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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4:13 - 4:18
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How the apostle rose above every handicap:
v. 13. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken, we also believe and therefore speak,
v. 14. knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.
v. 15. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.
v. 16. For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.
v. 17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
v. 18. while we look not 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.
The mention of the life in and with Christ raises the apostle to the very heights of an exultant declaration: But since we have the same spirit of faith (as the Psalmist), according to that which is written: I believed, therefore I also spoke, we also believe, and therefore also we speak. The apostle quotes Psa_116:10, where the Easter joy of the Old Testament believers is expressed, declaring that the same spirit of joyful and confident faith lived in him also. His faith, being grounded so firmly, and being so sure in its hope, could not remain silent; it must break forth in a confession of the mouth. As one commentator says: No sooner does faith exist than she begins to speak to others, and, while speaking, recognizes herself and grows in power. Just as the Psalmist was surrounded by enemies, so Paul was in the midst of dangers; but in either case their faith would not hold its peace; it is impossible for the true believer to be quiet concerning the wonderful things which he has seen and heard, Act_4:20 And faith is not an uncertain hope, based upon mere feeling, but upon knowledge grounded in the Word of God: Knowing that he who raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also with Jesus, and shall present us together with you. As Paul had shown at great length in chap, 15 of the first letter to the Christians of Corinth, so he here repeats briefly: The resurrection of Christ is a guarantee of our own resurrection; it is our surety that we shall share in the life of the risen Lord. As God raised up Jesus, our Lord, so He will, on the last day, raise up also us, to become partakers of His resurrection, and all believers will be presented together before the throne of the Father and of the Lamb. All these glorious facts are contained in the message of which Paul is a bearer, although he considers himself a weak and unworthy vessel. Note: The hope and faith of the believers of the Old and the New Testament is based upon the same foundation, the Word and promises of God; it exacts the same confession of belief, and looks forward to the same glory.
All these glories, however, are proclaimed by Paul, as he declares: For all things are for your sakes, that grace, being made abundant, through the greater number of you, may cause the thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. In all his work the apostle had in mind the blessing and benefit of his readers, the Christians in whose interest he was working; it was all done for their sakes. But the end and aim which he had in mind as the final end was that the grace which had been multiplied to him, which gave him such wonderful strength and endurance, should by the force of their many additional prayers result in the more abundant thanksgiving to the glory of God. The greater the number of those that partake of the blessings of God's gifts and offer up the thanksgiving of their lips and hands to Him, the more emphatically would the glory of the Lord stand out before the whole world and beyond the end of the world, into eternity. In this way "the gratitude of the multitudes which have been converted may keep pace with the blessings which they have received, and abound, as these blessings have abounded."
Paul now returns to the thought of v. 1. Because he is sustained by this glorious hope, he does not give way to faintness, he does not give up: Rather even though our outward man is decaying, yet our inner man is renewed day by day. The contrast is not between flesh and spirit, but between the gradual decay of the bodily organism and the corresponding growth of the spiritual self. The hidden man of the heart, 1Pe_3:4, receives nourishment and strength from the Word of God day after day, and thus gains continually. At the same time the mortal body, the earthen vessel, is making steady progress toward physical death; the dawn of every new day means one day less until the inevitable end; the final dissolution is always only a matter of time. But since the emphasis of the apostle's sentence is on the second part of his statement, the thought is evidently not causing him any distress. His attitude is rather that of every true believer that regards this entire life merely as a preparation for the everlasting life to come.
Therefore he writes, in the same strain of exultation: For our present momentary, light burden of tribulation works out for us from one excess to another an eternal heavy burden of glory. All the troubles which can come upon us Christians are with us only at this present time, for the length of this fleeting life, at the worst, for a moment as compared with the coming eternal life. And it is light, easy to be borne, comparatively speaking. But the time is coming, and that soon, when the eternal glory will be revealed to us, and this is so wonderful, so great and extensive, so weighty and endless that the slight oppression of the life on earth will be forgotten, Rom_8:18. The miracle is so great which is to follow this present tribulation as though produced by it, though it is a reward of grace, that Paul cannot find words enough to express the thought that is clamoring for utterance. Exceedingly, abundantly, from one excess to another, will God give us the glory which He has prepared since before the foundation of the world for them that love Him.
And the result is that we, with the apostle, no longer look upon, no longer pay any attention to, the things that are seen, to the visible forms of this present universe, but to those which we cannot see, except in hope, by the eye of faith. For all the things which can be seen, which we can conceive of by our senses, are temporal, they were made for this present world and age only. But the things which are not seen, which are invisible to us at this time, are eternal. See Rom_8:24; Heb_11:1. To be concerned about the transitory, perishable things of this world and thereby to lose the true and lasting values of heaven argues for a false estimate of values, for a loss of the substance in the vain effort to catch hold of the shadow. Paul, as a preacher with the Gospel-message of light and life, wanted his readers ever to keep before their eyes the great end and aim of their existence, the life with God in the fullness of heavenly glory.
Summary
The apostle disavows all connection with craftiness and adulteration of the Word; in spite of the many perils that beset him he proclaims the Gospel of the knowledge of the glory of God; in doing so, the faith of his heart is uttered in the confession of his mouth, and he looks forward to the final deliverance and the glory eternal.