CHAPTER 4

(A.D. 60)

SINCERITY

¹Therefore seeing we have this Ministry (refers to the great Covenant of Grace, made possible by the Cross), as we have received mercy, we faint not (we will not fail to Preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified);

²But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty (all Gospel outside of the Cross is dishonest, because its untrue), not walking in craftiness (to do Holy deeds in an unholy way, or unholy deeds in a supposedly Holy way), nor handling the Word of God deceitfully (refers to using it for ones own purpose and agenda); but by manifestation of the truth (Preaching the Cross) commending ourselves to every mans conscience in the sight of God. (If these Corinthians will only listen to their conscience, they will know Pauls Message is true.)

³But if our Gospel be hid (Christ and Him Crucified), it is hid to them who are lost (lost because they will not accept the Message of the Cross):

⁴In whom the god of this world (Satan) has blinded the minds of them which believe not (a willful blindness), lest the light of the Glorious Gospel of Christ (the Message of the Cross), Who is the Image of God (Who Alone is the Image of God), should shine unto them. (If men reject the Cross, they have, in effect, rejected Christ.)

⁵For we Preach not ourselves (not their own philosophies), but Christ Jesus the Lord (what Christ did at the Cross); and ourselves your servants for Jesus sake. (This goes back to Christs teaching on the servant principle [Mat. 20:25-28; Jn. 13:12-17].)

⁶For God, Who Commanded the light to shine out of darkness (a reference to Gen. 1:3), has shined in our hearts (His Preached Word), to give the Light of the Knowledge of the Glory of God (the Cross was planned as carefully as Creation was planned; it is as necessary to our way of life as the Sun is to the Solar System) in the Face of Jesus Christ. (Previously, Christ was spoken of as the Image of God. Here, He is spoken of as the Light of God.)

POWER

⁷But we have this treasure (the Light of the Gospel) in earthen vessels (man is never more than an earthen vessel, frail and humble), that the excellency of the Power may be of God, and not of us. (Salvation and Victorious Living come to us entirely by and through what Christ did at the Cross. It is all of Christ and none of us.)

⁸We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed (always confident of victory); we are perplexed, but not in despair (never utterly at a loss);

⁹Persecuted, but not forsaken (pursued, but not actually caught); cast down, but not destroyed (at times we are knocked down, but not knocked out);

¹⁰Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus (referring to the victory we have through the Cross of Christ), that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. (We live the Resurrection Life by understanding that we have been planted together [Christ and ourselves] in the likeness of His Death [Rom. 6:5].)

¹¹For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake (the Holy Spirit delivers us unto the Death of Christ, which guarantees us the benefits of Calvary [Rom. 6:3-5]), that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. (We have victory by exercising Faith in the Cross, which guarantees us the Life of Christ [Gal. 2:20].)

¹²So then death works in us, but life in you. (The death Paul speaks of here concerns the Death of Christ at Calvary, and its benefits as played out in his life. He preached this to others, which brought life to them as well.)

A FAITHFUL MINISTRY

¹³We having the same Spirit (Holy Spirit) of Faith (in Christ and the Cross), according as it is written (Ps. 1:16:10), I believed, and therefore have I spoken (so the Psalmist said); we also believe, and therefore speak (believe what Christ did at the Cross and, thereby, speak those words of Faith);

¹⁴Knowing that He (God the Father) which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus (the Resurrection, whether dead or alive), and shall present us with you (a great assembly!).

¹⁵For all things are for your sakes (what Jesus did at the Cross), that the abundant Grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the Glory of God. (The price of the Cross has resulted, and will result, in untold millions finding Eternal Life, which brings Glory to God.)

¹⁶For which cause we faint not (the stakes are too high); but though our outward man perish (takes a beating from overwork and persecution), yet the inward man is renewed day by day (is renewed by denying self and taking up the Cross daily [Lk. 9:23-24]).

¹⁷For our light affliction (in view of the reward, the worst of afflictions are referred to as light), which is but for a moment (compared to Eternity), works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (a greater reward, which will be received at the Resurrection);

¹⁸While we look not at the things which are seen (the trials and tests we presently endure), but at the things which are not seen (not seen by the eyes, but definitely seen by Faith): for the things which are seen are temporal (transient); but the things which are not seen are Eternal (the things of God, and what He has prepared for us [I Cor. 2:9-10]).