Deeper Commentary
CHAPTER 4
4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, even as we obtained mercy,
we do not give up- The emphasis is on this [kind of] ministry.
The not giving up is in proportion to the ministry of the Spirit
[just spoken of] ever increasing in glory, whereas the Mosaic ministry
fades away. What keeps any ministry going, what stops us all from giving
up, is the Spirit- which is the dynamic of our service. All talk of
burnout, lack of staying power or disillusion is an indicator that the
Spirit was never really there in the ministry. The constant obtaining of
mercy [in response to our ongoing sins] is what energizes us to not give
up. Paul seems to ascribe his own unflagging zeal for preaching to his
experience of God's gracious forgiveness of him. And further, he speaks in
the third person, suggesting that his fellow preachers had a like
motivation: "Therefore, seeing we have this ministry (of preaching), as
we have received mercy, we faint not" (2 Cor. 4:1). The Greek suggests
that as we have received mercy, so we have received the ministry- to share
that mercy to others. Our witness to the Gospel and our ministry of caring
for others are motivated by our own awareness of having received grace
personally. Any other motivation simply isn’t enough to inspire us to keep
on keeping on. See on :14. "We do not give up" is repeated in :16, where
it is cited as an outworking of living under grace and is part of our
inward man being progressively renewed daily. Giving up, fading away, is a
common experience of many religious people including Christians. The
parable of the sower speaks of it. It is only the involvement with the
Spirit which will stop this happening in real terms- for even if someone
maintains their religious commitment to attending meetings, the question
is whether we are spiritually alive within. And that is the realm of the
Spirit.
4:2 But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in
craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully- What had Paul
personally renounced? Surely, the things of Judaism. He speaks about them
with very hard language, leading up to his description of them as the
great satan in :4. "The hidden things" connect with Moses' face being
hidden behind a veil; and Paul now twists the idea of a covered face
towards the concept of shame. He presents the revered Moses as it were
covered in shame. He considered that the Jewish rabbis handled God's word
deceitfully (an allusion to Jer. 8:8?). "Craftiness" is the same word used
about the Jewish opposition to the Lord's ministry (Lk. 20:23); it was the
characteristic of the Jewish false teachers in 2 Cor. 11:3.
But by the manifestation of the truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God-
By showing that we are
real men and women, who are desperate sinners thankful for the real and
true grace we have so wonderfully come across, we will persuade men. The
more real, the more credible. Paul described the genius of his preaching
thus: “By the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s
conscience” (2 Cor. 4:2). It is our very transparency which strikes a
chord in the heart of those who hear us. Paul didn't need letters to
commend himself; he says that in their spirit, in the heart, they know
that he is sincere. And he uses the same approach here. There is an
intuitive sense that a person is manifesting God's truth. This again is
the realm of the Spirit. "In the sight of God" or as the phrase is often
translated "before God" is a common phrase of Paul's. He was ever aware
that life is lived, even in our deepest hearts, in His eyes and presence.
4:3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those that
perish- The limitation of salvation to those who accept Christ
couldn't be more clearly stated. Belief in God is not enough. The
Jews strongly believed in "one God" but they would still perish without
Christ. Liberal Christians seem to think that belief in God is somehow a
saving grace; but salvation is in His Son. It was the face of Moses which
was veiled, and Paul hereby identifies himself and all Christian preachers
with Moses. This was radical stuff for Judaists, who considered Moses the
acme of spiritual attainment and effectively unreachable and devoid of
equal amongst subsequent generations. The implication is also that "our
Gospel" was the message of the glory of Christ, it was and is totally
Christ centred. The veil was belief in the Law of Moses for salvation;
this in fact led to their 'perishing' in that it prevented them seeing the
glory of the Lord Jesus.
4:4- see on Eph. 1:20.
In whom- The problem was internal; the minds of the
unbelieving were blinded. 3:14 has said that their minds were hardened or
blinded because the veil of Judaism lay upon their minds. "The god of this
world" is therefore sure to be related to Jewish, legal influences.
The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving-
The Eastern (Aramaic) text reads: “To those in this world whose minds have
been blinded by God, because they did not believe”. It is darkness which
blinds men’s eyes (1 Jn. 2:11), i.e. not walking according to the light of
God’s word. There is only one God – not two. And it’s also
noteworthy that Is. 6:10 speaks of God as having the power to blind
Israel. The New Testament repeats this. Rom. 11:8 says that God
(and not Satan) blinded Israel to the Gospel; 2 Cor. 3:14 says that their
minds were blinded or “hardened” (RV) as Pharaoh’s was. Whoever “the god
of this world” is or was, God worked through it and is therefore greater
than it. Henry Kelly comments: “Given this track record, can we see the
God of this Aeon as our God, as Yahweh? He is, after all, in charge
of everything”. It is God and not any independent Satan figure who sends
people an energeia of error to believe falsehood (2 Thess. 2:12) –
the ultimate ‘energy’ in the process is from God.
For something to be called “the god of this world” does not necessarily
mean that it is in reality “the god of this world”; it could mean ‘the
thing or power that this world counts to be God’. Thus Acts 19:27 speaks
of the goddess Diana, a lifeless idol, “whom all the world worships”. This
doesn’t mean that the piece of wood or stone called Diana was in reality
the goddess of this world. I mentioned in section 1-1-2 that Paul is
quoting “the god of this world” from contemporary Jewish writings rather
than actually believing such a ‘god’ existed. It’s also possible that “the
god of this world” who blinds people is an allusion to material in the
documents comprising what are now known as the Gnostic Gospels. The
Hypostasis of the Archons claims to record God’s rebuke of Satan:
““You are mistaken, Samael”, which means, “god of the blind”“. Paul in
this case would be alluding to popular belief about Satan, and reapplying
this language to the Jewish opposition to the Gospel, and to the human
“blindness” which stops them accepting Christ. In Eph. 4:18 Paul
specifically defined what he meant by “darkness”: “Having the
understanding darkened... through the ignorance that is within
them... The blindness of their heart”. That opposition, rather than any
mythical ‘Samael’, was the real adversary / Satan.
Even if it is insisted that Satan exists as a personal being, the
question has to be faced: Who created Satan? Is his power under God’s
control, or not? Time and again the ‘Satan’ and ‘demon’ passages of the
Bible indicate that however we are to understand these terms, God is more
powerful, God is in control. The book of Job shows how the Satan there had
all power given to him by God. The power of the Lord Jesus over
‘demons’ makes the same point. And in that context, note how Ex. 4:11
assures us that God is the one who makes people deaf, but Lk. 11:14 speaks
of how such muteness is apparently caused by demons. Clearly, God is in
control. This world, with all the evil and negative experience in it, has
not been left under the control of some out–of–control evil being. With
this in mind, it should be apparent that the ‘god of this world’ can’t
mean that the world is under the ultimate control of Satan rather
than God. Rather, “the god of this world” [aion] “can also be read
as merely a personification of all the forces of this aion that
would thwart the success of the Christian message”.
The way that the idea of ‘Satan’ is used to describe both individual sin
and societies governed by the principle of sin is very much in line with
the way that first century society was very much a communalistic rather
than an individualistic society. The society was the person. Further,
social scientists and psychologists have time and again confirmed the
Biblical teaching that the fundamental motivation of human beings is the
ego, self-interest – what the Bible calls ‘Satan’. This is what drives
people at the individual level, and thus drives societies. It’s
appropriate, therefore, for ‘Satan’, the personification of human sin and
self-interest, to also be a term applied to human governments and
societies as a whole. Truly in this sense (the Biblical) Satan could be
understood as “the god of this world”.
A Jewish Interpretation
If Scripture interprets Scripture, “the god of this world (aion)”
in 2 Corinthians 4:4 must be similar to “the prince of this world (kosmos)”
(Jn. 12:31; 14:30; 16:11). Both the Jewish age [aion] and kosmos
ended in A.D. 70. In the context, Paul has been talking in 2 Cor. 3 about
how the glory shining from Moses’ face blinded the Israelites so that they
could not see the real spirit of the law which pointed forward to Christ.
Similarly, he argues in chapter 4, the Jews in the first century could not
see “the light of the glorious (cp. the glory on Moses’ face) gospel of
Christ” because they were still blinded by “the god of this world” – the
ruler of the Jewish age. The “prince” or “God” of the “world” (age) was
the Jewish system, manifested this time in Moses and his law. Notice how
the Jews are described as having made their boast of the law…made their
boast of God (Rom. 2:17,23). To them, the Law of Moses had become the god
of their world. Although the link is not made explicit, there seems no
reason to doubt that “the prince of this world” and “Satan” are connected.
It is evident from Acts (9:23–25,29–30; 13:50,51; 14:5,19; 17:5,13; 18:12;
20:3) that the Jews were the major ‘Satan’ or adversary to the early
Christians, especially to Paul. Of course it has to be remembered that
there is a difference between Moses’ personal character and the Law he
administered; this contrast is constantly made in Hebrews. Similarly, the
Law was “Holy, just and good”, but resulted in sin due to man’s weakness –
it was “weak through the flesh”, explaining why the idea of Satan/sin is
connected with the Law. Because of this it was in practice a “ministry of
condemnation”, and therefore a significant ‘adversary’ (Satan) to man; for
in reality, “the motions of sins...were by the Law” (Rom. 7:5).
That the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
who is the image of God, should not dawn- "Dawn" is better
"shine out". The glory of Christ and therefore of God cannot shine through
the veil of legalism. That Christ "is the image of God" is mentioned to
make the point that being blinded to Him means being blinded to God. It is
not possible to have a relationship with the Father without the Son. The
Gospel is the glory of Christ. The blessings now mediated by the exalted
Lord mean that whatever the barriers, those who appreciate those
blessings and the height, the pure, wondrous height of His
exaltation and what this thereby enables for us, will naturally
preach it. The Gospel is “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4
RSV). The glory of the “similitude of the Lord” that Moses saw and
reflected (Num. 12:4) is likened to “the glory of Christ, who is the
likeness of God” (2 Cor. 4:4). Like Moses, Jewish people have the vision
of that glory, but they have it veiled; they potentially have it, but it
is hidden, because their minds are veiled. This could possibly suggest
that Paul saw more potential in the Jewish mind for Christ than other
races; thus he speaks in Rom. 11 of how the natural branch which has been
cut off [Israel] will be more effectively grafted back into the olive tree
than the wild Gentile branches. This of course has similarities with the
Lord’s teaching about Himself as the vine, whose unfruitful branches had
been cut off (Jn. 15:2). Israel “much more” than the Gentiles can be
grafted back in, whereas Gentile converts do this “against nature” (Rom.
11:24). In the context of Israel’s final repentance, God speaks of how
every one of the Jewish people has been potentially created for His glory,
because they carry His Name (Is. 43:7). Although Israel have been
“quenched as a wick” for their sins (Is. 43:17 RVmg.), we are to realize
that the wick is still smouldering, and are to follow the Lord’s example
of never totally quenching it but instead seek to fan the wick of Israel
back into life (Is. 42:3).
4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and
ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake- The Gospel preached was of
the glory of the Lord Jesus. His Lordship is predicated upon His glory. If
we grasp that this is to be the content of our message, then we shall be
consumed with preaching Him and not in any form self-advertising, nor
using God's truth as a channel towards self-glorification. Paul answers
the accusation that he was 'lording it' over the Corinthians by saying
that he preached Christ Jesus as Lord- and therefore he was a servant of
Jesus, if Jesus really is Lord. But the service of Jesus was manifested
through serving His people, the Corinthians.
4:6- see on Jn. 13:32.
Seeing it is God that said-
It is emphasized that
God created through His word of command; He said, and it was done (Ps.
33:6,9; 148:5; Is. 40:26; Jn. 1:3; Heb. 11:3; 2 Pet. 3:5). God is outside
the constraints of time, and outside the possibility of His word not being
fulfilled. Therefore if He says something, it is as it is done, even if in
human time His command is not immediately fulfilled. Thus He calls things
which are not as though they are (Rom. 4:17). It is in this sense that the
Lord Jesus and those in Him are spoken of as if we existed at the
beginning; although we didn't physically. And so God spoke the words He
did on six literal, consecutive days, and the orders ('fiats' is the word
Alan Hayward used) were therefore, in this sense as good as done. But the
actual time taken to carry them out by the Angels may have been very long.
The Genesis record can then be understood as stating these commands, and
then recording their fulfilment- although the fulfilment wasn't
necessarily on that same day. It would seem from later Scripture that the
orders and intentions outlined by God on the six literal days are still
being fulfilled. Take the command for there to be light (Gen. 1:3.4). This
is interpreted in 2 Cor. 4:6 as meaning that God shines in men's hearts in
order to give them the knowledge of the light of Christ. The command was
initially fulfilled by the Angels enabling the sun to shine through the
thick darkness that shrouded the earth; but the deeper intention was to
shine the spiritual light into the heart of earth-dwellers. And this is
still being fulfilled. Likewise the resting of God on the seventh day was
in fact a prophecy concerning how He and all His people will enter into
the "rest" of the Kingdom. The Lord realized this when He said that
even on Sabbath, God was still working (Jn. 5:17). The creation work had
not really been completed in practice, although in prospect it had been.
In this very context the apostle comments that although we must still
enter into that rest, "the works were finished from the foundation of the
world" (Heb. 4:3). See on Col. 1:15.
Light shall shine out of darkness-
The new creation is
effected with the same power, Spirit and word as the natural creation.
He shined in our hearts, to give the light of the
knowledge-
The initiative in granting this 'light of knowledge' is with the Lord. It
is not that the Bible is a riddle to be solved, which some manage to
crack, and thereby through the light of knowledge come to know the Father
and Son. By contrast, we are being told here that the Lord took the
initiative by direct action within human hearts. But as happened at
Corinth, some choose to restrict God's intended pathway, they grieve the
Holy Spirit, and "limit the Holy One of Israel" as did Israel of old.
Paul's description of how the light of the glory of God in Christ shines
in the heart of the new convert was not without reference back to his own
Damascus road conversion (Acts 9:3; 22:6; 26;13). Because the light was
shone to us, we reflect it to others. “In the beginning", perhaps a huge
period of time ago, God created the heavens and earth. But the present
creation can be seen as being constituted some time later, after the
previous creations. When during the six days of creation He said "Let
there be light" this may not have necessitated the actual manufacture of
the sun; this was presumably done "in the beginning". But the sun was
commanded to shine out of the darkness (2 Cor. 4:6), and therefore from
the viewpoint of someone standing on the earth, it was as if the sun had
been created.
Of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ- We read in Is.
52:14 that the Lord's face was more marred, more brutally transmogrified,
than that of any man. And yet reflecting upon 2 Cor. 4:4,6, we find that
His face was the face of God; His glory was and is the Father’s glory:
“The glory of Christ, who is the image of God… the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ”. Who is the one who redeems His people? Isaiah calls
him “the arm of the Lord”: “To whom has the arm of the Lord been
revealed?” (Is. 53:1; compare Is. 52:10). Then he continues: “He
grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground”
(v. 2). So, the arm of the LORD is a person- a divine person! He is
God’s “right arm,” His “right-hand Man”! He is also human: He grows up out
of the earth like a root out of dry ground.
4:7 But we have this treasure in earthly vessels, that the exceeding
greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves- The
reference is clearly to Gideon and his men breaking their earthly vessels,
and God giving them a great victory (Jud. 7:19). Paul and Timothy were
vessels used by God (Acts 9:15; 2 Tim. 2:21); but so are we all (2 Cor.
4:7). All true human achievement for God must be in allowing His Spirit to
work, and not by human power "from ourselves". This is the spirit of
Gideon (Jud. 7:2).
4:8 We are afflicted in every way, yet not crushed; perplexed, yet not
in despair- Another allusion to the situation at Gideon's time (see on
:7). "Afflicted" is from a Greek word meaning to make narrow; "crushed" is
from a different Greek word which has a similar meaning. We are made
narrow, hemmed in- but in another sense we are not. We are gloriously
free. Likewise in a sense Paul was in despair (s.w. 2 Cor. 1:8); but not
in another. He uses the same word for "perplexed" in writing of his
despair at the Galatians' loss of faith and moral declension (Gal. 4:20).
We see here the two poles in his attitude to the Corinthians- despairing
at them, and yet from a spiritual perspective, very positive about them.
4:9 Pursued, yet not forsaken- The allusion may be to the runner whose opponent suddenly comes up behind him and overtakes him.
Struck down, yet not destroyed- As at the time of writing 1 Corinthians, Paul looked beyond his immediate traumas to the welfare of the weak Corinthians, and his concern for the impoverished Jewish believers in Jerusalem. The feature of all suffering is that we become self centred. Yet the Lord carrying His cross and looking outwards to the future suffering of the onlooking women is our great example. Paul was indeed forsaken by men (2 Tim. 4:10,16). But he was not forsaken by the Lord's presence through His Spirit.
Struck or 'thrown' down alludes to gladiatorship. When a gladiator was thrown down to the floor by another, then he was to be slain. But we are thrown down, we lose, and yet we are not finally killed. This continues the big theme of 2 Corinthians, beginning with the allusion to the Roman triumph in 2 Cor. 2, that images of death and defeat becomes images of life and victory. As the captives led in the triumph of the Lord Jesus are also presented as the victorious "more than conquerors".
"Destroyed"
translates the Greek term Paul repeatedly uses in Corinthians for the
destruction of the condemned at the last day; he has just used it in this
connection in :3 (1 Cor. 1:18,19; 8:11; 10:9,10; 15:18; 2 Cor. 2:15; 4:3).
It surely has to be that the 'destruction' in view is final condemnation.
No matter how he was thrown or "struck" down by men, his comfort was that
he was not and would not be condemned by the Lord. His acceptance
means everything, and makes any human persecution or rejection of no
account. And yet the rejection of men is a major issue with men; being
'cast down' from status or a position of acceptance becomes an unbearable
experience for many. Paul went through all this, but the fact he was in
relationship with the Lord and would not be condemned by Him was
the ultimate comfort. And it should be for us too. Paul states this
clearly in 1 Cor. 4:4- that the Lord's judgment and not human judgment
[including that of our brethren] is all important.
4:10 Always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the
life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body- All Paul's
sufferings listed in :8 and :9 he understood as a fellowshipping of the
Lord's. Whilst we cannot attach meaning to event at the time, all our
sufferings are part of His. This explains the breadth and depth of His
sufferings; through them, He in essence can connect with all our
sufferings. And those sufferings are given to us, as some form of
manifestation of His sufferings. And just as surely, the resurrection life
of Jesus will be manifested in our body, both in this life (:11) and in
the resurrection body at the last day.
Through our personal dying to the flesh, the life of Christ is
manifest not only in us, but is made available to others: “So then death
worketh in us, but life in you” (2 Cor 4:12). The life that is even now
made manifest in us is also made available to work in others
because death to the flesh has worked in us personally.
Paul speaks here as if he full well understood the ongoing nature of the
Lord’s crucifixion, and saw it as the pattern of his daily living.
The almost terrifying thing is that we, for the sake of our
identity with Christ, are also "delivered up to death" (2 Cor. 4:11). We
are asked to share, in principle, the height of devotion that He reached
in that moment. Analysing 2 Cor. 4:10,11 in more detail, we find a number
of parallels:
|
v. 10 |
v. 11 |
|
Always |
For we which live are alway |
|
bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord
Jesus |
delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake |
|
that the life also of Jesus |
that the life also of Jesus |
|
might be manifest in our body |
might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. |
The second parallel is significant. To be delivered unto death for Jesus’
sake is to bear about in an ongoing sense His crucifixion. This means that
His being “delivered over" was seen by Paul as a cameo of His whole
sufferings on the cross. See on Mt. 27:26.
4:11 For we who live are always being delivered to death for Jesus'
sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh-
See on :10. If the life of Jesus is living in us ["we who live"], then
we will constantly be experiencing both the crucifixion suffering and
resurrection life of the Lord Jesus. The experience of new life within us
now is the basis upon which our entire bodies will likewise be transformed
(Rom. 8:11).
4:12 So then death works in us- The tragedy of death and suffering
for the unbeliever is that it achieves nothing on a personal level, it is
the end. Whereas for the believer, the Lord's sufferings and death are
manifested in us, but they "work", they achieve or literally 'energize',
life. Not only for us personally but for others. This is the ultimate
death- a death which brings life for others as well as for ourselves. And
only by connection with the Lord Jesus can such a meaning be attached to
human death. This to my mind is one of the most powerful blessings of
Christianity, of connection to Christ in baptism and a life lived in the
power and Spirit of His death and resurrection.
But life in you-
We can gain our brother for God's Kingdom (Mt.
18:15), as Noah saved his own house by his faithful preparation (Heb.
11:7). Through our personal dying to the flesh, the life of Christ
is manifest not only in us, but is made available to others. The life that
is even now made manifest in us is also made available to work in
others because death to the flesh has worked in us personally.
4:13 But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is
written, I believed, and therefore did I speak; we also believe and on
this basis we also speak- The GNB gets the point: "The scripture says,
"I spoke because I believed." In the same spirit of faith we also speak
because we believe". Paul is saying that because he takes these things
seriously, he really believes this is all gloriously true, he therefore
speaks it out. "I believed, and therefore have I spoken" (Ps.
116:10) is quoted in 2 Cor. 4:13 concerning the attitude of the preacher;
because we have believed, therefore we preach, after Paul’s
pattern. We carry in our bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, and live His
resurrection life even now in our mortal flesh- and “We having the same
spirit of faith [as He had], according to that which is written, I
believed and therefore did I speak. We also believe, and therefore
also we speak” (2 Cor. 4:11-13). Here Paul quotes the Messianic Ps.
116:10 about our witness, which is a living out of the spirit which
Jesus had in His death and present life and being in Heaven. And we should
adopt a similar positive approach.
We are all terminally ill, if only we would know it. Paul quotes from the
experience of Hezekiah at this time and says that this should be the
keynote of our witness (Ps. 116:10). He was “delivered from death” and
therefore promised to walk before the Lord “in the lands of the living”,
believing in salvation and therefore speaking to those lands of it (RV).
We all face the day when we shall be as water spilt on the ground, that
cannot be gathered up; when the delicate, beautiful chandelier of human
life will come crashing to the ground, when the rope holding the bucket
snaps, and it falls into the well. In all these Biblical images of death,
we face the tragic irreversibility of it all. Our bodies are already
riddled with the cancer of inevitable decay. Today, while it is
still today, we must focus ourselves upon the vital and essential
realities of our faith, and away from all the peripheral issues upon which
our flesh would far rather dwell.
4:14 Knowing that He that raised up the Lord Jesus, shall raise up us
also with Jesus, and shall present us with you- This is in the context
of having observed that the process of sharing the Lord's death "works
['energizes'] life in you" (:12). Again Paul sees the final salvation of
the Corinthians as partly related to his own continued connection with
them. This is the exact opposite of those who cut themselves loose from
any believers who fall beneath their own self-chosen standards of doctrine
or practice. It was to be God, the One who raised Jesus, who would
"present us with you". He will make us acceptable to Himself and His Son
at the last day. Note how in 2 Cor. 11:2 Paul writes of how he himself was
seeking to "present" (s.w.) the Corinthians "as a chaste virgin to
Christ". But here he writes that this process of preparation and
'presenting' is God's. Clearly enough, he is teaching that God will work
powerfully through our efforts to present others acceptable at the last
day. If we set our hearts and lives upon such work, God shall work in and
through us, somehow enabling our work.
4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the grace may be
multiplied through many- God's saving grace meant that "many"
preachers like Paul were sharing this grace to others; and the result
would be thanksgiving which glorified God. The terms used in this verse
are going to be later used by Paul about the gift or grace of giving to
his Jerusalem Poor Fund. He believed that this giving would result in much
thanks, to God's glory (2 Cor. 8:7; 9:8,12). The grace given each of us in
salvation ought to be reflected in practical giving to the poor, so that
our praise for God's giving to us translates into the praise of the
recipients towards God. As Paul felt he could orchestrate even the
salvation of the Corinthians (see on :12), so he felt he could arrange the
glory of God through his elaborate Jerusalem Poor Fund project. But there
is no evidence he gathered very much support for it, nor that it was
accepted by the Jerusalem poor, nor that it ever elicited much thanks to
God. Likewise it cannot be that Paul alone could be the saviour of those
who "had not the knowledge of God" and who had turned away from God's
glory in Christ.
Causing thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God- AV "to redound", Gk.
‘to surge back’. God’s grace shown to us surges back like the tide in good
works to others; see on 4:1. The same word is used about the grace /
giving to the Jerusalem poor abounding to God's glory through all the
thanksgiving which Paul imagined the project would elicit (2 Cor. 9:12
s.w.).
4:16 Therefore we do not give up- As noted on :1 where the same
word is used, the power to keep on keeping on comes from the Spirit, and
from the firm knowledge that by His grace we shall surely live eternally.
The presence of the Spirit in our hearts and lives now is the guarantee
that we shall live eternally, and our mortal flesh shall in due course be
transformed to Spirit nature. This is why we do not give up, it is why the
true Christian faith is no mere passing religion, passion or enthusiasm
which comes and goes as we go onwards in life.
But though our outward man is decaying, yet our
inward man is renewed day by day- The same word for "inward man" is found in Eph. 3:16: "Be strengthened
with power through His Spirit in the inner man". We are renewed by
the regeneration of the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3:5), renewed in the spirit of
our mind (Rom. 12:2), we "have put on the new self, which is being renewed
in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Col. 3:10). Rom. 6:4 teaches that
after baptism, we live in an ongoing "newness of life". This is because of
the gift of the Spirit, which strengthens and renews the inner man
constantly. Just as we are "always" experiencing the Lord's sufferings
(:11), so "day by day" we are renewed. A related word is used when Paul
teaches that the new creation which begins at baptism makes all things new
(2 Cor. 5:17). There is a process on renewal and strengthening ongoing in
the hearts or "inward man" of the believer- if we will believe it and
permit it. Paul has spoken of this at the end of chapter 3; we are being
progressively changed "from glory to glory", closer and ever more exactly
into the mental image of the Lord Jesus. The ongoing nature of the
transformation is important to Paul, because it contrasts with the fading
glory of the Mosaic system.
4:17 For our slight momentary affliction accomplishes for us an
eternal weight of glory beyond comparison- The traumas of :8 and :9
are "slight"; the word is only elsewhere used in Mt. 11:30 "My burden is
light". This affliction accomplishes or works for us the eternal
weight of glory; but death works in us (:12). Even death itself is an
affliction for a moment, viewed in the perspective of eternity. But the
whole argument only makes sense if we are confident that eternity is
indeed ahead of us. The word for "affliction" is used of the affliction /
tribulation which was to hit the Jewish world in the lead up to AD70 (Mk.
13:19,24 etc.). This too was to be seen as a light, momentary affliction.
But the immediate weight of the affliction is not shrugged off by Paul. He
writes of "much affliction" (1 Thess. 1:6), through which we enter the
Kingdom (Acts 14:22), "all your tribulations [s.w.] you endure" (2 Thess.
1:4), "out of much tribulation we wrote..." (2 Cor. 2:4), "all our
tribulation... insomuch that we despaired even of life" (2 Cor. 1:4,8),
"great tribulation" (Rev. 7:14), "I know your tribulation" (Rev. 2:9). So
the lightness is not in absolute terms, for we are asked to carry
the cross of Christ; but in relative terms it is- compared to the eternal
weight of glory ahead. The weight of that glory is contrasted with
the lightness of the present affliction. However painful, it is for
a 'moment' relative to the "eternal" glory. The context presents
the eternal glory as that of the Lord Jesus. But we are being changed into
His glory, from glory to glory, as the Spirit works within our minds now
to effect that change. The RV reflects the Greek in offering: "More and
more exceedingly an eternal weight". The ongoing nature is brought out
well. The 'accomplishment' therefore refers not only to the change to
glory at the resurrection of the body; but to a process of glorification
now ongoing, and which will continue eternally. The transformation and
renewal is something we shall eternally experience; eternity in that sense
will never be boring. Our afflictions are right now accomplishing the
eternal weight of glory. Paul will soon use the same word in writing of
how God, through the guarantee of the Spirit's work in us, is
'accomplishing' our salvation in us (2 Cor. 5:5). Our current afflictions
are nothing to be compared with the accomplishment of glory even now
within us- let alone to the eternal glory of bodily immortality at the
last day.
Every moment of our lives is being intensely used by God to prepare us
for the eternity ahead. It is incredible that our probations here are so
short- just forty years or so after our baptisms. It would seem more
appropriate if we suffered for say one million years in order to prepare
us for the infinite time we will one day enjoy, in which one million years
will be as a moment. The point is, a tremendous amount of spiritual
development and preparation is packed in to a very small space of time.
And from this a crucial conclusion follows: we must allow God to use every
moment of our present lives as intensively as possible, to the end we
might be prepared for His eternal Kingdom.
4:18 Whilst meantime we do not look 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- 'Things not
seen' is a phrase elsewhere used for Jewish inability or blindness to the
things of the Lord Jesus (Lk. 8:10; Jn. 9:39; Rom. 11:8,10). The idea of
looking at things which are not visible is surely contradictory; until we
read this in context of the preceding imagery of Israel not 'seeing' the
glory of Christ because of the veil placed upon them. We look at those
things, with unveiled face- things which are not seen by many,
especially Jewish people.
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