Chapter 4
The Gospel of the Glory of Christ.[a] 1 Therefore, since we are engaged in this ministry through the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced all shameful and hidden ways. We do not engage in deception or falsify the word of God. By stating the truth in an open manner, we commend ourselves to the conscience of everyone in the sight of God.
3 If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 those unbelievers whose minds have been blinded by the god of this world to prevent them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 We do not proclaim ourselves. Rather we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your servants for the sake of Jesus. 6 For the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has enabled his light to shine in our hearts in order to enlighten them with the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
The State of an Apostle.[b] 7 However, we hold this treasure in earthen vessels so that it may be clear that this immense power belongs to God and does not derive from us. 8 We are afflicted on all sides but not crushed, bewildered but not sunk in despair, 9 persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed.
10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. 11 For in our lives we are constantly being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be revealed in our mortal flesh. 12 As a result, death is at work in us, but life in you.
13 Therefore, since we have that spirit of faith about which it has been written: “I believed, and therefore I spoke,” we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us side by side with you into his presence. 15 Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that the grace that is abundantly bestowed on more and more people may cause thanksgiving to superabound, to the glory of God.
16 An Eternal Dwelling in Heaven. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is continuing to decay, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory, 18 for our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal.
Footnotes
- 2 Corinthians 4:1 Paul has been defamed as one who does not impart the authentic teaching of Christ. He responds that, on the contrary, everything he preaches is nothing but authentically Christ’s. For Paul, the Gospel is not a narrative of the past but the action of God today. The apostle, qualified for the ministry of this New Covenant, cannot falsify the Gospel in order to seek his own glory. His entire existence is illumined by the light and glory of Christ, the image of God, and the sole image that can take profound hold of a person’s life. Illuminated by Christ, the apostle himself becomes a light to irradiate every conscience that refuses to be seduced by the god of this world, i.e., Satan, who personifies the traits of perversion capable of undermining a human existence.
- 2 Corinthians 4:7 In his life, Paul shows the “mystique” of the apostle. He knows that his existence must be identified with that of Christ, that he must enter into Christ’s struggle and his agony. Thus, he reproduces in his person and his action the Paschal Mystery, the mystery of death and life, suffering and victory, until the day when he will share fully, with all the saved, in the life of the risen Lord.