2 Corinthians 4:12 - Printer Friendly

ESV: So death is at work in us, but life in you.

NIV: So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

NASB: So death works in us, but life in you.

CSB: So then, death is at work in us, but life in you.

NLT: So we live in the face of death, but this has resulted in eternal life for you.

KJV: So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

NKJV: So then death is working in us, but life in you.

This summarizes what Paul has written in the previous verses. Death is at work in him and his co-workers for the gospel of Jesus. For Christ's sake, they are regularly afflicted, persecuted, perplexed, and struck down. They live on the verge of death in fragile human bodies. On the other hand, God has kept them, against serious opposition, from being crushed, from total despair, from being abandoned, and from being destroyed. The fact that they keep going is evidence that God's power is working through them and not their own.

Some among the Corinthians have accused Paul of being a false apostle because he experiences so much suffering. His response is that the life of Christ is at work in the Corinthians exactly because he has been willing to keep going through that suffering, enabled by the power of God. The implication is that instead of challenging his credentials, the Corinthians should be grateful to God for what Paul has endured to bring them life through the gospel of Jesus.

Second Corinthians 4:7–18 explains that the priceless treasure of knowing God's glory through faith in Christ is kept in the fragile containers of human beings. In this case, this refers to Paul and his co-workers who preach the gospel. Their suffering is enormous, but God keeps them from being wiped out. They don't quit because even after they die, they know they will be resurrected, as Christ was. Then they will spend eternity with Him in a glory that will far outweigh and outlast the comparatively lightweight and momentary suffering of this life.

Paul insists that he and his co-workers for Christ would never act in a way that is disgraceful or dishonest, though he knows some are blinded by Satan from believing their message about Jesus. They cannot see the light of knowing Christ as God. That knowledge is a priceless treasure stored in the fragile containers of Paul and his friends. No matter how difficult their suffering in this work, Paul refuses to quit. He is confident that he will be resurrected after his death and then all his pain on this side of eternity won't even be worth comparing with the glory there.

Second Corinthians 4 follows Paul's teaching in the previous chapter about the transformation that happens for those who see God's glory in Christ. Some are blinded to it by sin and by the god of this world. Paul knows that he and his co-workers are fragile containers for the priceless message of God's grace through faith in Jesus. They won't quit, though, because God sustains them and will eventually resurrect them. Once in eternity, all the suffering in this life won't be worth comparing with sharing God's glory forever. Chapter 5 expands on the idea that believers in Christ look forward to something much better than this life.

Second Corinthians returns to similar themes as those Paul mentioned in his first letter to this church. Paul is glad to hear that the church in Corinth has heeded his advice. At the same time, it is necessary for Paul to counter criticisms about his personality and legitimacy. Most of this text involves that subject. The fifth chapter, in contrast, contains comforting words which Christians have quoted often in times of hardship. Paul also details his expectations that the church in Corinth will make good on their promise to contribute to the needs of suffering believers in Jerusalem.

Accessed 11/23/2024 9:02:44 PM