2 Corinthians 4–5

THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL

4Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,^an we do not give up.^{ao 2}Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting^ap deceitfully or distorting the word of God,^aq but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.^{ar 3}But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. ⁴In their case, the god of this age^as has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,^Ga who is the image of God.^{b 5}For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,^c and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. ⁶For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”^d has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge^e of God’s glory^f in the face of Jesus Christ.

TREASURE IN CLAY JARS

⁷Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power^g may be from God and not from us. ⁸We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; ⁹we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry the death of Jesus^h in our body, so that the life of Jesus may also be displayed in our body. ¹¹For we who live are always being given over to deathⁱ for Jesus’s sake, so that Jesus’s life may also be displayed in our mortal flesh. ¹²So then, death is at work in us, but life in you. ¹³And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,^Aj we also believe, and therefore speak. ¹⁴For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus^k and present us with you. ¹⁵Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving^l to increase to the glory of God.

¹⁶Therefore we do not give up.^m Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner personⁿ is being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our momentary light affliction^o is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.^{p 18}So we do not focus on what is seen,^q but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

OUR FUTURE AFTER DEATH

5For we know that if our earthly tent we live in^r is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens,^s not made with hands.^{t 2}Indeed, we groan in this tent, desiring^u to put on our heavenly dwelling, ³since, when we are clothed,^B we will not be found naked.^{v 4}Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality^w may be swallowed up by life. ⁵Now the one who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave us the Spirit as a down payment.

⁶So we are always confident and know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷For we walk by faith,^x not by sight.^{y 8}In fact, we are confident, and we would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.^{z 9}Therefore, whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to be pleasing^aa to him. ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat^ab of Christ,^ac so that each may be repaid^ad for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

¹¹Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord,^ae we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. ¹²We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. ¹³For if we are out of our mind,^af it is for God; if we are in our right mind,^ag it is for you. ¹⁴For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all,^ah and therefore all died. ¹⁵And he died for all^ai so that those who live should no longer live for themselves,^aj but for the one^ak who died for them and was raised.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

¹⁶From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective.^A Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective,^B yet now we no longer know him in this way. ¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;^al the old has passed away, and see,^am the new has^C come!^{an 18}Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.^{ao 19}That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world^ap to himself,^aq not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors^ar for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf,^as “Be reconciled to God.” ²¹He made the one who did not know sin^at to be sin^D for us,^au so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.