The Light of the Gospel

Therefore, since we have this ministry because we were shown mercy,(A) we do not give up.(B) Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful things, not acting(C) deceitfully or distorting the word of God,(D) but commending ourselves before God to everyone’s conscience by an open display of the truth.(E) But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age(F) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,[a](G) who is the image of God.(H) For we are not proclaiming ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,(I) and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’s sake. For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”(J) has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge(K) of God’s glory(L) in the face of Jesus Christ.

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Footnotes

  1. 4:4 Or the gospel of the glorious Christ, or the glorious gospel of Christ

Proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord

Because of this, since we[a] have this ministry, just as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience before God. But if indeed our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus[b] as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. For God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,”[c] is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Corinthians 4:1 Here “since” is supplied as a component of the participle (“have”) which is understood as causal
  2. 2 Corinthians 4:5 Some manuscripts have “Jesus Christ”
  3. 2 Corinthians 4:6 An allusion to Gen 1:3
  4. 2 Corinthians 4:6 Some manuscripts have “in the face of Jesus Christ”