Context is important here. In chapter 3 Paul wrote that he was privileged to be part of the “ministry of righteousness” (2Cor 3:9).

He emphasized that his success in that ministry “is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2Cor 3:5-6).

Moses’ ministry of the old covenant (Law) resulted in condemnation and death. Paul’s ministry of the new covenant (grace) results in righteousness and life.

So in 4:1 he now writes that "since we have this ministry through God's mercy, we do not lose heart."

The Corinthians are the result of that ministry (2Cor 3:3). No doubt there were many times when Paul was tempted to feel discouraged, as we all are. The Christian life is not easy. It involves suffering. It involves failure to live up to the ideal. And this most precious treasure you carry around and offer to others is rejected time and again. Sometimes it’s tempting to make the message more palatable – to “sell” or “persuade.” To downplay the suffering and dependence and focus only on the positives so that more people “buy in.”

But Paul rejected all of that. “We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God,” he wrote. “On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.”

When we are passionate about getting a message across to people and they resist, it can become quite a strong temptation to do whatever is necessary to convince them. Think of the methods of many marketers, salespeople, and politicians! These are not appropriate for the gospel. Paul will not fall into that trap. Instead, he simply explains things plainly in good conscience before God and man.

How refreshing it would be if modern ministry did this rather than trying to become “seeker-sensitive” and palatable! As Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost Of Discipleship, “When Jesus calls a man, He bids him to come and die.”

The fact is, the gospel is repulsive to those whose hearts the Holy Spirit has not prepared to receive it. We must not hold back the full truth of what it means to follow Jesus – don’t sugar coat it, don’t try to make it more palatable by watering it down.

You wouldn’t want to hire Jesus to do your company’s recruiting or marketing. In Matt 10:16-23, this is what He told His disciples – while they were still relatively new! –about what it would mean to follow Him:

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves... Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it... Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. All men will hate you because of me... When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another...”

What kind of shepherd sends his sheep out among wolves? Don’t shepherds keep their sheep away from wolf packs?

But Jesus promised that He would be there to protect them, to make them successful! The horrible things His followers would experience would not be beyond what they could bear. Beyond what they would choose for themselves? Certainly, because we are all selfish creatures when it comes down to it. But not beyond what they could bear, and the very point of it all is to pull them out of their self-centeredness and center them instead on the work and will of God.

When Jesus explained the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:18-19, He said it meant that “When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path.”

[See the Side Note at the end for additional insights from the Greek text]

The whole point of the parable of the sower is that if only a shallow message about the kingdom is presented, the evil one can come and snatch it away. Troubles and persecution will steal a superficial understanding of the kingdom right away from a convert. We must be willing to speak the whole truth as we share the message of the kingdom with others. We must be willing to tell people what they are getting themselves into – the blessings, the strengthening, the grace, the fellowship, the love; and also the struggles, the failure, the life changes, the time commitments, and the persecution.

Otherwise, their understanding will be shallow. It will fall along the path, will not take root, and the evil one will snatch it right away.

2Cor 4:3-4 continues, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.


This is a follow-up to 2Cor 3:13-18, which says “we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”

Why did Moses wear a veil? Because the glory of God that shone from his face was too much for the Israelites to bear.

Why was it too much to bear? Because they were natural men, unable to bear God’s full glory.

Why did the radiance of God fade from Moses’ face? Because Moses also was a natural man and he couldn’t bear it for long.

How can one become capable of bearing the full glory of God? By being in Christ (2Cor 3:14) and turning to the Lord (2Cor 3:16).

While the glory of God that Moses had was ever-decreasing (“fading away”, 2Cor 3:13), ours is ever-increasing (2Cor 3:18). The only veil that covers the gospel is the one that “the god of this age” (Satan) places over the minds of unbelievers (2Cor 4:5). It causes them to not be able to see the image of God, which is Christ. Like glow-in-the-dark stars on a child’s bedroom ceiling, we have no light of our own. Our illumination comes from the real Light of the World, Jesus Himself.

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