4: 1. office by God's mercy, we do not lose courage. On the contrary, we have given up those things which shame conceals, not resorting to crafty devices, nor tampering with God's word. Yes, it is by bringing the truth clearly to light we are commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. So even if the Good News, as we tell it, is veiled, it is veiled only by the things which are perishing. And, as for them, the god of this world has blinded their minds, because they will not believe, so that what the Good News tells us of the light of the splendor of Christ, who is the likeness of God, might not dawn on them. For it is not ourselves we are proclaiming, but Lord, and ourselves, as your sake. For it is God who said: light shall shine." And it was he who shone in our hearts so that we might bring to light the knowledge of the majesty of God as it shines in the face of Christ. Christ Jesus, as slaves, for Jesus' "Out of darkness But we have this treasure in bodies of clay, so that the vastness of its power may be seen to be from God and not to be due to us. We are hard pressed on every side, yet not completely shut in ; perplexed, yet not in despair; pursued, yet not abandoned; struck down, yet not killed; always carrying about on our bodies the marks of a death 2 COR. 4: 10. TRUE AND GENUINE. 95 like that of Jesus, so that the life also of Jesus may be plainly seen on our bodies. For we who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life also of Jesus may be plainly seen in our mortal nature. is working in us, but life in you. So, then, death But with the same spirit of faith as that expressed in the Scrip ture: I believed, and that is why I spoke. We also believe, and that is why we speak. For we know that he who raised the Lord Jesus, will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. For everything is for your sakes, so that, as God's favor has abounded by means of the many, it may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. For For this reason we do not lose courage. even if what is outward in our nature keeps decaying, what is inward is being renewed day by day. For our slight and transitory trouble is working out for us, to an immeasurable extent, a vast and transcendent blessedness. For we are not giving our attention to what is seen, but to what is unseen. For what is seen is for a time only, but what is unseen is eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, our body, which as a tent we are now occupying, should be torn down, we have a building which came from God, a house not made with ་ 5: 1. hands, eternal, in the heavens. For, beside this, while we are in the present body, we keep sighing, longing to put on our dwelling which is to come For we believe that when we have ' from heaven. thus put it on, we shall not be found naked. And further, we, who are in this tent of the body, keep sighing under our burden, not because we wish to take it off, but because we wish to put on the other over it, so that the mortal may be swallowed up by life. He, who prepared us for this, is God, and he also gave us his Spirit as a pledge of it. So I always have courage and know that while I am at home in the body, I am away from my home with the Lord. For we guide our actions by faith, not by what we see. We have courage, I say, and we prefer to leave our home in the body, and to make our home with the Lord. And so, whether we are at home, or away from home, we aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, so that each one may receive the consequences of his life in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. So, knowing what the fear of the Lord means, we are trying to win men; but God has thoroughly understood us from the first, and I hope that you, also, in your hearts, have thoroughly understood us. 2 COR. 5:12. IMPELLED BY CHRIST. 97 We are not again recommending ourselves to you. On the contrary, we are giving you an opportunity to boast for us, so that you may have something with which to answer those whose boasting is such in appearance only, and does not come from the heart. For, if we were out of our minds, it was for God. Or, if we are now of sound mind, it is for you. For it is the love of the Christ which impels us, ever since we came to this conclusion: That one died for all. Consequently all died. And he died for all, so that those who are now alive should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and rose again. So, then, we, for our part, know no one any longer from a merely human point of view. Yes, if we once became acquainted with Christ from such a point of view, yet now we are acquainted with him so no longer. So, then, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old things have passed away. They have become new. But everything comes from God, who, through Christ, reconciled us to himself, and gave us the work of making known this reconciliation, which is to tell how God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, and is not counting men's offenses against them, and how he entrusted us with the message of reconciliation. It is for Christ, then, we are acting as ambassa 5:20. dors, and God, as it were, is calling to you through us. We beg you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who never committed any sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the goodness of God. So, as God's fellowworkers, we also beg you not to receive his kindly favor in vain. For he says: At an acceptable time I listened to thee, And on the day of deliverance I helped thee. Now is the thoroughly acceptable time, now is the day of deliverance. We give no one any occasion for being offended, so that no one may find fault with our work. On the contrary, in everything we show ourselves to be God's servants : In much endurance, in troubles, In watchings, in fastings; By purity, by knowledge, By means of honor and dishonor, |