will do it. If people can be hoodwinked, and gulled, it will be done. If error can be made to spread, and be embraced - error smooth, plausible, cunning - it will be diffused. Ministers will be raised up to preach it; and the press will be employed to accomplish it. If sinners can be deceived, and made to remain at ease in their sins, by novels and seductive poetry; by books false in sentiments, and perverse in morals, the press will be made to groan under the works of fiction. If theaters are necessary to cheat and beguile people, they will be reared; and the song, and the dance, the ball, and the splendid party will alike contribute to divert the attention from the cross of Christ, the worth of the soul, and the importance of a preparation to die. No art has been spared, or will be spared to deceive people; and the world is full of the devices of Satan to hoodwink and blind the perishing, and lead them down to hell.

8. Yet, Satan is not alone to blame for this. He does all he can, and he has consummate skill and art. Yet, let not the deluded sinner take comfort to himself because Satan is the tempter, and because he is deluded. The bitterness of death is not made sweet to a young man because he has been deluded by the arts of the veteran in temptation; and the fires of hell will not burn any the less fiercely because the sinner suffered himself to be deluded, and chose to go there through the ballroom or the theater. The sinner is, after all, voluntary in his delusions. He does, or he might, know the truth. He goes voluntarily to the place of amusement; voluntarily forms the plans of gain and ambition which deceive and ruin the soul; goes voluntarily to the theater, and to the haunts of vice; and chooses this course in the face of many warnings, and remonstrances. Who is to blame if he is lost! Who but himself?

9. Sinners should be entreated to rouse from this delusive and false security. They are now blinded, and deceived. Life is too short and too uncertain to be playing such a game as the sinner does. There are too many realities here to make it proper to pass life amidst deceptions and delusions. Sin is real, and danger is real, and death is real, and eternity is real; and man should rouse from his delusions, and look upon things as they are. Soon he will be on a bed of death, and then he will look over the follies of his life. Soon he will be at the judgment bar, and from that high and awful place look on the past and the future, and see things as they are. But, alas, it will be too late then to repair the errors of a life; and amidst the realities of those scenes, all that he may be able to do, will be to sigh unavailingly that he suffered himself to be deluded, deceived, and destroyed in the only world of probation, by the trifles and baubles which the great deceiver placed before him to beguile him of heaven, and to lead him down to hell!

10. The great purpose of the ministry is to make known in any and every way the Lord Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:5. To this, the ministers of the gospel are to devote themselves. It is not to cultivate farms; to engage in traffic; to shine in the social circle; to be distinguished for learning; to become fine scholars; to be profoundly versed in science; or to be distinguished as authors, that they are set apart; but it is in every way possible to make known the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever other people do, or not do; however the world may choose to be employed, their work is simple and plain, and it is not to cease or be intermitted until death shall close their toils. Neither by the love of ease, of wealth, or pleasure are they to turn aside from their work, or to forsake the vocation to which God has called them.

11. We see the responsibility of the ministry, 2Co 4:5. On the ministry devolves the work of making the Saviour known to a dying world. If they will not do it, the world will remain in ignorance of the Redeemer and will perish. If there is one soul to whom they might make known the Saviour, and to whom they do not make him known, that soul will perish, and the responsibility will rest on the minister of the Lord Jesus. And, O how great is this responsibility! And who is sufficient for these things?

12. Ministers of the gospel should submit to any self-denial in order that they may do good. Their Master did; and Paul and the other apostles did. It is sufficient for the disciple that he be as the master; and the ministers of the gospel should regard themselves as set apart to a work of self-denial, and called to a life of toil, like their Lord. Their rest is in heaven, and not on the earth. Their days of leisure and repose are to be found in the skies when their work is done, and not in a world perishing in sin.

13. The ministry is a glorious work, 2Co 4:5. What higher honor is there on earth than to make known a Redeemer? What pleasure more exquisite can there be than to speak of pardon to the guilty? What greater comfort than to go to the afflicted and bind up their hearts; to pour the balm of peace into the wounded spirit, and to sustain and cheer the dying? The ministry has its own consolations amidst all its trials; its own honor amidst the contempt and scorn with which it is often viewed by the world.

14. The situation of man would have been dreadful and awful had it not been for the light which is imparted by revelation, and by the Holy Spirit, 2Co 4:6. Man would have ever remained like the dark night before God said, "Let there be light;"and his condition would have been thick darkness, where not a ray of light would have beamed on his benighted way. Some idea of what this was, and would have continued to be, we have now in the pagan world, where thick darkness reigns over nations, though it has been somewhat broken in upon by the dim light which tradition has diffused there.

15. God has power to impart light to the most dark and benighted mind. There is no one to whom he cannot reveal himself and make his truth known, 2Co 4:6. With as much ease as he commanded light to shine out of darkness at first can he command the pure light of truth to shine on the minds of people; and on minds most beclouded by sin he can cause the sun of righteousness to shine with healing in his beams.

16. We should implore the enlightening influence of the Spirit of truth, 2Co 4:6. If God is the source of light, we should seek it at his hands. Nothing to man is so valuable as the light of truth; nothing of so much worth as the knowledge of the true God; and with the deepest solicitude, and the most fervent prayer, should we seek the enlightening influences of his Spirit, and the guidance of his grace.

17. There is no true knowledge of God except that which shines in the face of Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:6. He came to make known the true God. He is the exact image of God. He resembles him in all things. And he who does not love the character of Jesus Christ, therefore, does not love the character of God; he who does not seek to be like Jesus Christ, does not desire to be like God. He who does not bear the image of the Redeemer, does not bear the image of God. To be a moral man merely, therefore, is not to be like God. To be amiable, and honest, merely, is not to be like God. Jesus Christ, the image of God, was more than this. He was religious. He was holy. He was, as a man, a man of prayer, and filled with the love of God, and was always submissive to his holy will. He sought his honor and glory: and he made it the great purpose of his life and death to make known his existence, perfections, and name. To imitate him in this is to have the knowledge of the glory of God; and no man is like God who does not bear the image of the Redeemer. No man is like God, therefore, who is not a Christian. Of course, no man can be prepared for heaven who is not a friend and follower of Jesus Christ.

18. God designs to secure the promotion of his own glory in the manner in which religion is spread in the world, 2Co 4:7. For this purpose, and with this view, he did not commit it to angels, nor has he employed people of rank, or wealth, or profound scientific attainments to be the chief instruments in its propagation. He has committed it to frail, mortal people; and often to people of humble rank, and even humble attainments - except attainments in piety. In fitting them for their work his grace is manifest; and in all the success which attends their labors it is apparent that it is by the mere grace and mercy of God that it is done.

19. We see what our religion has cost, 2Co 4:8-9. Its extension in the world has been everywhere connected with sufferings, and toil, and tears. It began in the labors, sorrows, self-denials, persecutions, and dying agonies of the Son of God; and to introduce it to the world cost his life. It was spread by the toils, and sacrifices, and sufferings of the apostles. It was kept up by the dying groans of martyrs. It has been preserved and extended on earth by the labors and prayers of the Reformers, and amidst scenes of persecution everywhere, and it is now extending through the earth by the sacrifices of those who are willing to leave country and home; to cross oceans and deserts; and to encounter the perils of barbarous climes, that they may make it known to distant lands. If estimated by what it has cost, assuredly no religion, no blessing is so valuable as Christianity. It is above all human valuation: and it should be a matter of unfeigned thankfulness to us that God has been pleased to raise up people who have been willing to suffer so much that it might be perpetuated and extended on the earth; and we should be willing also to imitate their example, and deny ourselves, that we may make its inestimable blessings known to those who are now destitute. To us, it is worth all it has cost - all the blood of apostles and martyrs; to others, also, it would be worth all that it would cost to send it to them. How can we better express our sense of its worth, and our gratitude to the dying Redeemer, and our veneration for the memory of self-denying apostles and martyrs, than by endeavoring to diffuse the religion for which they died all over the world?

20. We have in this chapter an illustration of the sustaining power of religion in trials, 2Co 4:8-9. The friends of Christianity have been called to endure every form of suffering. Poverty, want, tears, stripes, imprisonments, and deaths have been their portion. They have suffered under every form of torture which people could inflict on them. And yet the power of religion has never failed them. It has been amply tried; and has shown itself able to sustain them always, and to enable them always to triumph. Though troubled, they have not been so close pressed that they had no room to turn; though perplexed, they have not been without some resource; though persecuted by people, they have not been forsaken by God; though thrown down in the conflict, yet they have recovered strength, and been prepared to renew the strife, and to engage in new contentions with the foes of God. Who can estimate the value of a religion like this? Who does not see that it is adapted to man in a state of trial, and that it furnishes him with just what he needs in this world?

21. Christianity will live, 2Co 4:8-9. Nothing can destroy it. All the power that could be brought to bear on it to blot it from the earth has been tried, and yet it survives. No new attempt to destroy it can prevail; and it is now settled that this religion is to live to the end of time. It has cost much to obtain this demonstration; but it is worth all it has cost, and the sufferings of apostles and martyrs, therefore, have not been for nothing.

22. Christians should be willing to endure anything in order that they may become like Christ on earth, and be like him in heaven, 2Co 4:10. It is worth all their efforts, and all their self-denials. It is the grand object before us; and we should deem no sufferings too severe, no self-denial or sacrifice too great, if we may become like him here below, and may live with him above, 2Co 4:10-11.

23. In order to animate us in the work to which God has called us; to encourage us in our trials; and to prompt us to a faithful discharge of our duties, especially those who like Paul are called to preach the gospel, we should have, like him, the following views and feelings - views and feelings adapted to sustain us in all our trials, and to uphold us in all the conflicts of life:

(1) A firm and unwavering belief of the truth of the religion which we profess, and of the truth which we make known to others, 2Co 4:12. No man can preach successfully, and no man can do much good, whose mind is vacillating and hesitating; who is filled with doubts, and who goes timidly to work, or who declares that of which he has no practical acquaintance, and no deep-felt conviction, and who knows not whereof he affirms. A man to do good must have a faith which never wavers; a conviction of truth which is constant; a belief settled like the everlasting hills, which nothing can shake or overturn. With such a conviction of the truth of Christianity, and of the great doctrines which it inculcates, he cannot but speak of it, and make known his convictions. He that believes that people are in fact in danger of hell, will tell them of it; he that believes there is an awful bar of judgment, will tell them of it; he that believes that the Son of God became incarnate and died for people, will tell them of it; he that believes that there is a heaven, will invite them to it. And one reason why professing Christians are so reluctant to speak of these things, is, that they have no very settled and definite conviction of their truth, and no correct view of their relative importance.

\caps1 (2) w\caps0 e should have a firm assurance that God has raised up the Lord Jesus, and that we also shall be raised from the dead, 2Co 4:14. The hope and expectation of the resurrection of the dead was one of the sustaining principles which upheld Paul in his labors, and to attain to this was one of the grand objects of his life, Act 23:6; Phi 3:11. Under the influence of this hope and expectation, he was willing to encounter any danger, and to endure any trial. The prospect of being raised up to eternal life and glory was all that was needful to make trials welcome, and to uphold him in the midst of privations and toils. And so we, if we are assured of this great truth, shall welcome trial also, and shall be able to endure afflictions and persecutions. They will soon be ended, and the eternal glory in the morning of the resurrection shall be more than a compensation for all that we shall endure in this life.

\caps1 (3) w\caps0 e should have a sincere desire to promote the glory of God, and to bring as many as possible to join in his praise, and to celebrate his saving mercy, 2Co 4:15. It was this which sustained and animated Paul; and a man who has this as the leading objector his life, and his great purpose and aim, will be willing to endure much trial, to suffer much persecution, and to encounter many dangers. No object is so noble as that of endeavoring to promote the divine glory; and he who is influenced by that will care little how many sufferings he is called to endure in this life.

24. Christians should have such a belief of the truth of their religion as to be willing to speak of it at all times, and in all places, 2Co 4:13. If we have such a belief we shall be willing to speak of it. We cannot help it. We shall so see its value. and so love it, and our hearts will be so full of it, and we shall see so much the danger of our fellow-men, that we shall be instinctively prompted to go to them and warn them of their danger, and tell them of the glories of the Redeemer.

25. Christians may expect to be supported and comforted in the trials and toils of life, 2Co 4:16. The "outward man"will indeed perish and decay. The body will become feeble, weary, jaded, decayed, decrepit. It will be filled with pain, and will languish under disease, and will endure the mortal agony, and will be corrupted in the tomb. But the "inward man"will be renewed. The faith will be invigorated, the hope become stronger, the intellect brighter, the heart better, the whole soul be more like God. While the body, therefore, the less important part, decays and dies, the immortal part shall live and ripen for glory. Of what consequence is it, therefore, how soon or how much the body decays; or when, and where, and how it dies? Let the immortal part be preserved, let that live, and all is well. And while this is done, we should not, we shall not "faint."We shall be sustained; and shall find the consolations of religion to be suited to all our needs, and adapted to all the necessities of our condition as weak, and frail, and dying creatures.

26. We learn from this chapter how to bear affliction in a proper manner, 2Co 4:17-18. It is by looking at eternity and comparing our trials with the eternal weight of glory that awaits us. In themselves afflictions often seem heavy and long. Human nature is often ready to sink under them. The powers of the body fail, and the mortal frame is crushed. The day seems long while we suffer; and the night seems often to be almost endless, Deu 28:67. But compared with eternity how short are all these trials! Compared with the weight of glory which awaits the believer, what a trifle are the severest sufferings of this life. Soon the ransomed spirit will be released, and will be admitted to the full fruition of the joys of the world above. In that world all these sorrows will seem like the sufferings of childhood, that we have now almost forgotten, and that now seem to us like trifles.

27. We should not look to the things which are seen as our portion, 2Co 4:17-18. They are light in their character, and are soon to fade away. Our great interests are beyond the grave. There all is weighty, and momentous, and eternal. Whatever great interests we have are there. Eternity is stamped upon all the joys and all the sorrows which are beyond this life. here all is temporary, changing, decaying, dying. There all is fixed, settled, unchanging, immortal. It becomes us then as rational creatures to look to that world, to act with reference to it, to feel and act as if we felt that all our interests were there. Were this life all, everything in relation to us would be trifling. But when we remember that there is an eternity; that we are near it; and that our conduct here is to determine our character and destiny there, life becomes invested with infinite importance. Who can estimate the magnitude of the interests at stake? Who can appreciate aright the importance of every step we take, and every plan we form?

28. All here below is temporary, decaying, dying; 2Co 4:17-18. Afflictions are temporary. They are but for a moment, and will soon be passed away. Our sorrows here will soon be ended. The last sigh on earth will soon be heaved; the last tear will have fallen on the cheek; the last pain will have shot across the seat of life! The last pangs of parting with a beloved friend will soon have been endured; and the last step which we are to take in "the valley of the shadow of death,"will soon have been trod. And in like manner we shall soon have tasted the last cup of earthly joy. All our comforts here below will soon pass from us. Our friends will die. Our sources of happiness will be dried up. Our health will fail, and darkness will come over our eyes, and we shall go down to the dead. All our property must be left, and all our honors be parted with forever. In a little time - O, how brief! we shall have gone from all these, and shall be engaged in the deep and awful solemnities of the unchanging world. How vain and foolish, therefore, the attachment to earthly objects! How important to secure an interest in that future inheritance which shall never fade away!

29. Let it not be inferred, however, that all affliction shall be light, and for a moment, or that all earthly trial shall of course work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. There are sorrows beyond the grave compared with which the most heavy and most protracted woes this side ‘ the tomb, are "light,"and are "but for a moment."And there are sorrows in this life, deep and prolonged afflictions - which by no means tend to prepare the soul for the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."Such are those afflictions where there is no submission to the will of God; where there is complaining, repining, impatience, and increased rebellion; where there is no looking to God for comfort, and no contemplation of eternal glory. Such are those afflictions where people look to philosophy, or to earthly friends to comfort them; or where they plunge deeper into the business, the gaiety, or the vices of the world, to drown their sorrows and to obliterate the sense of their calamities. This is "the sorrow of the world, which worketh death,"2Co 7:10. In afflictions, therefore, it should be to us a matter of deep and anxious solicitude to know whether we have the right feelings, and whether we are seeking the right sources of consolation. And in such seasons it shall be the subject of our deep and earnest prayer to God that our trials may, by his grace, be made to work out for us "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."All are afflicted; all suffer in various ways; and all may find these trials terminate in eternal blessedness beyond the grave.

Poole: 2Co 4:3

The apostle calls the gospel his gospel, because of his instrumentality in the promoting and publishing of it. His meaning is: If the doctrine of the gospel, which I am an instrument to preach, be hidden, so as there yet be any souls that do not understand, receive, and believe it, the fault is not in the word we preach, nor yet in our preaching of it, (which hath been in all simplicity and plainness, without craftiness or deceit), but in themselves, who favour and indulge their lusts to that degree, as that they deserve to be lost, or are at present in their sinful state; in which sense all men are in the parables compared to the lost sheep, or lost goats; and Christ is said to have come to seek and to save those that are lost. Men, mad upon their lusts, may not understand the doctrine of the gospel which we preach; but others understand and believe it. I had rather understand the term lost in this sense, than as expressing reprobates; for it seemeth something harsh to make this phrase to signify that God had no more in Corinth at this time that belonged to the election of grace, than those that were already converted; or that all those that were at this time hypocrites in this famous church, were such as perished eternally. Yet the words of the next verse seem rather to favour their notion, who by lost here understand reprobates.

Poole: 2Co 4:4

Though some, by the god of this world understand the true and living God, the Lord of heaven and earth; yet the notion of the most interpreters, that it is the devil who is here called the god of this world, because he ruleth over the greatest part of the world, and they are his servants and slaves, is most consonant to Scripture: for though we no where else find him called the god of this world, yet our Saviour twice calls him the prince of this world, Joh 12:31 14:30 ; and our apostle, Eph 2:2 , calls him the prince of the power of the air. The effect also doth more properly belong to the devil, than unto God, who no otherwise blindeth the eyes of them than either permissively, by suffering them to shut their own eyes, or judicially. And the apostle declares, that those who are so blinded are such persons as

believe not He further declareth the end of the devil’ s agency in blinding men’ s eyes with errors, malice, and prejudice,

lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God the express image of his person, (considered as to his Divine nature),

should shine unto them that is, into their hearts.

Poole: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves: for a man to preach himself, is to preach the devices and imaginations of his own heart, instead of the revealed will of God; to make his discourses the evomitions of his own lusts and passions; or to make himself the end of his preaching; preaching merely for filthy lucre sake, or to supply himself with bread, or for the ostentation of his own wit, and learning, and parts.

But we preach Christ Jesus the Lord we preach what he hath commanded us to preach, and he is the subject of our discourses; we either preach what Christ is, or declare in our preaching what he hath done and suffered for sinners, or what he hath commanded us to do in order to our and your obtaining of life and salvation through him. And in our preaching, though in the first place we are Christ’ s servants, who hath commanded us to go and preach, and who is the subject matter of our preaching, and whose honour and glory is the end of all our preaching; yet we are also

your servants: really so, not in that we serve your lusts and humours, and speak smooth things, Such as may be pleasing to your humours; but

for Jesus’ sake because in revealing the will of God to you, and in publishing the grace of the gospel to you, we do you the highest service we can in your eternal concerns.

Poole: 2Co 4:6

The Holy Ghost in the New Testament often compareth the work of the new creation by Jesus Christ, to the work of God in the old creation; intimating to us, that the latter is as great a work of providence and Divine power, as the former: Eph 4:24 , the new man, after God, is said to be created in righteousness and true holiness. For as that is a creation which is a making of something out of nothing, (as God created the heavens and the earth), so the production of one thing out of another, which hath no fitness or aptitude to receive such a form, is also a true creation, and requireth an Almighty power. God made light to shine out of darkness, Gen 1:2,3 : so (saith the apostle) he hath made Christ (who is the Light of the world) to shine into our hearts, to give us the true knowledge of God, and of his glory, the glory of his grace.

In the face of Jesus Christ that is, by which we attain the clear and certain knowledge of God: as a man is distinctly known by or from his face, God is clearly and distinctly known only in and by Christ.

Poole: 2Co 4:7

By the treasure here mentioned, the apostle meaneth either his ministration, or apostolical office, which he before had proved glorious, more glorious than that of the law; or else, that light of the knowledge of the glory of God, which (as he had before said) God had made to shine into their hearts in the face of Jesus Christ. This treasure (saith he) we, even we that are the apostles of the Lord, have in our souls, which are clothed with bodies; and these not made of iron, or stone, or any other matter not capable of impressions of violence, but made of earth, like earthen pots or shells, that easily receive impressions of violence, and are presently broken in pieces.

That the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us that the world may see, that whatsoever powerful effects are wrought by us, they are the work of the excellent power of God; not done by us, but by him; that he, not we, might have all the glory.

Poole: 2Co 4:8

We are troubled on every side we are many ways, indeed every way, afflicted, afflicted with all sorts of afflictions;

yet not distressed but yet we are not like persons cooped up into a strait place, so as they are not able to turn them, nor know which way to move (so the word signifies).

We are perplexed the word signifies doubting, uncertain what shall become of us, or how God will dispose of us; full of anxious, troublesome thoughts about what shall be our lot in the world;

but not in despair but yet not despairing of the help, presence, support, and assistance of God.

Poole: 2Co 4:9

Persecuted violently pursued and prosecuted by such as are the adversaries of the gospel, and enemies to our Lord Jesus, because of our profession of him, and preaching his gospel;

but yet not forsaken of God, nor wholly of men; God, by the inward influences of his Holy Spirit, supporting, upholding, and comforting us; and also, by his providence, raising us up some friends that stick by us.

Cast down either in our own thoughts, (as it is the nature of worldly troubles and afflictions to sink men’ s thoughts), or cast down by the violence of men, thrown to the earth;

but not destroyed but yet we live, and are by the mighty power of God preserved, that we are not utterly destroyed.

Poole: 2Co 4:10

A Christian beareth about with him the dying of the Lord Jesus in his mind and soul, while he fetches strength from it to deaden his heart unto sin; being buried with Christ into death, and planted in the likeness of his death; having his old man crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth he may not serve sin, Rom 6:4-6 . He also beareth about with him the dying of the Lord Jesus in his body; either in a representation, while in his sufferings he is made conformable to the death of Christ, Phi 3:10 ; or in his own real sufferings, which he calleth the dying of the Lord Jesus, because they were for Christ’ s sake, and because Christ sympathizeth with them therein, he being afflicted in all their afflictions; yea, and Christ (as the apostle expresseth it, Phi 1:20 ), is magnified in their body, by death, as well as by life. This the apostle tells us he did, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in his body: by the life of Christ must be here understood, either the resurrection of Christ, and that life which he now liveth in heaven with his Father; or that quickening power of the Spirit of Christ, which then mightily showeth itself in believers, when they are not overwhelmed by the waters of affliction, nor conquered by their sufferings; but in, and over all, are more than conquerors, through that mighty power of Christ which showeth forth itself in them: or (as some think) that lively virtue and power of Christ, which showeth itself in the efficacy of the apostles’ ministry; by which so many thousands of souls were brought in to Christ, which was not the effect of their own virtue, but of the life of Christ manifested in their body. But the apostle having before spoken of his sufferings, it seems best interpreted of that living power put forth by Christ, in upholding the earthly vessels of his apostles, notwithstanding all the knocks they met with, to carry about that heavenly treasure with which God had intrusted them.

Poole: 2Co 4:11

We who are yet alive, as having breath still in our bodies; in another sense we do not live, viz. as life signifies prosperity and happiness; for we

are always delivered unto death that is, under continual threats and dangers of death, so that we have always the sentence of death in ourselves;

for Jesus’ sake for our owning, preaching, and professing Christ, and the doctrine of the gospel. We are not delivered to death for evil doing, nor merely as innocent persons, but for well doing; and that in the noblest sense, for obeying the commands and for publishing the gospel of Christ.

That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh and the infinitely wise providence of God permitteth this, that he might make manifest in our mortal flesh, that Christ is risen from the dead, and liveth for ever, making intercession for us; and, as a living Head, giving necessary influences of strength, support, and comfort, as to all those who are his members, so more particularly to us, who are some of the principal members of that mystical body, of which he is the Head. So that our sufferings are so far from being an evidence against the truth of our doctrine and of our ministration, that they are rather an evidence of the truth of both; as testifying, that he whom we preach, having died for our sins, is also risen for our justification, and exalted at the right hand of God; from whence he dispenseth his spiritual influences, as to the souls of all his people, so to our souls in particular, by which we are enabled, without fainting, to suffer such things with boldness, courage, and patience.

Poole: 2Co 4:12

You see the difference between us and you; either the real difference, or the fancied difference. We are killed all the day long, in deaths often, delivered to death always; you are rich, and full, and want nothing;

life that is, security, happiness, and prosperity, attends you. Or the fancied difference: You bless yourselves, that you are not in so much jeopardy as we are, and some of you are ready to curse us, because vipers stick to our hands, and we are in continually renewed and repeated troubles. Very good interpreters think these words a smart ironical expression, by which the apostle reflecteth upon a party in this church, who from his sufferings concluded against the truth of his doctrine, or his favour with God; and for themselves, because of their immunity and freedom from such sufferings. Others think the sense this, our death is your life; our sufferings are your spiritual advantage.

Poole: 2Co 4:13

The same spirit of faith signifieth the same faith, or faith proceeding from the same spirit; thus, Isa 11:2 , the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord, signifieth wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge, &c. It is a question whom the apostle meaneth when he saith:

We having the same faith Some think he meaneth the saints under the Old Testament, whose faith was the same with the faith of believers under the New Testament; and that which guideth them to that interpretation, is the apostle’ s following quotation out of Psa 116:10 . But the scope of the quotation seemeth to be, to prove that all good men will speak as they believe; they therefore seem better to interpret the text, that make this the sense of it: Though God, in the wisdom of his providence, hath assigned us in this world a different lot from you, that you are full, we empty; you in prosperity, we in adversity; yet we are partakers of the same faith with you, and are acted from the same spirit that you are: and as David’ s spirit guided him to a profession of his faith, and a speaking what he believed; so we also speak, and must speak, according to what we believe. And this is manifestly the sense of the words, if we consider what followeth in the next verse.

Poole: 2Co 4:14

Knowing that God the Father, who raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead, as the first-fruits of them that sleep, shall likewise, by the virtue of his resurrection, and by a power flowing from him, as now alive, and sitting at the right hand of God, quicken our mortal bodies; that both our souls and bodies may be presented with you, to be both eternally glorified: this maketh us that we do not fear death, but are unconcerned, although by wicked men we every day be delivered to it, and brought within the danger and sight of it; still the resurrection of Christ is made the foundation of our resurrection, and a firm ground for our faith of it. And we are from this text confirmed in the truth of this, that although the lot of God’ s people in this life be very different, (some are poor, some rich, some in prosperity, some in adversity, and encompassed with sorrows and afflictions), yet if they have all the same faith, they shall all meet in the resurrection, and shall, by Christ, be all presented unto God as persons redeemed by him, and washed with his blood, and who shall be glorified together.

Poole: 2Co 4:15

All things that Christ hath done and suffered, his death, and his resurrection from the dead, and all things that I have done or suffered, all

are for your sakes that the greater benefit it be which you receive from God, the greater praise, honour, and glory might redound to him by

the thanksgiving of many for God can be no otherwise glorified by us, than by the predicating of his mercy and goodness, and the praising of hint for the mercies which we receive from him. The more God doth good unto, the more honour, praise, and glory redoundeth to his name.

Poole: 2Co 4:16

Because of this double advantage which accrueth from our sufferings, viz. the furthering of the good of your souls, and the promoting the glory of God from the thanksgivings of many, though we suffer many harsh and bitter things, yet we do not faint nor sink under the burden of our trials; but though, as to our outward, nan, we are every day dying persons, daily decaying as to the strength, and vigour, and prosperity of our outward man, yet the strength and comfort of our souls and spirits reneweth day by day; we are every day stronger and stronger as to the managing of our spiritual fight, and every day more cheered and comforted in our holy course.

Poole: 2Co 4:17

The apostle in these words wonderfully lesseneth his own, and the rest of the apostles’ , and all other Christians’ sufferings for the gospel: he calleth them

light not that they were so in themselves, but with respect to that

weight of glory which he mentioneth in the latter part of the verse: he calleth them momentary,

but for a moment with reference to that eternity which is mentioned. The afflictions are light, the glory will be a weight; the afflictions are but for a moment, the glory shall be eternal. And (saith the apostle) our affliction worketh for us this glory: the glory will not only be a consequent of these afflictions, but these afflictions will be a cause of it; not a meritorious cause, (for what proportion is there between momentary afflictions and eternal glory? Between light afflictions and a weight of glory, an exceeding weight of glory?) But a cause in respect of the infinite goodness and mercy of God, and in respect of the truth and faithfulness of God.

Poole: 2Co 4:18

Two things support the spirits of Christians under trials;

1. The eyeing of him who is invisible; this supported Moses, Heb 11:27 : He endured, as seeing him who is invisible.

2. The seeing by the eye of faith the things which are invisible; the things which God hath prepared in another world for those that love him; the things which eye hath not seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive.

For (saith the apostle)

the things which are seen which fall under the senses of men, they

are but temporal and of a temporary duration; but the invisible things, the

exceeding and eternal weight of glory which are before mentioned, they are of an eternal duration, and therefore much to be preferred before those things which endure but for a moment.

PBC: 2Co 4:5

The apostle did not mean by the expression, " We preach not ourselves," that it is not us doing the preaching-that the Lord is preaching through us-but he meant that we do not preach our own power or authority, but that it is Christ Jesus the Lord, and His power, that we preach, and not ourselves; but " ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake." Elder C. H. Cayce

PBC: 2Co 4:16

What is the outer man and the inner man? Neither refer to the physical body, but to the two natures that dwell within a child of God after the new birth. One nature is {Col 1:27} " Christ in you, the hope of glory." The other is the sinful nature of the flesh. The actions of the body reflect the nature that is prevailing at any given moment.

While regeneration does not take away or change the outer man or the sin-nature, it (the outer man) is restrained by the inner man so that it is no longer in control as before. " Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." 1Jo 4:4 The new birth affects or brings about an effect on the whole man; body, soul and spirit.

That sinful nature, referred to by Paul as the outer man, continues with us until death to trouble us and lead us to sin. However, through the spirit of Christ, we are commanded to Mortify or put to death the sinful deeds of the body. Col 3:5,9-10

49

Haydock: 2Co 4:3

The apostle here brings another proof of the sincerity of his preaching, viz. the success with which it is attended: And he says, if there be any who have not yet received it, that is their own fault. For had they been as eager to receive it, as we have been to announce it to them, the whold world had long since been converted. (Theodoret)

Haydock: 2Co 4:4

In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of unbelievers. [1] Thus the words are placed, both in the Latin and Greek text, so that the true God seems to be called the God of this world, as he is elsewhere called the God of heaven, the God of Abraham. God, says St. John Chrysostom, blinded, that is, permitted them to be blinded. Others translate, in whom God hat blinded the minds of the infidels of this world; so that this world may be joined with unbelievers, and not with God: and by the God of this world, some understand the devil, called sometimes the prince of this world, that is, of the wicked. (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

In quibus Deus hujus sæculi excæcavit mentes infidelium, Greek: en ois o Theos tou aionos toutou etuphlose ta noemata ton apiston. St. John Chrysostom, Greek: om. e. p. 594. lin. 11. says, it should be read thus: Greek: anagnosteon, oti ton apiston tou aionos toutou, etuphlosen o theos [] oemata.

Haydock: 2Co 4:6

The light to shine out of darkness. He alludes to what is related at the first creation, when God divided the light from darkness. (Genesis i. 4.) ---

In the face of Christ Jesus, which may signify in the person of Christ, who was the true light enlightening every man, that comes into this world. (John i. 9.) (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 4:8

We are straitened. [2] This, by the Greek, seems the sense of the Latin word, which is taken to signify, one perplexed, and in a doubt. See John xiii. 22.; Acts xxv. 20.; Galatians iv. 20.) (Witham)

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[BIBLIOGRAPHY]

Aporiamur, Greek: aporoumenoi, from Greek: a and Greek: poros, transitus. See Mr. Legh.

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Haydock: 2Co 4:10

That the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our bodies, when we suffer, and undertake voluntary sufferings for his sake. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 4:12

Death worketh in us, when we are under persecutions, and dangers of death, and life in you, who live in ease and plenty. (Witham) ---

The preaching of the gospel, which we undertake in such a disinterested manner, and which exposes us to so many dangers, is the case of death to us, but procures you all kinds of advantages. You tranquilly enjoy the fruit of our labour, though we do not envy you this happiness, because we hope one day to enjoy the reward of our labours. (Calmet)

Haydock: 2Co 4:13

We also believe, &c. That is, we have the like faith as David, when he spoke in that manner; we hope and believe, God will deliver us, or at least raise us up from the dead with Jesus. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 4:15

For all things, that we suffer, are for your sakes, that many may be brought to give thanks, and to praise God for eternity. This encourages us not to fail, nor faint in the cause of God, under these momentary and light tribulations, which mark in us above measure, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. See the Greek text. (Witham)

Haydock: 2Co 4:17

Worketh. In the Greek, Greek: katergazetai, which the English Bible of the year 1577 falsely renders by prepareth, unwilling to allow, with the apostle, that tribulation worketh eternal glory. The ardour with which the apostle speaks is sufficient to inspire the most timid with courage. A life full of crosses, labours, persecutions, injuries, &c. he call momentary and light, if compared with the eternal, immense, and incomprehensible glory prepared for us. (St. Augustine) ---

All earthly substance, compared with the happiness of heaven, is rather a loss than a gain. This life, when put in comparison with that to come, is rather a death than life. (St. Gregory in Evangel.)

Gill: 2Co 4:3

But if our Gospel be hid,.... When the Gospel is called ours, the meaning is, not that ministers are the authors or subject of it; but it is so styled, because they are intrusted with it; it is preached by them; and is in opposition to another Gospel, the Gospel of the false apostles. Here an objection is obviated, which the apostle saw would be made against the clearness and perspicuity of the Gospel, asserted by him in the foregoing chapter; taken from some persons, who though they sat under the ministry of the word, were not enlightened by it, saw no glory nor excellency in it, nor were their minds in the least affected with it: to which he replies, saying, "if our Gospel be hid",

it is hid to them that are lost. But why should the apostle put an if upon its being hid? is it not hid? is it not "the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom?" To which may be answered, that it was hid in God from the beginning of the world; and in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; and in the ceremonial law, which contained types and shadows of many things in it; and was hid from whole nations, and for whole ages formerly: but now God has made known the mystery of his will; Christ is manifest in the flesh; the ceremonial law is done away, and the Gospel is preached to Jews and Gentiles; so that it is hid to none, as to the outward ministration of it: and if the internal, spiritual, and saving knowledge and experience of it is hid from any, eventually and finally, it is "to them that are lost": all mankind are in a lost and perishing condition through sin; though some will not be lost eternally, whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and who by the Spirit are brought savingly to believe in Christ; but there are others, that will be lost for ever; and to these the Gospel is hid; and they are such, who are left to the native blindness of their minds, and are given up to a reprobate mind, to judicial darkness, and are suffered to be under the influence of the prince of darkness, as in the following verse; now such instances are no more an objection to the clearness and perspicuity of the Gospel, and the ministration of it, than men born blind, who never could, nor never will see light, are to the bright and clear shining of the sun noon day.

Gill: 2Co 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded,.... The description of the persons to whom the Gospel is hid, is here further carried on; in which the character of Satan is given, who is here styled "the god of this world"; just as he is by Christ, "the prince of this world", Joh 12:31 not because he had any hand in the making of it, or has any concern in the government of it, or in the disposal of men or things in it; but because of his influence over the worst, and greatest part of the world; which lies in wickedness, under the power of this wicked one, being led captive by him at his will; who have voluntarily given themselves up to him, and whose lusts they will do; and so declare themselves to be his children, and him their Father, yea, their god: the influence he has over them is, he

hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. The apostle here seems to refer to one of the devils, which the Jews ^l frequently speak of סמאל, "Samael"; who they say is the head of all the devils; a very malignant spirit, and who deceived our first parents; the word is compounded of אל, "god", and סמא, "to blind"; him they call the angel of death, and say ^m, that he hath אחשיך פני עלמא, "brought darkness upon the face of the world", or the creatures, the Gentiles: agreeably to which the apostle calls the devil, "the god that hath blinded"; what he blinds in men, is "their mind": the more excellent and knowing part of man; not the eyes of their bodies, but of their understandings; which shows the near access Satan has to the souls of men; he penetrates into their very hearts and minds, and has an influence there: the persons whose minds he blinds, are those "who believe not"; which distinguishes them from others that perish, who never enjoyed the Gospel, and therefore he says, "in", or "among whom"; and from true believers, on whom Satan can have no such influence; and is a reason of these men's perishing, and of Satan's influence over them; and must be understood of reprobates, and final unbelievers: the influence he has over them is expressed by "blinding" them; which he does, by diverting them from hearing the Gospel, and by stirring up the enmity of their minds against it, and by increasing their natural darkness and blindness with respect to it. The end which Satan has in doing this is,

lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them; here many things are hinted, in commendation of the Gospel, as that it is the Gospel of Christ; because he was not only the greatest and best preacher of it that ever was, but also is the author and subject of it; Christ is the sum and substance of the Gospel, the principal thing in it, or person that is spoken of therein; and then Christ who is the grand subject of the Gospel is described, in order to recommend it the more, as "the image of God". The Jews ⁿ call the Messiah, צלם אל, "the image of God"; some copies, and the Complutension edition, and the Arabic version, read, "the image of the invisible God", as in Col 1:15. So Christ is as the Son of God, being the natural, substantial, essential, eternal, not created, and perfect image of his Father; and so he is as man and Mediator: further, the Gospel is said to be the "glorious" Gospel of Christ, as it must needs be, since it so clearly and illustriously sets forth the glory of Christ; contains such glorious doctrines and promises in it, and is attended with such glorious effects, where it comes with power: add to all this, that "light" is attributed to it; the Jews ^o speak of the "light of the law", and the law is called light; and say, that אין אור אלא תורה, "there is no light but the law"; but this may be more truly said of the Gospel, by which not only persons may be notionally enlightened, who never were made really partakers of the grace of God, but is the means of spiritual and saving illumination to thousands, when it is attended with the demonstration of the Spirit: now all these excellent characters of the Gospel serve to enhance the spite and malice of Satan, in endeavouring all he can to kinder the bright shining of this glorious Gospel, to and upon any of the sons of men; and his reason for so doing is, because he knows, that should the Gospel shine unto them, the interest and glory of Christ would be advanced, and his own would decline.

Gill: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves,.... These words contain a reason why the apostles behaved themselves in the manner described, 2Co 4:2 and serve to explain in what sense this inspired writer is to be understood, when he calls the Gospel our Gospel, 2Co 4:3 and most clearly proves the Gospel to be a glorious one, which he had asserted, 2Co 4:4 since Christ, and not themselves, is the subject of it, "for we preach not ourselves". They did not preach any doctrine of their own devising; they did not set up themselves as lords over the faith and consciences of men; nor was their view in preaching to set forth their learning, parts, and eloquence, or to amass wealth and riches to themselves; nor did they assert the purity of human nature, or the power of man to do anything of himself that is spiritually good; or that justification and salvation are by works of righteousness done by men. To do any, or each, or all of these, as did the false apostles, is to preach a man's self: but so did not these faithful dispensers of the word, but they

preached Christ Jesus the Lord; that is, the doctrines respecting the person, office, and grace of Christ; as that he is truly and properly God, the eternal and only begotten Son of God, God and man in one person, the only Mediator between God and man, and the Saviour and Redeemer of lost sinners; that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the true Messiah; and that this Christ is Jesus, a Saviour, the only able and willing one; and that this Jesus Christ is "Lord" of all, especially of the saints; not only as Creator, but as their head, husband, and Redeemer; that peace and reconciliation, pardon and righteousness, life and salvation, are only by him: and they also declared themselves the servants of the churches,

and ourselves your servants. The apostle does not say they were the servants of Christ, though they were, and esteemed it their greatest honour to be so; for he had no need to observe this, since this is included in their preaching him as "Lord": nor does he say they were the servants of men, or menpleasers, for then they would not be the servants of Christ; but he asserts them to be the servants of the churches: and which must be understood, not with respect to things temporal, with which they had no concern; but with regard to things spiritual, particularly to the ministration of the word, and administration of ordinances: and this they professed to be,

for Jesus' sake; either for the sake of preaching Christ unto them; or because they were chosen and called by him to this service, and in which they were willing to continue, for the sake of his honour and interest.

Gill: 2Co 4:6

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,.... The causal particle for, shows these words to be also a reason of the foregoing; either why they so clearly beheld the glory of the Lord, 2Co 4:18 or why they renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 2Co 4:2 or why their Gospel could not be hid, 2Co 4:3 or why they did not preach themselves, but Christ, 2Co 4:5 because God had

shined in their hearts; and in this light, they saw the glory of Christ; could not bear any secret, hidden, scandalous practices; and held forth the word of light and life to others; and seeing so much of their own weakness, sinfulness, and unworthiness, dared not to preach themselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; in which may be observed the character of the true God, as opposed to Satan, the god of this world, who is said to blind the minds of men, 2Co 4:6 whereas the true God is represented as the author of "light", and as producing it by a word of "command", and that "out" of mere "darkness"; respect is here had to the creation of all things at the beginning, when "darkness was upon the face of the deep--and God said, let there be light and there was light", Gen 1:2. Now this character of God, as creating light in this wonderful manner, is prefaced to his giving spiritual light unto his people; because of the agreement there is between light corporeal and spiritual, in their nature and production; for as there was darkness upon the earth before there was light, so there is a natural darkness in the minds of men, before any spiritual light is infused into them; and as light was the first production out of the dark and unformed chaos, so light is the first thing that is struck into the soul in conversion; moreover, as light was the effect of almighty power, so is the spiritual illumination, or the opening of the eyes of the understandings of men, who are naturally born blind; and as light was a creation of that which was not before, so the work of grace on the soul is not an increase of, or an addition to, or an improvement of the light of nature, but it is a new light, created in the understanding; add to all this, that both corporeal and spiritual light are good, and both called "day"; the influence that God has over the hearts of men, and the effect he produces there are, he

hath shined in our hearts. The hearts of men are like this dark terraqueous globe, having no light in them; God is as the sun, the fountain of light, which shines upon them and in them; so as to give them a true sight and sense of sin, and of their lost state and condition; so as to cause them to see the fulness and suitableness of Christ as a Saviour; so as to warm their affections, and draw out their desires after Christ, his ways, truths, ordinances, and people; and so as to give them light into the mysteries of the Gospel; particularly he so shines into the hearts of some, whom be makes ministers of the Gospel, as to give more light and knowledge into Gospel truths, than he does to others; and his end in doing this, is

to give: that is, that his ministering servants may give

the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ; men must be first made light in, and by the Lord, or they will never be fit and proper persons to hold forth the word of light, or to communicate light to others; God first shines into their hearts, and then they give light to others: by "the glory of God" is not meant the essential glory of God, or the perfections of his nature, though these are to be seen in the face, or person of Christ; but rather the glorious counsels of God, and scheme of salvation by Jesus Christ; or in other words, the glorious Gospel of God: and by "the knowledge" of it is designed, not a mere notional speculative knowledge of the Gospel, but an experimental one; a spiritual knowledge of the Gospel, of Christ in it, of God in Christ, and of an interest in God's salvation by Christ: now when the ministers of the word are said to give the light of this to men, or to enlighten them with this knowledge, it cannot be thought that they are the efficient causes, for such are only Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit; but only that they are instrumental, and are means in the hands of God, of bringing persons to see the fellowship of this mystery: all which is done, "in the face of Jesus Christ"; this denotes the clearness and perspicuity of their ministry, and of that knowledge which is communicated by it; see 2Co 3:12 and also the authority by which they act; it is in the name and person of Christ, in which sense the phrase is used, 2Co 2:10.

Gill: 2Co 4:7

But we have, this treasure in earthen vessels,.... This is a further commendation of the Gospel; and by which the apostle removes an objection against it, taken from the cross and persecutions that attend it, and the outward meanness of the ministers of it. The Gospel is called a "treasure", for not grace, nor Christ, but the Gospel is here meant; which is so styled, because it contains rich truths, and an abundance of them; comparable to gold, silver, and precious stones, for the price of them, their antiquity, distance of place from whence they come, and their duration; because it has in it rich blessings, spiritual ones, the blessings of the new covenant, solid, substantial, and irreversible ones, and a fulness of them; and because it consists of exceeding great and precious promises, of more worth than thousands of gold and silver; free, absolute, and unconditional ones, which are yea and amen in Christ, and relate both to this, and the other world; and also because it exhibits and shows forth to us the riches of God and of Christ, of grace and of glory; which are unsearchable, substantial, satisfying, and durable: the repository, or cabinet, in which this treasure is, are "earthen vessels"; by which are meant, ministers of the word, who are so in themselves, in their own esteem, and in the esteem of others; probably the apostle might have in view Lam 3:2. The doctors and scholars among the Jews are compared hereunto;

"says R. Eleazar ^p, to what is a disciple of a wise man like, in the esteem of a man of the world? at first he is like to a golden cup; when he has conversed with him, he is like to a silver cup; and when he has received any profit by him, he is like לקיתון של הרש, "to an earthen cup", which, when broken, cannot be repaired again: the law (say they) is not confirmed but by him, who makes himself ככלי חרס, "as an earthen vessel" ^q: R. Joshua ^r was a great man in the king's palace, and he was deformed; wherefore Caesar's daughter said, wisdom is beautiful בכלי מכוער, "in an ugly vessel"; and he brought her a simile in proof of it from wine, which is not kept in a silver vessel.''

The allusion is either to the earth itself, in which treasure lies, or is hid, and out of which it is dug; or to pots and vessels made of earth, into which treasure has been used to be put; or to earthen pitchers, in which lights or lamps were formerly carried; see Jdg 7:16 where Gideon's three hundred men, are said to have empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers; they carried lamps with them to give them light, it being night when they went into the camp of Midian; and those they put into pitchers, that the Midianites might not perceive them afar off, as a Jewish commentator well observes ^s; in like manner the Gospel put into earthen vessels is a glorious light to some, whilst it is hidden to others: yea, even lamps themselves were no other than earthen vessels, in which light was put; for so says Maimonides ^t, a lamp, a burning light, is כלי חרש, "an earthen vessel", like a reed; and on the top of it is a little ear, which joins to it; and when it is made, a piece of old cloth is put upon the burning oil, and it continues in it; also an earthen vessel is made, in which there is a hollow place for to set the light in, and in it is gathered all that flows from the oil out of the light; and it is strengthened about the head of the candlestick, that the brass might not be hurt by the oil; and this vessel is called the house in which the light subsides, or the receptacle of the light; and which receptacle, another of the Misnic commentators says ^u, is an earthen vessel, made to put the light in; and the lamp, he also says, is like an earthen platter, sharp pointed below, &c. and this allusion well agrees with the context, in which the Gospel is represented as a glorious light, shining in darkness, 2Co 4:4. The Greek word οστρακινοις, the apostle uses, signifies also "shells of fishes"; and in like manner does Philo the Jew ^w compare the human body;

"I am (says he) very little concerned for this mortal body which is about me, and cleaves to me οστρεου δικην, "like the shell of a fish"; though it is hurt by everyone.''

And the reference may be to pearls, which are said to have been found in such shells, particularly in oysters; and is designed to express, either the frail mortal bodies of the ministers of the Gospel, comparable to brittle shells; or baked earth; or rather the outward mean despicable condition of the apostles, and preachers of the word; being men of no figure in the world, for birth, learning, or outward grandeur; and being attended with sinful infirmities also, as other men; and more especially as they were labouring under reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, for the sake of the Gospel; see Jer 32:14. The reason why it pleased God to put such a rich and valuable treasure into the hands of persons so mean and contemptible was,

that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us: that is, that it might appear that the making of such persons ministers of the word was not of themselves, was not owing to their natural abilities, or to any diligence and industry, and acquirements of their own, or to any instructions they had received from others, but to the grace of God, and the effectual working of his power; and that the success which attended their ministrations in the conversion of sinners, and building up of saints, could only be ascribed to the exceeding greatness of divine power; and that the supporting of them in their work, under all the persecutions raised against them, and opposition made unto them, could be attributed to nothing else; of which power, instances are given in the following verses.

Gill: 2Co 4:8

We are troubled on every side,.... Or afflicted; εν παντι, either "in every place", wherever we are, into whatsoever country, city, or town we enter, we are sure to meet with trouble, of one sort or another; for wherever we be, we are in the world, in which we must expect tribulation: or "always", every day and hour we live, as in 2Co 4:10 we are never free from one trial or another: or "by everyone"; by all sorts of persons, good and bad, professors and profane, open persecutors and false brethren; yea, some of the dear children of God, weak believers, give us trouble: or "with every sort" of trouble, inward and outward; trouble from the world, the flesh and the devil:

yet not distressed; so as to have no hope, or see no way of escape; so as to have no manner of comfort, or manifestations of the love of God; or so as to be straitened in our own souls; for notwithstanding all our troubles, we have freedom at the throne of grace, and in our ministry; we can go with liberty to God, and preach the Gospel boldly to you:

we are perplexed; and sometimes know not what to do, which way to take, what course to steer, or how we shall be relieved and supplied; we are sometimes at the utmost loss about things temporal, how we shall be provided for with food and raiment; nor are we without our perplexing thoughts, doubts, and fears, about spiritual affairs:

but not in despair; of the Lord's appearing and working salvation, both in a temporal and spiritual sense.

Gill: 2Co 4:9

Persecuted, but not forsaken,.... Pursued from place to place, and followed with menaces, curses, and reproaches; laid hold on, proscribed, imprisoned, and threatened with the severest tortures, and death itself; but our God never leaves us nor forsakes us; though we are followed close by evil men, and left by our friends, we are not forsaken of God:

cast down we sometimes are, as an earthen vessel; 2Co 4:7, which may be cast out of a man's hands, in order to be dashed to pieces; or as a man in wrestling, see Eph 6:12 may be thrown to the ground by his antagonist, so we are sometimes foiled by sin, Satan, and the world:

but not destroyed; we are still safe in the hands of Christ, and are kept by the power of God; and, indeed, to what else can all this be ascribed? it is surprising that earthen vessels should bear and suffer so much, and not fall, or be dashed to pieces.

Gill: 2Co 4:10-11

Always bearing about in the body,.... The Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "in our body"; and the Syriac version, in this and the next clause, reads, "in our bodies", and some copies in this read, "bodies"; continually carrying about with us, in these mortal bodies of ours, wherever we go,

the dying of the Lord Jesus; by which is meant, not the doctrine of the sufferings and death of Christ, and of salvation by a crucified Saviour, which they bore and carried about with them in a ministerial way, wherever they came and preached, but the sufferings they themselves underwent: so called, because of the likeness there is between the sufferings of Christ, and theirs; as he was traduced as a wicked man, a deceiver, and a stirrer up of sedition, so were they; as he was persecuted, so were they; as he was liable to death, and at last was delivered up to it, so were they: and also because of the union and sympathy which were between them; Christ and they were one body and one Spirit; so that what was endured by the members, the head had a fellow feeling of, and sympathy with; and reckoned what was done to them, as done to himself: and besides, the sufferings they underwent, and death they were exposed unto, were for his sake, as it is explained in the next verse:

for we which live; who are still in the land of the living, though it is almost a miracle we are, considering the circumstances we are in:

are always delivered; that is, continually exposed

to death for Jesus' sake: and the end of all these sufferings, which is expressed alike in both verses is,

that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body, or "mortal flesh"; the meaning of which is, that it might appear that Jesus, though he died, is risen again from the dead, and lives at the Father's right hand, and ever lives to make intercession for us; of which there is a full proof, inasmuch as we are supported by him under all the trials and sufferings we endure for his sake; for because he lives, we live also, amidst so many dangers and deaths, which attend us.

Gill: 2Co 4:12

So then death worketh in us,.... This is the conclusion of the foregoing account, or the inference deduced from it; either the death, or dying of Christ, that is, the sufferings of his body, the church, for his sake, ενεργειται, "is wrought in us"; fulfilled and perfected in us; see Col 1:24 or rather a corporeal death has seized upon us; the seeds of death are in us; our flesh, our bodies are mortal, dying off apace; death has already attacked us, is working on our constitutions gradually, and unpinning our tabernacles, which in a short time will be wholly took down and laid in the dust:

but life in you. Some understand these words as spoken ironically, like those in 1Co 4:8 but the apostle seems not to be speaking in such a strain, but in the most serious manner, and about things solemn and awful; and his meaning is, ours is the sorrow, the trouble, the affliction, and death itself, yours is the gain, the joy, the pleasure, and life; what we get by preaching the Gospel are reproach, persecution, and death; but this Gospel we preach at such expense is the savour of life unto life to you, and is the means of maintaining spiritual life in your souls, and of nourishing you up unto eternal life; and which is no small encouragement to us to go on in our work with boldness and cheerfulness: or these words regard the different state and condition of the apostle, and other ministers, and of the Corinthians; the one were in adversity, and the other in prosperity.

Gill: 2Co 4:13

We having the same Spirit of faith,.... By faith here is meant, not the doctrine, but the grace of faith; a believing in the doctrines of the Gospel, and in the person of Christ; an exercise of that grace upon the death and resurrection of Christ; and particularly a looking by faith in full expectation of the saints' resurrection from the dead, and eternal glory, together with a reliance on the power, faithfulness, and promises of God to support under the afflictions of this life. Now of this faith the Spirit of God is the author; this is not of ourselves, of our own power, it is the free gift of God, and a valuable gift it is; it is of the operation of God, and the produce of his almighty power; and of this the Spirit of God, in conversion, is the powerful operator: hence he is here called the "Spirit of faith". So the "third" number in the Cabalistic tree of the Jews, the intelligence sanctifying, which answers to the third person in our doctrine of the Trinity, is called ^x,

"Nmwa hnwma and אב האמונה, "the artificer of faith", and "the author or parent of faith", because from its power faith flows.''

Which is the "same" in all saints; the Spirit is the same in one as in another, and so is the faith which he is the author of; see 2Pe 1:1. Faith is the same in all the saints that have been from the beginning of the world, under the Old and New Testament dispensations; it was the same in all the churches in the apostle's time, in Rome as at Ephesus, in Ephesus as at Rome, and in Thessalonica as at Rome and Ephesus, and so in all the other churches; though it may be, the apostle may chiefly design the sameness of faith, and of the Spirit, in him and his fellow ministers, and in these Corinthians, though death was working in the one, and life in the other; which appeared in their free and bold ministration of the word, notwithstanding all they met with on account of it, in imitation and encouraged by the example of David,

according as it is written, Psa 116:10.

I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak: where there is true faith, and the true Spirit of faith, there will be a speaking of, for, and in the name of Christ, as there ought to be: for as "with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, so with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". This is true of believers in common, sooner or later, at one time or another; but more especially of the ministers of the word, who have a firm and well grounded belief in the doctrines of the Gospel, and person of Christ; and therefore speak freely, and without any doubt and hesitation about these things, boldly, and without the fear of men, and sincerely and faithfully, as in the sight of God: hence they make Christ the main subject of their ministry, because they believe in him, and nothing can stop their mouths from speaking of him; faith, and a spirit of faith, fit for public work and service, and give freedom and boldness in the ministration of the Gospel, and are a great support under persecution for the sake of it.

Gill: 2Co 4:14

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus,.... Besides having the same spirit of faith, mentioned in the preceding verse as a support under tribulation, the apostle proceeds in this, and some following verses, to take notice of other things which gave them relief under their pressures; such as the resurrection from the dead, all their afflictions being for the good of the churches and glory of God, the inward and comfortable experiences of the love and grace of God in the midst of them, and the end and issue of them, eternal glory. The former of these is observed here; "knowing", being firmly persuaded, and fully assured, that he "which raised up the Lord Jesus"; by whom God the Father is more especially designed, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, who were jointly concerned in raising the dead body of our Lord: shall raise us up also by Jesus; which may regard the resurrection of all the saints by Christ, not as a mere instrument, but as a co-efficient cause with the Father and Spirit: this the apostle concludes from the power of God in raising up Christ from the dead; he that is able to do the one, is certainly of power to effect the other; and also from that union there is between Christ and his people; he is the head, they are his members; and because the head is raised, the members shall be likewise. Christ's resurrection is not only the pattern, but the pledge of the resurrection of the saints. Now this doctrine, as it was fully known, and firmly believed by the apostles, was of great use to bear them up under their outward troubles; for though they were so afflicted and persecuted, death was visibly working in them, and they might expect in a short time to be laid in the grave; yet this was their consolation, that they should be raised again immortal and glorious by Christ; some copies read, "with Jesus", and so the Vulgate Latin version: "he shall present us with you"; that is, he will present us ministers, together with you the saints, and the rest of the elect of God; first, לותיה, "to himself", as the Syriac version adds, and then to his Father, in their full number, completely righteous and holy. These words indeed may be understood of a deliverance from temporal affliction, from that death they were labouring under, and exposed unto, and the sense be this; we firmly believe that he that raised up Christ from the dead, will deliver us from the present death of affliction, which will be a sort of resurrection from the dead, and will make us to stand by you, or in your presence; or, in other words, being thus delivered, we shall have an opportunity of visiting you, we have so long desired, and you have expected, which will be to your edification and comfort.

Gill: 2Co 4:15

For all things are for your sakes;.... This is a very large and comprehensive expression, and reaches to all the things of Christ, as well as of his ministers. The incarnation, obedience, death, and resurrection of Christ, are all for the sake of God's elect; and so the ministry of his apostles and servants, their gifts, graces, comforts, and experiences; and so likewise all their reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions; see 2Co 1:6. These were endured for their sakes, and tended to their establishment in the faith; were for the furtherance of the Gospel, and of the faith and joy of saints; and this gave no small pleasure and relief to them under their sufferings, that they were of such use to others. Moreover, all their deliverances, when in any imminent danger; were for the sake of the churches:

that the abundant grace; held forth in their ministrations, manifestly to be seen in supporting them under their troubles, and delivering them out of them:

might through the thanksgiving of many; for such appearances of divine goodness, see 2Co 1:11

redound to the glory of God; which is another thing that yielded them a pleasing satisfaction, in all their distresses for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel.

Gill: 2Co 4:16

For which cause we faint not,.... Since our afflictions are overruled for the good of others, and the glory of God, we are not discouraged by them; our spirits do not sink under the weight of them; we do not give out from the work of the ministry because of them, but go on cheerfully therein: and the more so, since

though our outward man perish; our outward circumstances of life are very mean and despicable; we are oftentimes in a very distressed condition through hunger, thirst, nakedness, and want of the common necessaries of life; our bodies are almost worn out with fatigue, labour, and sorrow; our earthly tabernacles are tottering, and just ready to fall in pieces:

yet the inward man is renewed day by day; that is, continually; it answers to ויום יום, an Hebraism; see Est 2:11 the internal hidden man of the heart, the new man is in a prosperous condition; our souls are in good health; the work of God is comfortably carried on in us; we have sweet and repeated experiences of the love of God; we are growing in grace, and in the knowledge of Christ; and, like the palm tree, the more weight is hung upon it, the more it thrives; and, like the children of Israel in Egypt, the more they were afflicted the more they grew.

Gill: 2Co 4:17

For our light affliction,.... The difference between the present and future state of the saints is here expressed, the disparity between them shown, and the influence the one has upon the other. The present state is a state of "affliction". Affliction is the common lot of the children of men, but more especially of the children of God, and is here designed by "our" affliction; for these, besides their soul trouble, meet with such in the world, and from the men of it, others do not. Afflictions are appointed for them by their heavenly Father; provision is made for them, and support under them, in the covenant of grace; they are Christ's legacy to them, and by which they are conformed to him; they are always for their good, spiritual and eternal; and lie in their way to heaven, through which they must pass into the kingdom: now these their outward afflictions which are here meant, lie chiefly in the meanness of their outward circumstances; in poverty and distress, in disgrace, reproaches, and persecutions for their profession of Christ, and his truths: and in opposition to this their mean and despicable condition in the eyes of the world, their future state is signified by "glory", as it often is in the word of God; and is of such a nature, that all the glories of this world, such as kingdoms, crowns, inheritances, possessions, riches, honour, and substance of every kind and degree, by all which the heavenly state is expressed, are but faint resemblances of it: it is the same glory Christ has entered into, is possessed of for, and will give to all his people; it will chiefly lie in communion with Father, Son, and Spirit, with angels, and one another; there will be a visible glory upon the bodies of the saints, which will be fashioned like to the glorious body of Christ; and their souls will be blessed with perfect knowledge and holiness. Their affliction is represented as "light" which though it is not in itself, but often very grievous and heavy to be borne, especially when any soul trouble is added to it; yet is light, when the saint is supported by the arm of the Lord, indulged with his presence, and favoured with the discoveries of his love. The afflictions of God's people are light, when compared with their deserts, with the sufferings of Christ, the torments of the damned in hell, and the joys of heaven, which are here, by way of opposition thereunto, styled a "weight of glory". The apostle has respect to the Hebrew word כבוד, which signifies both "weight" and "glory", and is often used for riches, honour, and whatsoever is excellent, solid, and substantial: and here the phrase designs the weighty riches of glory, that massy crown of glory which fadeth not away, that bulky and more enduring substance, which Christ will cause them that love him to inherit. Again, the afflictions of the children of God are said to be

for a moment; they are but for a while, and that a little while; at most they are but for the present time of life, and that is but as a vapour which appears for a little while, and then vanishes away; it is but as a moment, a point of time, in comparison of eternity: but the glory the saints are chosen and called unto, that weight of it which shall be put upon them is "eternal", it will last for ever; it will know no end: hence it is called an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, an everlasting kingdom, everlasting habitations, an incorruptible inheritance, and a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Now the present affliction of the people of God has a considerable influence upon this; it is said here, that it

worketh for us this glory. The Jews ^y introduce God speaking words much like these.

"Saith the holy blessed God, I have sent them chastisements in this world, לחזק זרועו־תאם לעולם הבא, "to strengthen their arms for", or that their arms may lay hold upon the world to come.''

Now afflictions may be said to work eternal glory for the saints, not by way of merit, for they are not worthy to be compared with the glory to be revealed; there is no proportion between them; besides, the heavenly kingdom and glory was prepared from the foundation of the world, and is a free grace gift of their heavenly Father; but they work as means of enjoying it, as the word and ordinances do; the Spirit of God makes use of them, as of the other, to work up the saints for that selfsame thing, glory: these are means of trying, exercising, and improving their graces, of weaning their hearts from this world, and drawing out their desires, hope, and expectation of another; they are the way in which believers walk to glory, and which it last issue and terminate in it; glory follows upon them, though it is not for them.

Gill: 2Co 4:18

While we look not at the things which are seen,.... These are the things of this world, such as riches, honours, pleasures, profits, &c. which are visible to, and strike the senses of a natural man, and are temporal, endure but for a time, are transitory, fleeting, and quickly gone. To "look" at these things is to desire them, set the affections on them, and to make the enjoyment of them a man's chief scope and aim; and when this is the case, afflictions cannot be said to work for such, or to work them for an eternal weight of glory; but when believers have their eyes and hearts taken off of these things, they either look not at them, or with contempt upon them; "while", and when they are in such frames of soul, afflictions are operating for their future good. Or by these things that are seen may be meant afflictions themselves, the cross, with all that belongs to it; which also are discernible by the outward senses, and are but for a time. Now a believer is not to stand looking and poring upon his afflictions; for while he does so, they work impatience, murmurings, repinings, unbelief, &c. but when and while he looks off of these to Christ, and to what he has done and suffered, and to the glories of another world, and to the recompense of reward, he not only finds himself supported under his present afflictions, which he does not so overlook as to despise; but he also finds his heart seeking after, and his affections set upon, and his faith, hope, and expectation raised in the views of things above, where Christ is: and so he is kept looking

at the things which are not seen; by the corporeal eye, nor by the eye of carnal sense and reason; only by the eye of faith, which is "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen": and these things, the joys and glories of heaven, "are eternal"; will last for ever, will never end; all which is great encouragement to faith and patience under the present afflictive dispensations of Providence.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: 2Co 4:4

¹ tn Or “of unbelievers.”

² tn Grk “the gospel of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

³ tn Or “so that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ would not be evident to them” (L&N 28.37).

NET Notes: 2Co 4:5

¹ tn Or “preach.”

² tn Traditionally, “servants.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

NET Notes: 2Co 4:6

¹ sn An allusion to Gen 1:3; see also Isa 9:2.

² tn Grk “the light of the knowledge of the glory”; δόξης (doxhs) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

³ tc ‡ Most witnesses, including several early and important ones (Ì⁴⁶ א C H Ψ 0209 1739^c Ï sy), read ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (Ihsou Cristou, “Jesus Christ”), while other important witnesses, especially of the Western text (D F G 0243 630 1739* 1881 lat Ambst), have Χριστοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ. The reading with just Χριστοῦ is found in A B 33 {sa} Tert {Or Ath Chr}. Even though the witnesses for the shorter reading are not numerous, they are weighty. And in light of the natural scribal proclivity to fill out the text, particularly with reference to divine names, as well as the discrepancy among the witnesses as to the order of the names, the simple reading Χριστοῦ seems to be the best candidate for authenticity. NA²⁷ reads ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ with ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

NET Notes: 2Co 4:7

¹ tn Grk “the surpassingness of the power”; δυνάμεως (dunamew") has been translated as an attributed genitive (“extraordinary power”).

NET Notes: 2Co 4:8

¹ tn Grk “we are hard pressed [by crowds] on every side.”

² tn Or “at a loss.”

NET Notes: 2Co 4:9

¹ tn Or “forsaken.”

² tn Or “badly hurt.” It is possible to interpret καταβαλλόμενοι (kataballomenoi) here as “badly hurt”: “[we are] badly hurt, but not destroyed” (L&N 20.21).

NET Notes: 2Co 4:10

¹ tn The first clause of 2 Cor 4:10 is elliptical and apparently refers to the fact that Paul was constantly in danger of dying in the same way Jesus died (by violence at least). According to L&N 23.99 it could be translated, “at all times we live in the constant threat of being killed as Jesus was.”

² tn Or “may also be revealed.”

NET Notes: 2Co 4:11

¹ tn Or “may also be revealed.”

² tn Grk “mortal flesh.”

NET Notes: 2Co 4:12

¹ tn Or “So then.”

² tn Grk “death is at work in us, but life in you”; the phrase “is at work in” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

NET Notes: 2Co 4:13

¹ tn Grk “spirit of faith according to.”

² sn A quotation from Ps 116:10.

NET Notes: 2Co 4:14

¹ tn Grk “speak, because.” A new sentence was started here in the translation, with the words “We do so” supplied to preserve the connection with the preceding statement.

² tc ‡ Several important witnesses (א C D F G Ψ 1881), as well as the Byzantine text, add κύριον (kurion) here, changing the reading to “the Lord Jesus.” Although the external evidence in favor of the shorter reading is slim, the witnesses are important, early, and diverse (Ì⁴⁶ B [0243 33] 629 [630] 1175* [1739] pc r sa). Very likely scribes with pietistic motives added the word κύριον, as they were prone to do, thus compounding this title for the Lord.

NET Notes: 2Co 4:15

¹ tn Or “that is abounding to.”

² tn Or “to abound.”

NET Notes: 2Co 4:16

¹ tn Or “do not lose heart.”

² tn Grk “our outer man.”

³ tn Grk “our inner [man].”

NET Notes: 2Co 4:17

¹ tn Grk “momentary lightness of affliction.”

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:3

^{( 2 )} But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

^{( 2 )} An objection: many hear the Gospel, and yet are no more enlightened by it than by the preaching of the Law. He answers, "The fault is in the men themselves, whose eyes Satan plucks out, who rules in this world." And yet nonetheless he and his associates set forth the most clear light of the Gospel to be seen and beheld, seeing that Christ only whom they preach, is he in whom God will be known, and as it were seen.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:4

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the ^{( d )} light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the ^{( e )} image of God, should shine unto them.

^{( d )} The light of plain and enlightening preaching, which shows forth the glory of Christ.

^{( e )} In whom the Father sets himself forth to be seen and beheld.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:5

^{( 3 )} For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for ^{( f )} Jesus' sake.

^{( 3 )} He removes according to his accustomed manner, all suspicion of ambition, affirming that he teaches faithfully, but as a servant, and witnessing that all this light which he and his associates give to others, proceeds from the Lord.

^{( f )} To preach this self same Jesus to you.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:6

For God, ^{( g )} who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the ^{( h )} light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

^{( g )} Who made with his word alone.

^{( h )} That being enlightened by God, we should in the same way give that light to others.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:7

^{( 4 )} But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, ^{( 5 )} that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

^{( 4 )} He takes away a stumbling block, which darkened among some, the bright shining of the ministry of the Gospel, that is, because the apostles were the most miserable of all men. Paul answers that he and his associates are as it were, earthen vessels, but yet there is in them a most precious treasure. ^{( 5 )} He brings marvellous reasons why the Lord does so afflict his principal servants, to the end, he says, that all men may perceive that they do not stand by any man's power, but by the singular power of God, in that they die a thousand times, but never perish.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:10

^{( 6 )} Always bearing about in the body the ^{( i )} dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

^{( 6 )} An amplification of the former sentence, in which he compares his afflictions to a daily death, and the power of the Spirit of God in Christ to life, who oppresses that death.

^{( i )} So Paul calls that miserable estate and condition that the faithful, but especially the minsters, are in.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:11

For we which ^{( k )} live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our ^{( l )} mortal flesh.

^{( k )} Who live that life, that is, by the Spirit of Christ, among so many and so great miseries.

^{( l )} Subject to that miserable condition.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:12

^{( 7 )} So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

^{( 7 )} A very wise conclusion: as if he would say, "Therefore, to be short, we die that you may live by our death", because they ventured into all those dangers for the building of the Church's sake, and they ceased not to strengthen and encourage all the faithful with the examples of their patience.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:13

^{( 8 )} We having the same ^{( m )} spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

^{( 8 )} He declares the former sentence, showing that he and his associates die in a way to purchase life for others, but yet nonetheless they are partakers of the same life with them: because they themselves do first believe that which they offer to others to believe, that is, that they also will be saved together with them in Christ.

^{( m )} The same faith, by the inspiration of the same Spirit.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:15

^{( 9 )} For all things [are] for your sakes, ^{( n )} that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

^{( 9 )} He shows how this constancy is preserved in them, that is, because they are doing it for God's glory, and the salvation of the churches committed to them.

^{( n )} When it will please God to deliver me, and restore me to you, that exceeding benefit which will be poured upon me will in like sort result to the glory of God, by the thanksgiving of many.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:16

For which cause we faint not; ^{( 10 )} but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is ^{( o )} renewed day by day.

^{( 10 )} He adds as it were a triumphant song, that he is outwardly afflicted, but inwardly he profits daily: and he is not bothered by all the miseries that may be sustained in this life, in comparison of that most constant and eternal glory.

^{( o )} Gathers new strength so that the outward man is not overcome with the miseries which come freshly one after another, being maintained and upheld with the strength of the inward man.

Geneva Bible: 2Co 4:17

For our ^{( p )} light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of ^{( q )} glory;

^{( p )} Afflictions are not called light, as though they were light in themselves, but because they pass away quickly, as indeed our whole life is not of very long continuance.

^{( q )} Which remains forever firm and stable, and can never be shaken.

Commentary -- Verse Range Notes

TSK Synopsis: 2Co 4:1-18

1 He declares how he has used all sincerity and faithful diligence in preaching the gospel,

7 and how the troubles and persecutions which he daily endured for the same did redound to the praise of God's power,

12 to the benefit of the church,

16 and to the apostle's own eternal glory.

Maclaren: 2Co 4:18

Looking At The Unseen

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.'--2 Cor. 4:18.

MEN may be said to be divided into two classes, materialists and idealists, in the widest sense of those two words. The mass care for, and are occupied by, and regard as really solid good, those goods which can be touched and enjoyed by sense. The minority--students, thinkers, men of ideas, moralists, and the like--believe in, and care for, impalpable spiritual riches. Everybody admits that the latter class is distinctly the higher. Now it is from no disregard to the importance and reality of that broad distinction that I insist, to begin with, that it is not the antithesis which, is in the Apostle's mind here. His notion of the things that are seen' and the things that are not seen' is a much grander and wider one than that. By the things that are seen' he means the whole of this visible world, with all its circumstances and relations, and by' the things that are not seen' he means the realities beyond the stars.

He means the same thing that we mean when we talk in a much less true and impressive contrast about the present and the future. To him the things that are not seen' are present instead of being, as we weakly and foolishly christen them, the future state.' And it makes all the difference whether we think of that august realm as lying far away ahead of us, or whether we feel that it is, as it is, in very deed, all round about us, and pressing in upon us, only that the veil '--that is to say, our flesh'--has come between us and it. Do not habitually think of these two sets of objects according to that misleading distinction present' and future,' but think of them rather as the things that are seen,' and the things that are not seen.'

I. Now, First, I Wish To Say A Word Or Two About What Such A Look Will Do For Us.

Paul's notion is, as you will see if you look at the context, that if we want to understand the visible, or to get the highest good out of the things that are seen, we must bring into the field of vision the things that are not seen.' The case with which he is dealing is that of a man in trouble. He talks about light affliction which is but for a moment, working out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look at the things which are not seen.' But the principle on which that statement is made, of course, has its widest application to all sorts and conditions of human life.

And the thought that emerges from it directly is that only when we take the things that are not seen' into account, and make them the standard and the scale by which we judge all things, do we understand the things that are seen.' That triumphant paradox of the Apostle's about the heavy burdens that pressed upon him and his brethren, lifelong as these burdens were, which yet he calls light' and but for a moment' is possible only when we open the shutter of the dungeon which we fancied was the whole universe, and look out on to the fair land that stretches beyond. A man who has seen the Himalayas will not be much overwhelmed by the height of Helvellyn. They who look out into the eternities have the true measuring rod and standard by which to estimate the duration and intensity of the things that are present. We are all tempted to do as villagers in some little hamlet do --think that their small local affairs are the world's affairs, and mighty, until they have been up to London and seen the scale of things there. If you and I would let the steady light of Eternity, and the sustaining pressure of the exceeding weight of glory' pour into our minds, we should carry with us a standard which would bring down the greatness, dwindle the duration, lighten the pressure, of the most. crushing sorrow, and would set in its true dimensions everything that is here. It is for want of that that we go on as we do, calculating wrongly what are the great things and what are the small things. When, like some of those prisoners in the Inquisition, the heavy iron weights are laid upon our half-crushed hearts, we are tempted to shriek, Oh, these will be my death!' instead of taking in that great vision which, as it makes all earthly riches dross, so it makes all crushing burdens and blows of sorrow light as a feather.

But, on the other hand, do not let us forget that this same standard which thus dwindles, also magnifies the small, and in a very solemn sense, makes eternal the else fleeting things of this life. For there is nothing that makes this present existence of ours so utterly contemptible, insignificant, and transitory, as to block out of our sight its connection with Eternity. And there is nothing which so lifts the commonplace into the solemn, and invests with everlasting and tremendous importance everything that a man does here, as to feel that it all tells on his condition away beyond there. The shafting is on this side of the wall, but the work that it does is through the wall there, in the other chamber; and you do not understand the cranks and the wheels here unless you know that they go through the partition and are doing something there beyond. If you shut out Eternity from our life in time, then it is an inexplicable riddle; and I, for my part, would venture to say that in that case, the men who answer the question, Is life worth living?' with a distinct negative, are wise. It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing,' unless the light of the things not seen' flashes and flares in upon it.

Further, this look of which my text speaks is the condition on which Time prepares for Eternity.

The Apostle is speaking about the effect of affliction in making ready for us an eternal weight of glory, and he Bays that is done while, or on condition that during the suffering, we are looking steadfastly towards the things that are not seen.' But no outward circumstances or events can prepare a weight of glory for us hereafter, unless they prepare us for the glory. Affliction works for us that blessed result, in the measure in which it fits us for that result. And so you will find that, only a verse or two after my text, Paul, using the same very significant and emphatic verb, writes inverting the order of things, and says He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God.' So that working the thing for us, and working us for the thing, are one and the same process. Or, to put it into plain English, our various duties and circumstances here will prepare the glory of Eternity for us if they prepare us for the glory of Eternity. But only in the measure in which these outward things do thus shape and mould our characters do they work out for us' an exceeding weight of glory.'

It is often thought that a man has been so miserable here that God is sure to give him future blessedness to recompense him. Well! that depends.' If he has used his miserableness as he will use it when he lets the light of the things not seen' in upon it, then, certainly, it will work out for him the blessed results. But if he does not, then, as certainly, it will not. Whilst there are many ways by which character is hammered and moulded and shaped into that which is fit to be clothed upon with the glory that is yonder, one of the foremost of these is the passing through things temporal with a continual regard to the things that are eternal. If you want to understand to-day you must bring Eternity into the account, and if you want to use to-day you must use it with the light of the eternal world full upon it. The sum of it all is, brethren, that the things seen cannot be estimated in their true character, unless they are regarded in immediate connection with the things that are unseen; and that the things seen will only prepare an eternal weight of glory for us when they prepare us for an eternal weight of glory.

II. And So, I Note That This Look At The Things Not Seen Is Only Possible Through Jesus Christ.

He is the only window which opens out and gives the vision of that far-off land. I, for my part, believe that, if I might use such a metaphor, He is the Columbus of the New World. Men believed, and argued, and doubted about the existence of it across the seas there, until a man went, and came back again, and then went to found a new city yonder. And men hoped for immortality, and believed after a fashion--some of them--in a future life, and dreaded that it might be true, and discussed and debated whether it was, but doubt clouded all minds, until One, our Brother, went away into the darkness, and came back again, in most respects as He had gone, and then departed once more to make ready a city in which all who love Him should finally dwell, and to which you and I may be sure that we shah emigrate. It is only in Jesus Christ that the look which my text enjoins is possible.

For not only has He given a certitude so that we need now not to say We think, we hope, we fear, we are pretty well sure, that there must be a life beyond,' but we can say We know.' Not only has He done this, but also in Him and His life of glory at God's right hand in heaven, is summed up all that we really can know about that future. We look into the dark-seas in vain; we look at Him, and, our knowledge, though limited, is blessed. All other adumbrations of a life beyond must necessarily be cast into the metaphorical forms or the negative symbols in which the New Testament abounds. We may speak of golden pavements, and thrones, and harps, and the like. We may say: No night there, no sighing, nor weeping, no burdened hearts, no toil, no pain, for the former things are passed away.' But a future life which is all described in metaphors, and a future life of which we know only that it is the negation of the disagreeables and limitations of the present, is but a poor affair. Here is the positive truth, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me on My throne.' We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.' And beyond that nearness to Christ, blessed communion with Christ, likeness to Christ, royalty derived from Christ, I think we neither know nor need to know anything about that life.

Not only is He our sole medium of knowledge and Himself the revelation of our heaven, but it is only by Him that man's thoughts and desires are drawn to, and find themselves at home in, that tremendous thought of immortality. I know not how it may be with you, but I am not ashamed to confess that to me the idea of eternal continuance of my conscious being is an awful thought, rather depressing and bewildering than delighting and attractive. I, for my part, do not believe that men generally do grapple to their hearts, with any gratitude or joy, that solemn belief of immortal life unless they feel that it is life with, and in, and like, Jesus Christ. To depart' is dreary, and it is only when we can say and to be with Christ' that it becomes distinctly' far better.' He is, if I may so say, at once telescope and star. By Him we see Him; we see, seeing Him, that the things that are unseen all cluster round Himself and become blessed.

III. And Now, Lastly, This Look Should Be Habitual With All Christian People.

Paul takes it for granted that every Christian man is, as the habitual direction of his thoughts, looking towards those things that are not seen.' The original shows that even more distinctly than our translation, but our translation shows it plainly enough. He does not say works for us an exceeding weight of glory for; but while' we look, as if it were a matter of course. He took it for granted as to these Corinthians. I wonder if he would be warranted in taking it for granted about us?

Note what sort of a look it is which produces these blessed effects. The word which the Apostle employs here is a more pointed one than the ordinary one for seeing.' It is translated in other places in the Now Testament, Mark' them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample, and the like. And it implies a concentrated, protracted effort and interested gaze. A man, standing on the deck of a ship, casts a languid eye for a moment out on to the horizon, and sees nothing. A keen-eyed sailor by his side shades his eyes with his hand, and shuts out cross-lights, and looks, and peers, and keeps his eyes steady, and he sees the filmy outline of the mountain land. If you look for a minute, not much caring whether you see anything or not, and then turn away, and get your eye dazzled with all those vulgar, crude, high colours round about you here on earth, it is very little that you will see of the things that are not seen.' Concentrated attention, and a steadfast look, are wanted to make the invisible visible. You have to alter the focus of your eye if you are to see the thing that is afar off.

There has to be a positive shutting out of all other things, as is emphatically taught in the text by putting first the not looking at the things that are seen.' Here they are pressing in upon our eyeballs, all round us, insisting on being looked at, and unless we resolutely avert our eyes, we shall not see anything else. They monopolise us unless we resist the intrusive appeals that they make to us. We are like men down in some fertile valley, surrounded by rich vegetation, but seeing nothing beyond the green sides of the glen. We have to go up to the hill-top if we are to look out over the flashing ocean, and behold afar off the towers of the mother city across the restless waves. Brethren, unless you shut out the world you will never see the things that are not seen.

Now, as I have said, the Apostle regards this conscious effort at bringing ourselves into touch, in mind and heart and faith, with the things that are not seen,' as being a habitual characteristic of Christian men. I am very much afraid that the present generation of Christian people do not, in anything like the degree in which they should, recreate and strengthen themselves with the contemplation which he here recommends. It seems to me, for instance, that we do not hear nearly as much in pulpits about the life beyond the grave as we used to do when I was a boy. And, though I confess I speak from limited knowledge, it seems to me that these great motives which lie in the thought of Eternity and our place there, are by no means as prominent in the minds of the Christian people of this generation as they used to be. Partly, I suppose, that arises from the wholesome emphasis which has been given of late years to the present day, and this-side-the grave effects of Christianity, upon character and life. Partly it arises, I think, from the half-consciousness of being surrounded by an atmosphere of scepticism and unbelief as to a future life, and from the most unwise, inexpedient, and cowardly yielding to the temptation to say very little about the distinctive features of Christianity, and to dwell rather upon those which are sure to be recognised by even unbelieving people. And it comes, too, from the lack of faith, which, again, it tends mightily to increase.

Oh, dear brethren! our consciences tell us what different people we should be if habitually there shone before us that great, solemn issue to which we are all tending. Variations in the atmosphere there will always be, and sometimes the distant outlines will be clearer and sharper than at others, and the colours will shine out more distinctly. But surely it should not be that our vision of the Eternal should be like the vision that dwellers amongst the mountains have of the summits. They say that some of the great peaks of the world are swathed in mist all day long, and that only for a few moments in the morning, or for a brief space in the evening, does the solemn summit gleam rosy in the light. And that, I am afraid, is very much like the degree in which most of us look at the things that are not seen,' and so we are feeble, and we do not understand the things that are not seen'; and we do not get the good out of them.

Dear brethren, let us turn away our eyes from the gauds that we can see, and open the eyes of our spirits on the things that are, the things where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Surely, surely, it is madness that when two sets of objects are before us, the one lasting for a moment, and then dying down into black nothingness, and the other shining on for ever; and when our look' settles whether we shall share the fate of the one or of the other, we should choose to gaze with all our eyes and hearts at the perishable and turn away from the permanent. Surely, if it is true that the things which are seen are temporal, common-sense, and a reasonable regard for our own well-being, bid us look at the eternal things which are not seen,' since only so can the light and the momentary afflictions, joys, sorrows, or circumstances, work out for us, and work us for' a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.'

MHCC: 2Co 4:1-7

The best of men would faint, if they did not receive mercy from God. And that mercy which has helped us out, and helped us on, hitherto, we may rely upon to help us even to the end. The apostles had no base and wicked designs, covered with fair and specious pretences. They did not try to make their ministry serve a turn. Sincerity or uprightness will keep the favourable opinion of wise and good men. Christ by his gospel makes a glorious discovery to the minds of men. But the design of the devil is, to keep men in ignorance; and when he cannot keep the light of the gospel of Christ out of the world, he spares no pains to keep men from the gospel, or to set them against it. The rejection of the gospel is here traced to the wilful blindness and wickedness of the human heart. Self was not the matter or the end of the apostles' preaching; they preached Christ as Jesus, the Saviour and Deliverer, who saves to the uttermost all that come to God through him. Ministers are servants to the souls of men; they must avoid becoming servants to the humours or the lusts of men. It is pleasant to behold the sun in the firmament; but it is more pleasant and profitable for the gospel to shine in the heart. As light was the beginning of the first creation; so, in the new creation, the light of the Spirit is his first work upon the soul. The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels. The ministers of the gospel are subject to the same passions and weaknesses as other men. God could have sent angels to make known the glorious doctrine of the gospel, or could have sent the most admired sons of men to teach the nations, but he chose humbler, weaker vessels, that his power might be more glorified in upholding them, and in the blessed change wrought by their ministry.

MHCC: 2Co 4:8-12

The apostles were great sufferers, yet they met with wonderful support. Believers may be forsaken of their friends, as well as persecuted by enemies; but their God will never leave them nor forsake them. There may be fears within, as well as fightings without; yet we are not destroyed. The apostle speaks of their sufferings as a counterpart of the sufferings of Christ, that people might see the power of Christ's resurrection, and of grace in and from the living Jesus. In comparison with them, other Christians were, even at that time, in prosperous circumstances.

MHCC: 2Co 4:13-18

The grace of faith is an effectual remedy against fainting in times of trouble. They knew that Christ was raised, and that his resurrection was an earnest and assurance of theirs. The hope of this resurrection will encourage in a suffering day, and set us above the fear of death. Also, their sufferings were for the advantage of the church, and to God's glory. The sufferings of Christ's ministers, as well as their preaching and conversation, are for the good of the church and the glory of God. The prospect of eternal life and happiness was their support and comfort. What sense was ready to pronounce heavy and long, grievous and tedious, faith perceived to be light and short, and but for a moment. The weight of all temporal afflictions was lightness itself, while the glory to come was a substance, weighty, and lasting beyond description. If the apostle could call his heavy and long-continued trials light, and but for a moment, what must our trifling difficulties be! Faith enables to make this right judgment of things. There are unseen things, as well as things that are seen. And there is this vast difference between them; unseen things are eternal, seen things but temporal, or temporary only. Let us then look off from the things which are seen; let us cease to seek for worldly advantages, or to fear present distresses. Let us give diligence to make our future happiness sure.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 4:1-7

The apostle had, in the foregoing chapter, been magnifying his office, upon the consideration of the excellency or glory of that gospel about which he did officiate; and now in this chapter his design is to vindicate their ministry from the accusation of false teachers, who charged them as deceitful workers, or endeavoured to prejudice the minds of the people against them on account of their sufferings. He tells them, therefore, how they believed, and how they showed their value for their office as ministers of the gospel. They were not puffed up with pride, but spurred on to great diligence: " Seeing we have this ministry, are so much distinguished and dignified, we do not take state upon ourselves, nor indulge in idleness, but are excited to the better performance of our duty."

I. Two things in general we have an account of: - Their constancy and sincerity in their work and labour, concerning which observe, 1. Their constancy and perseverance in their work are declared: " We faint not (2Co 4:1) under the difficulty of our work, nor do we desist from our labour."And this their stedfastness was owing to the mercy of God. From the same mercy and grace from which they received the apostleship (Rom 1:5), they received strength to persevere in the work of that office. Note, As it is great mercy and grace to be called to be saints, and especially to be counted faithful, and be put into the ministry (1Ti 1:12), so it is owing to the mercy and grace of God if we continue faithful and persevere in our work with diligence. The best men in the world would faint in their work, and under their burdens, if they did not receive mercy from God. By the grace of God I am what I am, said this great apostle in his former epistle to these Corinthians, 1Co 15:10. And that mercy which has helped us out, and helped us on, hitherto, we may rely upon to help us even to the end. 2. Their sincerity in their work is avouched (2Co 4:2) in several expressions: We have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. The things of dishonesty are hidden things, that will not bear the light; and those who practise them are, or should be, ashamed of them, especially when they are known. Such things the apostle did not allow of, but did renounce and avoid with indignation: Not walking in craftiness, or in disguise, acting with art and cunning, but in great simplicity, and with open freedom. They had no base and wicked designs covered with fair and specious pretences of something that was good. Nor did they in their preaching handle the word of God deceitfully; but, as he said before, they used great plainness of speech, and did not make their ministry serve a turn, or truckle to base designs. They had not cheated the people with falsehood instead of truth. Some think the apostle alludes to the deceit which treacherous gamesters use, or that of hucksters in the market, who mix bad wares with good. The apostles acted not like such persons, but they manifested the truth to every man's conscience, declaring nothing but what in their own conscience they believed to be true, and what might serve for the conviction of their consciences who heard them, who were to judge for themselves, and to give an account for themselves. And all this they did as in the sight of God, desirous thus to commend themselves to God, and to the consciences of men, by their undisguised sincerity. Note, A stedfast adherence to the truths of the gospel will commend ministers and people; and sincerity or uprightness will preserve a man's reputation, and the good opinion of wise and good men concerning him.

II. An objection is obviated, which might be thus formed: "If it be thus, how then does it come to pass, that the gospel is hid, and proves ineffectual, as to some who hear it?"To which the apostle answers, by showing that this was not the fault of the gospel, nor of the preachers thereof. But the true reasons of this are, 1. Those are lost souls to whom the gospel is hid, or is ineffectual, 2Co 4:3. Christ came to save that which was lost (Mat 17:11), and the gospel of Christ is sent to save such; and, if this do not find and save them, they are lost for ever; they must never expect any thing else to save them, for there is no other method or means of salvation. The hiding of the gospel therefore from souls is both an evidence and cause of their ruin. 2. The god of this world hath blinded their minds, 2Co 4:4. They are under the influence and power of the devil, who is here called the god of this world, and elsewhere the prince of this world, because of the great interest he has in this world, the homage that is paid to him by multitudes in this world, and the great sway that, by divine permission, he bears in the world, and in the hearts of his subjects, or rather slaves. And as he is the prince of darkness, and ruler of the darkness of this world, so he darkens the understandings of men, and increases their prejudices, and supports his interest by keeping them in the dark, blinding their minds with ignorance, and error, and prejudices, that they should not behold the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God. Observe, (1.) Christ's design by his gospel is to make a glorious discovery of God to the minds of men. Thus, as the image of God, he demonstrates the power and wisdom of God, and the grace and mercy of God for their salvation. But, (2.) The design of the devil is to keep men in ignorance; and, when he cannot keep the light of the gospel out of the world, he makes it his great business to keep it out of the hearts of men.

III. A proof of their integrity is given, 2Co 4:5. They made it their business to preach Christ, and not themselves: We preach not ourselves. Self was not the matter nor the end of the apostles' preaching: they did not give their own notions and private opinions, nor their passions and prejudices, for the word and will of God; nor did they seek themselves, to advance their own secular interest or glory. But they preached Christ Jesus the Lord; and thus it did become them and behove them to do, as being Christ's servants. Their business was to make their Master known to the world as the Messiah, or the Christ of God, and as Jesus, the only Saviour of men, and as the rightful Lord, and to advance his honour and glory. Note, All the lines of Christian doctrine centre in Christ; and in preaching Christ we preach all we should preach. "As to ourselves, "says the apostle, " we preach, or declare, that we are your servants for Jesus' sake. "This was no compliment, but a real profession of a readiness to do good to their souls, and to promote their spiritual and eternal interest, and that for Jesus' sake; not for their own sake or their own advantage, but for Christ's sake, that they might imitate his great example, and advance his glory. Note, Ministers should not be of proud spirits, lording it over God's heritage, who are servants to the souls of men: yet, at the same time, they must avoid the meanness of spirit implied in becoming the servants of the humours or the lusts of men; if they should thus seek to please men, they would not be the servants of Christ, Gal 1:10. And there was good reason, 1. Why they should preach Christ. For by gospel light we have the knowledge of the glory of God, which shines in the face of Jesus Christ, 2Co 4:6. And the light of this Sun of righteousness is more glorious than that light which God commanded to shine out of darkness. It is a pleasant thing for the eye to behold the sun in the firmament; but it is more pleasant and profitable when the gospel shines in the heart. Note, As light was the first-born of the first creation, so it is in the new creation: the illumination of the Spirit is his first work upon the soul. The grace of God created such a light in the soul that those who were sometimes darkness are made light in the Lord, Eph 5:8. 2. Why they should not preach themselves: because they were but earthen vessels, things of little or no worth or value. Here seems to be an allusion to the lamps which Gideon's soldiers carried in earthen pitchers, Jdg 7:16. The treasure of gospel light and grace is put into earthen vessels. The ministers of the gospel are weak and frail creatures, and subject to like passions and infirmities as other men; they are mortal, and soon broken in pieces. And God has so ordered it that the weaker the vessels are the stronger his power may appear to be, that the treasure itself should be valued the more. Note, There is an excellency of power in the gospel of Christ, to enlighten the mind, to convince the conscience, to convert the soul, and to rejoice the heart; but all this power is from God the author, and not from men, who are but instruments, so that God in all things must be glorified.

Matthew Henry: 2Co 4:8-18

In these verses the apostle gives an account of their courage and patience under all their sufferings, where observe,

I. How their sufferings, and patience under them, are declared, 2Co 4:8-12. The apostles were great sufferers; therein they followed their Master: Christ had told them that in the world they should have tribulation, and so they had; yet they met with wonderful support, great relief, and many allays of their sorrows. " We are, "says the apostle, " troubled on every side, afflicted many ways, and we meet with almost all sorts of troubles; yet not distressed, 2Co 4:8. We are not hedged in nor cooped up, because we can see help in God, and help from God, and have liberty of access to God."Again, "We are perplexed, often uncertain, and in doubt what will become of us, and not always without anxiety in our minds on this account; yet not in despair (2Co 4:8), even in our greatest perplexities, knowing that God is able to support us, and to deliver us, and in him we always place our trust and hope."Again, "We are persecuted by men, pursued with hatred and violence from place to place, as men not worthy to live; yet not forsaken of God,"2Co 4:9. Good men may be sometimes forsaken of their friends, as well as persecuted by their enemies; but God will never leave them nor forsake them. Again, "We are sometimes dejected, or cast down; the enemy may in a great measure prevail, and our spirits begin to fail us; there may be fears within, as well as fightings without; yet we are not destroyed, "2Co 4:9. Still they were preserved, and kept their heads above water. Note, Whatever condition the children of God may be in, in this world, they have a " but not "to comfort themselves with; their case sometimes is bad, yea very bad, but not so bad as it might be. The apostle speaks of their sufferings as constant, and as a counterpart of the sufferings of Christ, 2Co 4:10. The sufferings of Christ were, after a sort, re-acted in the sufferings of Christians; thus did they bear about the dying of the Lord Jesus in their body, setting before the world the great example of a suffering Christ, that the life of Jesus might also be made manifest, that is, that people might see the power of Christ's resurrection, and the efficacy of grace in and from the living Jesus, manifested in and towards them, who did yet live, though they were always delivered to death (2Co 4:11), and though death worked in them (2Co 4:12), they being exposed to death, and ready to be swallowed up by death continually. So great were the sufferings of the apostles that, in comparison with them, other Christians were, even at this time, in prosperous circumstances: Death worketh in us; but life in you, 2Co 4:12.

II. What it was that kept them from sinking and fainting under their sufferings, 2Co 4:13-18. Whatever the burdens and troubles of good men may be, they have cause enough not to faint.

1. Faith kept them from fainting: We have the same spirit of faith (2Co 4:13), that faith which is of the operation of the Spirit; the same faith by which the saints of old did and suffered such great things. Note, The grace of faith is a sovereign cordial, and an effectual antidote against fainting-fits in troublous times. The spirit of faith will go far to bear up the spirit of a man under his infirmities; and as the apostle had David's example to imitate, who said (Psa 116:10), I have believed, and therefore have I spoken, so he leaves us his example to imitate: We also believe, says he, and therefore speak. Note, As we receive help and encouragement from the good words and examples of others, so we should be careful to give a good example to others.

2. Hope of the resurrection kept them from sinking, 2Co 4:14. They knew that Christ was raised, and that his resurrection was an earnest and assurance of theirs. This he had treated of largely in his former epistle to these Corinthians, 1Co 15:1. And therefore their hope was firm, being well grounded, that he who raised up Christ the head will also raise up all his members. Note, The hope of the resurrection will encourage us in a suffering day, and set us above the fear of death; for what reason has a good Christian to fear death, that dies in hope of a joyful resurrection?

3. The consideration of the glory of God and the benefit of the church, by means of their sufferings, kept them from fainting, 2Co 4:15. Their sufferings were for the church's advantage (2Co 1:6), and thus did redound to God's glory. For, when the church is edified, then God is glorified; and we may well afford to bear sufferings patiently and cheerfully when we see others are the better for them - if they are instructed and edified, if they are confirmed and comforted. Note, The sufferings of Christ's ministers, as well as their preaching and conversation, are intended for the good of the church and the glory of God.

4. The thoughts of the advantage their souls would reap by the sufferings of their bodies kept them from fainting: Though our outward man perish, our inward man is renewed day by day, 2Co 4:16. Here note, (1.) We have every one of us an outward and an inward man, a body and a soul. (2.) If the outward man perish, there is no remedy, it must and will be so, it was made to perish. (3.) It is our happiness if the decays of the outward man do contribute to the renewing of the inward man, if afflictions outwardly are gain to us inwardly, if when the body is sick, and weak, and perishing, the soul is vigorous and prosperous. The best of men have need of further renewing of the inward man, even day by day. Where the good work is begun there is more work to be done, for carrying it forward. And as in wicked men things grow every day worse and worse, so in godly men they grow better and better.

5. The prospect of eternal life and happiness kept them from fainting, and was a mighty support and comfort. As to this observe, (1.) The apostle and his fellow-sufferers saw their afflictions working towards heaven, and that they would end at last (2Co 4:17), whereupon they weighed things aright in the balance of the sanctuary; they did as it were put the heavenly glory in one scale and their earthly sufferings in the other; and, pondering things in their thoughts, they found afflictions to be light, and the glory of heaven to be a far more exceeding weight. That which sense was ready to pronounce heavy and long, grievous and tedious, faith perceived to be light and short, and but for a moment. On the other hand, the worth and weight of the crown of glory, as they are exceedingly great in themselves, so they are esteemed to be by the believing soul - far exceeding all his expressions and thoughts; and it will be a special support in our sufferings when we can perceive them appointed as the way and preparing us for the enjoyment of the future glory. (2.) Their faith enabled them to make this right judgment of things: We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, 2Co 4:18. It is by faith that we see God, who is invisible (Heb 11:27), and by this we look to an unseen heaven and hell, and faith is the evidence of things not seen. Note, [1.] There are unseen things, as well as things that are seen. [2.] There is this vast difference between them: unseen things are eternal, seen things but temporal, or temporary only. [3.] By faith we not only discern these things, and the great difference between them, but by this also we take our aim at unseen things, and chiefly regard them, and make it our end and scope, not to escape present evils, and obtain present good, both of which are temporal and transitory, but to escape future evil and obtain future good things, which though unseen, are real, and certain, and eternal; and faith is the substance of things hoped for, as well as the evidence of things not seen, Heb 11:1.

Barclay: 2Co 4:1-6

In this passage Paul has something to say, either directly or by implication, about four different people or sets of people.

(i) Right at the beginning he has something to say about himself. He says that he never loses heart in the great task that has been given to him, and by implication he tells us why. Two things keep him going. (a) There is the consciousness of a great task. A man who is conscious of a great task can do amazing things. One of the great works of musical genius is Handel's Messiah. It is on record that the whole work was composed and written down in twenty-two days, and that during all that time Handel would scarcely consent to eat or to sleep. A great task brings its own strength with it. (b) There is the memory of mercy received. It was Paul's aim to spend all his life seeking to do something for the love which had redeemed him.

(ii) Then by implication Paul has something to say about his opponents and his slanderers. Again there is the echo of unhappy things. Behind this we can see that his enemies had levelled three charges against him. They had said that he used underhand methods, that he exercised an unscrupulous cleverness to get his own way, and that he adulterated the message of the gospel. When our motives are misinterpreted, our actions misconstrued and our words twisted out of their real meaning, it is a comfort to remember that this also happened to Paul.

(iii) Paul goes on to speak of those who have refused to accept the gospel. He insists that he has proclaimed the gospel in such a way that any man with any kind of conscience at all is bound to admit its claim and its appeal. Even in spite of that some are deaf to its appeal and blind to its glory. What of them?

Paul says something very difficult about them. He says that the god of this world has blinded their minds so that they cannot believe. All through the Bible the writers are conscious that in this world there is a power of evil. Sometimes that power is called Satan, sometimes the Devil. Three times John makes Jesus speak of the prince of this world and of his defeat. (Joh 12:31, Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11). Paul in Eph 2:2speaks of the prince of the power of the air, and here he speaks of the god of this world. Even in the Lord's Prayer there is a reference to this malign power, for it is most probable that the correct translation of Mat 6:13is "Deliver us from the Evil One." At the back of this idea as it emerges in the New Testament there are certain influences.

(a) The Persian faith called Zoroastrianism sees the whole universe as a battle-ground between the god of the light and the god of the dark, between Ormuzd and Ahriman. That which settles a man's destiny is the side he chooses in this cosmic conflict. When the Jews were subject to the Persians they came into contact with that idea and it undoubtedly coloured their thinking.

(b) Basic to the Jewish faith is the thought of the two ages, the present age and the age to come. By the time of the Christian era, the Jews had come to think of the present age as incurably bad and destined for total destruction when the age to come dawned. It could fitly be said that the present age was under the power of the god of this world and at enmity with the true God.

© It has to be remembered that this idea of an evil and a hostile power is not so much a theological idea, as a fact of experience. If we regard it in a theological way we are up against serious difficulties. Where did that evil power come from in a universe created by God? What is its ultimate end? But if we regard it as a matter of experience, we all know how real the evil of the world is. Robert Louis Stevenson somewhere says, "You know the Caledonian Railway Station in Edinburgh? One cold, east windy morning I met Satan there."

Everyone knows the kind of experience of which Stevenson speaks. However difficult the idea of a power of evil may be theologically or philosophically, it is one which experience understands only too well. Those who cannot accept the good news of Christ are those who have so given themselves over to the evil of the world that they can no longer hear God's invitation. It is not that God has abandoned them; they by their own conduct have shut themselves off from him.

(iv) Paul has something to say about Jesus. The great thought that he drives home here is that in Jesus Christ we see what God is like. "He who has seen me," said Jesus, "has seen the Father." (Joh 14:9). When Paul preached he did not say, "Look at me!" He said, "Look at Jesus Christ! and there you will see the glory of God come to earth in a form that a man can understand."

Barclay: 2Co 4:7-15

Paul begins this passage with the thought that it might well be that the privileges which a Christian enjoys might move him to pride. But life is designed to keep a man from pride. However great his Christian glory he is still a mortal man; still the victim of circumstances; still subject to the chances and the changes of human life; still a mortal body with all that body's weakness and pain. He is like a man with a precious treasure contained in an earthen vessel, which itself is weak and worthless. We talk a great deal about the power of man and about the vast forces which he now controls. But the real characteristic of man is not his power but his weakness. As Pascal said, "A drop of water or a breath of air can kill him."

We have already seen what a proud and glorious thing a triumph was for a Roman general. But there were two things designed to keep the general from pride. First, as he rode in the chariot with the crown held over his head, the populace not only shouted their applause but also, ever and again, they shouted, "Look behind you and remember you will die." Second, at the very end of the procession there came the conquering general's own soldiers, and they did two things as they marched. They sang songs in the general's praise, but they also shouted ribald jests and insults to keep him from too much pride.

Life has surrounded us with infirmity, although Christ has surrounded us with glory, so that we may remember that the infirmity is ours and the glory is God's, and recognize our own utter dependence on him.

Paul goes on to describe this Christian life, in which our infirmity is intermingled with God's glory, in a series of paradoxes.

(i) We are sore pressed at every point but not hemmed in. There are all kinds of pressure on us, but we are never in so tight a corner that there is no way out. It is characteristic of the Christian that, even if his body be confined in some difficult environment or some narrow circumstance, there is always an escape route for his spirit to the spaciousness of God.

Matthew Arnold writes of his meeting with a minister of Christ in the London slums.

" 'Twas August and the fierce sun overhead

Smote on the squalid slums of Bethnal Green,

And the pale weaver, through his window seen

In Spitalfields, look'd thrice dispirited.

I met a preacher there I knew, and said:

'Ill and o'erwork'd, how fare you in this scene?'

'Bravely,' said he, 'for I of late have been

Much cheer'd with thoughts of Christ, the living bread'."

His body might be hemmed in in a slum but his soul reached out into the spaciousness of communion with Christ.

(ii) We are persecuted by men but never abandoned by God. One of the most notable things about the martyrs is that it was amidst their sorest times that they had their sweetest times with Christ. As Joan of Arc said when she was abandoned by those who should have stood by her, "It is better to be alone with God. His friendship will not fail me, nor his counsel, nor his love. In his strength, I will dare and dare and dare until I die." As the psalmist wrote, "When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." (Psa 27:10). Nothing can alter the loyalty of God.

(iii) We are at our wit's end but never at our hope's end. There are times when the Christian does not know what is to be done, but even then he never doubts that something can be done. There are times when he cannot well see where life is going, but he never doubts that it is going somewhere. If he must "stoop into a dark, tremendous sea of cloud", he still knows that he will emerge. There are times when a Christian has to learn the hardest lesson of all, the very lesson which Jesus himself had to learn in Gethsemane--how to accept what he cannot understand and still to say, "God, Thou art love; I build my faith on that."

Francis Thompson wrote of the presence of Christ on the darkest days:

"But (when so sad thou canst not sadder)

Cry--and upon thy so sore loss

Shall shine the traffic of Jacob's ladder

Pitched betwixt heaven and Charing Cross.

Yea, in the night, my soul, my daughter,

Cry--clinging heaven by the hems;

And lo, Christ walking on the water

Not of Gennesaret but Thames."

A man may be at his wit's end but he can never be at his hope's end while he has the presence of Christ.

(iv) We are knocked down but not knocked out. The supreme characteristic of the Christian is not that he does not fall, but that every time he falls he rises again. It is not that he is never beaten, but he is never ultimately defeated. He may lose a battle, but he knows that in the end he can never lose the campaign. Browning in his Epilogue describes the gallant character:

"One who never turned his back but marched breast forward,

Never doubted clouds would break,

Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would

triumph,

Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,

Sleep to wake."

After he has stated the great paradoxes of the Christian life Paul goes on to give the secret of his own life, the reasons why he was able to do and to endure as he did.

(i) He was well aware that if a man would share the life of Christ he must share his risks, that if a man wished to live with Christ he must be ready to die with him. Paul knew and accepted the inexorable law of the Christian life--"No Cross, No Crown."

(ii) He faced everything in the memory of the power of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. He was able to speak with such courage and such disregard of personal safety because he believed that even if death took him, that God could and would also raise him up. He was certain that he could draw on a power which was sufficient for life and greater than death.

(iii) He bore everything in the conviction that through his sufferings and trials others were being led into the light and love of God. The great Boulder Dam scheme in America brought fertility to vast areas which had once been desert. In the making of it there were inevitably those who lost their lives. When the scheme was completed, a tablet was let into the wall of the dam bearing the names of the workmen who had died, and below stands the inscription: "These died that the desert might rejoice and blossom as the rose." Paul could go through what he did because he knew that it was not for nothing; he knew that it was to bring others to Christ. When a man has the conviction that what is happening to him is happening literally for Christ's sake he can face anything.

Barclay: 2Co 4:16-18

Here Paul sets out the secret of endurance.

(i) All through life it must happen that a man's bodily strength fades away, but all through life it ought to happen that a man's soul keeps growing. The sufferings which leave a man with a weakened body may be the very things which strengthen the sinews of his soul. It was the prayer of the poet, "Let me grow lovely growing old." From the physical point of view life may be a slow but inevitable slipping down the slope that leads to death. But from the spiritual point of view life is a climbing up the hill that leads to the presence of God. No man need fear the years, for they bring him nearer, not to death, but to God.

(ii) Paul was convinced that anything he had to suffer in this world would be as nothing compared with the glory he would enjoy in the next. He was certain that God would never be in any man's debt. Alistair Maclean, minister father of the author of H.M.S. Ulysses and the rest, tells of an old Highland woman who had to leave the clean air and the blue waters and the purple hills and live in the slum of a great city. She still lived close to God, and one day she said, "God will make it up to me, and I will see the flowers again."

In Christmas Eve Browning writes of the martyr whose story was set out "on the rude tablet overhead."

"I was born sickly, poor and mean,

A slave; no misery could screen

The holders of the pearl of price

From Caesar's envy,--therefore twice

I fought with beasts and three times saw

My children suffer by his law;

At last my own release was earned;

I was some time in being burned,

But at the close a Hand came through

The fire above my head, and drew

My soul to Christ, whom now I see.

Sergius, a brother, writes for me

This testimony on the wall--

For me, I have forgot it all."

Earth's suffering was forgotten in the glory of heaven.

It is a notable fact that in all the gospel story Jesus never foretold his death without foretelling his Resurrection. He who suffers for Christ will share his glory. God's own honour is pledged to that.

(iii) For that very reason, a man's eyes must be ever fixed, not on the things that are seen, but on the things that are unseen. The things that are seen, the things of this world, have their day and cease to be; the things that are unseen, the things of heaven, last forever.

There are two ways of looking at life. We can look at it as a slow but inexorable journey away from God. Wordsworth in his Ode on the Intimations of Immortality had the idea that when a child came into this world he had some memory of heaven which the years slowly took away from him.

"Trailing clouds of glory do we come,"

but,

"Shades of the prison house begin to close

About the growing boy."

And in the end the man is earthbound and heaven is forgotten. Thomas Hood wrote with wistful pathos:

"I remember, I remember

The fir-trees dark and high.

I used to think their slender spires

Were close against the sky.

It was a childish ignorance

But now 'tis little joy

To know, I'm farther off from heaven

Than when I was a boy."

If we think only of the things that are visible we are bound to see life that way. But there is another way. The writer to the Hebrews said of Moses: "He endured as seeing him who is invisible." (Heb 11:27). Robert Louis Stevenson tells of an old byreman. Someone was sympathizing with him about his daily work amidst the muck of the byre and asking him how he could go on doing it day in and day out, and the old man answered, "He that has something ayont (beyond) need never weary."

Constable: 2Co 1:12--8:1

II. ANSWERS TO INSINUATIONS ABOUT THE SINCERITY OF PAUL'S COMMITMENT TO THE CORINTHIANS AND TO THE MINISTRY 1:12--7:16

Second Corinthians is a rather difficult book to outline because it is a very personal letter.

"Traditionally, Paul's two letters to Timothy and one to Titus are called the Pastorals.' But 2 Corinthians has a strong claim to be recognized as the Pastoral Epistle par excellence, because it contains not pure' but applied' pastoralia."⁶³

Paul's purpose in writing was not to teach doctrine primarily, though he did so to a considerable extent. It was primarily to answer the criticisms of opponents who were seeking to undermine his ministry, especially in Corinth.

"Here it is his strong feeling rather than any deliberate arrangement that suggests the order of his utterances. Nevertheless, although exact analysis is seldom possible owing to digressions and repetitions, yet some divisions are fairly clear, and the letter becomes more intelligible when they are noted."⁶⁴

Constable: 2Co 3:1--6:11

B. Exposition of Paul's view of the ministry 3:1-6:10

The apostle proceeded to explain his view of Christian ministry further so his readers would appreciate and adopt his viewpoint and not lose heart.

Constable: 2Co 3:12--4:7

2. The great boldness of the new ministers 3:12-4:6

The superiority of Christian ministry should produce great openness and encouragement within Christ's ministers. Paul developed these qualities in this section to enable his readers to understand his behavior and to respond in like manner in their own ministries.

Constable: 2Co 4:1-6

The encouragement of Christian ministry 4:1-6

4:1 Paul now returned to the theme of being a minister of the New Covenant (3:6). Since we have a ministry in which the Spirit opens people's eyes and transforms their characters we can feel encouraged. Our job is not simply to lay God's high standards on people, as Moses did, but to provide God's grace to them as the Holy Spirit's agents. Paul acknowledged that God has given us this privilege in His mercy, not because we deserve to be the ministers of a superior covenant.

". . . since the glory of the new covenant ministry remains' (3:11), as opposed to the old that is abolished' (3:11), it is appropriate that the new covenant minister remains,' that is, perseveres,' does not give up.'"¹³⁸

4:2 In view of our inevitable success we do not need to resort to disgraceful subtleties and subterfuge. Paul's critics in Corinth were apparently accusing him of deceitful behavior (cf. 7:2; 12:16). He continues here his self-defense from 2:17. Paul did not need to trick his hearers because the Spirit would enlighten them concerning the truth and transform their characters. Some of the Corinthians may have concluded that because Paul did not require obedience to the Mosaic Law he was watering down the gospel to make it more acceptable. They apparently accused him of preaching "easy believism."

"In any self-defense, self-commendation must play some part. But Paul's self-commendation was distinctive. He commended himself, not by self-vindication at every point, but simply by the open declaration of the truth (in particular, the gospel and its implications). His appeal was not directed to a partisan spirit or the prejudices of men but to every man's conscience.' His self-commendation was undertaken with God as onlooker."¹³⁹

4:3-4 By veiled here Paul meant obscure. The reason some people did not immediately understand and appreciate the gospel was that Satan had blinded their minds. It was not because Paul had sought to deceive his hearers by making the gospel obscure. The gospel is obscure to the lost until the Spirit enlightens their minds (3:16-17; cf. John 16:8-11; 1 Cor. 2:14-16).

"Apparently, Paul is responding to criticism that, to some, his gospel is no revelation at all, in other words, it is veiled.' . . . From whom, according to them, would his gospel be veiled'? Their reply would be, It is veiled from fellow Jews because Paul's message is unacceptable to them.'"¹⁴⁰

The god of this age is not God the Father but Satan (cf. Matt. 4:8-9; John 12:31; 16:11; Gal. 1:4). He is the one whom this world has made its god.

Jesus Christ is the image (Gr. eikon) of God in the sense that He visibly and accurately represents the invisible God (cf. John 1:18; Col. 1:15). The personality and distinctiveness of God are especially in view when this Greek word describes Jesus in relation to God.¹⁴¹

"The glorified Christ is the ultimate and eschatological revelation of God. There is nothing more that can or will be seen of God."¹⁴²

4:5 Even though Paul occasionally needed to commend himself to every man's conscience (v. 2; 6:4), he never promoted himself. Instead he proclaimed Jesus Christ as a faithful slave announces his master rather than himself. This is what he had done in Corinth. He did not conduct himself as the spiritual overlord of these Christians (1:24). A herald draws attention to himself only to promote the one he or she announces. This is also what Jesus did in the Incarnation. Both Paul and Jesus took the role of a servant and bound themselves to fulfill God's mission for them, which involved serving others.

"What humbler view of himself could a messenger of the gospel take than to regard himself not only as a bondservant of Jesus Christ (as Paul delights to call himself; cf. Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:10; Phil. 1:1) but even as the bondservant of those to whom he ministers?"¹⁴³

"It would be hard to describe the Christian ministry more comprehensively in so few words."¹⁴⁴

Paul in his preaching presented Jesus as the sovereign God to whom everyone must submit in faith. He did not make total submission to the lordship of Christ a condition for salvation, however. Voluntary submission to the lordship of Christ was a message that he reserved for believers (Rom. 6:13; 12:1-2). When Paul preached Christ to the unsaved, he presented Him as God who by virtue of His deity is sovereign over all people (cf. Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:3; Col. 2:6).

"The implication here is that lordship equates with deity. LORD' regularly translates Yahweh' in the LXX, and there are numerous NT references to Jesus as Lord' that echo OT (LXX) passages that refer to Yahweh."¹⁴⁵

To become a believer an unsaved person must submit to Christ's lordship to the extent that he or she acknowledges that Jesus is God and is therefore over him or her in authority. Trusting in the person and work of Christ is submission to His lordship to that extent. However when one becomes a believer and appreciates what God has done for him or her in salvation, yielding every area of one's life to Christ's control becomes a voluntary act of worship (Rom. 12:1). To make what is voluntary for the Christian necessary for the unsaved to obtain justification is adding to what God requires for justification.

4:6 Why had Paul conducted himself as he did? It was because God had dispelled the darkness in his heart by illuminating it with the knowledge of Himself that comes though understanding Jesus Christ. Individual regeneration is a work of God as supernatural and powerful as the creation of the cosmos (Gen. 1:3). Now Paul wanted to share that light with others. In the physical Creation God spoke directly, but in the spiritual creation of new life He usually speaks indirectly through His servants. Nevertheless it is His Word that creates new life.

Paul was probably alluding to his own conversion experience on the Damascus road when he wrote this verse (cf. Acts 9:3, 8-9; 22:6, 9, 11; 26:13; Gal. 1:15-16). It was then that the apostle saw God's glory in the unveiled face of Jesus Christ.

The sincerity, simplicity, and steadfastness of Paul that surfaces in this passage can and should mark all ministers of Jesus Christ.

Constable: 2Co 4:7--5:11

3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10

Paul proceeded to explain further the nature of ministry under the New Covenant so his readers would understand his ministry and theirs better. The nature of Christianity is paradoxical. Second Corinthians explains more of these paradoxes than any other New Testament book.

In writing this epistle Paul wanted his readers to realize that his ministry was not faulty, as his critics charged, but that it was solidly within the will of God. To do this he described his own ministry as a projection or extension of Jesus' ministry. As Jesus had died and been raised, Paul was similarly dying, but he was also experiencing the benefits of resurrection. He used the death and resurrection of Jesus metaphorically to describe his own ministry. This becomes most evident in 4:7-15, but also in 5:14-21 and in chapters 8-9 where the metaphor describes the ministry of giving.¹⁴⁶

Constable: 2Co 4:7-15

The contrast between the message and the messenger 4:7-15

Paul presented many paradoxical contrasts involved in the sufferings and supports of the Christian to clarify for his readers the real issues involved in serving Jesus Christ.

"This passage, which is about suffering and death (vv. 7-12), stands in stark contrast with the theme of glory' so brilliantly developed by Paul in 3:7-4:6, to which he also will return in vv. 16-18."¹⁴⁷

4:7 The treasure that every Christian possesses is "the knowledge of the glory of God" (v. 6, i.e., the gospel). Even though it is what dispels spiritual darkness God has deposited this precious gift in every clay Christian. This is a paradox, consequently the "but."

"A vessel's worth comes from what it holds, not from what it is."¹⁴⁸

God has done this so all may see that the transforming power of the gospel is supernatural and not just human (cf. Judg. 7:19-20).

"The pottery lamps which could be bought for a copper or two in the Corinthian market-place provided a sufficient analogy; it did not matter how cheap or fragile they were so long as they showed the light."¹⁴⁹

Paul was not disparaging the human body by calling it an earthen vessel nor was he saying that it is only a vehicle for the soul. Paul viewed man as a unity of material and immaterial parts (monism) rather than as having higher and lower elements (dualism).¹⁵⁰ He was contrasting the relative insignificance and unattractiveness of the light-bearers with the surpassing worth and beauty of the light (i.e., God's glory) itself.¹⁵¹

"It is precisely the Christian's utter frailty which lays him open to the experience of the all-sufficiency of God's grace, so that he is able even to rejoice because of his weakness (12:9f.)--something that astonishes and baffles the world, which thinks only in terms of human ability."¹⁵²

4:8-9 Paul pointed out four specific ways in which the weakness of his earthen vessel contrasted with God's power (cf. 1:5, 10). He may have been thinking of himself as a gladiator or soldier in view of what he wrote. He had been on the ropes but not trapped in a corner. He was without proper provision but not completely without resources. He was a hunted man but not totally forsaken. Finally he felt beaten down but not destroyed. In these respects his life, representing all believers who herald the gospel, was very like our Lord's. Paul's numerous escapes from defeat and death were signs of Christ's power at work in him.

"To be at the end of man's resources is not to be at the end of God's resources; on the contrary, it is to be precisely in the position best suited to prove and benefit from them, and to experience the surplus of the power of God breaking through and resolving the human dilemma.

"As death is the culminating moment of the Christian's weakness, so also it is the point at which the all-transcending power of God is most marvellously [sic] displayed."¹⁵³

"Verses 8-9 represent the first of the tribulation lists' (peristaseis) found within 2 Corinthians (see also 6:3-10; 11:23b-33; 12:7-10; cf. 1:5-11; 2:14-17)."¹⁵⁴

4:10 Paul summarized the four preceding contrasts with another paradox. He was in one sense always dying but in another sense never lifeless. Paul's use of nekrosis ("dying," v. 10) rather than thanatos ("death") shows that what he had in mind was not our identification with Jesus in His death. It was rather our sharing in His sufferings by being exposed to danger and death for His sake daily (cf. 1:5-6; 1 Cor. 15:31; Phil. 3:10). The next verse makes this clearer.

4:11 Paul faced threats to his life daily for his witness to Jesus Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 15:30-31). This seems clearly to be what he meant by "the dying of Jesus." There are three other ways that the New Testament associates us with Jesus' death, but these are not in view here. They are our identification with His death in baptism (Rom. 6:3-5), our daily mortification of the flesh (Gal. 5:24), and our physical debilitation as we serve Christ.

Paradoxically the death and the life of Jesus were simultaneously obvious in Paul's experience (cf. 1:4-5). Though living, Paul was always in danger of dying because enemies of Jesus rejected him and tried to kill him. However even though his body was in the process of aging and dying God kept giving him life, as He provided resurrection life to Jesus, so Paul could continue to serve Him.

4:12 There is another paradox. While Christ's ministers suffer because of their testimony for the Savior, those to whom they minister experience new and greater spiritual life because of those ministers' faithfulness (cf. 1:3-7). The more faithful Paul and his companions remained to God's will the more they suffered and the more the Corinthians prospered spiritually.

4:13-14 Why did Paul continue to serve God faithfully even though it meant suffering for him? First, Paul believed, as the psalmist did, that inner conviction about the truth must result in outward confession of that truth (cf. 1 Cor. 9:16).¹⁵⁵ Second, Paul believed that physical death was not the end of existence but that the power of God presently at work in him would continue working in him after death. When the apostle could serve God no longer due to death, God's power would raise him from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus guarantees the resurrection of believers in Jesus (1 Cor. 15:23). God's power would unite Paul with his readers whom God would also resurrect (cf. Eph. 5:27; Col. 1:22; 1 Thess. 4:14). Paul's reference to reunion with the Corinthians in heaven probably implies his genuine love for them.

4:15 This concluding statement also reflects the apostle's sincere desire for the Corinthians' welfare. All Paul had been experiencing would result in the Corinthians' good and God's glory. He gladly endured suffering for the gospel in view of this prospect. Paul had brought God's grace to Corinth, and now the Corinthians were taking that grace to other people in other places. Gratitude is always the proper response to God's grace.

"As God's grace expanded in their hearts and through them reached ever-increasing numbers, so too, the volume of thanksgiving to God for the receipt of illumination (cf. 4:6) would increase and promote the glory of God."¹⁵⁶

So far Paul gave three reasons for his refusal to become discouraged as he served the Lord. In the past he had received a divine commission to proclaim a new and better covenant (v. 1). In the future he looked forward to sharing Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead (v. 14). In the present he had the opportunity to promote the Corinthians' spiritual welfare and the glory of God (v. 16).

Constable: 2Co 4:16-18

The contrast between outward deterioration and inward renewal 4:16-18

4:16 In view of the reasons just sited, the apostle restated that he did not lose heart (cf. v. 1). However, Paul's sufferings, while not fatal, were destroying his body. Nevertheless even this did not discourage him for even though physically he was decaying spiritually he was still developing (cf. Eph. 3:16). In this verse Paul resumed the thought he began in verse 1.

"We are, in fact, on the threshold of one of the most important eschatological passages of the New Testament."¹⁵⁷

4:17 Paul introduced another paradox. Suffering now will result in glory later. He could consider the afflictions he had undergone as a servant of Christ as "light" only in comparison with the heavy weight of glory he would receive at Christ's judgment seat (cf. 11:23-27).

"His choice of the expression the weight of glory' may be influenced by the fact that in Hebrew weight' and glory' come from the same root kbd. It is because the coming glory' is so weighty' that the present affliction' seems so slight' (Gk elaphron, light'), just as the eternity of the coming glory' makes the affliction' seem momentary.' It is not simply that the glory' is the compensation for the affliction' [cf. Rom. 8:18] . . . rather, the glory' is the product of the affliction,' produced in measure beyond all comparison' . . ."¹⁵⁸

Paul spoke of the glory as something that he could increase by continuing to suffer, the result of following God faithfully. He was referring to his eternal reward.

"No more [i.e., neither] does the Apostle mean that all suffering is productive of glory, as though it were an infallible means to this end. The history of the Church has shown that such a concept leads to an unscriptural self-interest and to a misconception of the true character of Christian suffering. Paul is concerned here with suffering for Jesus' sake (v. 11; cf. Acts 9:16), which means suffering in which there cannot possibly be any self-interest. It is precisely as the I' decreases that Christ increases (Jn. 3:30)."¹⁵⁹

4:18 Another irony is that the physical things that we see now appear to be permanent, but really the spiritual things that we cannot see are permanent (cf. Heb. 11:1). What we can see now is only temporary. The present momentary visible things of life paled for the apostle as he considered the future eternal invisible things on ahead. These things included his fullness of joy, his completed salvation, and his heavenly inheritance. By keeping these unseen realities in view he could avoid discouragement when what he could see tempted him to feel discouraged (cf. Col. 3:1-2).

College: 2Co 4:1-18

2 CORINTHIANS 4

C. TENACIOUS DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS (4:1-5:10)

1. Christ Preached Plainly (4:1-6)

4:1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry,

The opening "therefore" actually translates a prepositional phrase, "because of this" (diaÉ tou'to, dia touto ). It may very well be that grammatically the "this" looks forward to the idea that his ministry functions within God's mercy and not necessarily backward to what he previously has been saying about the new covenant ministry. Obviously, though, the word "ministry" itself encompasses all that Paul has just been saying about it.

Up to now, as Paul has used the plural pronouns "we" and "our," he has been encompassing all apostolic ministry and believers with a broad stroke, with himself more in the background. With the plurals beginning in 4:1 and following, Paul seems to have himself in the forefront of his mind but recognizes that what he says applies to all true apostles. So when he says "we have this ministry," we should understand he means his ministry.

Paul believes his ministry exists and functions solely on the basis of God's mercy applied toward him personally. He expresses this same idea in Gal 1:15 when he talks about being called "by God's grace" from birth and in 1 Cor 15:10 when he says "by the grace of God I am what I am." Furthermore, Paul believes that God's plan of salvation for all, both Jews and Gentiles, is founded on God's mercy (Rom 9:15-18; 11:30-32). This plan builds upon the OT concept of God's mercy which comes out of his covenant relationship with Israel. Even though they repeatedly reneged on their end of the bargain, out of his compassion and mercy (completely undeserved on their part), he continued to bless them and bring forth through them the extension of his mercy to all people in Christ.

we do not lose heart.

Despite the fact that most translations are like the NIV's, commentaries reflect scholarly misgivings about the shaky basis for such a rendering. The problem is that the only meaning known for this word (ejgkakevw, enkakeô) in the Greek world outside the NT is "behave badly." The point is that it seems to have more to do with actual conduct than it does with feelings of despair and hopelessness. Suggestions to get a better sense of the idea include "behave weakly," "shrink back" and "reluctant to do one's duty." Paul seems to be attempting to come up with the opposite of the boldness he lauds in 3:12. This he then negates ("not") to end up with a synonymous idea.

So, in essence he not only is saying that he never loses heart, but that he never gives up; he never withdraws from confrontation; he is as tenacious as a bulldog no matter the situation or opposition, as are all true apostles. This applies not only to the history of his ministry that he will rehearse for his readers in the following verses but also to those who are even now opposing him in Corinth. God's mercy toward him brings out in him dogged faithfulness in serving God no matter what.

This idea of confident tenacity in ministry is what ties the thoughts of 2 Corinthians 4 together. This can be observed by noting the repetition of enkakeô, again translated by the NIV as "lose heart," in 4:16, heading the concluding paragraph of the chapter.

4:2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways;

On behalf of himself and all other true apostles, Paul denounces any activity in representing the gospel which is not totally aboveboard and open. Truth cannot be furthered by underhanded practices in making it known. Paul can remain optimistic and determined in his ministry because, true to his allegiance to God, his practices are unassailable. As all true apostles, he despises, literally, "secrets of shame." In Mark 4:22, Christ himself said, "Whatever is hidden is to be disclosed."

It may be that by "renounce" Paul refers back to his past life when he hunted down Christians, likely appropriating any and all means to be successful against what he believed to be a heretical brand of Judaism. Most likely, though, predominant in his mind is contrasting his true ministry with those mentioned in 2 Cor 2:17, who "peddle the word of God for profit," particularly the opposition whose accusations he responds to in all this. Such personal criticisms of him are brought out more in 2 Cor 12:16. However, he has already responded to charges of fickleness for his own convenience regarding his travel plans in 2 Corinthians 1.

we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.

Paul intends to cover all the bases in denying any malpractice on his part or on the part of any true apostle. The word translated "deception" (panourgiva, panourgia ) is not intended to allow for any positive motivations (Luke 20:23; 1 Cor 3:10; Eph 4:14). It implies the trickery employed by a villain or charlatan to thieve or harm. Paul will use it in 11:3 to describe the actions of the serpent against Eve. It fits more with the work of Satan than any work of God.

The word "use" (peripatevw, peripateô) literally means "walk." Paul uses this word regularly to refer to Christian conduct, as when he declares in Rom 8:4 that Christians do not "live" by the standards of their sinful nature any longer and when he challenges Christians to "behave" decently in Romans 13:13. Paul will use this word four more times yet in 2 Corinthians (5:7; 10:2; 10:3; 12:18).

Paul also declares that he has never knowingly misrepresented God's word. By this he refers to his preaching of the gospel, not so much to his teaching of the OT. This can be seen by his use of "our gospel" in the very next verse, 4:3. This is the only place in the NT where the Greek word translated "distort" (dolovw, doloô) is found as a verb. Usually it is found as a noun (dovlo", dolos ), as in Rom 1:29 when it is listed as one of the evils of Gentiles, or in 1 Pet 2:22 when it is negated to describe the flawlessness of Christ's speech.

Paul contends, then, that his speech has been just as flawless as the speech of Christ as he has proclaimed the gospel of Christ everywhere he has gone. He has not manipulated the message to bring more people to repentance. He has not hidden the reality of suffering for the sake of Christ. He has not shrunk back from confronting others who have distorted the message. He has not manipulated people for money.

On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

In addition to denying any intentional distortions of the gospel, Paul now accents the positive. He has made the gospel message, "the truth,"accessible in every situation the best that he can.

The word "setting forth plainly" (fanevrwsi", phanerôsis) is actually a noun which is translated "manifestation" in 1 Cor 12:7, its only other use in the NT. The verb form of this word (fanerovw, phaneroô) is common in the NT (49 times) and is used by Paul nine times, five times in chapters four and five alone (4:10,11; 5:10,11 - twice), usually translated "reveal," "appear," or "disclose." Because he operates in a manner in which "disclosure of the truth" is paramount, he is in a confident position to "commend" himself.

The word "commend" (sunivsthmi, synistçmi) assumes a contentious situation in which one must assert himself in a debate with others. In fact, in some Greek contexts outside the NT, it is used to describe enemies engaging in battle or generals in dispute about battle plans. Over the top of the din of the many voices which contend for people's attention, Paul does not hesitate to assert himself in the name of gospel truth.

The word "conscience" (suneivdhsi", syneidçsis) in Classical Greek, similar to contemporary usage, tended to focus on the guilt of moral failure for one's past actions. The idea of a clear conscience because of good actions is much less prominent. Even more rare, and some would say nonexistent, is Paul's use of the word here to encompass one person's moral evaluation of another.

So, Paul's confident assertion that he and his message can come out a winner under the scrutiny of "every man's conscience" boldly pushes this word well beyond its normal borders. The reason Paul can do so is clear enough when he adds "in God's sight." He believes that true conscience is not simply based on subjective feelings or learned social norms. Rather, it is the voice of God's own objective judgment based on his character, which each person has been equipped to draw upon. If this is so, then, Paul certainly has no problem leaving all humanity to serve as jury over his behavior as an apostle in representing the gospel. God, in effect, will acquit him.

4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.

Paul responds to criticism that his preaching is ineffective, with the further implication that the gospel he preaches is flawed. Paul's opponents in Corinth may be pointing to a lack of forcefulness in his delivery (i.e., he doesn't pound the pulpit enough); they may be ridiculing his unsophisticated rhetorical skills (1 Cor 2:1-4); this may even still stem from the charge of fickleness to which Paul responded in 1 Cor 1:12-2:5. Whatever the criticism of himself might be, or the weakness in himself which he acknowledges (1 Cor 2:3), Paul's answer is that the problem lies with those who reject the gospel, not in his delivery nor in its content. This is because it is God's gospel, and God himself makes it known to those who have not erected barriers to block it out (1 Cor 2:13-16; John 1:12).

He has already said in 4:2 that he does not flinch in boldly presenting the gospel truth at every opportunity. Elsewhere, particularly in 1 Cor 1:23, he admits the message of a crucified Christ is "a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles." He goes on in that context to point out that the wisdom of the gospel cannot be discerned by human means. This is so by design. God desires that people depend on him for understanding the mysteries of the gospel and being convicted to repent. The kingdom is spiritually perceived and entered (John 1:12; 3:5). Just as Jesus' opponents were blinded to recognizing Jesus as inaugurating the kingdom (John 9).

Paul's use of "is veiled," (e[stin kekalummevnon, estin kekalymmenon ) draws upon the function of this verb, related verbs ("unveil"), and its noun cognate already in this context since 3:7. He exclaims that the same veil which restricted the Israelites from beholding the full glory of God in Moses' face in his own day still prevented Jews from coming to Christ. He also believes that a similar barrier of sorts lies over the hearts and minds of all Gentiles until they accept Christ and God removes it. This is so prevalent in his thinking that he can describe all Christians as those "with unveiled faces."

The plural possessive pronoun "our" in describing the "gospel" sounds a bit overprotective on Paul's part. However, it is an understandable reaction to the fact that other messages are being proclaimed which represent themselves as the gospel. Paul must differentiate the true gospel which he, his associates, and other apostles are spreading from the false versions swirling around in communities like Corinth. It is unique that Paul uses the plural here. Normally, he refers to his gospel with reference only to himself (see Rom 2:16; 16:25; Gal 1:11; 2:2).

Paul is not being flippant or uncaring when he states that those who remain behind the spiritual barrier to receive the gospel "are perishing" (ajpollumevnoi", apollymenois ), meaning they are bound for eternal destruction apart from God. It is simply the case that response to the gospel has ultimate, eternal consequences. Indeed, that is a vital ingredient of the true gospel message itself. Paul believes after people hear the true gospel, unless they are being spiritually obstinate, that they will turn to Christ and God will remove the veil. The fault for the fact that not everyone who hears the true gospel becomes converted does not lie with Paul, the gospel, or with God. It lies squarely on the individual who refuses to allow God to open his eyes to see (John 9).

4:4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,

Paul shifts his imagery somewhat in order to introduce another component into the panorama of unbelief. The unconverted are not left in darkness, blocked from the light of the gospel by a veil. Now Paul colors them flooded by waves of dangerous ultraviolet light, stricken blind. They wander perilously through life incapable of discerning the truth of the gospel from the array of other religious, philosophical, and moral choices available from age to age, from culture to culture.

Who sits in the darkness gleefully shining this treacherous beacon into the world? Although Paul chooses a strange way of saying so, he must have in mind Satan, God's appointed adversary. For Paul to call Satan "god" seems incompatible with the strict monotheism of his Jewish heritage. Yet, for him to use the word "god" in parenthesis to refer to what are in reality not gods does occur in both 1 Cor 8:5 and 2 Thess 2:4, the latter of which refers to the mysterious Satanic figure of the Man of Lawlessness. He can also speak of Satan in Col 1:13 as governing "the dominion of darkness" from which Christ rescues believers and in Eph 2:2 as the "ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is at work in those who are disobedient." John 12:31 refers to him as "the prince of this world" who is driven out by the power of the gospel of Christ.

Satan's power to operate is never perceived by Paul or anyone else in the NT as in any way equal to the power of God or Christ. Christ casts out the legions of Satan with little effort time after time in the gospels. As "the image of God" Christ has supreme authority over all "thrones, or powers, or rulers, or authorities" (Col 1:15,16). Yet, God allows Satan to persist in his activities, as in the Garden through the serpent (Gen 3), to provide humankind an alternative to following God. All other choices in all realms of human activity come from Satan. The ability to relinquish Satan's control over our lives only comes when people realize their need to depend on God. If so, through Christ, like the man born blind, God can and will give us spiritual sight, and we will be flooded with the true light of understanding and meaning in life.

The word "age" (ajiwvn, aiôn) sometimes is translated "forever" and often is used to contrast this present period of time with the next timeless eternal age which God promises (1 Cor 2:6-8; Gal 1:4). Though today we might use such a word in English in a neutral sense, Paul almost exclusively conceives of this term in a very negative, pejorative sense. It is not just a reference to a time period or to some place in time; it is human culture, which Paul views as saturated with forces and ideas incompatible and opposed to God. It is not that surprising, then, to see Satan connected to these evil influences that surround us and separate us from a true relationship with God.

Paul does not offer Satan here as an excuse for rejecting the gospel, only as another dimension of man's problem which may precipitate an individual's rejection of the gospel, truly and tenaciously presented to them.

so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,

The word "see" (aujgavzw, augazô) is found only here in the NT. Normally, it is translated "shine forth," but Paul seems to have more in mind the result of the light's shining, which is to see. This, unbelievers, blinded by Satan, cannot do.

The awkward stringing of genitives ("of . . .") is common for Paul and is often attributed to his Semitic background. The construction allows Paul to gather up all his key ideas and keep them in play. The one word which jumps out as most purposefully being inserted is "glory," which has not been used since 3:18 but which has been a controlling word in Paul's discussion since 3:7. He will ground his discussion with it in 4:6. It is the full splendor of God that all have been prevented from seeing, first in the face of Moses, then in the OT Scriptures, now in this age, which is now fully and directly viewable in Christ.

who is the image of God.

Again, one is drawn back to 3:18, where "image" (eijkwvn, eikôn) was used in reference to believers' viewing God's glory perfectly revealed in Christ as in a mirror and thus being launched into being all they can be in Christ.

Here, Paul makes sure the connection has been securely made between God and Christ. Christ perfectly represents the character and person of God. He is no second generation photocopy. Paul elsewhere employs this concept of "image" in Col 1:15 to describe the relationship of Christ to God. This heads an entire section, extending to Col 3:20, which many believe to be a carefully constructed creed representing the theology of Christ in the early church. It is very possible, then, that Paul's language of "image" is not something he invented but rather something he learned from early church tradition.

4:5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,

Paul's reasoning follows the general drift of his argument, but logically connects to 4:2 where he disclaims using deception in favor of speaking the gospel truth diligently. Now, he provides the gist of his plain-speaking-gospel. The summary statement of his gospel mirrors the recurring confession found scattered throughout his letters (Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:10-11) and Acts (2:36; 11:17; 11:20; 16:31). "Jesus Christ is Lord" very likely is the earliest doctrinal confession in the developing first century church. The emphasis of this confession is upon the divine qualities Christ shares with God as Lord and the authority every person will in the end acknowledge (Phil 2:12), gained by his sacrificial death and resulting resurrection.

Once again, the plurals "we" and "ourselves" should be taken as only faintly inclusive of all those who preach the true gospel. Mostly, Paul is defending himself from complaints of arrogance surrounding "his" gospel as opposed to others that are being bandied about. It is suggested that Paul is being accused of pushing his own dramatic Damascus Road conversion story as a parable for all other conversions. The primary support for this being the language of 4:6, but this is not enough to be convincing.

His defensiveness here likely does connect in some way to charges of bullying the Corinthians into submission via his Severe Letter (2 Cor 1:24) and perhaps also this very letter of 2 Corinthians (10:8). Also likely in Paul's mind is an underlying accusation against his opponents in Corinth who are pushing a different and false gospel, emphasizing Moses and the law over the freedom found in Christ. They are rude, brash, and arrogant, as Paul's Painful Visit revealed.

and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.

Paul has left unexpressed the logical connection of this statement to what he has been saying. He does not mean that this is part of his simple gospel message. Rather, what he says takes another track off the word "ourselves" in the opening clause of the verse. Not only do he and all other legitimate apostles not preach themselves, they consider themselves servants of Christ, submissive to the needs of his church. This includes how Paul views his relationship with the Corinthians. Rather than lording his calling and position over them, Paul is dedicated to be responsive to their needs, as all ministers today should be with their congregations.

"For Jesus' sake" makes clear that Paul's role as servant to the Corinthian congregation results from his prior commitment to Christ. However, it comes as a jolt, probably intentional, that he actually states first his servant obligation to the Corinthians. Paul's word choice for "servants," which often refers to "slaves" (dou'loi, douloi ), should also give them a shock. After all, most of the Corinthian church, if they were a typical slice of the population, likely had experienced slavery, or had a family member who had. Although slavery in the ancient world was not routinely as gruesome as in the American South, still it was a negative experience. The fact that Paul views himself as their slave because of Christ may reflect the common practice of owners renting out their slaves to others for profit, also common in American slavery.

In 1 Cor 7:23, Paul had warned the Corinthians, "Do not become the slaves of men." However, this does not conflict with what he is saying here. There, Paul is concerned about believers obligating themselves to people, institutions, and ideologies which would compete with their allegiance to Christ. Obviously, the slavery here is to Christ himself, which as an apostle, makes him a slave to the needs of Christ's church.

Paul refers specifically to "Jesus," not Christ here. This is rare and probably is intended to connect the apostle to the modelling of servanthood exemplified in the life of Jesus and to the suffering of his death (Phil 3:10). Since Jesus came "not to be served but to serve," as Mark 10:45 says, how can his apostolic slaves, like Paul, do anything else? Paul will expand on this connection in 4:7-12.

4:6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," ^a made his light shine in our hearts

^a 6 Gen. 1:3

Paul appears to combine the language of Gen 1:3, Isa 9:2, and possibly Isa 49:6. The quotation from God, the words "light" and "darkness" come from Gen 1:3, while the word "shine" reflects Isa 9:2. Conceptually, the linking of this creation language to conversion and evangelism appears to draw upon Isa 9:2 and Isa 49:6.

The fact that "made . . . shine" (e[lamyen, elampsen ) is past tense (aorist) has prompted many commentators to connect what Paul is saying about conversion to a specific event in his own conversion, namely, his Damascus road encounter with Christ himself within a bright light (Acts 9:1-5; 26:16-18). The plural "our" in "our hearts" weighs against this conclusion, as well as the fact that Paul clearly is talking about an interior, spiritual illumination of Christ with regard to general Christian conversion. However, there is no reason why Paul can't be drawing upon his own unique, outward experience with Christ for the language to describe the real, internal encounter which has occurred spiritually within himself and within everyone who has experienced valid Christian conversion.

to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Paul moves from an accent on conversion to implications for evangelism. This is evident particularly in the addition of "knowledge" (gnw'si", gnôsis) to his string of genitives ("of . . ."), only used previously in 2 Cor 2:14 to refer to the content of the gospel which is spread everywhere. One can also see that "knowledge" replaces "gospel" in the equivalent phrase from 4:4. Conversion is not only about the individual but about equipping the individual to impart the gospel with confidence and urgency to others.

"Glory" (dovxa, doxa ) and "face" (provswpon, prosôpon) incorporate language familiar from 3:7-18. What Christian converts get is exactly what the Israelites, and Gentiles, have been prevented from encountering, the full glory of God. This is now completely accessible in the "face of Christ," who is the exact image of God (4:4). As people meet, or encounter Christ in the gospel, the veil is removed, and the full glory of God is made manifest in and through their lives. As John 1:18 says, "No one has ever seen God, but God, the One and Only, who is at the Father's side, has made him known."

2. Hardships Overcome because of Jesus' Death (4:7-12)

4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay

Many commentators begin a new major section here which they continue through chapter five. Certainly a new track in Paul's argument has begun, but it is still part of his overall defense strategy begun at 2:14. In this new paragraph, he attempts to explain how his own suffering is compatible with the truth of the gospel and how he can be so determined despite personal difficulties and limitations.

The translation "but" (dev, de ) is not necessary, for the Greek word involved often is simply translated "and" or is left untranslated. Yet, the NIV is right to accent the contrast between the sublime nature of the treasure in mind and the commonness of its container. Also, the "but" indicates that the composition of "this" treasure is determined by what Paul is talking about in 4:6, "the knowledge of the glory of God," which can be further refined as "the gospel" by looking back to 4:4.

"Jars" (skeu'o", skeuos ), or "containers" in the ancient world just as today could be made from a wide variety of materials, wood, glass, stone, brass, gold, silver, or clay. Generally, the more valuable the object to be stored, the nicer the container. Sometimes, however, to throw off potential robbers, one might hide valuable objects, rings, jewels, spices, maybe even gold coins, in plain, unassuming containers. The latter idea, although the less expected, seems to come more in line with Paul's thinking here.

A pot or jar made of "clay" (ojstravkino", ostrakinos ) would be the least valuable in an ancient Greek or Jewish household. Once broken, clay jars could not be repaired nor melted down and recast, although they often were used as barely functional writing surfaces for sales receipts. It is possible that Paul's Corinthian readers might even picture the special, nighttime oil lamps manufactured in and marketed from their city. These were especially thin and delicate to allow light to penetrate from them but were also cheap and easily breakable. It is less likely that Paul has in mind the exclusively Greek idea of vessels containing sacred objects of a deity used in parades to draw to attention to that deity.

Connecting the imagery of clay jars to human beings is not much of a stretch from a biblical point of view. Not only is man viewed as being created from dust (Gen 2:7), God is pictured as a potter (Isa 29:16; 45:9; 64:8), who can if he chooses, destroy his bad pots (Isa 30:14; Jer 18:1-22; 19:1-13). Paul draws further on this imagery in Rom 9:19-29 to highlight God's sovereignty over man's salvation.

to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

The word "all-surpassing" (uJperbolhv, hyperbolç) is only used by Paul in the NT and five of its eight uses are in 2 Corinthians (1:8; 4:17 - twice, 12:7). The word conveys that something exceeds what is necessary, abundant in quantity, distance, or quality. Here, connected to God, all such categories are unquantifiable. Paul's point is that the more common the material, the more in contrast does God's supreme quality manifest itself. The fact that God delivers his gospel through the frailty of human apostles like Paul only accentuates the divine qualities and the true source of the message.

The word "power" (duvnami", dynamis ) is important to Paul, used over sixty times in his letters. Normally, as here, he views it as a unique extension of God's will and character in contrast to human qualities. Later in 2 Cor 12:9 and 13:4 he will propose as he does here that God's power and human weakness are not incompatible. Rather, they are synergetic; they work harmoniously together to accomplish God's purposes.

Paul expects his Corinthian readers to recognize the distinct difference between this concept of apostleship and what they have been hearing from his opponents. Likely, as powerful personalities, they have labeled Paul's commonness as inferiority and unapostolic. Paul's arguments, based upon Jesus himself, will have them looking pretty silly in their pomposity by the time he is finished. God's power is not displayed in the obvious and superficial but in the effect from what is unseen and unexpected.

4:8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

In other passages Paul also catalogues his hardships for the sake of the gospel. Such lists are common enough in a host of Greek and Jewish literature. Usually, Paul simply lists various types of difficulties (Rom 8:35; 2 Cor 6:4-5; 11:23-29; 12:10; Phil 4:12). Two other lists offer contrasts of positive and negative elements (1 Cor 4:10-13; 6:8-10). Only here does Paul draw contrasts with words which are virtual synonyms.

Paul's approach to hardships stands out in contrast to the widely known Stoic perspective of his day. He does not view hardships "stoically" as inconsequential, bouncing off him as if nothing. Rather, they are real, and they hurt. Neither does Paul treat the physical and emotional abuse he endures as cause for celebration and happiness. They can and do discourage him from a personal point of view. He is not a masochist for Christ, nor should any Christian portray himself as one who takes delight in the pain. Rather, the theological understanding that Paul will relay allows him to endure with superhuman confidence and tenacity.

Both the word "hard pressed" (qlivbw, thlibô) and "crushed" (stenocwrevw, stenochôreô) refer to pressure, "crushed" relating more to being in a crowded room and "hard pressed" connected, at least by Paul, to the idea of being oppressed or persecuted (2 Cor 7:5; 1 Thess 3:4; 2 Thess 1:6,7). The NIV's "on every side" (ejn pantiv, en panti ), given that it is placed at the very beginning of the verse in Greek, probably is intended to head all four of the antithetical hardship statements which follow, and thus, should be translated "in many ways" or even "constantly."

After dealing more with the physical stress of being an apostle in the first antithetical set, Paul attempts to verbalize the emotional and psychological toll he endures in the second. In Greek, the second verb "despair" (ejxaporevw, exaporeô) simply adds a prefix (ejx, ex ) to the first verb, "perplexed" (ajporevw, aporeô). Paul reveals a very human dimension of himself as he admits confusion about what actions to take at times which can lead anyone, even Paul, into periods of depression. Even at such low points, however, he never doubts his own calling and his responsibility to preach the gospel.

4:9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.

In the third antithetical set Paul employs a synonym to the word "hard pressed" (thlibô) in the first set. In fact, the one used here, "persecuted" (diwvkw, diôkô) is the more normal one in the NT, used over forty times. Outside the NT, it describes a person or animal who is being chased or hunted. Not only does Paul imagine himself as someone who has not been caught but as having never been left behind or "abandoned" (ejgkataleivpw, enkataleipô) by God. He is tired and weary from persecution, but God has not left him to be devoured by the wolves who dog him relentlessly.

The fourth antithetical set may have as its background imagery either the sport of wrestling or boxing. Both of these would have been events in the Isthmian games held regularly in Corinth. The word "struck down" (katabavllw, kataballô) can be used to describe a knockdown in boxing or a throwdown in wrestling. The second word in the set, "destroyed" (ajpovllumi, apollymi ) can refer to losing a match, as in being knocked out in boxing or being pinned in wrestling. Normally in the NT "destroyed" ( apollymi ) refers to those who perish in God's judgment, as just used in 4:3, though this sense does not fit here. Paul may mean that despite severe persecution, God has not allowed him to be killed but more likely that God has provided him the strength to get up after every knockdown, both physical and emotional.

4:10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus,

What Paul has just described in physical and emotional terms in 4:8-9, he now articulates in theological and spiritual terms. Although he does believe that every Christian becomes one both with Christ's death and his resurrection at baptism (Rom 6:1-7), this does not seem to be what he has in mind primarily here. Rather, as an apostle he views himself in a constant state of affliction, evidenced by wound marks on his body as well as emotional scars in his heart. It is not the death, or the conclusion of Jesus' life that goes wherever Paul goes, it is Jesus' suffering, the process of expending his life for the sake of humanity that Paul identifies with as he takes the gospel from one community to the next. As one commentary puts it, "His whole ministry was a dying."

Paul's usual word to refer to Christ's death and its salvific significance is qavnato" ( thanatos , Rom 5:10; 6:3-5; Phil 3:10; 1 Cor 11:26) not nevkrwsi" ( nekrôsis), which is found only here and in Romans 4:19. This may be intended as a hint that he has a process in mind since nekrôsis signifies the process of the dead body's decomposition, or "mortification." Further in this line, the reference to "Jesus," and not to "Christ" or even "Jesus Christ," suggests that Paul is identifying with the life of Jesus as suffering servant (Mark 10:45) and not the soteriological significance of Christ's death. His mention of "Jesus" without "Lord" or "Christ" four times within 4:10-11,14 is without parallel in Paul's writings.

so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Paul does not mean the obvious, that he may model Jesus' life, as important as that may be. The purpose for Jesus' dying being a constant part of his apostolic life, as articulated in the first half of the four antithetical sets in 4:9-10, is so that people can witness the victory over those hardships described in the second half of the antitheses. This is accomplished via the reality of Jesus' resurrection, the power of which is in Paul's life and all true apostles. The fact that no hardship can keep him down permanently demonstrates that Jesus is alive and kicking. In overcoming every physical and emotional difficulty, the resurrection of Jesus is made known both to skeptics and believers alike.

4:11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

Paul largely repeats what he said in 4:10 for emphasis. The way he lays it out accents the paradoxical nature of the situation: life dies to bring life. Again, this paradox underscores every Christian's personal salvation, but that is not Paul's point here. Only as an apostle such as Paul gives over every ounce of his life for the cause of the gospel can the power demonstrated in Jesus' own resurrection shine through his life.

Paul's language of "given over" (paradivdwmi, paradidômi) intentionally mirrors language Paul uses elsewhere to describe what Christ did, who "gave himself up for" the church (Eph 5:25) and for "me" (Gal 2:20) out of his love to achieve man's salvation. As in most cases in the NT, Paul views God as the one with the power and authority to give Paul over to death, even as he did Jesus. So, it is not merely "for Jesus' sake" that Paul believes he suffers as an apostle, but it is because of Jesus (diaÉ Ihsou'n, dia Içsoun). As Christ has given himself over, so have Paul and all true apostles. This is their only true course.

With the addition of "mortal" (qnhtov", thnçtos) to "body" (savrx, sarx ), Paul leaves no doubt that what is primarily in his mind is the physical abuse his human body has endured for the sake of the gospel.

4:12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

What the reader thinks will be yet another repetitive summary of 4:10 in the form of a conclusion contains a surprising twist. The fact that God authorizes apostolic suffering jives with his earlier expressions. The shocker comes in the paradoxical second half. One would have expected him to say something like "but life is at work in us also." That would parallel what he has been saying. Instead, Paul introduces his maternal role in birthing the Corinthians into their new life in Christ, an imagery he also uses in 1 Thess 2:7-8. That resurrection power of Jesus in his life is not just about identifying with Christ's sufferings nor mortally bearing witness of his resurrection; it has its ultimate purpose in successful evangelism, bearing new life.

All this theology, then, has a practical outcome which provides conclusive evidence for his apostolic defense to the Corinthians. They themselves are the product of his successful, authentic, apostolic ministry and for his preaching of the true gospel.

At this point, one can easily see that Paul differentiates distinctly between his apostolic ministry and the members of the Corinthian church. The theology of suffering, as Paul has been describing it, then, is not necessarily applicable to all believers. It describes the ministry of those who have been set apart to serve the church through leadership and evangelism, including those who serve as "ministers" in Christ's church today.

3. Increasing Multitudes Brought to Life (4:13-15)

4:13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." ^a

^a 13 Psalm 116:10

Paul quotes from Ps 116:10 because he identifies with the psalmist's perspective. Boldness to speak is part of his job description as an apostle. However, this determination finds its basis in the conviction that he has the unparalleled truth of the gospel to make known to people who need its redeeming message. His thoughts here connect back to 4:1-2.

With that same spirit of faith

In the Greek text, this phrase opens the verse rather than following the quotation as the NIV. A participle "having" (e[conte", echontes ), as can be seen in the NASB version, stands behind the "with" in the NIV. This most likely is causal with the understanding "because we have."

Paul's reference to "faith" is not Christian faith per se but the trust and confidence in God that he shares with the psalmist. Therefore, the NIV correctly translates "spirit" as lower case. Paul never introduces a quotation from the OT as somehow inspired by the Holy Spirit. By spirit, he means that he shares the same disposition as the psalmist in the face of adversity. He identifies with the misery of the psalmist, who speaks in verse three of being entangled by "cords of death," feeling "the anguish of the grave," and "overcome by trouble."

we also believe and therefore speak,

Duplicating the language of the Psalm, Paul now applies it to himself and other apostles. The word "speak" (lalevw, laleô) is neither of his normal words for preaching the gospel (eujaggelivzomai, euangelizomai or khruvssw, kçryssô), but there is no doubt that this is what he means in this context. His language is simply dictated by the Psalm. The fact that "speak" from the psalmist's perspective refers to speaking out about his miseries to God does not affect Paul's intention to apply the words to his specific concern, speaking the gospel boldly to whoever will listen. It is the psalmist's boldness to speak in the face of troubles that draws Paul to it.

4:14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead

With "because we know" (eijdovte", eidotes ), Paul introduces standard doctrine fundamental to Christian belief. This and statements that follow are a synthesis of what apostles like Paul speak boldly, even as eyewitnesses (Acts 1:21). Paul's presentation of God as the one who resurrected Jesus concurs with all other NT formulations of the doctrine (Acts 2:24; 13:33; Rom 4:24; 6:4; 8:11; 1 Cor 6:14; Gal 1:1). Jesus is never presented as raising himself. It is always God. Jesus gives up all his divine power; that's what his death means (Phil 2:8). Paul's addition of "Lord" to "Jesus" gives him the honor he is due for his act of obedience and is expected in this doctrinal formulation.

will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence.

Although it is suggested that Paul employs heightened language to refer to his personal return to Corinth, the conventional eschatological intention is to be preferred. That believers will be resurrected as was Jesus is bedrock Christian belief (1 Thess 4:14; 1 Cor 15:23) as is the idea that all believers will be presented either to Christ (2 Cor 11:2; Eph 5:27) or to God (Col 1:22).

Whether Paul envisages God or Christ as the one receiving the presence of Paul and the Corinthians is not made clear by the immediate language since the NIV phrase "in his presence" is an addition to the Greek text. However, it does seem like the one who raises is also the one who will receive, and that would be God. Also, it is an awkward juxtaposition to have "us" both "with Jesus" and being presented to Jesus. Paul appears to have in mind a royal court in which God sits on the throne, the resurrected Jesus at his right hand, and Paul himself ushering his respectful offering, the Corinthians, into God's presence. This is reminiscent of 2:14.

Paul's confidence in his message, his apostolic calling, and the reception of the true gospel among the Corinthians who are reading his letter is conveyed in the brief phrase "with you." They themselves are the true proof of his ministry. The resurrection life of Jesus portrayed in his ministry and conveyed to them in their reception of the gospel will have its ultimate result before God himself.

4:15 All this is for your benefit,

Paul has in mind his entire ministry, especially including the hardship catalogue and theology of suffering related in 4:7-12 as well as the tenacious boldness in which he has presented and stood by the gospel in relationship to the Corinthians and the opposition there. The "benefit" of course is their acceptance in the presence of God just described in 4:14.

so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Paul now puts his apostolic activity among the Corinthians and in communities throughout the Mediterranean world into its proper cosmological perspective. Evangelism is for the ultimate purpose of bringing glory to God. The source of its energy and effectiveness is God; the source of its message is God's love and grace made evident in the cross of Christ. All praise and glory is due to him for what he has done in the gospel. This is Paul's eschatological goal in his evangelistic work and why he is willing to suffer for the sake of it.

In his desire to turn his language into a kind of doxology to God, he has created a linguistic nightmare in his expression. Literally, he has said that "grace, increasing thanksgiving through the more, might abound to the glory of God." He employs "increase" (pleonavzw, pleonazô) as a participle, its cognate noun, "more" (pleivwn, pleiôn), and a synonym, "abound" (perisseuvw, perisseuô) as a subjunctive verb (indicating an expected scenario). As the NIV translation indicates, Paul most likely is trying to encompass both the inherent capability of God's grace to expand far beyond actual requirements and the reality that multiplying numbers of people are in fact hearing and believing the gospel and thus are causing such expansion. The net result is ever-increasing praise and thanksgiving to God now and in eternity.

Overactive tunnel vision afflicts those who attempt to view this expression as specifically directed at the problems in Corinth. Certainly, Paul's last use of the word "more" (pleiôn) in 2:6 refers to "the majority" who punished Paul's offender. However, that should not dictate what he means here. It is more likely that the use of the cognate participle in this context colors the meaning of the noun "more" which follows it. Thus, Paul does not have in mind the majority deepening in knowledge of the faith because they have remained loyal to Paul's teaching. Rather, Paul has a loftier goal in view, of which Corinthians are but a part, and even Paul's missionary activities are only a part, that is, the entirety of God's successful mission to the world.

4. Driven by Unseen, Eternal Reward (4:16-18)

4:16 Therefore we do not lose heart.

With "therefore" (diov, dio ) plus the repetition of what he said in 4:1, Paul signals that he will summarize and conclude this section of his defense which comprises chapter four. Once again he denies that the physical and emotional toll he endures for the gospel limits in any way his aggressiveness to travel anywhere the Lord leads him to proclaim its unassailable truth. Note comments on 4:1 regarding "lose heart" (ejgkakevw, enkakeô) as referring to action and not attitude.

Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Paul focuses separate attention on the physical dimension of a person as opposed to the spiritual. For the Christian, and particularly for an apostle like himself, Paul sees these two dimensions moving in opposite directions. One is deteriorating while the other, even now, is growing toward its full eschatological potential.

Paul does not view the human body in itself as evil and the soul as good as many Greeks did in his day. This is clear from Romans 7. He also indicates this by the language he uses here. The word "outwardly" actually translates two words in Greek, "outer person" (e[xw a[nqrwpo", exô anthrôpos). "Person" (anthrôpos) is the presumed referent of "inner" (e[sw, esô), as well. These are not separate and competing entities but simply two aspects of every human being.

Quite rightly, Paul sees the physical dimension in a process of decay, especially in light of what he says in 4:7-12, as indeed it is from the moment of birth. This is the case even more so for an apostle like Paul whose body continues to accumulate the marks of physical abuse. In the spiritual dimension, or the inward man, Paul believes the clock, as opposed to winding down, is still in the process of winding up. Indeed, he likely views physical suffering as contributing toward spiritual strength, as James 1:2-4 notes as well.

The word "wasting away" (diafqeivrw, diaphtheirô) is translated very suitably by the NIV. While the word can refer to something being destroyed immediately, as in Rev 11:18, it can also describe a more gradual process of destruction as in Luke 12:33 with moths destroying clothing.

4:17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Paul's inclusion of his own current accumulation of difficulties in the adjective "light" is only possible in comparison to the unweighable weight of spiritual vitality he is developing. This is precisely what he wishes the Corinthians to perceive. No amount or intensity of personal trouble in the human sphere can ever be measured over against the eternal value of serving the gospel of Christ faithfully, whether applied to Paul himself or anyone else. This weighty "glory" is not viewed by Paul as merely a prize at the end of the race, strictly eschatological. Rather, it has already begun to accumulate, like sacks of gold around our spiritual waist. The verb "are achieving" (katergavzomai, katergazomai ) is present tense indicating what is being accomplished right now.

The word the NIV renders as merely "far" is much more heavily stressed than that word alone indicates. The Greek involves the same word, "excess" (uJperbolhv, hyperbolç) placed in two separate prepositional phrases side by side, roughly "from excess to excess." This is Paul's attempt to emphasize that the "weight" (bavro", baros ) of glory is beyond calculation.

4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.

Paul switches his language, associating the visible with the outward person and invisible with the inward. This is true enough, but the language of this verse has broader possibilities than what he said earlier in a way that helps set up what he will say about the Christian's immortal existence in 5:1-5.

Realizing that eternal glory is being accumulated even as his body suffers pain from preaching the gospel motivates Paul and other determined believers to focus on what is really important in life, the spiritual dimension. This dimension is not really invisible; it's just not visible to those without the spiritual eyesight to see it.

The word "fix our eyes" (skopevw, skopeô), as the NIV translation correctly shows, has more to do with concentration and evaluation than simply gazing out over some expanse. In fact, one noun which is a cognate of this word refers to a watchtower and another refers to certain gods as personal guardians to their adherents. Correctly tuned Christians evaluate the visible to recognize the "invisible," spiritual dimension occurring around them and in them. Those who remain deadened to the spiritual only see the visible, physical aspects of life.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Paul now relates what is visible to a limited dimension of time and what is invisible to a dimension in which time is limitless. As he already alluded in 4:17, eternity does not merely begin when contemporary history ends. Rather, the eternal coexists side by side with the world we see around us now. A person taps her toe into that eternal, spiritual dimension when she becomes a Christian. Gradually, the realization of that spiritual world dominates what the Christian does in the visible, physical world because it becomes readily apparent that the spiritual and eternal is what is real, true, and forever.

Paul wants his Corinthian readers to realize that evaluating truth simply on the basis of physical appearance is foolish. Paul's opponents may be flashy. They may register observable signs of success in healthy bodies, fine clothes, and cultured speech. Does the visible equate with the eternal? Based on what Paul has just said, doesn't his battered body and tenacious, outspoken message suggest the eternal truthfulness of his message and ministry?

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

McGarvey: 2Co 4:3

And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that perish:

McGarvey: 2Co 4:4

in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them . [These words are called out by the word in "every" found in 2Co 4:2 . The apostle anticipates that some Jew would challenge his statement, asserting that the gospel was as much veiled to him and his brethren, as Paul had above asserted the law to be (2Co 3:7-18). Paul replies that their failure to acknowledge the truth may indeed form an exception, but does not weaken his general assertion, since the obscurity lies in their own bigotry-closed eyes and not in the truth presented to them. The fault lay, not in the nature of the gospel, but in their own nature. By unbelief they had fallen into Satan's power, and he had blinded them (just as, conversely, those who believe are enlightened by the Spirit). The completeness and hopelessness of their blindness is made most apparent by the glorious luminosity of the divine gospel which they failed to perceive. Some have been needlessly puzzled by this passage, because Paul called Satan a "god." The apostle does not mean to attribute divinity to the devil. Satan is not a god properly, but is merely one in reference to those who have sinfully made him such. Paul calls him a god as he would call an idol a god; it being only such in the eyes of its worshipers. (Comp. Phi 3:19) The phrase is equivalent to "prince of this world," found at Joh 12:31 ; Joh 14:30 ; Joh 16:11 ; though in John the word kosmos, or space-world, is used, while here it is the word aioon, or time-world. He is prince over this world of space, and prince also over that time-world which began with the fall of Adam and closes at the second advent. One of the methods by which Satan blinds the eyes will be found at Joh 5:44 . South pithily remarks, "When the malefactor's eyes are covered, he is not far from execution" (Est. 7:8).

McGarvey: 2Co 4:5

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake .

McGarvey: 2Co 4:6

Seeing it is God, that said, Light shall shine out of darkness [Gen 1:3 ; Isa 60:1-2], who shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ . [From such passages as 1Co 2:6-7 ; 1Co 4:16 ; 1Co 11:1 ; 1Th 1:6 ; 1Th 2:4 ; 1Th 3:9 ; Gal 4:12 ; Phi 3:17 ; Paul might have been accused of preaching himself; but he had preached himself as a servant (1Co 9:19). Paul's rivals had preached themselves and had sought to make the preaching a contest between him and them. Paul declines this contest, and declares that it is his business to reflect the light of Christ which has shone in his heart; for God sent his Son to be the light of earth's darkness. The apostle here alludes to the glorified face of the Christ which appeared to him on the way to Damascus. After such a vision it was impossible that Paul could look upon himself as any other than a reflector of the true Light which was sent from God. It was also impossible that he should regard the face of Moses as comparable with it. Moreover, the prophecy spoke of but one light, and took no account of Moses.]

McGarvey: 2Co 4:7

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God, and not from ourselves [We, in our mortal bodies, hold the divine and heavenly truth. God has thus committed his gospel to men that it may be evident to all that it is from him. The power of the gospel so transcends that of the human agent who preaches it as to make it apparent to all that the preacher is but an agent performing duties which are beyond the compass of his own unaided faculties. Farrar sees in this a reference to the torches of Gideon's pitchers, but the word "treasure" evidently changes the figure, so that Paul no longer speaks of the gospel as a light. Besides, the Gideon incident conveys the idea of concealment, which is not in Paul's thoughts. The apostle is here supposing that some one will object to his high claims for the Christian ministry, asserting that the humiliations and sufferings endured by the apostle refute the idea that he can be an ambassador of God. His answer is that God put the treasure in an earthen vessel in order that the survival of the perishing vessel when subjected to all manner of vicissitudes might prove the value, in the sight of God, of the treasure within it];

McGarvey: 2Co 4:8

we are pressed on every side, yet not straitened; perplexed, yet not unto despair ;

McGarvey: 2Co 4:9

pursued, yet not forsaken; smitten down, yet not destroyed [The apostle again changes his figure, and describes the Christian minister as a warrior defending a divine treasure. His enemies press upon him very closely, yet still leave him room to wield his weapons. He is greatly disturbed in mind because of his imperiled position, yet does not lose hope; as the conflict grows more strenuous he seeks refuge in flight, but feels that Providence has not forsaken him; finally the overtaking enemy strikes him down, and would overcome him, did not God deliver him for the sake of the treasure committed to his defense];

McGarvey: 2Co 4:10

always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body .

McGarvey: 2Co 4:11

For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh .

McGarvey: 2Co 4:12

So then death worketh in us, but life in you . [The apostle has been speaking of having and holding the knowledge of God in a mortal body. But the knowledge of God brings with it the eternal life that is within God, so that to have divine knowledge is to have divine life (1Jo 1:3 ; 1Jo 5:19). The knowledge of 2Co 4:6 ; therefore, gives place in this passage to the life which it produces. The minister of Christ, having in him the life of Christ (Gal 2:20), becomes in a large measure a reduplication of the life and experiences of Christ. He is, as it were, constantly dying and being resurrected. With Paul death was a matter of daily experience (1Co 15:31). But by thus constantly dying and yet continuing to live, Paul typically re-enacted the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord. By surviving so many trials he made it evident to the world that he was sustained by a life other than human, viz.: the life of Jesus. Moreover, the daily sacrifice of the life of Paul, like the sacrifice of Christ, worked out life and blessing for others, notably the Corinthians, to whom he wrote.]

McGarvey: 2Co 4:13

But having the same spirit of faith, according to that which is written [Psa 116:10], I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe, and therefore also we speak [having the same spirit of faith which was in the Psalmist who proclaimed his faith despite his afflictions, we preach right on despite all opposition];

McGarvey: 2Co 4:14

knowing that he that raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us with you . [The daily preservation of his weak body was to the apostle an earnest, as it were, of the final resurrection, and the hope of this resurrection, in company and fellowship with the Corinthians, as the fruit of his labors, encouraged him to speak out and proclaim the gospel despite all forms of persecution.]

McGarvey: 2Co 4:15

For all things are for your sakes, that the grace, being multiplied through the many, may cause the thanksgiving to abound unto the glory of God . [The whole gospel ministry is for the sake of the believer, for the believer is the recipient of the grace of God, and the returner of thanks to God. God is glorified in him both by the grace which he bestows upon him and the thanksgiving which he receives from him. It therefore follows that the more believers there are, the more grace there is bestowed and the more thanksgiving there is received, and hence the more God is glorified.]

McGarvey: 2Co 4:16

Wherefore [because each death is followed by a co-ordinate resurrection] we faint not; but though our outward man is decaying, yet our inward man is renewed day by day . [The sacrifice of the carnal ever tends to the increase of the spiritual. The apostle knew that the transfiguration described at 2Co 3:18 was perfecting itself daily].

McGarvey: 2Co 4:17

For our light affliction, which is for the moment, worketh for us more and more exceedingly [Literally, in excess unto excess: a Hebraism: a method of expressing intensity by repetition of the same word. It might well be rendered "an abounding upon an abounding," thus suggesting the idea of progression by upward steps] an eternal weight of glory ;

McGarvey: 2Co 4:18

while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal . [We have here the same law for the Christian which governed the life of Christ (Phi 2:7-11). If afflictions are viewed with regard to temporal affairs, they seem heavy and profitless; but when we look upon them as part of God's discipline which prepares us for an unseen world, then they seem light and momentary. In proportion as we keep our eyes upon the future kingdom of God, with its glorious circumstances and modes of existence, our afflictions increase our faith and enlarge our character, and so work out for us a more glorious future. The phrase "eternal weight" suggests a royal garment, richly freighted with ornaments of gold and jewels. Trapp quaintly observes, "For affliction, here's glory; for light affliction, a weight of glory; for momentary affliction, eternal glory."]

Lapide: 2Co 4:1-18

CHAPTER 4

SYNOPSIS OF THE CHAPTER

i. From what was said in the last chapter of the glory and honour belonging to the office of a preacher of the Gospel, S. Paul proceeds to assert that he discharges that office holily, sincerely, and blamelessly . He declares this to be a fact plainly known to all except to those whose minds were blinded.

ii. He declares (ver. 7) that he and the other Apostles undergo many sufferings on behalf of the Gospel without flinching, and that they with fortitude always bear about in their bodies the mortification of Jesus, on account of the hope of resurrection to a better life.

iii. He points out (ver. 17) that this our tribulation is but light and short lived, and works an eternal weight of glory.

Ver. 1.— Therefore seeing we have this ministry. The ministry of the New Testament, the excellency of which has been dwelt on in the preceding chapter. To this God in His mercy has called us, His unworthy Apostles.

We faint not. We do not yield, are not daunted by dangers and difficulties, are not wearied, as Erasmus turns it.

Ver. 2.— But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty. All hidden and disgraceful wickedness. What is vile loves darkness, and those who seek for what is impure have ever in their mouth, "If not chastely, yet cautiously." S. Paul means: I do nothing, not even in secret, with which fault can he found: I am no hypocrite, like many false apostles. S. Ambrose ( Offic. lib. ii. c. 3), alluding to the ring of Gyges, which enabled him to see all and be seen by none, and so led him to deflower the queen and slay the king, and get possession of the throne of Lydia, says beautifully. " Give this ring to a wise man, that by its power he way be hid from the eyes of all if he does wrong: he will none the less flee from the stain of sin, though he be seen by none. The wise man's hiding-place is not to be found in fear of punishment, but in hope of keeping innocency. Law is not laid down for the righteous, but for the unrighteous; for the righteous man is a law to himself in the uprightness of his heart, and has his rule of righteousness within." To the same effect is the golden sentence of Seneca: " Even if I were sure that no man would know, and that God would forgive, yet the hatefulness of sin would prevent me from sinning." Add to this that even if we escape the notice of men when we sin, yet we cannot escape from the all-seeing eye of God, who will judge and punish. Therefore let every one renounce with S. Paul the hidden things of dishonesty, and live chastely, and keep his heart pure, just as if he were standing in the presence of God.

Not walking in craftiness. Professing to be one thing and secretly doing another. The words are aimed at the lust of the false apostles, and their secret evil-living. Cf. Eph 5:12.

Nor handling the word of God deceitfully. As the false apostles do, who mix it up with the law of Moses, or fashion their teaching after the needs of time, place, and persons. These three were excellently performed by Luther. (1.) He falsified Rom 3:28, "We conclude that a man is justified by faith," by adding the word "only" to faith; and also 2 Pet. i. 10: "Give diligence by good works to make your calling and election sure," by omitting the words "by good works." (2.) He wrested the word of God to his own lusts when he tried to persuade a certain woman that it was lawful for her to lie with him whilst her husband was asleep, on the authority of 1Co 7:39: "If her husband sleep, she is at liberty." (3.) To suit different places, times, and persons, he gave different expositions of the words of consecration. Gaspar Querhamer Saxo has published thirty-six contradictory explanations of his on the subject of the Eucharist alone, collected from his writings during his lifetime.

Commending ourselves to every man's conscience. Those who follow their conscience and form their judgments by it see that what I say is true, and if they would say what they think, they cannot deny that preach with sincerity, as in the presence of God, seeing and fearing God everywhere as my witness and judge.

Ver. 3. — But if Our Gospel be hid. So as not to be understood and hence not believed. He alludes to the veil of Moses (iii. 13), and anticipates the objection: "If you, 0 Paul, manifest, as you say, the word of God in truth, and commend yourself to every man's conscience, how comes it that this word of God of yours is not manifest to all? Why do not all believe it?" He replies that it is plain enough to the good and faithful, but to the wicked and unbelieving it is hidden and unknown, because they are reprobate. He is not speaking of the written Gospel, as heretics suppose, as though that were clear to all the elect, but of the mysteries of the Gospel, or the articles of the faith that are open and obvious to every Christian, such as the birth, Passion, and resurrection of Christ. These truths were preached by Paul and the Apostles before the Gospels were committed to writing; and when this letter was written, all the Gospels were not yet written.

To them that are lost. It is the proof and cause of their reprobation that they have a veil of blindness and unbelief over their heart, which prevents them from seeing and believing Christ and His mysteries, which are so clearly set forth in the Gospel and the New Testament.

Ver. 4. — In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Who is meant by the "god of this world?" (1.) Marcion, according to Chrysostom, inferred that there is a certain god, just but not good, who was the creator of the world. (2.) The Manicheans reply that it is the devil, and that he was the creator of the world and of matter in general. (3) Chrysostom, Anselm, Theodoret, and Theophylact make the sentence run: God, i.e., true God, hath blinded the minds of the unbelievers of this world; or God, the true God, the author and maker of the world, hath blinded the minds of them that believe not. (4.) Œcumenius and S. Thomas say: The God of this world is the devil, who is the god of worldly men, not by having created them, but in the way of wickedness, example, power, and suggestion. This seems the simplest explanation; for S. Paul does not call him God simply, but the God of this world, i.e., of worldly men, who prefer the perishing things of time to the realities of eternity. Cf. Eph 6:12. (5.) S. Thomas also says: "The God of this world is mammon, or the power and pomp that men of the world make their chief good and set up as their god." Cf. Phi 3:19.

Them which believe not. The construction is a Hebraism. The Gospel is hidden in the case of unbelievers who perish, in whom i.e., of whom, the God of this world hath blinded the minds.

Lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ . . . should shine unto them. The Greek word αυ̉γὴ, from which the verb here is derived, denotes, say Chrysostom and Theophylact, a faint light and foreshine of clear light, i.e., of the brightness of the Divine glory which will be revealed in heaven. As the dawn and the morning star precede the sun, so does faith in this life, like a morning star, go before the brightness of the si ht of the Beatific Vision. Cf. 2Pe 1:19. The Gospel is called the "Gospel of the glory of Christ," or the "glorious Gospel of Christ," because by it Christ is glorified.

Who is the image of God. (1.) This is strictly true of the Son, who proceeds from the Father as His image. (2.) The Son is called the image of the Father, because He is begotten by Him in such a way that He is most like to the Father, and most perfectly represents Him. He is the Word of God or the Wisdom of God, in whom the Father beholds His own Wisdom mirrored. "Word," however, stands for a concept of the mind, and is an image of the thought of the mind, and so He is distinguished from the Holy Spirit, who, though He perfectly resembles the Father, yet is not this by the mere fact of His procession; for by that He is merely the bond of union in will and love between the Father and the Son. (3.) The Son is the image of the Father by reason of His Divine Essence, inasmuch as He has received It from the Father. For, since He has received It from the Father, He is in reality diverse in Person, just as an image is diverse from its original. Moreover, since He has received His Essence from the father, He is most like to Him, and in all things represents Him.

Observe the depth of the Apostle's statements. The world receives the light of faith from the Apostles, they from Christ, in the same way that Moses received it from an angel representing Christ; Christ from the Father, in the same way that light proceeds from light, and a ray from the sun.

Ver. 5.— Ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. Supply "we show," or "we preach."

Ver. 6.— For God . . . hath shined in our hearts. In the account of the creation of the world given in Genesis, light is said to have been created first of all, because light is a quality most splendid, pleasant, gladdening, useful, efficacious, and powerful. Cf. Dionysius ( de Divin. Nomin. c. iv.), who enumerates thirty-four properties of light and of fire wonderfully adapted to set forth God and the things belonging to Him. Cf. note to Gen 1:2.

Hugo ( de Sacram. pag. i. c. 10) and others point out, by way of allegory, that on the first day, when light was created and divided from darkness, the good angels were established in good and the evil in evil, and were separated each from other. What, therefore, was done in the world of sense was an image of what was being done in the unseen world. Nay, S. Augustine frequently maintains that the literal sense is that which refers to the angels.

The Apostle here explains this light tropologically. As God formerly produced light out of darkness, so now has He made unbelievers into believers, and has enlightened them with the light of faith. So, too, S. Augustine ( contra Advers. Leg. lib. i. c. 8) lays down that by light and day succeeding the pre-existing darkness, and being again succeeded by darkness, is signified what spiritually takes place in man, viz., grace succeeding sin, and sin again grace.

To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. To illuminate us, that we in turn may illuminate others with that clear and glorious knowledge which shines forth from God in the face of Christ, or else by means of our clear knowledge of Christ and His redemption. It is commonly said that a man is known by his face; hence to know "in the face" signifies to know clearly and openly. Just as at night a lighted torch throws light on the surrounding darkness, and is carried before travellers to show them the way clearly, so does Christ lighten us in the night of this world, so that we know God surely and plainly, and go on our way to see Him in the life of bliss in heaven. Hence the Glossa symbolically explains these words to mean: by Jesus Christ, who is the Face of the Father; for without Him the Father is not known. There is still kept up an allusion to the veil over Moses' face contrasted with the open face of Christ (iii. 15). The word face may be, with the Syriac, translated the person, i.e., we illuminate, others in the name, place, and authority of Christ.  S. Cyril ( de Fide ad Theodor. Imp.) says. "He hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. See how openly and plainly the light of the knowledge of God the Father has shone, forth in the person of Christ."

Ver. 7.— But we have this treasure. The treasure is the ministry and preaching of the Gospel entrusted to him by God. Cf. ver. 1 and vers. 5 and 6.

In earthen vessels. (1.) In a body of dust frail and fragile. Our body is as an earthenware vessel; for as an earthen vessel is nothing but clay baked in the fire, so is our body nothing but earth made solid by the heat of the soul. Take away the soul, and the body returns to the dust whence it came. Cf. Psa 103:14. Or, (2.) in earthen vessels means in ourselves; for though we are Apostles, still we are men, frail and fashioned from the dust, and, like earthen vessels, are worthless, weak, and contemptible, exposed to injuries at the hands of all. This explanation is favoured by the words that follow: "We are troubled on every side," &c. So in 1Co 1:27, it was said that God had chosen the Apostles as the foolish, and weak, and base things of the world; and also in 1Co 2:1, Paul said that he had come to the Corinthians, not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, but in weakness, and fear, and trembling ; and again, in 1Co 4:9, he expresses the same idea.

Origen ( Hom. in Numer.) symbolically interprets this treasure as the grace of the Holy Spirit hidden in earthen vessels, i.e., in the rude, unpolished, and unadorned words of the law and the Gospel.

That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. God wills me to have this treasure in an earthen vessel, in order that the excellency which is in me, and the fruit that I gather in the conversion of the heathen, may not be ascribed to me, but to the power of God and the grace of Christ.

Ver. 8.— We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed. Not made anxious. Physically he was distressed, hemmed in, and pressed down, but in the midst of adversity the Apostle's mind was serene and lofty. So, in Ps. iv. 1, David says. "Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress."

We are perplexed, but not in despair. The Latin Version gives "We are in want, but not destitute," or, as Ambrose, Theophylact, Erasmus, and Cajetan explain it: We are pressed with want, but not oppressed. There is a similar play on words in the Greek. Poverty gives sufficiency, nay, plenty, to a soul that is patient, wise, serene, and fixed on God. To say nothing of Christian writers, this was taught by Favorinus, who says. "It is true what wise men have said as the result of their experience, that they who have much want much, and that indigence takes its rise from abundance, and not from want. Much more is desired in order to guard the abundance you already have. Whoever, therefore, has great riches, and wishes to take forethought and guard against need or loss, needs loss, not gain, and should have less, that less may be lost."

The Greek may also be rendered: We are without guidance, and are perplexed in the midst of our evils and difficulties; still we are not overcome by them, nor by our anxiety and weariness. We do not despair, but we hope for, and we find counsel, help, and deliverance in God, and so we are conquerors. This explanation is nearer to the Greek α̉πόρια, which denotes, not only bodily distress, but mental, viz., want of counsel, doubt, and perplexity, when the mind, seeing itself surrounded by difficulties, is at a stand-still, and knows not what to do. But God succours the Apostles and their successors in these straits, and points out a way of escape. S. Xavier and Gaspar Barzæus found this true in their work among the Indians, and testified that in every difficulty the Holy Spirit taught them more than all doctors or wise men could have done,

Ver. 9. — Persecuted, but not forsaken. S. Gregory of Nyssa ( de Beatitud.), explaining the last of the Beatitudes, "Blessed are they that suffer persecution," acutely and piously weighs the meaning of the word persecution, which etymologically points to some running, or rather running before. He puts before our eyes a holy man and tribulation, like two runners running side by side. When the saint does not give place to tribulation, he says that he goes before it, as victorious over it, and that tribulation follows hard after him, and is, therefore, called persecution, not consecution, for it follows after but does not reach the holy man. He says that this word points out that the saints, through patience, run with great swiftness for the prize of glory, display their vigour and strength most brightly in the midst of persecutions. He goes on: " Martyrdom shows us the arena, and marks out the course to be run by faith; for 'persecution' denotes an ardent desire for swiftness, nay, it even indicates the winning of the prize; for who can be victor in the race save he who leaves his competitor behind? Since, therefore, he that has an enemy behind, seeking to deprive him of the prize, has one 'persecuting' him—and such are they who finish the course of martyrdom on behalf of their holy religion, who are persecuted by their enemies, but not overtaken. Christ seems in these last words to put before us the most glorious crown of bliss, when He says, 'Blessed are they that suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'"

Cast down, but not destroyed. There is here an allusion to the earthen vessels of ver. 7. Though, he seems to say, we are earthen vessels, and cast down, as it were, from the most lofty towers of persecutions, yet are we not shattered. We are so hardened by the fire of charity that we cannot break. Some add, "We are humiliated, but not confounded," but the words are wanting in the Greek and Latin copies.

Ver. 10.— Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus. The death of Jesus, according to S. Ambrose, but the Greek is rather dying or mortification. The dying meant is the suffering of death like to the suffering of Jesus Christ, which is the road to and the beginning of death, a long and living death. This is the suffering spoken in vers. 8 and 9, suffering inflicted from without, though it may be extended also to any voluntary mortification of mind and body. It is called "the dying of Jesus," (1.) because it is borne by His example; (2.) because it is undergone for His faith; (3.) because we, His servants, bear about in our body, by a kind of representation, the very death and Passion of Christ, just as slaves carry the badge and token of their master. Cf. Gal 6:17. So in Heb 11:26, it is said that Moses bore the reproach of Christ, and preferred it to the riches of Egypt (see note there). " There is no doubt," says Ambrose, " that in His martyrs Christ is slain, and that in them that suffer chains or scourgings for the faith, Christ suffers the same. " Pau1 gives here the cause why, in the midst of trouble and distress, he is not crushed and destroyed, but is instead raised up and quickened. It is because by tribulation he is made like Christ crucified and smitten, and then raised and quickened; and, therefore, he rejoices in tribulation.

Salvianus ( de Vero Jud. et Provid. Dei, lib. i.) says that no one is miserable who is content in the midst of misery, rather he is happy, because it is of his own devotion that he lives in misery. Toil, fasting, poverty, humility, weakness, persecution are not grievous to those that endure them, but to those that kick at them. Among the heathen, Fabricius, Fabius, Regulus, Camillus found poverty and affliction no burden. " No one, " he says, " is made miserable by other people's opinion but by his own, and therefore false judgment cannot make them miserable whose conscience approves them . . .. None, I think, are happier than they who act according to their own knowledge and wish. Religious are of low estate, but they wish it so; they are poor, but pleased with poverty; they have no ambition, for they scorn it; they mourn, but they rejoice to mourn; they are weak, but they delight in weakness. 'When I am weak,' says the Apostle, 'then am I strong.' And so, no matter what may happen to those that are religious indeed, they are to be called happy. None are more joyous in the midst of all kinds of adversity than those who are in a state of their own choosing."

That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. This is that future life when we shall rise with Christ to glory (ver. 14); and also the present life, when, after the pattern of the risen body of Christ, our afflicted bodies become more lively through the operation of the Spirit, on account of our hope of the resurrection and through the power of God, which delivers us from so many dangers every day and strengthens us against them.

Ver. 11 . — For we which live are alway delivered unto death. In the midst of a life such as ours, we are exposed to constant danger of death and to every kind of trouble.

The thought, then, that in all our tribulation we are made like to Christ in His Passion and resurrection is what animates, comforts, and strengthens us. As in our afflicted and mortified body the death of Christ is visibly set forth, so in its deliverance, salvation, and strengthening do we see the life and resurrection of Christ. When we are thrown to the lions and other wild beasts, to be, as all expect, surely devoured by them, they spare us and fawn upon us; when we are cast into the fire it shrinks from us, nay, with genial warmth refreshes us; when we are thrown into the sea to be drowned, the sea bears us up and preserves us from all hurt; when I was stoned at Lystra and left for dead, I was soon after found to be alive. In all these and similar persecutions and afflictions I have fellowship with, I am made like, and I set forth the suffering, death, and burial of Christ, which by the power of God, were but the glorious prelude to the life of bliss. And for this reason I am strong, nay, I rejoice and glory in all my tribulations; for they give me a sure and certain hope of an eternal life of glory. " Therefore," says Œcumenius, " was Christ permitted by God to be delivered to death, that His resurrection might be made manifest to all. He who daily raises us certainty raised up Himself also, and will in good time raise us up to eternal life."

Ver. 12.— So then death worketh in us, but life in you. Your spiritual life, your salvation is produced through faith and grace, but ours by the death of our body. The passion and death of the Apostles has been the life of the Church. "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church," says Tertullian. Chrysostom gives a different explanation: "You live in peace and suffer no such persecutions for the faith as I do; and so you seem to live and I seem to die daily."

We, having the same spirit of faith. As David was hemmed in with dangers, and yet was delivered by God alone from them all, and said. "I believed," i.e., I believe that God will always be true to His promises and deliver me, so too do we believe and hope, and boldly profess that our help and strength, our deliverance and resurrection have been promised by God, and will most surely be wrought out.

Ps. 116., alluded to here by S. Paul, is a Eucharistic psalm, in which David gives God thanks for his safe deliverance. Hence it begins with, "I believed." In other words: I, David, in the midst of dangers and adversity, when hunted by Saul and his men, when my life was sought by Achish and the Philistines, when I was so placed that I seemed to be deprived of all human help, and to be in desperate straits, yet put my trust in God, who had promised me safety and moreover the kingdom, by the mouth of Samuel. Wherefore, I said boldly that I believed, without doubting that God would deliver me from all these evils, and would bring me to His promised kingdom, as, in fact, He has delivered me, and has set me on the throne. "Right dear in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints." My death is of great account and great price in the sight of the Lord. God, therefore, carefully watches that my death, or that of His other Saints may not be allowed, except for good cause and great gain, and He wonderfully guards us and delivers us. This, I, David, found in the cave and at other times when I was shut in by the bands of Saul and of my other enemies, and therefore with praise and thanksgiving do I exclaim, What return shall I make unto the Lord for all the benefits that He hath done unto me? I will receive the cup of salvation, of my many safe deliverances—that cup which is a witness and public profession of God's goodness to me, and of my frequent escapes from danger—of God's salvation will I take.

Observe here that (1.) the Jews had three kinds of sacrifices, the whole burnt-offering, the sin-offering, and the peace-offering. This last was a sacrifice of salvation, offered for the peace and salvation of any individual or family, or of the whole people, whether already obtained or to be obtained. (2.) In every Sacrifice a libation was made to God, just as if the sacrifice were God's feast. The cup, therefore, of salvation is the cup of wine which was offered to God, poured out and drunk by the offerers. (3.) This cup was a figure of the Eucharistic chalice, which makes us not only mindful of the salvation wrought by Christ, but also partakers of it.

Tropologically this "cup" is martyrdom and affliction, and the obstinate resistance that we make to sin, even unto death, says S. Basil, in his comments on Ps. cxvi. For Paul eagerly longed for martyrdom, and hence he speaks not of the cross, but of the cup of salvation, as though he should say: I will readily drink whatever the Lord may have given to me, even though it be the martyr's death; and therefore knowing, says S. Augustine, that martyrdom is not within my own power, but depends on the grace of God, I will call upon that grace, and will publicly preach and celebrate the name of the Lord. Similarly, Christ speaks of His Passion as a cup, and bids His Apostles and martyrs and all His members drink of it (S. Mat 20:22, and Mat 26:42). As, then, every Christian offers to Christ, His Deliverer, the Eucharistic cup and sacrifice as a thanksgiving, so does Paul offer his sufferings, his afflictions, and death to Christ, as a most pleasing cup. So, too, have all the martyrs, by openly professing their faith and dying for it, offered to Christ the cup of their martyrdom.

I believed. I believed, and I still believe. This is a continuous act of belief, and not merely one that is inchoate, especially so since David speaks of the person of Paul and of us all, and puts his own belief forward as one deserving our imitation.

Ver. 14.— Shall raise up us also. . . and shall present us with you. Shall present us with you in glory. He says out of modesty, "shall present us with you," not "you with us," because the Corinthians were the cause and object of his preaching, and so also of his glory.

Ver. 15 . — That the abundant grace might redound to the glory of God. I.e., through many giving thanks. The Syriac renders it, "that since grace abounds through many, thanksgiving may be proportionately multiplied to the glory of God."

Ver. 16 . — But though our outward man perish. Though the body be corrupted through persecutions, afflictions, hunger, thirst, cold, nakedness, scourgings, and diseases, yet the spirit within is renewed, and advances in faith, hope, charity, readiness of mind, and, like gold from the fire, comes out stronger and brighter, says Chrysostom.

This verse differs from Rom 7:22. There the outward man is concupiscence, or the man governed by concupiscence; the inward man is charity, or the man renewed by the spirit. But here the outward man is the body, the inward is the soul; or, more appositely, the outward man is the man regarded as corporeal, or in so far as through his body he is visible, tangible, passible, and susceptible of injuries from without; the inward man is the same man regarded as possessed of a soul, or in so far as through his soul he is invisible, and bravely and cheerfully bears bodily afflictions. Since man consists of two so dissimilar parts, the body without and the soul within, and since the soul itself seems to have two sides, one which animates the body, and shows itself outwardly in the body by its working and passions, and so seems in a sense outward, animal, and embodied; one self-contained, concerned only with the operations of the mind, and so seems inward and invisible, hence man, consisting of these two parts, is called outward in the first respect, and inward in the second.

Hence it is evident, against Illyricus, that original sin and concupiscence are not an evil substance formed from man by the devil, and united to man's substance as its form; for this form would be the inward man, and that so corrupt as to be incapable of renewal, opposed to what the Apostle says here.

Tertullian was wrong, says S. Thomas, in gathering from this passage that the soul is corporeal, and has its figure and members like the body, so that the inward man is but a copy of the outward. In the same way John Huart, a physician, in his Examen Ingeniorum, lately published, has maintained that the souls of the lost are tortured by fire, because, he says, they have their members or images of members, they have their senses and sensations, in the same way that Dives said that his tongue was tormented, in S. Luke 16

But this opinion is baseless. As the soul is not corporeal, it has no members strictly speaking; but what is said of its senses and sensations may be true. For the rational soul, being also sensitive, has within itself a root of sense and sensation, e.g., touch, by which it feels heat and fire, and the pain they cause. Although this sensation cannot be exercised naturally apart from the body, yet God can supernaturally produce it in a soul separated from the body; for such a soul has and retains the root of sensation within itself. This is the opinion of many subtle philosophers, and they find it easy in this way to explain how fire affects the soul. Reason, too, is in their favour; for sensation wholly consists in the soul. When, e.g., we see with the eye, or hear with the ear, or touch with the hand, the sight, or bearing, or perception of touch is not in the eye, or ear, or hand, but in the soul. It is not the body but the soul which sees by the eye, hears by the ear, and touches by the hand; why, then, cannot God, by His omnipotence, produce the same sensation in a soul separated from the body? The natural use of the organs of the body, which has been lost at death, may be supernaturally replaced, as He can and does sometimes supply the object of sensation; as, e.g., he may enable a man to see through a wall what is being done in a closed bedroom, or see what is taking place in distant countries. We read of such things in the life of Anselm and other Saints.

Day by day. As the outward, i.e., the body daily is weakened and aged by affliction, so the inward man, i.e., the mind, is daily renewed and gifted with youth through the hope of resurrection. We read of Abbot Barnabas in Sophronius ( Prat. Spir. c. x.), that he drove a thorn into his foot and refused to have it taken out, and so caused his foot to fester; and when some expressed their wonder, he said. "The more the outward man suffers, the more does the inward flourish." In the same work, in chap. viii., we read of Myrogenes, a man afflicted with dropsy, saying: "Pray for me, fathers, that the inward man may not grow dropsical, for my prayer to God is that I may live a long time in this weakness." No doubt these Saints applied this general declaration of the Apostle to their own particular diseases.

So that admirable martyr, Clement of Ancyra, when tortured by Agathangelus, under the Emperor Diocletian, with every possible kind of torture, though broken in body, yet became daily stronger, so much so as to long for fresh tortures, and to pray God that his life might be prolonged for them, and obtained his request. He lived for twenty eight years, during which he was constantly tortured. At length Diocletian and the judges, amazed at his constancy, asked him how he could bear such tortures, and he answered in these words of Paul: "Though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

Ver. 17 . — For our light affliction, which is but for a moment. All our tribulation is light and short-lived when compared with the exceeding weight of eternal glory, and is to it as a single feather is to all the lead in the universe.

S. Augustine ( Enarr. in Ps. 70 ), when explaining the words of Christ, "For My yoke is easy, and My burden light," says beautifully: " The one burden is oppressive and wearisome, but that of Christ sustains thee. One pulls thee down, the other lends thee wings. If you take away its wings from a bird, you take away, indeed, a weight, but by removing the weight you force it to remain on the ground. Restore the weight, and it will soar aloft. Of this kind is the burden of Christ."

S. John Chrysostom had this in his mind when he was being led to Cucusus into exile. And then when, in extreme bodily weakness and fever-stricken, he was forced by his guards to travel from there for seventy days continuously, with the hope that he would succumb to the hardships of the journey, and so rid the Empress Eudoxia of one she hated bitterly (as indeed happened), when oppressed with hunger, thirst, poverty, heat, and attacks by the Isaurians, he cheerfully and bravely overcame them all, and, forgetful of himself, consoled and animated the noble matrons, Olympias and Pentadia, and his other friends, bidding them be ready to bear bravely imprisonment and other sufferings for Christ. It was then that he wrote that Divine treatise on the theme, "No one is injured but by himself," in which he surpasses himself. By solid arguments he showed that the whole cause and matter of real pain arise from ourselves, and not from any one else. "Sin alone," he says, "is the only evil, and the only one to be grieved for, and it cannot find lodgment in the breast by one's own free-will. But all other evils and pains, when compared with sin, are not real, but only painted shadows, being light, short-lived, and of little account; but sin brings in its train an innumerable number of grievous and eternal pains."

A far more exceeding. The Greek is, "from excellence to excellence," i.e., says Theophylact, a weight of glory that is above measure wonderfully sublime and great. The Latin version gives, "above measure excellent." The sense, of course, is—the weight of future glory is incomparably greater and more sublime than the tribulation we suffer here.

Chrysostom and Theodoret remark on the beautiful contrast drawn between the eternal and the momentary, the weight and the lightness, the rest, nay, the glory and the tribulation. So in the next verse we have a contrast drawn between the things which are seen and the things which are not seen, between things temporal and things eternal. So to the Maccabees, to Vincent, Laurence, Stephen, stones, gridirons, and racks, and all tortures, when compared with the glory of heaven, were but as a moment in respect of eternity, as a feather or a bubble in respect of heaven, as a point in respect of the whole world.

S. Augustine ( Enarr. in Ps. xciv.) says beautifully that " God says 'I have somewhat for sale!' 'What is it, Lord?' 'The Kingdom of heaven.' 'With what price is it bought?' 'Thy kingdom is bought with poverty, joy with grief, rest with toil, glory with shame, life with death.'" For it is written, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven; blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted," &c. S. Paul therefore aptly assigns to glory, weight; to tribulation, lightness; a moment's duration to this, eternity to that; to this, present time and place; to that, an exalted permanence; to this, tribulation, that it is ours as a thing we can contain within the hand; to that that it ever works within us, beyond all conception and all measure.

Eternal weight of glory. The Syriac is "an infinite glory for ever and ever." This is "worked for us," not physically or efficiently, but morally and meritoriously. Hence appears the merit of good works. Calvin, however, denies that this follows, and in this he is followed by Beza; he says that all that is here signified is the order and road by which we attain to glory, viz., through tribulations. But this is too cold an exposition. A road or way is not said to work the end of the journey, unless you understand the road to mean, not the way itself by which you go, but the act of travelling or journeying; this, indeed, is the cause of the end of the journey, and not merely the moral cause, but the physical and efficient cause. But if Calvin assign this to good works and merits in respect of the eternal reward, he assigns more to them than Catholics do. Again, the Greek word κατεργάζεται shows that more than the order of going is meant, for it signifies, "works out," "finishes," "perfects; " i.e., it denotes a cause, not of any kind, but one that is powerful and efficacious. So say Ambrose and also Chrysostom in these words: "God, the just judge, renders bliss to the just, in the same way that He renders hell to the wicked." But to the wicked He assigns hell as the merited punishment of their wickedness, therefore to the just also He assigns bliss as the reward they merit for their good works.

S. Bernard ( Serm 17 in Ps. xci.) says. " He did not say, 'Shall be rewarded,' but, 'Worketh in us an eternal weight of glory.' Glory, my brethren, lies hidden in our tribulation; in this momentary act eternity is involved, in this imponderable there is an exceeding weight." One is contained in the other, as the harvest is contained in the seed. When the seed puts forth its strength it is already producing the harvest. S. Bernard goes on to say: " Meanwhile let us hasten then to buy for ourselves that field, that treasure hidden in the field; let us count it all joy when we fall into divers Tribulations. Let us learn to say with all our heart, 'It is better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting.'"

It may be asked, How can these sufferings be called light, when in another place they are said to be not worthy to be compared? I answer that they are not worthy so far as they are sufferings, or natural penal works, because in this sense they have no proportion to so great glory; yet they are "worthy" in so far as they are borne from grace or charity. They then become works of grace, which is the seed whence glory springs. As the seed has a certain worthy proportion to the harvest, so has grace to glory. Again, they are "worthy" in so far as they are sufferings of Christ, springing from His merits and subordinated to them. For Christ merited for us this endurance of sufferings and afflictions, and also merited that we should merit eternal glory by this suffering of ours, as though it were His own, flowing from Him and His merits.

S. Bernard ( Serm. 1 de Diversis ) presses well each word of the Apostle here; he says: " Go on, then; murmur and say, 'It is too long, it is too heavy: I cannot endure sufferings so great and protracted.' The Apostle declares that what He suffered was light and but for a moment. Certainly you have not yet received of the Jews five times forty stripes save one; you have not yet laboured more than all; you have not yet resisted unto blood. Let us see, then, if sufferings are not worthy to be compared with glory. (1.) Why do you uncertainly count up days and hours? The hour flieth by and with it punishment: they do not attach themselves to you, nay, they give place and are succeeded by others. It is not so with glory, it is not so with our reward, with the recompense of our toil. It knows no change, no end; we enjoy it wholly and all at once, and it abides for ever. (2.) Punishment is sipped drop by drop, it is easily swallowed, and soon done with. But in our reward there is a torrent of pleasure, and an overpowering current, an overflowing torrent of joy, a river of glory and of peace. (3.) It is not a glorious robe, or a glorious abode, but glory itself that is promised us. In truth, the expectation of the just is not of something joyful but of joy itself. It is not the honeycomb, but the most pure, liquid honey, that God has laid up for us; it is very joy, life, glory, peace, pleasure, delight, felicity, happiness, and exultation that the Lord our God has treasured up for us; and all these things are one, that Jerusalem may share it equally in all her citizens. And this one Thing is nothing save Himself, according to the words of the Apostle, 'God shall be all in all.' This is our reward, this is our crown and prize. Would God that we may so run that we may obtain."

The author (perhaps Huh of S. Victor) of the treatise, de Anima et Spiritu, which is found in the works of S. Augustine (but evidently not his, for it quotes Boethius), graphically describes this weight of glory and these joys of the Blessed (c. lvii. et seq.). (1.) He describes the mutual love of all the Blessed, and their consequent mutual joy; for no one rejoices in his own glory alone, but in that of every one else, and hence he is not once blessed, but a hundred thousand times. (2.) He describes the rapture of the Blessed flowing from the Beatific Vision. (3.) He sets before our eyes their perfect peace and happiness. (4.) He vividly describes (c. lxiv.) the greatness of their wealth, which is God Himself. (5.) He relates the abundant fulness of the beauty, good health, wisdom, melody, honour, riches, and of all good things more than we can taste here, or even conceive of. " In heaven," he says, " is whatever you love, whatever you desire. If you are delighted with beauty, the just shall shine as the sun; if swiftness or strength, they shall be as the angels of God; if a long and healthy life, there is eternal health and a healthy eternity; if it is fulness, they shall be filled when the glory of the Lord shall appear; if it is intoxication, they shall be intoxicated from the richness of the house of God; if it is melody, there the angels endlessly sing sweet strains to God; if any worldly pleasure, the Lord shall give them to drink of the torrent of His Godhead; if wisdom, they shall be all taught of God; if concord, their food will be the will of God; if power, they will enter into the power of God, and they will be all-powerful over their own will, as God is over His. As God can do what He will by Himself, so by Him will they be able to do what they will. If honour and riches, God will set His good and faithful servants over many things ; if true security, they will have sure certainty that their good will never fail them, for they will know that of their own accord they will not lose it, and that God, who loves them, will not take it against their will from them that love Him." From all which Gregory ( Hom. 32 in Evang.) rightly infers that " no one can come to great rewards but by great labours. Hence that excellent preacher, Paul, said that no one is crowned except he strive lawfully. Let, then, the mind be delighted at the greatness of the prize, but not terrified by the laborious conflict. " The present time, as one of the Saints says, is a time of penitence and toil; the future will be a time of rest and gladness.

Ver. 18.— The things which are seen are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. S. Augustine ( Sentent. No. 270) says well: " There is this difference between things temporal and things eternal, that the former are loved more before they are obtained, but, seem worthless when they arrive. Nothing satisfies the mind but a true and certain eternity of incorruptible joy. But eternal joy is more ardently loved when obtained than when longed for. No one can value it above its true worth, so that when he attains it it seems vile in his eyes through having been too ardently longed for. But so great is the excellency of heaven that charity will obtain far more than faith has believed or hope desired. " See also S. Gregory, Hom. in Evang., where he draws out at length this distinction between carnal and spiritual pleasures.

 

Commentary -- Other

Evidence: 2Co 4:4

PRINCIPLES OF GROWTH FOR THE NEW AND GROWING CHRISTIAN

Warfare—Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition

Before you became a Christian, you floated downstream with the other dead fish. But now, God has put His life within you, and you will find yourself swimming against a threefold current: the world, the devil, and the flesh. Let’s look at these three resistant enemies.

Our first enemy is the world , which refers to the sinful, rebellious, world system. The world loves the darkness and hates the light ( Joh 3:20 ), and is governed by the " prince of the power of the air" ( Eph 2:2 ). The Bible says the Christian has escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. " Lust" is unlawful desire, and is the life’s blood of the world— whether it be the lust for sexual sin, for power, for money, for material things. Lust is a monster that will never be gratified, so don’t feed it. It will grow bigger and bigger until it weighs heavy upon your back, and will be the death of you ( Jam 1:15 ).

There is nothing wrong with sex, power, money, or material things, but when desire for these becomes predominant, it becomes idolatry. We are told, " Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" ; whoever is " a friend of the world is the enemy of God" ( 1Jo 2:15 ; Jam 4:4 ).

The second enemy is the devil , who is the " god of this world" ( 2Co 4:4 ). He was your spiritual father before you joined the family of God ( Joh 8:44 ; Eph 2:2 ). Jesus called the devil a thief who came to steal, kill, and destroy ( Joh 10:10 ).

The way to overcome him and his demons is to make sure you are outfitted with the spiritual armor of God ( Eph 6:10-20 ). Become intimately familiar with it. Sleep in it. Never take it off. Bind the sword to your hand so you never lose its grip. The reason for this brings us to the third enemy.

The third enemy is what the Bible calls the " flesh." This is your sinful nature. The domain for the battle is your mind.

If you have a mind to, you will be attracted to the world and all its sin. The mind is the control panel for the eyes and the ears, the center of your appetites. All sin begins in the " heart" ( Pro 4:23 ; Mat 15:19 ). We think of sin before we commit it. Jam 1:15 warns that lust brings forth sin, and sin when it’s conceived brings forth death. Every day of life, we have a choice. To sin or not to sin—that is the question. The answer is the fear of God. If you don’t fear God, you will sin to your sinful heart’s delight.

Did you know that God kills people? He killed a man for what he did sexually ( Gen 38:9-10 ), killed another man for being greedy ( Luk 12:15-21 ), and killed a husband and wife for lying ( Act 5:1-10 ). Knowledge of God’s goodness—His righteous judgments against evil— should put the fear of God in us and help us not to indulge in sin.

If we know that the eye of the Lord is in every place beholding the evil and the good, and that He will bring every work to judgment, we will live accordingly. Such weighty thoughts are valuable, for " by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil" ( Pro 16:6 ).

For the next principle of growth, see Heb 10:25 footnote.

Evidence: 2Co 4:6

Just as in the beginning the earth was without form and void, and in darkness ( Gen 1:2 ), the understanding of unregenerate man is darkened ( Eph 4:18 ). It is without form and void until God says, " Let there be light."

Introduction / Outline

Robertson: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Second Corinthians

From Macedonia a.d. 54 Or 55

By Way of Introduction

The Pauline authorship is admitted by all real scholars, though there is doubt by some as to the unity of the Epistle. J.H. Kennedy ( The Second and Third Letters of St. Paul to the Corinthians , 1900) has presented the arguments in a plausible, but not wholly convincing, manner for the plea that chapters 2 Corinthians 10-13 really represent a separate and earlier letter, the one referred to in 2Co_2:3, which was later tacked on to chapters 1-9 as part of the same Epistle. This theory does explain the difference in tone between chapters 1 to 7 and 10 to 13, but that fact is sufficiently clear from the stubborn minority against Paul in Corinth reported by Titus after the majority had been won to Paul by First Corinthians and by Titus (2Co_2:1-11). There are in fact three obvious divisions in the Epistle. Chapters 1 to 7 deal with the report of Titus about the victory in Corinth and Paul’s wonderful digression on the glory of the ministry in 2 Corinthians 2:12-6:10; chapters 8 and 2Co_9:1-15 discuss the collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem already mentioned in 1Co_16:1. and which Titus is to press to completion on his return to Corinth; chapters 10 to 13 deal sharply with the Judaizing minority who still oppose Paul’s leadership. These three subjects are in no sense inconsistent with each other. The letter is a unity. Nowhere do we gain so clear an insight into Paul’s own struggles and hopes as a preacher. It is a handbook for the modern minister of inestimable value. One can hear Paul’s heart throb through these chapters. The syntax is often broken by anacolutha. The sentences are sometimes disconnected. Grammatical agreements are overlooked. But there is power here, the grip of a great soul holding on to the highest ideals in the midst of manifold opposition and discouragements. Christ is Master of Paul at every turn.

The date of the Epistle is clearly after I Corinthians, for Paul has left Ephesus and is now in Macedonia (2Co_2:13), probably at Philippi, where he met Titus, though he had hoped to meet him at Troas on his return from Corinth. At a guess one may say that Paul wrote in the autumn of a.d. 54 or 55 of the same year in the spring of which he had written I Corinthians, and before he went on to Corinth himself where he wrote Romans (Act_20:1-3; Rom_16:1).

The occasion for writing is the return of Titus from Corinth with mixed news of the Pauline majority and the minority in opposition. So Titus is sent back with this Epistle to finish the task while Paul waits awhile for matters to clear up (2Co_13:1-10).

It is not certain whether the letter mentioned in 2Co_2:3 is our I Corinthians or a lost letter like the one alluded to in 1Co_5:9. If it is a lost one, we know of four Corinthian Epistles (the one in 1Co_5:9, our I Corinthians, the one in 2Co_2:3, our II Corinthians), assuming the unity of II Corinthians. Few things in Paul’s ministry gave him more concern than the troubles in Corinth. The modern city pastor finds little in his work that Paul has not faced and mastered. There is consolation and courage for the preacher in the conduct and counsels of this greatest of all preachers.

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE following reasons seem to have induced Paul to write this Second Epistle to the Corinthians: (1) That he might explain the reasons for his having deferred to pay them his promised visit, by taking Corinth as his way to Macedonia (1Co 4:19; 2Co 1:15-16; compare 1Co 16:5); and so that he might set forth to them his apostolic walk in general (2Co 1:12, 2Co 1:24; 2Co 6:3-13; 2Co 7:2). (2) That he might commend their obedience in reference to the directions in his First Epistle, and at the same time direct them now to forgive the offender, as having been punished sufficiently (2Co 2:1-11; 2Co 7:6-16). (3) That he might urge them to collect for the poor saints at Jerusalem (2Co 8:1-9, 2Co 8:15). (4) That he might maintain his apostolic authority and reprove gainsayers.

The external testimonies for its genuineness are IRENÆUS [Against Heresies, 3,7,1]; ATHENAGORAS [Of the Resurrection of the Dead]; CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA [Miscellanies, 3, p. 94; 4, p. 101]; TERTULLIAN [On Modesty, 13].

The TIME OF WRITING was after Pentecost, A.D. 57, when Paul left Ephesus for Troas. Having stayed in the latter place for some time preaching the Gospel with effect (2Co 2:12), he went on to Macedonia, being eager to meet Titus there, having been disappointed in his not coming to Troas, as had been agreed on between them. Having heard from him the tidings he so much desired of the good effect produced on the Corinthians by his First Epistle, and after having tested the liberality of the Macedonian churches (2Co 8:1), he wrote this Second Epistle, and then went on to Greece, where he abode for three months; and then, after travelling by land, reached Philippi on his return at Passover or Easter, A.D. 58 (Act 20:1-6). So that this Epistle must have been written about autumn, A.D. 57.

Macedonia was THE PLACE from which it was written (2Co 9:2, where the present tense, "I boast," or "am boasting," implies his presence then in Macedonia). In Asia (Lydian Asia) he had undergone some great peril of his life (2Co 1:8-9), whether the reference be [PALEY] to the tumult at Ephesus (Acts 19:23-41), or, as ALFORD thinks, to a dangerous illness in which he despaired of life. Thence he passed by Troas to Philippi, the first city which would meet him in entering Macedonia. The importance of the Philippian Church would induce him to stay there some time; as also his desire to collect contributions from the Macedonian churches for the poor saints at Jerusalem. His anxiety of mind is recorded (2Co 7:5) as occurring when he came into Macedonia, and therefore must have been at Philippi, which was the first city of Macedonia in coming from Troas; and here, too, from 2Co 7:6, compared with 2Co 7:5, must have been the scene of his receiving the comforting tidings from Titus. "Macedonia" is used for Philippi in 2Co 11:9, as is proved by comparison with Phi 4:15-16. So it is probably used here (2Co 7:5). ALFORD argues from 2Co 8:1, where he speaks of the "grace bestowed on the churches (plural) of Macedonia," that Paul must have visited other churches in Macedonia, besides Philippi, when he wrote, for example, Thessalonica, Berea, &c., and that Philippi, the first on his route, is less likely to have been the scene of his writing than the last on his route, whichever it was, perhaps Thessalonica. But Philippi, as being the chief town of the province, was probably the place to which all the collections of the churches were sent. Ancient tradition, too (as appears from the subscription to this Epistle), favors the view that Philippi was the place from which this Epistle was sent by the hands of Titus who received, besides, a charge to prosecute at Corinth the collection which he had begun at his first visit (2Co 8:6).

The STYLE is most varied, and passes rapidly from one phase of feeling to another; now joyous and consolatory, again severe and full of reproof; at one time gentle and affectionate, at another, sternly rebuking opponents and upholding his dignity as an apostle. This variety of style accords with the warm and earnest character of the apostle, which nowhere is manifested more beautifully than in this Epistle. His bodily frailty, and the chronic malady under which he suffered, and which is often alluded to (2Co 4:7; 2Co 5:1-4; 2Co 12:7-9; compare Note, see on 2Co 1:8), must have been especially trying to one of his ardent temperament. But besides this, was the more pressing anxiety of the "care of all the churches." At Corinth, as elsewhere, Judaizing emissaries wished to bind legal fetters of letter and form (compare 2Co. 3:3-18) on the freedom and catholicity of the Church. On the other hand, there were free thinkers who defended their immorality of practice by infidel theories (1Co 15:12, 1Co 15:32-36). These were the "fightings without," and "fears within" (2Co 7:5-6) which agitated the apostle's mind until Titus brought him comforting tidings from Corinth. Even then, while the majority at Corinth had testified their repentance, and, as Paul had desired, excommunicated the incestuous person, and contributed for the poor Christians of Judea, there was still a minority who, more contemptuously than ever, resisted the apostle. These accused him of crafty and mercenary motives, as if he had personal gain in view in the collection being made; and this, notwithstanding his scrupulous care to be above the possibility of reasonable suspicion, by having others besides himself to take charge of the money. This insinuation was palpably inconsistent with their other charge, that he could be no true apostle, as he did not claim maintenance from the churches which he founded. Another accusation they brought of cowardly weakness; that he was always threatening severe measures without daring to execute them (2Co 10:8-16; 2Co 13:2); and that he was vacillating in his teaching and practice, circumcising Timothy, and yet withholding circumcision from Titus; a Jew among the Jews, and a Greek among the Greeks. That most of these opponents were of the Judaizing party in the Church, appears from 2Co 11:22. They seem to have been headed by an emissary from Judea ("he that cometh," 2Co 11:4), who had brought "letters of commendation" (2Co 3:1) from members of the Church at Jerusalem, and who boasted of his purity of Hebrew descent, and his close connection with Christ Himself (2Co 11:13, 2Co 11:23). His partisans contrasted his high pretensions with the timid humility of Paul (1Co 2:3); and his rhetoric with the apostle's plain and unadorned style (2Co 11:6; 2Co 10:10, 2Co 10:13). It was this state of things at Corinth, reported by Titus, that caused Paul to send him back forthwith thither with this Second Epistle, which is addressed, not to Corinth only (1Co 1:2), but to all the churches also in Achaia (2Co 1:1), which had in some degree been affected by the same causes as affected the Corinthian Church. The widely different tone in different parts of the Epistle is due to the diversity which existed at Corinth between the penitent majority and the refractory minority. The former he addresses with the warmest affection; the latter with menace and warning. Two deputies, chosen by the churches to take charge of the contribution to be collected at Corinth, accompanied Titus (2Co 8:18-19, 2Co 8:22).

JFB: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

• THE HEADING; PAUL'S CONSOLATIONS IN RECENT TRIALS IN ASIA; HIS SINCERITY TOWARDS THE CORINTHIANS; EXPLANATION OF HIS NOT HAVING VISITED THEM AS HE HAD PURPOSED. (2Co. 1:1-24)
• REASON WHY HE HAD NOT VISITED THEM ON HIS WAY TO MACEDONIA; THE INCESTUOUS PERSON OUGHT NOW TO BE FORGIVEN; HIS ANXIETY TO HEAR TIDINGS OF THEIR STATE FROM TITUS, AND HIS JOY WHEN AT LAST THE GOOD NEWS REACHES HIM. (2Co. 2:1-17)
• THE SOLE COMMENDATION HE NEEDS TO PROVE GOD'S SANCTION OF HIS MINISTRY HE HAS IN HIS CORINTHIAN CONVERTS: HIS MINISTRY EXCELS THE MOSAIC, AS THE GOSPEL OF LIFE AND LIBERTY EXCELS THE LAW OF CONDEMNATION. (2Co. 3:1-18) Are we beginning again to recommend ourselves (2Co 5:12) (as some of them might say he had done in his first Epistle; or, a reproof to "some" who had begun doing so)!
• HIS PREACHING IS OPEN AND SINCERE, THOUGH TO MANY THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN. (2Co. 4:1-18)
• THE HOPE (2Co 4:17-18) OF ETERNAL GLORY IN THE RESURRECTION BODY. (2Co. 5:1-21)
• HIS APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IS APPROVED BY FAITHFULNESS IN EXHORTATION, IN SUFFERINGS, IN EXHIBITION OF THE FRUITS OF THE HOLY GHOST: HIS LARGENESS OF HEART TO THEM CALLS FOR ENLARGEMENT OF THEIR HEART TO HIM. EXHORTATIONS TO SEPARATION FROM POLLUTION. (2Co. 6:1-18)
• SELF-PURIFICATION THEIR DUTY RESULTING FROM THE FOREGOING. HIS LOVE TO THEM, AND JOY AT THE GOOD EFFECTS ON THEM OF HIS FORMER EPISTLE, AS REPORTED BY TITUS. (2Co. 7:1-16)
• THE COLLECTION FOR THE SAINTS; THE READINESS OF THE MACEDONIANS A PATTERN TO THE CORINTHIANS; CHRIST THE HIGHEST PATTERN; EACH IS TO GIVE WILLINGLY AFTER HIS ABILITY; TITUS AND TWO OTHERS ARE THE AGENTS ACCREDITED TO COMPLETE THE COLLECTION. (2Co. 8:1-24)
• REASONS FOR HIS SENDING TITUS. THE GREATER THEIR BOUNTIFULNESS, THE MORE SHALL BE THE RETURN OF BLESSING TO THEM, AND THANKSGIVING TO GOD. (2Co 9:1-15)
• HE VINDICATES HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY AGAINST THOSE WHO DEPRECIATED HIM FOR HIS PERSONAL APPEARANCE. HE WILL MAKE HIS POWER FELT WHEN HE COMES. HE BOASTS NOT, AS THEY, BEYOND HIS MEASURE. (2Co. 10:1-18)
• THROUGH JEALOUSY OVER THE CORINTHIANS, WHO MADE MORE ACCOUNT OF THE FALSE APOSTLES THAN OF HIM, HE IS OBLIGED TO COMMEND HIMSELF AS IN MANY RESPECTS SUPERIOR. (2Co. 11:1-33)
• REVELATIONS IN WHICH HE MIGHT GLORY: BUT HE RATHER GLORIES IN INFIRMITIES, AS CALLING FORTH CHRIST'S POWER: SIGNS OF HIS APOSTLESHIP: HIS DISINTERESTEDNESS: NOT THAT HE IS EXCUSING HIMSELF TO THEM; BUT HE DOES ALL FOR THEIR GOOD, LEST HE SHOULD FIND THEM NOT SUCH AS HE DESIRED, AND SO SHOULD HAVE TO BE SEVERE AT HIS COMING. (2Co. 12:1-21) He proceeds to illustrate the "glorying in infirmities" (2Co 11:30). He gave one instance which might expose him to ridicule (2Co 11:33); he now gives another, but this one connected with a glorious revelation of which it was the sequel: but he dwells not on the glory done to himself, but on the infirmity which followed it, as displaying Christ's power. The oldest manuscripts read, "I MUST NEEDS boast (or glory) though it be not expedient; for I will come." The "for" gives a proof that it is "not expedient to boast": I will take the case of revelations, in which if anywhere boasting might be thought harmless. "Visions" refers to things seen: "revelations," to things heard (compare 1Sa 9:15) or revealed in any way. In "visions" their signification was not always vouchsafed; in "revelations" there was always an unveiling of truths before hidden (Dan 2:19, Dan 2:31). All parts of Scripture alike are matter of inspiration; but not all of revelation. There are degrees of revelation; but not of inspiration.
• HE THREATENS A SEVERE PROOF OF HIS APOSTOLIC AUTHORITY, BUT PREFERS THEY WOULD SPARE HIM THE NECESSITY FOR IT. (2Co 13:1-14)

TSK: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The most remarkable circumstance in this Epistle, observes Mr. Scott, is the confidence of the Apostle in the goodness of his cause, and in the power of God to bear him out in it. Opposed as he then was by a powerful and sagacious party, whose authority, reputation, and interest were deeply concerned, and who were ready to seize on every thing that could discredit him, it is wonderful to hear him so firmly insist upon his apostolical authority, and so unreservedly appeal to the miraculous power which he has exercised and conferred at Corinth. So far from shrinking from the contest, as afraid of some discovery being made, unfavourable to him and the common cause, he, with great modesty and meekness indeed, but with equal boldness and decision, expressly declares that his opposers and despisers were the ministers of Satan, and menaces them with miraculous judgments, when as many of their deluded hearers had been brought to repentance and re-established in the faith, as proper means could in a reasonable time effect. It is inconceivable that a stronger internal testimony, not only of integrity, but of divine inspiration, can exist. Had there been anything of imposture among the Christians, it was next to impossible but such a conduct must have occasioned a disclosure of it. Of the effects produced by this latter epistle we have no circumstantial account; for the journey which St. Paul took to Corinth, after he had written it, is mentioned by St. Luke only in a few words (Act 20:2, Act 20:3). We know, however, that St. Paul was there after he had written this Epistle; that the contributions for the poor brethren at Jerusalem were brought to him from different parts to that city (Rom 15:26); and that, after remaining there several months, he sent salutations from some of the principal members of that church, by whom he must have been greatly respected, to the church of Rome (Rom 16:22, Rom 16:23). From this time we hear no more of the false teacher and his party; and when Clement of Rome wrote his epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul was considered by them as a divine apostle, to whose authority he might appeal without fear of contradiction. The false teacher, therefore, must either have been silenced by St. Paul, by virtue of his apostolical powers, and by an act of severity which he had threatened (2Co 13:2, 2Co 13:3); or this adversary of the apostle had, at that time, voluntarily quitted the place. Whichever was the cause, the effect produced must operate as a confirmation of our faith, and as a proof of St. Paul’s divine mission.

TSK: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

Overview

2Co 4:1, He declares how he has used all sincerity and faithful diligence in preaching the gospel, 2Co 4:7, and how the troubles and persecutions which he daily endured for the same did redound to the praise of God’s power, 2Co 4:12. to the benefit of the church, 2Co 4:16. and to the apostle’s own eternal glory.

Poole: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 4

MHCC: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

The second epistle to the Corinthians probably was written about a year after the first. Its contents are closely connected with those of the former epistle. The manner in which the letter St. Paul formerly wrote had been received, is particularly noticed; this was such as to fill his heart with gratitude to God, who enabled him fully to discharge his duty towards them. Many had shown marks of repentance, and amended their conduct, but others still followed their false teachers; and as the apostle delayed his visit, from his unwillingness to treat them with severity, they charged him with levity and change of conduct. Also, with pride, vain-glory, and severity, and they spake of him with contempt. In this epistle we find the same ardent affection towards the disciples at Corinth, as in the former, the same zeal for the honour of the gospel, and the same boldness in giving Christian reproof. The first six chapters are chiefly practical: the rest have more reference to the state of the Corinthian church, but they contain many rules of general application.

MHCC: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

(2Co 4:1-7) The apostles laboured with much diligence, sincerity, and faithfulness.

(2Co 4:8-12) Their sufferings for the gospel were great, yet with rich supports.

(2Co 4:13-18) Prospects of eternal glory keep believers from fainting under troubles.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

An Exposition, with Practical Observations, of The Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians

In his former epistle the apostle had signified his intentions of coming to Corinth, as he passed through Macedonia (1Co 16:5), but, being providentially hindered for some time, he writes this second epistle to them about a year after the former; and there seem to be these two urgent occasions: - 1. The case of the incestuous person, who lay under censure, required that with all speed he should be restored and received again into communion. This therefore he gives directions about (ch. 2), and afterwards (ch. 7) he declares the satisfaction he had upon the intelligence he received of their good behaviour in that affair. 2. There was a contribution now making for the poor saints at Jerusalem, in which he exhorts the Corinthians to join (ch. 8, 2Co 9:1-15).

There are divers other things very observable in this epistle; for example, I. The account the apostle gives of his labours and success in preaching the gospel in several places, ch. 2. II. The comparison he makes between the Old and New Testament dispensation, ch. 3. III. The manifold sufferings that he and his fellow-labourers met with, and the motives and encouragements for their diligence and patience, ch. 4, 5. IV. The caution he gives the Corinthians against mingling with unbelievers, ch. 6. V. The way and manner in which he justifies himself and his apostleship from the opprobrious insinuations and accusations of false teachers, who endeavoured to ruin his reputation at Corinth, ch. 10-12, and throughout the whole epistle.

Matthew Henry: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

In this chapter we have an account, I. Of the constancy of the apostle and his fellow-labourers in their work. Their constancy in declared (2Co 4:1), their sincerity is vouched (2Co 4:2), an objection is obviated (2Co 4:3, 2Co 4:4), and their integrity proved (2Co 4:5-7). II. Of their courage and patience under their sufferings. Where see what their sufferings were, together with their allays (2Co 4:8-12), and what it was that kept them from sinking and fainting under them (2Co 4:13 to the end).

Barclay: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO THE LETTERS TO THE CORINTHIANS

The Greatness Of Corinth

A glance at the map will show that Corinth was made for greatness. The southern part of Greece is very nearly an island. On the west the Corinthian Gulf deeply indents the land and on the east the Saronic Gulf. All that is left to join the two parts of Greece together is a little isthmus only four miles across. On that narrow neck of land Corinth stands. Such a position made it inevitable that it should be one of the greatest trading and commercial centres of the ancient world. All traffic from Athens and the north of Greece to Sparta and the Peloponnese had to be routed through Corinth, because it stood on the little neck of land that connected the two.

Not only did the north to south traffic of Greece pass through Corinth of necessity, by far the greater part of the east to west traffic of the Mediterranean passed through her from choice. The extreme southern tip of Greece was known as Cape Malea (now called Cape Matapan). It was dangerous, and to round Cape Malea had much the same sound as to round Cape Horn had in later times. The Greeks had two sayings which showed what they thought of it--"Let him who sails round Malea forget his home," and, "Let him who sails round Malea first make his will."

The consequence was that mariners followed one of two courses. They sailed up the Saronic Gulf, and, if their ships were small enough, dragged them out of the water, set them on rollers, hauled them across the isthmus, and re-launched them on the other side. The isthmus was actually called the Diolkos, the place of dragging across. The idea is the same as that which is contained in the Scottish place name Tarbert, which means a place where the land is so narrow that a boat can be dragged from loch to loch. If that course was not possible because the ship was too large, the cargo was disembarked, carried by porters across the isthmus, and re-embarked on another ship at the other side. This four mile journey across the isthmus, where the Corinth Canal now runs, saved a journey of two hundred and two miles round Cape Malea, the most dangerous cape in the Mediterranean.

It is easy to see how great a commercial city Corinth must have been. The north to south traffic of Greece had no alternative but to pass through her; by far the greater part of the east to west trade of the Mediterranean world chose to pass through her. Round Corinth there clustered three other towns, Lechaeum at the west end of the isthmus, Cenchrea at the east end and Schoenus just a short distance away. Farrar writes, "Objects of luxury soon found their way to the markets which were visited by every nation in the civilized world--Arabian balsam, Phoenician dates, Libyan ivory, Babylonian carpets, Cilician goatsair, Lycaonian wool, Phrygian slaves."

Corinth, as Farrar calls her, was the Vanity Fair of the ancient world. Men called her The Bridge of Greece; one called her The Lounge of Greece. It has been said that if a man stands long enough in Piccadilly Circus he will in the end meet everyone in the country. Corinth was the Piccadilly Circus of the Mediterranean. To add to the concourse which came to it, Corinth was the place where the Isthmian Games were held, which were second only to the Olympics. Corinth was a rich and populous city with one of the greatest commercial trades in the ancient world.

The Wickedness Of Corinth

There was another side to Corinth. She had a reputation for commercial prosperity, but she was also a byword for evil living. The very word korinthiazesthai, to live like a Corinthian, had become a part of the Greek language, and meant to live with drunken and immoral debauchery. The word actually penetrated to the English language, and, in Regency times, a Corinthian was one of the wealthy young bucks who lived in reckless and riotous living. Aelian, the late Greek writer, tells us that if ever a Corinthian was shown upon the stage in a Greek play he was shown drunk. The very name Corinth was synonymous with debauchery and there was one source of evil in the city which was known all over the civilized world. Above the isthmus towered the hill of the Acropolis, and on it stood the great temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. To that temple there were attached one thousand priestesses who were sacred prostitutes, and in the evenings they descended from the Acropolis and plied their trade upon the streets of Corinth, until it became a Greek proverb, "It is not every man who can afford a journey to Corinth." In addition to these cruder sins, there flourished far more recondite vices, which had come in with the traders and the sailors from the ends of the earth, until Corinth became not only a synonym for wealth and luxury, drunkenness and debauchery, but also for filth.

The History Of Corinth

The history of Corinth falls into two parts. She was a very ancient city. Thucydides, the Greek historian, claims that it was in Corinth that the first triremes, the Greek battleships, were built. Legend has it that it was in Corinth that the Argo was built, the ship in which Jason sailed the seas, searching for the golden fleece. But in 146 B.C. disaster befell her. The Romans were engaged in conquering the world. When they sought to reduce Greece, Corinth was the leader of the opposition. But the Greeks could not stand against the disciplined Romans, and in 146 B.C. Lucius Mummius, the Roman general, captured Corinth and left her a desolate heap of ruins.

But any place with the geographical situation of Corinth could not remain a devastation. Almost exactly one hundred years later, in 46 B.C. Julius Caesar rebuilt her and she arose from her ruins. Now she became a Roman colony. More, she became a capital city, the metropolis of the Roman province of Achaea, which included practically all Greece.

In those days, which were the days of Paul, her population was very mixed. (i) There were the Roman veterans whom Julius Caesar had settled there. When a Roman soldier had served his time, he was granted the citizenship and was then sent out to some newly-founded city and given a grant of land so that he might become a settler there. These Roman colonies were planted all over the world, and always the backbone of them was the contingent of veteran regular soldiers whose faithful service had won them the citizenship. (ii) When Corinth was rebuilt the merchants came back, for her situation still gave her commercial supremacy. (iii) There were many Jews among the population. The rebuilt city offered them commercial opportunities which they were not slow to take. (iv) There was a sprinkling of Phoenicians and Phrygians and people from the east, with their exotic customs and their hysterical ways. Farrar speaks of "this mongrel and heterogeneous population of Greek adventurers and Roman bourgeois, with a tainting infusion of Phoenicians; this mass of Jews, ex-soldiers, philosophers, merchants, sailors, freedmen, slaves, trades-people, hucksters and agents of every form of vice." He characterizes her as a colony "without aristocracy, without traditions and without well-established citizens."

Remember the background of Corinth, remember its name for wealth and luxury, for drunkenness and immorality and vice, and then read 1Co_6:9-10 .

Are you not aware that the unrighteous will not inherit the

Kingdom of God? Make no mistake--neither fornicators, nor

idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sensualists, nor homosexuals, nor

thieves, nor rapacious men, nor drunkards, nor slanderers, nor

robbers shall inherit the Kingdom of God--and such were some of

you.

In this hotbed of vice, in the most unlikely place in all the Greek world, some of Paulgreatest work was done, and some of the mightiest triumphs of Christianity were won.

Paul In Corinth

Paul stayed longer in Corinth than in any other city, with the single exception of Ephesus. He had left Macedonia with his life in peril and had crossed over to Athens. There he had had little success and had gone on to Corinth, and he remained there for eighteen months. We realize how little we really know of his work when we see that the whole story of that eighteen months is compressed by Luke into 17 verses (Act_18:1-17 ).

When Paul arrived in Corinth he took up residence with Aquila and Prisca. He preached in the synagogue with great success. With the arrival of Timothy and Silas from Macedonia, he redoubled his efforts, but the Jews were so stubbornly hostile that he had to leave the synagogue. He took up his residence with one Justus who lived next door to the synagogue. His most notable convert was Crispus, who was actually the ruler of the synagogue, and amongst the general public he had good success.

In the year A.D. 52 there came to Corinth as its new governor a Roman called Gallio. He was famous for his charm and gentleness. The Jews tried to take advantage of his newness and good nature and brought Paul to trial before him on a charge of teaching contrary to their law. But Gallio, with impartial Roman justice, refused to have anything to do with the case or to take any action. So Paul completed his work in Corinth and moved on to Syria.

The Correspondence With Corinth

It was when he was in Ephesus in the year A.D. 55 that Paul, learning that things were not all well in Corinth, wrote to the church there. There is every possibility that the Corinthian correspondence as we have it is out of order. We must remember that it was not until A.D. 90 or thereby that Paulcorrespondence was collected. In many churches it must have existed only on scraps of papyrus and the putting it together would be a problem: and it seems that, when the Corinthian letters were collected, they were not all discovered and were not arranged in the right order. Let us see if we can reconstruct what happened.

(i) There was a letter which preceded 1 Corinthians. In 1Co_5:9 Paul writes, "I wrote you a letter not to associate with immoral men." This obviously refers to some previous letter. Some scholars believe that letter is lost without trace. Others think it is contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 . Certainly that passage suits what Paul said he wrote about. It occurs rather awkwardly in its context, and, if we take it out and read straight on from 2Co_6:13 to 2Co_7:2 , we get excellent sense and connection. Scholars call this letter The Previous Letter. (In the original letters there were no chapter or verse divisions. The chapters were not divided up until the thirteenth century and the verses not till the sixteenth, and because of that the arranging of the collection of letters would be much more difficult).

(ii) News came to Paul from various sources of trouble at Corinth. (a) News came from those who were of the household of Chloe (1Co_1:11 ). They brought news of the contentions with which the church was torn. (b) News came with the visit of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus to Ephesus. (1Co_16:17 ). By personal contact they were able to fill up the gaps in Paulinformation. (c) News came in a letter in which the Corinthian Church had asked Paul guidance on various problems. In 1Co_7:1 Paul begins, "Concerning the matters about which you wrote..." In answer to all this information Paul wrote 1 Corinthians and despatched it to Corinth apparently by the hand of Timothy (1Co_4:17 ).

(iii) The result of the letter was that things became worse than ever, and, although we have no direct record of it, we can deduce that Paul paid a personal visit to Corinth. In 2Co_12:14 he writes, "The third time I am ready to come to you." In 2Co_13:1-2 , he says again that he is coming to them for the third time. Now, if there was a third time, there must have been a second time. We have the record of only one visit, whose story is told in Act_18:1-17 . We have no record at all of the second, but Corinth was only two or three daysailing from Ephesus.

(iv) The visit did no good at all. Matters were only exacerbated and the result was an exceedingly severe letter. We learn about that letter from certain passages in 2 Corinthians. In 2Co_2:4 Paul writes, "I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears." In 2Co_7:8 he writes, "For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it though I did regret it; for I see that that letter has grieved you, though only for a while." It was a letter which was the product of anguish of mind, a letter so severe that Paul was almost sorry that he ever sent it.

Scholars call this The Severe Letter. Have we got it? It obviously cannot be I Corinthians, because it is not a tear-stained and anguished letter. When Paul wrote it, it is clear enough that things were under control. Now if we read through 2 Corinthians we find an odd circumstance. In 2Cor 1-9 everything is made up, there is complete reconciliation and all are friends again; but at 2Cor 10 comes the strangest break. 2Cor 10-13 are the most heartbroken cry Paul ever wrote. They show that he has been hurt and insulted as he never was before or afterwards by any church. His appearance, his speech, his apostleship, his honesty have all been under attack.

Most scholars believe that 2Cor 10-13 are the severe letter, and that they have become misplaced when Paulletters were put together. If we want the real chronological course of Paulcorrespondence with Corinth, we really ought to read 2Cor 10-13 before 2Cor 1-9. We do know that this letter was sent off with Titus. (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:13 ).

(v) Paul was worried about this letter. He could not wait until Titus came back with an answer, so he set out to meet him (2Co_2:13 ; 2Co_7:5 , 2Co_7:13 ). Somewhere in Macedonia he met him and learned that all was well, and, probably at Philippi, he sat down and wrote 2Cor 1-9, the letter of reconciliation.

Stalker has said that the letters of Paul take the roof off the early churches and let us see what went on inside. Of none of them is that truer than the letters to Corinth. Here we see what "the care of all the churches" must have meant to Paul. Here we see the heart-breaks and the joys. Here we see Paul, the shepherd of his flock, bearing the sorrows and the problems of his people on his heart.

The Corinthian Correspondence

Before we read the letters in detail let us set down the progress of the Corinthian correspondence in tabular form.

(i) The Previous Letter, which may be contained in 2Co_6:14-18 and 2Co_7:1 .

(ii) The arrival of Chloepeople, of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus, and of the letter to Paul from the Corinthian Church.

(iii) 1 Corinthians is written in reply and is despatched with Timothy.

(iv) The situation grows worse and Paul pays a personal visit to Corinth, which is so complete a failure that it almost breaks his heart.

(v) The consequence is The Severe Letter, which is almost certainly contained in 2Cor 10-13, and which was despatched with Titus.

(vi) Unable to wait for an answer, Paul sets out to meet Titus. He meets him in Macedonia, learns that all is well and, probably from Philippi, writes 2Cor 1-9, The Letter of Reconciliation.

The first four chapters of 1 Corinthians deal with the divided state of the Church of God at Corinth. Instead of being a unity in Christ it was split into sects and parties, who had attached themselves to the names of various leaders and teachers. It is Paulteaching that these divisions had emerged because the Corinthians thought too much about human wisdom and knowledge and too little about the sheer grace of God. In fact, for all their so-called wisdom, they are really in a state of immaturity. They think that they are wise men, but really they are no better than babies.

FURTHER READING

2 Corinthians

F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Corinthians (NCB; E)

J. Hering, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (translated by A. W. Heathcote and P. J. Allcock)

A. Plummer, 2 Corinthians (ICC; G)

R. V. G. Tasker, The Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (TC; E)

Abbreviations

ICC: International Critical Commentary

MC: Moffatt Commentary

NCB: New Century Bible

TC: Tyndale Commentary

E: English Text

G: Greek Text

Barclay: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

The Blinded Eye (2Co_4:1-6)

Tribulation And Triumph (2Co_4:7-15)

The Secret Of Endurance (2Co_4:16-18)

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

Introduction

Historical background

First Corinthians did not dispel the problems in the church at Corinth completely. While it resolved some of these, opposition to the Apostle Paul persisted and Paul's critics continued to speak out against him in the church. One man in particular seems to have been the ringleader of the opposition (10:7). He had rallied the support of a significant minority. The issue was Paul's apostolic authority. His critics were claiming authority equal with Paul's. This was in effect a claim to apostolic authority on their part or a denial of the full apostolic authority of Paul.

News of continuing problems in Corinth reached Paul in Ephesus during his prolonged stay there during his third missionary journey. He then made a brief visit to Corinth. However his efforts to resolve the conflicts fell through (2:1; 12:14; 13:1-2). Paul apparently suffered insult and lost face during that visit (2:5-8; 7:12). Consequently this was a painful visit for Paul. He then returned to Ephesus.

Paul's next step in dealing with the situation in Corinth was to send a severe letter from Ephesus by the hand of Titus and another unnamed brother (2:3-4; 7:8-12; 12:18). He apparently directed this letter, now lost, at the party opposed to him and particularly its leader. Some commentators believe that 2 Corinthians 10-13 contains part of this letter, but the evidence for this is not convincing.¹

Paul evidently intended to receive Titus' report concerning the effects of this severe letter in Ephesus. However, persecution there made it expedient for Paul to leave that city earlier than he had anticipated (Acts 20:1). He found an open door for the gospel to the north in Troas. Eager to meet Titus who was taking the land route from Corinth back to Ephesus Paul moved west into Macedonia (2:12-13). There Titus met him and gave him an encouraging report (7:6-16). Most of the church had responded to Paul's directives and the church had disciplined the troublemakers (2:5-11). Unfortunately some in the congregation still refused to acknowledge Paul's authority over them (10:1-13:10).

Paul rejoiced at the repentance of the majority. However his concern for the unrepentant minority and his desire to pick up the money the Corinthians had begun to collect for their poorer brethren in Jerusalem led him to write 2 Corinthians. Along with these primary motives Paul also felt compelled to refute the charge of fickleness leveled at him by his critics. He had changed his travel plans and had not come to see them as he had said he would.

The whole situation provided him an opportunity to clarify the nature of Christian ministry.

Paul wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians from Macedonia, perhaps Philippi, Thessalonica, or Berea, probably in the fall or winter of 56 A.D. A date a year earlier or later is possible.

Some commentators believe Paul wrote 1 Corinthians after his painful visit and after he wrote the severe letter.² I believe it is more probable that he wrote 1 Corinthians before these two events.³ It is very difficult to reconstruct the details of Paul's activities since the data available to us is incomplete.

Paul's Corinthian Contacts
Paul's founding visit	His "former letter"	The Corin-thians' letter to him	First Corin-thians	Paul's "painful visit"	His "severe letter"	Second Corin-thians	Paul's antici-pated visit

"2 Corinthians is very different from the letters between which it was written, 1 Corinthians and Romans. Whereas each of those letters is, in its own way, systematic and orderly, 2 Corinthians is, on the face of it, uneven and digressive. It is no surprise, therefore, that many scholars have suggested that 2 Corinthians is really a collection of letters put together later as a single letter."⁴

"Second Corinthians presents many inspiring texts and passages to the reader and teacher of God's Word. A quick survey reveals approximately eighty individual verses lending themselves to extended meditation and exposition, apart from the sixty or so constituent paragraphs of the letter. This letter is a rich lode for the edification of God's people."⁵

Message⁶

The subject of 2 Corinthians is ministry, the church's work of service in the world. This is the central concept Paul dealt with in this epistle. What did he say about ministry?

He spoke of ministry in two ways. There is ministry per se (philosophy of ministry), and there is ministry to the world (practice of ministry).

Let's consider first what Paul revealed about the ministry of the church per se. This is the way Paul spoke of ministry most often in 2 Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians there is more emphasis on the practice of ministry than on the philosophy of ministry.

Paul had a lot to say about the authority of the church's ministry. Jesus Christ is the church's authority. He is the One who assigns each believer particular ministry within the body of Christ (cf. 1 Cor. 12:11, 18, 28; Eph. 4:11-13). The Corinthian church was having a major problem because some in its company were failing to accept Paul's appointment by Christ as an apostle and their own appointment as non-apostles. This was a practical repudiation of Jesus Christ's authority in the church. We must bow to the authority of Christ in the church by recognizing and responding appropriately to those He has appointed to various roles in the body. We identify these people by their gifts (divinely given abilities) and by their offices (divinely given positions).

Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about the resources of the church's ministry. He emphasized three primarily.

One important resource is the encouragement of God. Paul spoke of this in the first part of the epistle especially. We read "comfort" in our texts, but the Greek word paraklesis means comfort through encouragement. The same Greek root describes the Holy Spirit as our Paraclete in John 14-16. Paul both taught and demonstrated in this letter that God's encouraging comfort always exceeds our discouragement and distress in ministry. The secret to finding it sufficient is taking God's view of how our ministry is really proceeding. This viewpoint Paul revealed, too.

A second resource is divine revelation. Paul did not preach himself or a message that he had concocted. He preached what God had revealed. Thus, revelation constituted both Paul's public message and his personal encouragement. We, too, have received the same message to communicate as ambassadors of Christ. It is a message of reconciliation, and it is the source of our encouragement.

A third resource is the prayers of the saints. Paul called for and counted on the prayers of God's people to bring God's power into play through him as he ministered (1:11). He realized that his own prayers would not move God to work as well as the concerted prayers of many of God's children (cf. James 4:2). Lack of prayer is often a sign of confidence in self rather than confidence in God.

In addition to the authority and resources of our ministry, Paul also had a lot to say in this epistle about experience in ministry. Three features mark experience in ministry.

First, one thing that marks ministry is tribulation. Paul spoke extensively in 2 Corinthians about the afflictions he experienced during his ministry. Furthermore he revealed that these are part of ministry, anyone's ministry who is carrying it out as God has directed. Some people do not welcome the gospel. To them it is a death scent. We should expect to experience tribulation in ministry. We have all experienced this in witnessing to some extent.

Second, another thing that should mark our ministry is hope. God has revealed the end of our ministry. We will all stand before Jesus Christ and receive a reward one day (5:10). This hope is a certainty. The Christian who loses sight of his or her hope is going to drift and suffer discouragement rather than press toward the mark. The end of our ministry is constantly in view in this epistle.

Third, a mark of Christian ministry is triumph. Paul revealed and illustrated by his own attitude that no matter how response to our ministry may appear to us our ministry is always triumphant. The reason for this is that God is at work through His ministers. One of the problems Paul's critics in Corinth had and that we have is that they were evaluating ministry superficially rather than realistically. We need to evaluate ministry on the basis of what God has revealed is happening, not what appears to be happening.

Paul not only revealed much about ministry per se in 2 Corinthians, he also revealed a lot about the ministry of the church to the world. Three emphases predominate.

First, Paul revealed what the message of the church is: the Word of God. Ours is a ministry of the Word. By "the Word" Paul meant the revelation God has given us. In his day it consisted of the Old Testament Scriptures plus the revelations that he and the other New Testament prophets had received that were for all Christians. Paul contrasted his message and ours with the message of Moses and exulted in its superiority. God has removed the veil and we can now see His glory clearly revealed in the face of Jesus Christ.

Second, Paul revealed the church's equipment to carry on its ministry to the world. We are ready to minister only when we separate from the world's sins and conform to God's will. Paul contrasts with his critics in this letter in all these respects. As these characteristics mark us we, too, will be ready to minister.

Third, Paul revealed the exercise of the church's ministry to the world. In exercising its ministry the church does three things according to this epistle.

1. It exercises discipline to restore the erring to effective ministry. Paul's great concern in this epistle was the restoration of the rebellious critics in the Corinthian church to unity and usefulness.

2. The church also is to give no occasion of stumbling to others. Paul's concern was that the behavior of the Corinthian Christians would be an encouragement to other believers and a base from which the gospel could proceed even farther into unevangelized regions beyond.

3. Third, the church exercises the grace of giving. It seeks to facilitate the principle of equality that God has demonstrated throughout history, namely that those who have should share with those who have not. This applies not only to the gospel message but to the physical necessities of life (chs. 8-9).

From these emphases the message of the book emerges. The church needs to submit to revealed authority, to draw upon supernatural resources and equipment, and to experience triumph through tribulation as it executes its mission. As it does so it will effectively carry out its ministry of proclaiming the message of reconciliation to the world.

Constable: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

Outline

I. Introduction 1:1-11

A. Salutation 1:1-2

B. Thanksgiving for comfort in affliction 1:3-11

1. Thanksgiving for comfort 1:3-7

2. Thanksgiving for deliverance 1:8-11

II. Answers to insinuations about the sincerity of Paul's commitment to the Corinthians and to the ministry 1:12-7:16

A. Defense of his conduct with regard to his promised visit and the offender 1:12-2:17

1. The postponement of the intended visit 1:12-2:4

2. The treatment of the offender and the result of the severe letter 2:5-17

B. Exposition of Paul's view of the ministry 3:1-6:10

1. The superiority of Christian ministry to Mosaic ministry 3:1-11

2. The great boldness of the new ministers 3:12-4:6

3. The sufferings and supports of a minister of the gospel 4:7-5:10

4. The life of a minister of Christ 5:11-6:10

C. Appeal for restoration of the Corinthians' confidence in him 6:11-7:16

1. An appeal for large-heartedness and consistency 6:11-7:4

2. The encouraging response of the Corinthians so far 7:5-16

III. Instructions concerning the collection for the poor saints in Judea 8:1-9:15

A. The example of the Macedonians 8:1-7

B. The supreme motive for giving 8:8-15

C. The delegates of the churches 8:16-24

D. The anticipated visit of Paul 9:1-5

E. The benefits of generous giving 9:6-15

IV. Appeals concerning Paul's apostolic authority 10:1-13:10

A. Replies to charges made against Paul 10:1-18

1. Reply to the charge of cowardice 10:1-6

2. Reply to the charge of weakness 10:7-11

3. Reply to the charge of intrusion 10:12-18

B. Claims made by Paul 11:1-12:18

1. Paul's reasons for making these claims 11:1-6

2. Freedom to minister without charge 11:7-15

3. Paul's service and sufferings 11:16-33

4. Special revelations Paul received 12:1-10

5. Paul's supernatural miracles and paternal love 12:11-18

C. Exhortations in view of Paul's approaching visit 12:19-13:10

1. Paul's concerns 12:19-21

2. Paul's warnings 13:1-10

V. Conclusion 13:11-14

A. The exhortation 13:11-12

B. The salutation 13:13

C. The benediction 13:14

Constable: 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians

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Haydock: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

THE SECOND

EPISTLE OF ST. PAUL, THE APOSTLE,

TO THE CORINTHIANS.

INTRODUCTION.

The subject and design of this second Epistle to the Corinthians, is much the same as of the former. He comforts and congratulates with those who were now reformed by his admonitions. He blames the faulty with apostolical liberty; and being forced to justify himself and his proceedings against the upstart false teachers, he gives an ample account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces, which God had bestowed upon him. This Epistle was written not long after the first, (an. 57. [in the year 57.]) some months before that to the Romans, from some place in Macedonia, perhaps from Philippi, as marked at the end of divers Greek copies, though it is observed, that those subscriptions are not much to be relied upon. (Witham) --- In this Epistle St. Paul comforts those who are now reformed by his admonitions to them in the former, and absolves the incestuous man on doing penance, whom he had before excommunicated for his crime. Hence he treats of true penance, and of the dignity of the ministers of the New Testament. He cautions the faithful against false teachers, and the society of infidels. He gives an account of his sufferings, and also of the favours and graces which God hath bestowed on him. (Challoner) --- St. Paul, not being able to come to the Corinthians as soon as he had promised, writes this Epistle to inform them, that it was not through inconstancy, but on account of several weighty reasons, which had hitherto hindered him. Several other reasons, likewise, compelled him to write. For during his absence, several false teachers of the Jews had come amongst them, teaching them that it was necessary to observe the law of Moses, in order to be saved. St. Paul, therefore, first excuses himself, by saying, that the afflictions and troubles he had met with, had hindered him from coming to them. He next orders the fornicator to be restored to favour; after which, he extols his apostleship, forming a comparison between the law of Christ, and of Moses, wherein he blames the false teachers. He then subjoins an exhortation to a pious and holy life, with liberality in their alms, after the example of the Macedonians. As the false teachers had been very industrious in establishing their own reputation, by detracting from that of St. Paul, he enumerates his own sufferings, and the favours he had received from God, shewing that he had much more reason to glory than they; and concludes by exhorting them to correct those faults with which they still remained infected. (Estius) --- This letter may be justly appreciated as a perfect masterpiece of that animated and solid eloquence, which all interpreters so much admire in St. Paul. (Bible de Vence)

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Gill: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS

This epistle, according to the subscription at the end of it, was written from Philippi of Macedonia; and though the subscriptions annexed to the epistles are not always to be depended on, yet it seems very likely that this was written from thence; for the apostle not finding Titus at Troas, as he expected, went into Macedonia, where he met with him, and had an account from him of the success of his first epistle; of the state and condition of the church, and of the temper and disposition of mind in which the members of it were, and which gave him great satisfaction; upon which he immediately wrote this second epistle, and sent it by the same person to them; see 2Co 2:12, 2Co 7:5. It is very probable it might be written the year after the former; and so it is placed by Dr. Lightfoot in the year 56, as the former is in the year 55; though some place this in the year 60, and the other in 59. The occasion of this epistle was partly to excuse his not coming to them according to promise, and to vindicate himself from the charge of unfaithfulness, levity, and inconstancy on that account; and partly, since what he had wrote about the incestuous person, had had a good effect both upon him and them, to direct them to take off the censure that had been laid upon him, and restore him to their communion, and comfort him; likewise to stir them up to finish the collection for the poor saints they had begun; as also to defend himself against the calumnies of the false teachers, who were very industrious to sink his character and credit in this church; which he does by observing the doctrines of the Gospel he preached, which were far more glorious than, and abundantly preferable to, the ministration of the law of Moses, which those men desired to be teachers of; as likewise the success of his ministry in every place; the many sufferings he had underwent for the sake of Christ, and his Gospel; the high favours and privileges he had received of the Lord, as well as the signs, wonders, and miracles done by him in proof of his apostleship; and in which are interspersed many things useful and instructive.

Gill: 2 Corinthians 4 (Chapter Introduction)

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CORINTHIANS 4

In this chapter, the apostle declares the constancy, sincerity, and integrity of him, and his fellow ministers, in preaching the Gospel; asserts the clearness and perspicuity of it; removes the charge of pride and arrogance from them; takes notice of the afflictions he and others endured, for the sake of the Gospel; what supports they had under them, and what comforts they enjoyed: in 2Co 4:1 he observes, that seeing they were employed in such a ministry, as before described in the preceding chapter, though they met with troubles in it, they did not sink under them; the reason of which was, partly the excellency of the ministry, and partly the grace and mercy of God; and they were no less sincere than they were diligent; and were the reverse of the false teachers, who used dishonest methods, craftiness and deceit; these they disclaimed, and delivered out naked truth, with all simplicity and evidence, and as in the sight of God, in confirmation of which they could appeal to the consciences of all that heard them, 2Co 4:2 and whereas the apostle had affirmed the plainness and clearness of the Gospel ministry, both in the preceding chapter, and in the foregoing verse, he foresaw that an objection would be raised against it, which he anticipates, 2Co 4:3 showing, that though the Gospel was not spiritually discerned and savingly understood by some persons, yet this was not to be charged upon the Gospel, as if it was attended with darkness and obscurity; but it was owing to the unbelief of men, and the power of Satan over them, in blinding their minds; otherwise the Gospel in itself was light and glorious, in which Christ, the image of God, in a most resplendent manner appears; and those on whom Satan thus wrought were such as did not belong to God's elect, but were of the number of them that perish: moreover the integrity of the apostle and other ministers appeared in their preaching Christ, and not themselves; and in serving the churches in that way, for the sake of Christ; so that they were far from being chargeable with pride, vanity, and arrogance, 2Co 4:5 and they readily acknowledged, that all the Gospel light they had was from that God, who spoke light out of darkness in the first creation, whereby they were qualified to communicate light to others, in the name of Christ, 2Co 4:6 and though they had a treasure committed to their trust, and which they had within them, yet they freely owned they were but earthen vessels; and the reason why such treasure was put there was, that the power seen in the conversion of sinners by their ministry might appear to be not of themselves, but of the Lord, 2Co 4:7 and then the apostle proceeds to give an account of the afflictions endured by them, and of the divine supports they had, by which they were preserved from being overwhelmed with them, 2Co 4:8 one end of which afflictions, and which are signified by bearing the dying of Jesus in their bodies, and by being exposed to death for his sake, was, that his life might be manifest in them, or his power in the upholding of them, 2Co 4:10 and herein lay the difference between them and the Corinthians; the one were in deaths oft, and in very great distresses, and the other in prosperous circumstances, 2Co 4:12 but however, they had much consolation amidst their sorrows and troubles, and which they had partly through the Spirit of faith, and in a way of believing; and who after the example of David, and having the same Spirit as he had, believed and spake, 2Co 4:13 and partly through the hope of the resurrection of the dead, to which they were encouraged by the resurrection of Christ, 2Co 4:14 as also by considering what valuable ends were answered by their bearing afflictions for the sake of Christ, and preaching the Gospel, namely the good of the churches of Christ, and the glory of God, 2Co 4:15 and besides, they had an experience of the daily renovation of the inward man, or of the carrying on of the work of grace upon their souls; and of an increase of grace, right, and joy in them; and this kept them from fainting, though their outward circumstances and outward man were but in a poor condition, 2Co 4:16 but more especially what raised their spirits, and kept them from sinking under their afflictions, was the view they had of eternal glory and happiness, to which they had respect; and the comparison they were led to make between their present afflictions, and glory, which their afflictions were working for as, that their afflictions were light, glory heavy; their afflictions were but for a moment, their weight of glory was for ever; their afflictions were seen and temporal, their glory unseen and eternal; or the things of this world, which they often needed, and yet did not regard, were visible and temporary things; but the things of another world they had their eye upon were invisible, only visible to faith, and would endure for ever.

College: 2 Corinthians (Book Introduction)

INTRODUCTION

Studying 2 Corinthians plunges the modern reader back to the real, tumultuous world of early Christianity. The simple ideals of sharing and goodwill described in Acts 2:42-47 seem to have little place among the diverse converts from this boomtown of Corinth where Paul chooses to anchor his Greek mission. Rather, this microcosm of the early church bickers and accuses, revels in disorder and confusion, reeks of unrenounced pagan practices, and uncritically pursues self-promotion and even disloyalty to Paul, its founder.

When we speak of restoring the NT church, the Corinthian church is not what we have in mind. But maybe this is where we should really start: a real community of believers struggling to understand and implement their Christian faith against the helter-skelter backdrop of values and principles they desired to leave behind. As we understand what Paul teaches this troubled church, we will learn badly needed principles to help bring to maturity our own, real churches which inherit the same struggle.

Second Corinthians stands in stark contrast to Paul's other NT writings in a number of ways. Other letters, like 1 Corinthians, Romans, Galatians, and Colossians are carefully ordered, easily outlined, logical, controlled, as Paul confidently responds to carefully gauged concerns. Methodically, he establishes crucial, theological principles as the basis for practical, behavioral appeals.

By contrast, 2 Corinthians is chaotic and disjointed. Digressions lead the reader far afield before returning to the point. So uneven is 2 Corinthians, that many scholars suggest it is a composite of four or five writings, even a number of conservative scholars admitting two. Intensity, emotion, defensiveness, and second-guessing rather than controlled reasoning bind this epistle together. We see Paul at his weakest, basest, most human. Yet seeing him work through the truth of the gospel in the midst of exasperating difficulties is enlightening.

To a certain extent, it is healthy for our lofty ideals of this giant to be punctured and brought down to reality, even as the Corinthian church does so for our view of the early church. Paul's relationship with the Corinthians at this historical juncture is ugly, and readers deserve to be warned about how disconcerting seeing this can be.

These features of 2 Corinthians make studying and understanding the text much more dependent than usual on grasping the historical circumstances behind and leading up to its writing. Without a clear grasp of the historic story, hopeless confusion will engulf efforts to interpret the text at a number of points.

So, study of 2 Corinthians must begin by seeking to understand the Corinth of Paul's day and Paul's relationship to the local church there before preceding to a reliable interpretation of the text.

THE CITY OF CORINTH

Fortunately, Corinth is a NT city we know a great deal about. It has been heavily excavated and was minutely described by classical writers like Strabo and Dio Chrysostom.

The city that Paul entered in A.D. 50 had been resurrected from the ashes of the old city burned to the ground by the Romans in 146 B.C. Having laid in ruins for 100 years, two years before his death in 44 B.C., Julius Caesar decreed that Corinth (and also Carthage) should be rebuilt. Although located just 60 miles from Athens on the narrow isthmus strategically joining the Greek mainland to the Peloponnesus, the new Corinth was built and organized as a Roman city. Its colonists were gleaned from freedmen, former slaves originating from Syria, Egypt, Judea, Greece, and from retiring Roman soldiers.

The city's layout and its buildings were Roman, as was its governmental organization and law. Its official language was Latin, although Greek was the common language for business and conversation. The people prized Roman articles, importing them in great quantities. In addition to the four magistrates elected each year and its city council, it was administrated by a proconsul appointed annually by the Roman senate.

Corinth's dominance over the five-mile wide isthmus insured economic vitality. Ships traveling between Italy and Asia Minor were happy to pay the fee to cross the isthmus rather than sail the extra 200 miles south around treacherous Cape Malae. Besides, Corinth had even constructed a grooved pavement, called the Diolkos, between the ports on either side of the isthmus on which smaller ships could be hauled in wheeled vehicles. For a larger ship, the goods were loaded on transport carts and reloaded onto another ship waiting at the other harbor.

Julius Caesar dreamed of increasing Corinth's stock by constructing a canal across the isthmus. Not until Nero, A.D. 67., was such a project begun. Actual completion, however was not achieved until modern times, in 1893.

With the two ports, Laechaeum, on the Corinthian Gulf, and Cenchraea, on the Saronic Gulf, Corinth thrived as a center for trade. The major land route between the Greek mainland and the Peloponnesus also went through it. Besides shipbuilding and repair, it hosted bronze, tile, and pottery factories, as well as the necessary warehousing for transportable goods. Corinth's market areas boasted hundreds of stalls filled with craftsmen plying their trade, locals selling merchandise and food, as well as visitors from throughout the empire hawking imported items. They even had places which sold drinks cooled by underground water systems. Paul himself, we know, took up a leather-working stall in this area for eighteen months (Acts 18:1-3).

New Corinth was an eclectic, international city from its inception. In Paul's day, it was a bustling, wide open, boomtown, with over 80,000 inhabitants, and growing every day. It had already outstripped Athens politically, replacing it as the capital of Achaia.

Corinth's prestige was further enhanced by its hosting of the Isthmian Games, second only in significance to the Olympics. Held every two years in Corinth since A.D. 3, these games drew thousands of tourists and lots of business. The city's most prestigious political official was the one responsible for administering the games, occupying a prominent year-round governmental office. The games were dedicated to the Greek sea god, Poseidon, and featured oratory, music, and drama, as well as athletic contests. A dramatic theater as well as a 20,000 seat stadium were used for these events.

Corinth's eclecticism revealed itself in an array of religious choices established by its multicultural inhabitants. Egyptians promoted the cults of Isis and Osiris. Isis was worshiped as a god for sailors because the myth tells of her enduring search on the seas for her betrayed and lost husband Osiris. Osiris is a god of afterlife, who after his death was resurrected to become head of the underworld.

Greeks and Romans honored Poseidon, god of the sea; Athena, goddess of war, the sea, cities and the arts; Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility; Apollo, god of prophecy; Asklepios, god of healing; and emperors beginning with Julius Caesar. Prominent temples and statues are dedicated to all of these. Apollos often features prominently in colonized cities as an ode of good fortune. His famous Delphic oracle is only some 30 miles from Corinth. The much publicized report that Old Corinth's temple to Aphrodite housed over 1,000 sacred prostitutes is regarded as Athenian slander and is not so certain to still be functioning this way in Paul's day, although this does not mean to imply that Corinth was any more sexually pristine than any other seaport.

One of the busiest religious centers in Paul's day was the Asklepium. Comparable to a modern-day health club, people came here to bathe in its fountain, sleep (healing in their dreams), excercise, read, and dine (on sacrificial meat, cf. 1 Cor 8:10; 10:21). Replicas of body parts found in excavations were offered to the Asklepios by thankful beneficiaries of his healing.

Though not a god, Sisyphus, was considered one of the founding kings of ancient Corinth. Noted for his craftiness, in Greek mythology he was banished to Hades with the everlasting task of pushing a rock up a hill only to have it slip back down. For the Corinthian in Paul's day, he stands for successful cunning in business, but behind the temporary luster, perhaps, he signifies the emptiness of life's ambitions that lurked in the background of people's thoughts.

Judaism came with the early Jewish colonists and seems to have thrived. A dynamic synagogue certainly was functioning when Paul arrived, according to Acts 18:4-17. Also, a building inscription reading "Synagogue of the Hebrews" has been found by archaeologists along the Lechaeum road. Although the inscription is somewhat later than Paul's day, its location in the city center suggests the prominence of Judaism from the early days of New Corinth. Significant increases to the Jewish population likely occurred in A.D. 19 and in the late 40s when Tiberius and then Claudius expelled Jews from Rome. According to Acts 18:2, the latter purge is what brought Aquila and Priscilla and their tentmaking business to Corinth for the eighteen months Paul evangelized there. As Acts 18:8,17 indicate, the Jewish community probably had a certain amount of freedom to manage its own affairs and to appoint its own officials.

Due to Roman influence, Corinthians banded together into self-governing clubs and societies of 10 to 15 people which met in homes around the city. These clubs were delineated by individual trades or professions. Something like small unions, they provided vital social interaction and shared meals but even underwrote members' burial expenses from their kitty of dues. Although each had its sponsoring god, they were not religious in nature.

Most likely, the Corinthian church of Paul's day took on the pattern of these clubs as they met in various homes throughout the city. This helps explain the household factions decried in 1 Cor 1:10-12 and even the food-related problems of 1 Corinthians 8 and 11:17-34.

Corinth in the time of Paul was a city of wealth and prosperity. The families who had come a generation or two previously had worked hard. They had carved out successful lives by their own sweat and ingenuity. Like American immigrants, they were proud of their accomplishments, which they demonstrated in their proliferation of self-commending inscriptions around the city. But like the grandchildren of immigrants today, the Corinthians of Paul's day were noted for their superficial materialism and moral perversity. Such traits are epitomized by the fact that before the century was over, Corinth would become the first Greek city in the Roman Empire to hold bloodthirsty gladiatorial shows.

PAUL AND THE CORINTHIANS

Paul's rocky, seven-year relationship with the Corinthians begins in the fall of A.D. 50 as he enters Corinth on what becomes the last stop of his second missionary journey. Already on the road for a year, he had established churches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, despite opposition from Gentiles, Jews, and intellectuals (Acts 16-17). As Acts 18 describes, he enters the din of Corinth alone but is quickly befriended by Aquila and Priscilla, who were probably already Christians when they came to Corinth from Rome. For eighteen months the three of them lived, worked, and spread the gospel together there, eventually joined by Silas and Timothy.

At first, Paul shared the gospel and fielded questions in the Jewish synagogue. It wasn't too long, however, before stiff opposition to his presence arose, and he was ejected. However, he took with him many new Christians from among the God-fearing Gentiles who attended the synagogue, as well as Jews including the head of the synagogue, Crispus. Boldly, they set up shop for the first church right next door in the home of Titius Justus. Presumably, they continued to meet there and in other homes around the city for the next eighteen months, since God had instructed Paul to remain in Corinth despite the risks of conflict.

Sparks did fly, and at one point the Jews pressed charges against Paul for breaking Jewish law before Gallio, the Roman proconsul. Quite rightly, Gallio rebuffed the Jewish accusations as being outside any Roman concern. Although this may seem like a relatively minor incident in the life of Paul, the mention of Gallio in Acts 18:14 emerges as the single most important event enabling us to date Paul's life with accuracy. The reason for this is that archaeologists have discovered a datable inscription about a boundary dispute from Emperor Claudius to Gallio which places Gallio's one-year term between A.D. 51 and 52. Anchored by Paul's encounter with Gallio being A.D. 51, the rest of Paul's life can be dated backward and forward from time periods provided in the Acts and his letters.

Upon leaving Corinth, Paul sailed to Syria, probably Antioch, before quickly setting out over land to revisit the previously established churches in Asia Minor and then settling in Ephesus for three years. While in Ephesus, he sent the Corinthians three letters and slipped across the Aegean Sea in a vessel for a brief, surprise visit.

The first letter, commonly known as the "previous letter," is mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9-11. Given the wild immorality of Corinth, it is not surprising that Paul emphasized separation from such people in this letter. However, it has never been found, although a few scholars believe 2 Cor 6:14-7:1 may have originally been part of it.

Next, Paul received a letter from the Corinthians asking various specific questions about Christian life and practice. He is also informed verbally from members of Chloe's household (1 Cor 1:11) about the factionalism that is hurting the church's witness. He responded with the letter we know of as 1 Corinthians. During this period, Timothy was dispatched to Corinth for a brief time (1 Cor 4:17; 16:10) as Paul's personal ambassador, perhaps to give further voice to Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians or to other issues Paul anticipated. We have no indication as to how long Timothy stayed.

Paul's brief trip to Corinth in A.D. 54 and the letter on its heels upon his return are chief events which underlie Paul's writing of 2 Corinthians in A.D. 56. We don't know why Paul went. Maybe Timothy reported that Paul's personal presence was needed. Possibly, conservative agitators had followed Paul to Corinth as they previously had to Galatia and were stirring up trouble, causing the Corinthians to second-guess Paul's credibility (2 Cor 11:13). What we do know is that this trip, usually described as "the painful visit" (2 Cor 2:1), was a complete disaster. Paul left angry and humiliated. Apparently, he confronted the ringleader of the trouble (perhaps someone in the church who had been influenced by the outsiders) face to face but when the man insulted him, no one in the church came to Paul's defense.

Speculation regarding the accusations hurled at Paul include the illegitimacy of his authority over the Corinthians and his misuse of funds collected for the Jerusalem offering (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 7:2; 8:11). This was not a theological issue so much as one of personal integrity. Paul speaks of his being hurt emotionally most by the fact that the church did not side with him (2 Cor 2:5-11).

Upon his return, Paul wrote a third letter to the Corinthians, "the severe letter" (2 Cor 2:4; 7:8). Although not existing today, as described in 2 Cor 2:4-11 and 7:5-13, it was undoubtedly the most emotional and strident of any of Paul's letters. Apparently, he unleashed his anger and disappointment, scolding the church for not supporting him and demanding that the majority of the church take charge and discipline the offender as well as apologize to him. The letter is so harsh that Paul seems genuinely afraid ("fears within" - 2 Cor 7:5) that it will drive the church farther away from him and from Christ. But he sees no choice; this situation can't be left like it is.

Titus received the formidable task of delivering this explosive letter into the charged atmosphere of the Corinthian church and carrying out its demands. Paul's anxieties over Titus's success seem to overwhelm him as he waits for news. Apparently, the arrangements with Titus were that they would meet in Troas after a set period of time, maybe as long as six months. Second Corinthians 2:12 tells us that Paul went by land up to Troas, probably in A.D. 55 but was crushed to find Titus was not there. Remaining for some time evangelizing, maybe a month or so, he crossed over to Macedonia, probably Philippi, desperate to find Titus there. Finally, Titus arrived with the great news that the Corinthians - or most of them - were back in the fold. Genuinely remorseful over their hurtful behavior toward Paul, they had, indeed, dealt with the offender and expressed their renewed devotion to him (2 Cor 7:7,11,12).

The letter we call 2 Corinthians historically comes as Paul's fourth letter to Corinth. Buoyed by Titus's positive report, Paul writes this highly emotional letter, sending it back with Titus (2 Cor 7:17), probably A.D. 56. The letter interacts over and over with the events of the Painful Visit and the Severe Letter. Paul gushes with joy over the Corinthians' response (2 Cor 7:7,13-16), even recommending that they lift the punishment on the person who offended him (2 Cor 2:7). However, the tone of the letter is extremely defensive as Paul squirms under pressure from the Corinthians (most likely as advised by Titus) to toot his own horn regarding his own apostolic credentials. Out of his love for them, but against his own convictions against boasting, he is willing to explain the superiority of his apostleship in terms the Corinthians seem to require. These terms - such as providing letters of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1) and lists of accomplishments (2 Cor 6:3-13; 11:16-12:10) - Paul regards as superficial and unnecessary (2 Cor 3:2-3; 10:7) and probably reflect the influence of the conservative agitators upon the Corinthians. Paul seems to know he must respond, however uncomfortable it is for him, in order to block any further inroads from these outsiders and thus reinforce his renewed relationship with the Corinthians.

Titus brought 2 Corinthians to Corinth armed with Paul's commendation within the letter to spur the church to complete its collection of the offering for the Jerusalem Christians (1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8:10-24). Paul followed a few months later (2 Cor 12:14; Acts 20:3) and remained in Corinth three months. During this period, he wrote Romans, but we know nothing of his interaction with the Corinthian church. Presumably, he finalized the Corinthian offering, but he must have worked diligently to solidify this troubled church and contend personally with the outside agitators and their remaining pockets of influence. At any rate, once the various representatives from the Greek and Asian churches arrived in Corinth with their offerings (Acts 20:1-6), he tried to set sail with them to Syria but, discovering treachery from the Jewish community in Corinth, he and the others traveled first to Troas, and, then, set sail from there.

We have no certainty of further communication or visitation between Paul and the Corinthian church after this. Possibly, following release from his first Roman imprisonment, he returned to Corinth and other churches in Greece and Asia Minor, as the Pastoral epistles suggest (1 Tim. 1:3; 2 Tim. 4:20).

THE UNITY OF 2 CORINTHIANS

One may rightly comment that the literary unity of 2 Corinthians "cannot just be presupposed." Analyses which question whether various sections of 2 Corinthians are original to it have come long and hard during the past two centuries of critical scholarship. Second Corinthian's sharp shifts in content and uneven tone make it the most susceptible of all the NT books to patchwork theories despite the fact that none of the Greek manuscripts (dating back to the third century) give the slightest hint that 2 Corinthians was ever anything different than what we read today. Although the ebb and flow of research has sidelined many conjectures, questions still remain regarding some parts of 2 Corinthians. As many as nine sections of 2 Corinthians have been scrutinized. However, just five will be discussed here.

First, 2 Cor 2:14-7:4 has been noted as at one time existing separately from 2 Corinthians. Even a casual reader is jolted at the jump between the travelogue commentary in 2:12-13 and the military parade description of the gospel in 2:13-17 which opens a five-chapter philosophy of apostolic ministry. It is all the more noticeable when, beginning at 7:5, the travelogue picks up again and continues on until 7:16. However, upon closer perusal, scholars are increasingly reluctant to name this as part of a separate letter. Despite the abruptness between 2:13 and 2:14, the theme of human weakness and divine power in 2:12-17 connects to 1:8-10, and the theme of divine ownership connects 1:22 and 2:14. Despite the change of subject between 7:4 and 7:5, the verbal links supplied by "encouragement" (7:4,13), "joy" (7:4,7) and "troubles" (7:4,5) supply sturdy connections. Besides, the efforts to postulate yet another letter between 1 and 2 Corinthians or to connect this to the Severe Letter are unwarranted. More recent efforts to anaylze 2 Corinthians 1-7 through the eyes of Roman rhetoric as well as chiastic structure loudly confirm separation of 2:14-7:4 as ill-conceived. Certainly, it is a digression but not without purpose and point to the context as a whole.

Second, perhaps less obvious to the casual reader because it is such a short section is 2 Cor 6:14-7:1. Here, again, though, the careful reader observes an interruption between 6:13 ("Open wide your hearts also") and 7:2 ("Make room for us in your hearts"). Scholarly analysis of these six verses suggests that not only are they out of place, they don't sound like Paul, using six words he never uses elsewhere in his writings nor used by anyone else in the NT ( hapax legomenae ). Is this a snippet of something someone else said or wrote that Paul has adapted into his material, or is it something Paul wrote or spoke at another time and place that he decides to use here?

Despite some of the unusual language, Pauline themes do appear here: the church as the temple of God, the polarization of righteousness and unrighteousness as well as between light and dark. Also, plenty of characteristic Pauline language occurs: "living God" (2 Cor 3:3; 1 Thess 1:9), "unbeliever" (twelve other occurrences in 1 and 2 Cor), and "holiness" (Rom 1:4; 1 Thess 3:13). Although conclusions vary, many today incline toward this section being from Paul.

Eyeing the language of separation from unrighteousness, some have been tempted to conclude that 6:14-7:1 is part of the "previous" letter mentioned in 1 Cor 5:9. However, the point is explicitly different. Paul emphasizes that in the previous letter he urged separation from the immorality of believers not dissociation from unbelievers as emphasized in 6:14-7:1.

Most likely, then, Paul himself has inserted this pre-formed, self-contained unit of material from previous teaching, either oral or written, perhaps influenced by others. Interesting comparisons to Qumran materials as well as writings of Philo have been made. The placement exactly here in 2 Corinthians is so awkward as to be unlikely to come from anyone other than Paul. However, two points should be kept in mind. One is that Paul dictated this letter as he did all his letters. This fact enhances the potential for distraction, interruption, and loose digressions such as this. A second point is that although the section's relationship to the immediately previous verses is not obvious, as one backs up to 6:1 and reads of Paul's concern about receiving "God's grace in vain" or to 5:19 to see Paul's emphasis on people "no longer living for themselves but for him who died for them," Paul's emphasis on separation and holiness in 6:14-7:1 fits well.

Probably inconceivable to the casual reader is the suggestion that 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 both were not originally part of 2 Corinthians. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 8 - repetition of information about Titus (7:13-15; 8:16-17), presumption of knowledge about the two brothers coming with him (8:18,22), or even evidence that 2 Corinthians 8 as well as 2 Corinthians 9 are formal business letters - do not convince many. Arguments regarding 2 Corinthians 9, first proposed by Semler 200 years ago, that 2 Corinthians 9 was originally a letter sent to Christians outside Corinth, are more formidable, and give scholars more pause.

What pulls them up short is the language Paul uses to refer to the collection ("service") in 9:1, which, in Greek, reads like a first mention of the collection. In addition to that, the regional reference to Achaia in 9:2 and the repetition of information from chapter 8 in chapter 9 regarding the collection give added support to the idea of chapter 9 being originally independent.

On the other side of the question is the fact that Paul's reference to the collection in 9:1 is modified by ( men gar , "and for") which suggests a resumption of a previous subject perhaps after a brief pause in dictation. The repetition of details regarding the collection is probably emphatic, and the regional reference to Achaia seems unlikely to exclude Corinth. Tipping the scale against an independent chapter 9, as noted by Furnish, are two references in chapter 9 which presume information from chapter 8: the mention of the brothers (9:3; 8:18) and the emphasis on their completing the collection (9:4-5; 8:7-15).

Admittedly, this is a close call. However, the evidence does not demand that chapters 8 and 9 are two separate letters about the collection, one to Corinth, and one to Achaia. Rather, these are interdependent chapters in 2 Corinthians, chapter 8 dealing with the details of the collection project and chapter 9 emphasizing motivation for the project, as noted by Danker.

Fourth, without a doubt the most serious challenge to the unity of 2 Corinthians comes from chapters 10-13. As long ago as 1870, Hausrath broadcast his belief that in these chapters, he had discovered the missing "severe" letter to the Corinthians. No doubt, in chapters 10-13 Paul erupts into harsh tones of anger and disappointment which seem to undercut completely the exuberance and joy which he builds up to by chapters 7, 8, and 9.

But Hausrath looked closer and pointed to evidence that chapters 10-13 were written previous to chapters 1-9. Particularly he saw passages in chapters 1-9 written in the past tense which appear to allude to passages from chapters 10-13 written in future tenses, such as 1:23 which says that Paul "did not return" to them in order to spare them, corresponding to 13:2 in which Paul asserts that he "will not return" in order to spare them or when Paul says in 2:3-4 that he "wrote" them out of great distress and in 13:10 when he says "I write" so that I may not have to be harsh. Hausrath also contends that Paul's reference to Rome (west of Corinth) as "regions beyond you" in 2 Cor 10:16 makes much better sense if he is in Ephesus (east of Corinth), where he wrote the Severe Letter, rather than Macedonia (north of Corinth), where he wrote 2 Corinthians.

Criticism against Hausrath's identification of 2 Cor 10-13 with the "severe" letter has withered its persuasiveness among scholars. Primarily, chapters 10-13 do not contain something we know specifically was in the Severe Letter: Paul's demand that an individual who offended him be punished (2:5-6; 7:12). Also, chapters 10-13 promise a visit (12:14; 13:1), but the Severe Letter was sent in place of a Painful Visit (1:23; 2:1). Regarding "regions beyond you," the language need not be taken so literally and the Macedonian region should be recognized as much more culturally distinct from Achaia than it looks like on a map.

More appealing to scholars of all stripes, including many conservatives, is to view 2 Cor 10-13 as a separate, fifth letter, written after Titus returns with new, bad news after delivering 2 Corinthians 1-9. This position still takes into account Hausrath's future tense passages. It helps make sense of 2 Cor 12:18 which refers to Titus's visit in the past tense when it was in the planning stage in 2 Corinthians 7-9. Also, it explains the increased strident tones of chapters 10-13 as Paul's response to new, outside influences claiming some kind of rival apostolic authority to Paul's (11:13; 12:11) rather than to internal problems which seem to be his concern in chapters 1-9.

This way of viewing chapters 10-13 is attractive but is not demanded by the evidence. As Witherington points out, the past (aorist) tenses describing Titus's visit in 12:17-18 need not be real. Especially as Paul reaches the end of the book, they could well be epistolary (spoken from the standpoint of the audience reading the letter). The mention of the unnamed brother traveling with Titus does correspond with 2 Cor 8:18,22. Reading 12:17-18 this way opens up the very real possibility that Paul could have received new information about problems in Corinth before sending 2 Corinthians but after writing chapters 1-9. This could explain the gulf between chapters 10-13 as well as an entirely separate letter.

Other ways which account for the change of tone in chapter 10-13 have to do with how one reads the letter. Perhaps chapters 1-9 are directed to the majority of the church which has fallen into line with Paul after the Painful Visit, the Severe Letter, and Titus's hard work while chapters 10-13 are to the minority who are still under the sway of outside opposition to Paul. After all, 2 Cor 2:6 does speak of "the majority" which imposed discipline upon the offender named in the Severe Letter.

Perhaps, as a growing group of scholars are showing, Paul's heightened criticism of the Corinthians in chapters 10-13 concludes a calculated rhetorical plan employing counterattack ( synkrisis ) or strong emotional appeal ( peroratio ) to win his defense against the charges being leveled at him by the Corinthians. One must admit that Paul never relaxes from a defensive posture in 2 Corinthians from the beginning to the end. While Paul's harsh tones in chapters 10-13 following the lead up in chapters 7, 8, and 9 may seem abrupt, his concerns from early in the letter haven't really changed, just his emotionalism. The issue of his character raised in chapter 1 and of the legitimacy of his apostleship raised in chapter 3 remain the object of his defense in chapters 10-13.

The correspondence of these issues is enough to suggest that even though outside influence of "false apostles" (11:13) is not named earlier, they influence the minority of the Corinthian church and provide the ammunition against Paul observed in the earlier chapters. Who else would have brandished "letters of recommendation" (3:1)? Their earliest influences could even be in the background of Paul's problems associated with the Painful Visit.

As evident from 2 Cor 7:8-13, the offending individual merely became the pretext for the whole church failing to rally behind Paul until after the Severe Letter. Although Paul can be ecstatic that most of the church has recommitted themselves to him and to the gospel by the time he writes 2 Corinthians, nevertheless, pockets of opposition likely remain under the growing influence of the outside agitators. With chapters 10-13 Paul intends to level a decisive blow against this opposition not only to bring the remainder of the church back to the true gospel but also to shore up any lingering doubts from those who have pledged their loyalty.

Paul's transition to chapter 10 indeed is rocky but, as Danker points out, no more so than Phil 3 or Rom 9. In this commentary, therefore, we will treat 2 Corinthians as a unity and will treat chapters 10-13 as primarily aimed at responding to a vocal minority of the church who remain mesmerized by the outsiders' criticisms of Paul.

PAUL'S OPPONENTS

Second Corinthians resounds with the echo of outside voices filling the Corinthians' heads with notions geared to sever their relationship with Paul. Since Paul originally brought the gospel to Corinth and made it possible for people there to be reconciled with God through Christ and begin a vibrant church meeting in homes throughout the city, others have come to Corinth presenting themselves as superior in authority to the apostle Paul himself. Presuming the opponents in 2 Cor 10-13 and 1-9 are the same, they supposedly have letters of authentication from Jerusalem (3:1-3), Paul blasts them as "false apostles" (11:13) and sarcastically as "super apostles" in 12:11. Nevertheless, they have influenced and confused the Corinthians enough to force Paul to write 2 Corinthians and fill it with self-commendation regarding his integrity and his "superior" apostolic credentials over theirs. He does this because he feels he must in order to win the Corinthians back, but he finds doing so personally disturbing and repugnant.

Whereas Paul finds it difficult to boast about himself, self-commendation seems to be the chief characteristic of these outsiders. Clues from 2 Corinthians indicate that they were proud of their Jewish heritage (11:22), their "Christian" service (11:23), their oratorical skill (11:6), their self-confidence (1:15-17), and their charismatic experiences (12:12). They preached a different gospel than Paul's (11:4). They also accepted money from the Corinthians, unlike Paul who refused it (12:16). They may have viewed Paul's effort to collect money from the Corinthians for the Jerusalem Christians as cutting off their own purse strings and threatening their prosperity in Corinth.

Their heated, personalized efforts to undercut Paul sound like Paul's opposition in Galatians, commonly called Judaizers (Gal 4:17). However, no mention of the law or circumcision in 2 Corinthians clouds this identification and requires that, if these are the same people, they have changed their tune considerably since Galatians. The fact that they tout letters of recommendation - where else but from Jerusalem - makes it difficult to lay aside the picture of a band of renegade, conservative Jewish Christians who first followed Paul to Galatia and now to Corinth with the expressed purpose of replacing Paul's gospel and his authority to represent true Christianity (Gal 1:6-7).

It is going too far to say that their credentials were currently legitimate or that they were actual apostles since Acts 15:24 reports that a faction of Jewish Christians had gone out falsely representing the church to new, Gentile congregations. It is possible, though, that they do have apostolic credentials - perhaps even knew Jesus before his crucifixion - but now are misusing these credentials to subvert Paul's successful mission to Gentiles in Galatia and now also in Corinth and other churches as well.

The picture of these Corinthian opponents as ultraconservative Jewish Christians clashes with a considerable amount of the evidence which points to their Greek or even gnostic origins. Their connection to revelations and wonders, rhetorical skills, "worldly" wisdom, and just their overall egotistical posture must be reckoned with. Undermining at least the gnostic element is the positive use of "knowledge" in 2 Corinthians. Nevertheless, a typical result when these ingredients are combined emerges with a conclusion that they were "Hellenistic Jews who were propagating . . . a 'spiritual gnosticism.'"

However, it seems inconceivable that ultraconservative Jewish Christians coming out of Jerusalem could be pushing a gospel so infiltrated with Greek ideas as to be outside the bounds of Paul's own radicalized message which had stripped unnecessary Jewish elements. Could these Jewish agitators be so clever as to be able to manipulate the Corinthians against Paul by successfully incorporating elements from Greek culture into their opposition to Paul which they themselves don't believe? It doesn't seem likely, but then no identification satisfactorily combines the paradoxical elements of these opponents as currently gleaned from the information we have from 2 Corinthians and the first century. As one commentator astutely points out, any final resolution is also hampered considerably by the fact that 2 Corinthians provides no information about the doctrine or theology of these opponents. Most current discussion recognizes the limitations involved in this discussion and offers no more than conjectures as has been done here.

It's best, then, to keep in mind the characteristics of Paul's opponents available from reading 2 Corinthians without any adamant historical identification until better information becomes available. They were Jewish. They were Greek. They considered themselves Christians. They hated Paul. They hurt Paul, and he feared what more they could do. It was up to him to marshal all the strength and the skills he had to prevent them from doing any further damage. They had backed him into a corner, and he responds with ferocity and emotion in 2 Corinthians, compelled out of his deep love for the Corinthians and his commitment to true, saving Christianity and humble, self-sacrificing leadership.

RELEVANCE

Christians treat 2 Corinthians like the ugly twin sister of 1 Corinthians. First Corinthian's poignant theology about challenging issues attracts everyone's constant attention. Meanwhile, 2 Corinthians sits in the corner waiting for someone to ask it to dance. Yet, once we make some effort to get to know 2 Corinthians, we will be pleasantly surprised.

Today, as in the days of the early church, various outside forces threaten to sever people's loyalty to Christ and cut away at the fabric of the church. It might be a cult like Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses. It might be cultural forces like the challenges of postmodernism or the mind-set of the so-called Generation X which questions absolutes like God and salvation in Christ alone. It might just be an obstinate person who envies the authority of the minister, elders, or deacons and questions their integrity and decision-making at every turn and who draws around him or her an anti-faction.

If you are someone who cares deeply about your local church and would do almost anything to maintain its success and its integrity as a body of Christian believers, then 2 Corinthians will speak to your heart and nourish your soul. You will relate to Paul's agony over this church , feel his compassion, and be engulfed by his intense emotion in this letter. You will take in the principles of genuine church leadership and apply them to your life responsibly to enable you to enrich the quality of your local church.

The comments which follow are intended to help you both to understand 2 Corinthians in its own historical context and to apply its key principles to your own personal context in the church today.

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

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-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

ABBREVIATIONS

1 Clem 1 Clement

1QH The Thanksgiving Hymns (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QM The War Scroll (Dead Sea Scroll)

1QS Rule of the Community (Dead Sea Scroll)

2 Clem 2 Clement

AJP American Journal of Philology

ANRW Aufstieg und Niedergang der römishen Welt, ed. Temporini and Haase

AusBR Australian Biblical Review

AUSS Andrews University Seminary Studies

BA Biblical Archaeologist

BBR Bulletin for Biblical Research

BSac Bibliotheca Sacra

BT Bible Translator

BTB Biblical Theology Bulletin

CBQ Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CD The Damascus Document (Dead Sea Scroll)

DPL Dictionary of Paul and His Letters, ed. Hawthorne, Martin, and Reid

Ebr. De Ebrietate (Philo)

EvQ Evangelical Quarterly

ExpTim Expository Times

HBT Horizons in Biblical Theology

Heres Qui Rerum Divinarum Heres sit (Philo)

HTR Harvard Theological Review

ICC International Critical Commentary

Int Interpretation

JB Jerusalem Bible

JBL Journal of Biblical Literature

JRH Journal of Religious History

JSNT Journal for the Study of the New Testament

JSOT Journal for the Study of the Old Testament

JTS Journal of Theological Studies

LB Living Bible

NAB New American Bible

NASB New American Standard Bible

NEB New English Bible

Neot Neotestamentica

NICNT New International Commentary on the New Testament

NIDNTT New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, ed. Brown

NIV New International Version

NLT New Living Translation

NovT Novum Testamentum

NovTSupp Novum Testamentum Supplements

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

NTS New Testament Studies

RB Revue Biblique

ResQ Restoration Quarterly

RSV Revised Standard Version

SCJ Stone-Campbell Journal

SJT Scottish Journal of Theology

Spec.Leg. Philo, De Specialibus Legibus

TDNT Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, ed. Kittel and Friedrich

TEV Today's English Version

T.Jos Testament of Joseph

T.Levi Testament of Levi

T.Naph Testament of Naphtali

TS Theological Studies

TynBul Tyndale Bulletin

WW Word and World

ZNW Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenshaft

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV

College: 2 Corinthians (Outline)

OUTLINE

I. OPENING - 1:1-2

II. THANKSGIVING - 1:3-11

A. GOD COMFORTS - 1:3-7

B. GOD DELIVERS - 1:8-11

III. DEFENSE OF INTEGRITY - 1:12-2:13

A. CLARITY SOUGHT - 1:12-14

B. SECOND TRAVEL ITINERARY EXPLAINED - 1:15-17

C. CANDOR DEMANDED - 1:18-22

D. THIRD TRAVEL ITINERARY DEFENDED - 1:23-2:4

E. THE OFFENDER FORGIVEN - 2:5-11

F. ACTUAL TRAVEL DESCRIBED - 2:12-13

IV. DEFENSE OF APOSTOLIC MINISTRY IN PRINCIPLE - 2:14-7:4

A. SUFFICIENT FOR MINISTRY - 2:14-3:6

1. The Aroma of Christ Spread - 2:14-17

2. A Living Letter of Recommendation Sent - 3:1-3

3. A Personal Reference Provided - 3:4-6

B. SUPERIOR TO THE OLD COVENANT - 3:7-18

1. Glory Unsurpassed 3:7-11

2. Glory Unobstructed 3:12-18

C. TENACIOUS DESPITE SHORTCOMINGS - 4:1-5:10

1. Christ Preached Plainly - 4:1-6

2. Hardships Overcome because of Jesus' Death - 4:7-12

3. Increasing Multitudes Brought to Life - 4:13-15

4. Driven by Unseen, Eternal Reward - 4:16-18

5. Confident in Eternal Home - 5:1-10

a) Permanent Home Guaranteed - 5:1-5

b) Pleasing the Lord Prioritizes Life - 5:6-10

D. PREACHING RECONCILIATION THROUGH CHRIST - 5:11-6:2

1. Motivated by Christ's Love - 5:11-15

2. Christ's Message of Reconciliation Delivered - 5:16-6:2

E. HARDSHIPS IN MINISTRY - 6:3-10

F. AN APPEAL FOR OPENNESS AND RECONCILIATION - 6:11-7:4

1. Paul's Heart Opened - 6:11-13

2. Holiness Demanded - 6:14-7:1

3. Paul's Trust Expressed - 7:2-4

V. ENCOURAGING NEWS: RELATIONSHIP FULLY RESTORED - 7:5-16

A. TITUS REPORTS LOVE FOR PAUL - 7:5-7

B. TRUE REPENTANCE DEMONSTRATES INNOCENCE - 7:8-13a

C. TITUS EXPRESSED DEEP AFFECTION - 7:13b-16

VI. PREPARATION FOR THE COLLECTION - 8:1-9:15

A. INCENTIVES TOWARD GENEROSITY - 8:1-15

1. Excel Like the Macedonians - 8:1-7

2. Give Like Christ - 8:8-9

3. Complete Your Offering - 8:10-12

4. Achieve Equity - 8:13-15

B. TITUS PLUS TWO OTHERS SENT TO CORINTH TO HELP - 8:16-9:5

1. Criticism to Be Thwarted - 8:16-21

2. Measure Up to Expectations - 8:22-24

3. Follow Through on What Was Begun - 9:1-5

C. MORE INCENTIVE TO BE GENEROUS - 9:6-15

1. God Will Be Generous - 9:6-11

2. God Will Be Praised - 9:12-15

VII. FINAL DEFENSE OF MINISTRY - 10:1-13:10

A. LAUNCH OF A MASSIVE COUNTERATTACK - 10:1-18

1. Powerful Weapons Employed - 10:1-6

2. Forceful Personal Presence Warned - 10:7-10

3. God's Expansion of the Gospel Boasted - 10:12-18

B. COMPARISON TO FALSE APOSTLES MADE - 11:1-15

1. True Message of Jesus Preached - 11:1-6

2. No Money Accepted - 11:7-12

3. The False Apostles Serve Satan - 11:13-15

C. BOASTING AS A "FOOL" - 11:16-33

1. Rationale Provided - 11:16-21a

2. Ancestry and Hardships Listed - 11:21b-29

3. Weakness Boasted - 11:30-33

D. MORE BOASTING - 12:1-10

1. A Vision Divulged - 12:1-6

2. An Irremovable Thorn Remains - 12:7-10

E. "BOASTING" RETROSPECTIVE - 12:11-13

F. PREPARATION FOR THE THIRD VISIT - 12:14-13:10

1. No Exploitation Tactics Employed - 12:14-18

2. More Trouble Feared - 12:19-21

3. Harsh Treatment for Sinners Warned - 13:1-4

4. Faith-testing Evidences Paul's Strength - 13:5-10

VIII. CLOSING REMARKS - 13:11-14

-College Press New Testament Commentary: with the NIV