@2Co 4:1-18. HIS PREACHING IS OPEN AND SINCERE, THOUGH TO MANY THE GOSPEL IS HIDDEN.
For he preaches Christ, not himself: the human vessel is frail that God may have the glory; yet, though frail, faith and the hope of future glory sustain him amidst the decay of the outward man.
1. Therefore--Greek, "For this cause": Because we have the
liberty-giving Spirit of the Lord, and with unveiled face behold His
glory (@2Co 3:17,18).
seeing we have this ministry--"The ministration of the Spirit"
(@2Co 3:8,9): the ministry of such a spiritual, liberty-giving
Gospel: resuming @2Co 3:6,8.
received mercy--from God, in having had this ministry conferred
on us (@2Co 3:5). The sense of "mercy" received from God, makes men
active for God (@1Ti 1:11-13).
we faint not--in boldness of speech and action, and patience in
suffering (@2Co 4:2,8-16, &c.).
2. renounced--literally, "bid farewell to."
of dishonesty--rather, "of shame." "I am not ashamed of the Gospel
of Christ" (@Ro 1:16). Shame would lead to hiding (@2Co 4:3);
whereas "we use great plainness of speech" (@2Co 3:12); "by
manifestation of the truth." Compare @2Co 3:3,
"manifestly declared." He refers to the disingenuous artifices of
"many" teachers at Corinth (@2Co 2:17 3:1 11:13-15).
handling . . . deceitfully--so "corrupt" or adulterate "the word
of God" (@2Co 2:17; compare @1Th 2:3,4).
commending--recommending ourselves: recurring to @2Co 3:1.
to--to the verdict of.
every man's conscience--(@2Co 5:11). Not to men's carnal judgment,
as those alluded to (@2Co 3:1).
in the sight of God--(@2Co 2:17 Ga 1:10).
3. But if--Yea, even if (as I grant is the case).
hid--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(Greek, @Col 3:3) is said of that withdrawn from view altogether.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.
to them--in the case only of them: for in itself the Gospel is
quite plain.
that are lost--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 (@Ex 14:20).
4. In whom--Translate, "In whose case."
god of this world--The worldly make him their God (@Php 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).
minds--"understandings": "mental perceptions," as in @2Co 3:14.
them which believe not--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"
(@Es 7:8). Those perishing unbelievers are not merely veiled, but
blinded (@2Co 3:14,15): Greek, not "blinded," but
"hardened."
light of the glorious gospel of Christ--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.
image of God--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].
5. For--Their blindness is not our fault, as if we had self-seeking
aims in our preaching.
preach . . . Christ . . . the Lord--rather, "Christ as Lord,"
and ourselves as your servants, &c. "Lord," or "Master," is the
correlative term to "servants."
6. For--proof that we are true servants of Jesus unto you.
commanded the light--Greek, "By speaking the word, commanded
light" (@Ge 1:3).
hath shined--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.
in our hearts--in themselves dark.
to give the light--that is, to propagate to others the light,
&c., which is in us (compare Note,
see on 2Co 4:4).
the glory of God--answering to "the glory of Christ"
(see on 2Co 4:4).
in the face of Jesus Christ--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).
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 (@Jud 7:16-20,22). 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].
that the excellency of the power, &c.--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).
may be of God . . . not of us--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.
8. Greek, "BEING
hard pressed, yet not inextricably straitened;
reduced to inextricable straits" (nominative to "we have," @2Co 4:7).
on every side--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.
perplexed, but not in despair--Greek, "not utterly perplexed."
As perplexity refers to the future, so "troubled" or "hard pressed"
refers to the present.
9. not forsaken--by God and man. Jesus was forsaken by both; so much
do His sufferings exceed those of His people (@Mt 27:46).
cast down--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."
10. bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus--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 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.
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body--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].
11. we which live--in the power of Christ's "life" manifested in us,
in our whole man body as well as spirit (@Ro 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).
delivered unto--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.
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.
13. Translate as Greek, "BUT having," &c. that is, not
withstanding the trials just mentioned, we having, &c.
the same spirit of faith, according as it, &c.--Compare @Ro 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" (@Ps 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).
14. Knowing--by faith (@2Co 5:1).
shall raise up us also--at the resurrection (@1Co 6:13,14).
by Jesus--The oldest manuscripts have "with Jesus."
present us--vividly picturing the scene before the eyes
(@Jude 1:24).
with you--(@2Co 1:14 1Th 2:19,20 3:13).
15. For--Confirming his assertion "with you" (@2Co 4:14), and
"life . . . worketh in you" (@2Co 4:12).
all things--whether the afflictions and labors of us ministers
(@2Co 4:8-11), or your prosperity (@2Co 4:12 1Co 3:21,22 4:8-13).
for your sakes--(@2Ti 2:10).
abundant grace, &c.--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 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 Ps 18:3 50:23).
16. we faint not--notwithstanding our sufferings. Resuming
@2Co 4:1.
outward man--the body, the flesh.
perish--"is wearing away"; "is wasted away" by afflictions.
inward man--our spiritual and true being, the "life" which even in
our mortal bodies (@2Co 4:11) "manifests the life of Jesus."
is renewed--"is being renewed," namely, with fresh "grace"
(@2Co 4:15), and "faith" (@2Co 4:13),
and hope (@2Co 4:17,18).
17. which is but for a moment--"Our PRESENT light (burden of)
affliction" (so the Greek; compare @Mt 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."
worketh--rather, "worketh out."
a far more exceeding and--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.
18. look not at--as our aim.
things . . . seen--"earthly things" (@Php 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].
things . . . not seen--not "the invisible things" of @Ro 1:20,
but the things which, though not seen now, shall be so hereafter.
temporal--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."