{"id":559,"date":"2026-01-24T11:52:04","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:52:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/?p=559"},"modified":"2026-01-24T11:52:04","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T17:52:04","slug":"2-corinthians-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/?p=559","title":{"rendered":"2 Corinthians 4"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 21, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2 Corinthians 4 ESV<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Therefore, having\u00a0this ministry\u00a0by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>But we have renounced\u00a0disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice[ <\/sup>cunning or\u00a0to tamper with God’s word, but\u00a0by the open statement of the truth\u00a0we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.\u00a0And even\u00a0if our gospel is veiled,\u00a0it is veiled to\u00a0those who are perishing.\u00a0In their case\u00a0the god of this world\u00a0has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing\u00a0the light of\u00a0the gospel of the glory of Christ,\u00a0who is the image of God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>For what\u00a0we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with\u00a0ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>For God, who said,\u00a0\u201cLet light shine out of darkness,\u201d\u00a0has shone in our hearts to give\u00a0the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 <\/strong>But we have this treasure in\u00a0jars of clay,\u00a0to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.<\/strong>\u00a0We are\u00a0afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;\u00a0persecuted, but\u00a0not forsaken;\u00a0struck down, but not destroyed;\u00a0always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,\u00a0so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodie<\/strong>s. <\/strong>For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.<\/strong>\u00a0So\u00a0death is at work in us, but life in you.<\/strong>Since we have\u00a0the same spirit of faith according to what has been written,\u00a0\u201cI b<\/strong>el<\/strong>ieved, and so I spoke,\u201d we also believe, and so we also speak,<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>knowing that\u00a0he who raised the Lord Jesus\u00a0will raise us also with Jesus and\u00a0bring us with you into his presence. \u00a0<\/sup>For\u00a0it is all for your sake, so that as\u00a0grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving,\u00a0to the glory of God.<\/strong>So we do not lose heart.\u00a0Though our outer self <\/strong>is wasting away,\u00a0our inner self\u00a0is being renewed day by day.<\/strong>\u00a0For\u00a0this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,\u00a0as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion Questions:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1)  In verses 1-6 Paul continues using the word picture of Moses\u2019 veil \u2013 this time to describe his ministry.  What is he telling the Corinthian brethren about his ministry?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2)  In verses 7-18 Paul now compares his life experiences to his ministry.  What is he telling the Corinthian brethren about his life experiences?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussion Summary:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verses 1-6:   Paul\u2019s conversion was accompanied by a great light (Acts 9:3).  He was then given a ministry that is similar in that it is bringing a great light to others \u2013 the light of the gospel.  This is a ministry of the New Covenant (2 Corinthians 3:6), a ministry of the Spirit (3:8) and a ministry of righteousness (3:9), and it impelled Paul forward in service to others.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike the picture of Moses who spoke to the children of Israel while veiled, Paul used great plainness of speech.  He was bold in his presentation of the gospel.  This can be seen when he preaches to the Jews of Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-6), which is described as \u201cthese men who have turned the world upside down.\u201d  This can also be seen when he preaches to gentiles in Ephesus (Acts 19:21-41), which is described as filling the city with confusion and rioting.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verses 7-18:  This ministry resulted in a life that was not easy, but was filled with suffering and reproach for Paul.  These afflictions striped away his old self (outer man) with its desires, ambitions and hopes and replaced these with spiritual growth and desires (inner man).  See Philippians 3:12-16.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paul\u2019s life in this \u201cministry\u201d could only be accomplished by the power of God.  If it was based on human strength and for a human reward in the present life, Paul would have quit.  What would be the point for someone to keep striving forward if the only result was suffering?  Paul emphasizes that he could only continue in this ministry and thrive while undergoing these experiences because of the power of the Holy Spirit in his life.  We must remember that all Christians are called to this same \u201cministry\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:26-29). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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January 21, 2026 2 Corinthians 4 ESV Therefore, having\u00a0this ministry\u00a0by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart.\u00a0\u00a0But we have renounced\u00a0disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice[ cunning or\u00a0to tamper with God’s word, but\u00a0by the open statement of the truth\u00a0we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.\u00a0And even\u00a0if our gospel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":561,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559\/revisions\/561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/winnipegbiblestudents.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}