Dwell in the Word: 2 Corinthians 4:1-6

Think on these questions as you dwell in 2 Corinthians 4:1-6:

1. In Paul's explanation about the veiling of the gospel to some, he mentions the work of the "god of this world" blinding the minds of unbelievers. How does this concept impact one's understanding of the challenges faced in sharing the gospel in a spiritually veiled world? What strategies might believers employ in response to this spiritual blindness?

2. Paul emphasizes his commitment to proclaiming the gospel faithfully without manipulation or deceit. How does this commitment to integrity in sharing the gospel influence the effectiveness of one's message? In what ways can believers maintain this integrity while still effectively communicating the gospel to a diverse audience?

3. The passage underscores the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in removing the veil from one's heart and bringing the light of the gospel. How does this transformation shape believers' perspectives on their own spiritual journey and their approach to sharing the gospel with others? How might this understanding impact the way Christians interact with those who have yet to embrace the gospel message?

Transcript:

 And so, we see here Paul continuing this idea that we saw at the end of chapter three regarding the veil that was over the face of Moses. Remember, his point was that the gospel is not going to fade away. So, their message is not veiled. The gospel is going to continue. It is the true glory of God. And we see that.

Continue here in the middle, towards the end of this short passage. But before we get there, we see what Paul is talking about in his diligence to proclaim the gospel. Notice he says that they've renounced, disgraceful, underhanded ways. Paul is not going to manipulate people. He's not going to try and come up with.

Different underhanded methods or using maybe different strategies that the world would use to deceive people to get them to believe. No, they're not going to be cunning. They're not going to twist God's word. Instead, they're going to make an open statement of the truth. Now, this is important.  We should be doing the same thing.

There is temptation. to maybe speak in such a way to use maybe some manipulation tactics to get people to believe, uh, or to agree with us about the gospel. But the gospel doesn't need that. The gospel doesn't need us to use our modern techniques of groupthink or anything else like that. What we need to do is to actually trust and believe that the proclamation of the gospel is sufficient.

And then if we are faithful, God's spirit will work. We don't want to do anything that is cunning, or we don't want to tamper with God's word. We don't want to twist it. Instead, we want to faithfully proclaim the truth. And notice what Paul says here. He says that, hey, our conscience is clear in the sight of God with this.

We have not deceived anyone.  And then we see Paul go back to this veil image, right? He says, if our gospel is veiled, if people aren't believing, if people aren't seeing it, uh, it isn't the people who believe.  Because the Holy Spirit has removed the veil from their hearts. It is those who are perishing, and it says, in their case, the god of the world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel.

So, the veil is still over their hearts that they cannot see because, well, the God of this world has kept them from seeing. They cannot see the truth because they are still believing the lie. And the truth of the matter is the Holy Spirit has not. In the infinite wisdom of God revealed or removed the veil from their hearts and so We want to make sure that we understand the glory of God In revealing this to ourselves we live in a world that is dark.

We cannot see but god has brought the light of the gospel to us and the veil has been removed from our hearts.  And we know what that message was. And we see here what it is as Paul concludes in verses five and six. He says, we proclaim not ourselves. We're not talking about us. We're not talking about our ability or anything to do with us, but we're talking about Jesus Christ as Lord.

And Paul is just his servant because of what God has done for the sake of Jesus. He is proclaiming this message for God has said this, let line light shine out of darkness.  And now it has shown in their hearts, and it's given knowledge of Jesus Christ. That is how we come to faith. The Holy Spirit removes the veil.

The light comes to us and we come out of the darkness. What an amazing truth. And we know this to be true in our lives because we understand that in our sin, we would not have come to this knowledge on our own. In our sin, our hearts are veiled. And so, we are so blessed that we have heard the message of salvation.

So may we shine that light into a dark world, that the Holy Spirit might remove the veil and people would come to believe. For that is the way in which people come to, come to faith. That is the means which God uses to bring people into his kingdom. So may we be faithful proclaimers of the gospel that the light of Jesus might shine in the world.