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.
