Not by Merit but by Mercy (2 Corinthians 4:1-6)
Today’s Word
[A Ministry Received by Mercy] (NIV)
1 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.
3 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 that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Background
Today’s passage opens with “Therefore.” It is carrying on from the chapter before. In chapter 3 Paul set two ministries side by side: the ministry of the old covenant, carved on tablets of stone, and the ministry of the new covenant, written on the heart. One came with a glory that shone on Moses’ face and then faded. The other comes with a glory that grows brighter as we look at the Lord with unveiled faces. Paul says the ministry he received is that second one. And when he thinks about it, he does not lose heart.
Why would losing heart even come up? Because there were people in the Corinthian church who doubted that Paul was a real apostle. They carried letters of recommendation, and they asked whether Paul had any (3:1). Other remarks followed him around too: his speaking is unimpressive, he is nothing much in person, only his letters are weighty (10:10). In a word, they were questioning his credentials. What right do you have to call yourself an apostle?
Paul’s answer is in verse 1. Through God’s mercy we have this ministry. Instead of proving his qualifications, he tells how he received it. I did not earn this ministry; I was shown mercy and given it. He says the same thing in another letter: I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor, but I was shown mercy (1 Timothy 1:13). A man who went around trying to destroy the church became an apostle, not because of his record but because of God’s mercy. So the strength to keep this ministry does not come from his record either.
In verse 2 Paul separates his way from the way his opponents worked. Nothing hidden, no tricks, nothing mixed into the word of God. The recommendation he offers is not a piece of paper but the truth itself, set out in plain view. He leaves the verdict to people’s consciences and to God.
Verses 3-4 answer the question that naturally follows. If the gospel is that clear, why do some people not understand it? Paul picks up the veil from chapter 3. If the gospel seems veiled, what is covered is not the gospel but the eyes of the one looking. The god of this age has blinded their minds. The message is not weak. There is a power at work that blocks the light.
Then in verse 5 Paul sums up his whole ministry in one line. What we preach is not ourselves. He preaches two things: that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that we are your servants for Jesus’ sake. It is a remarkable reply from a man caught in a fight over his credentials. He does not raise his qualifications. He lowers himself to the place of a servant.
Finally, in verse 6, Paul goes back to Genesis 1. The God who said “Let there be light” has made his light shine in our hearts too. For Paul this was not a figure of speech. On the road to Damascus a light from heaven flashed around him (Acts 9:3). In that light he came to know the face of Jesus. His ministry began that day, and on that day he did nothing at all. The light was not something he made. It was something that shone on him.
The flow of 2 Corinthians as a whole is laid out in the Introduction to 2 Corinthians, and the paragraph just before this one is covered in The Veil Can Come Off (2 Corinthians 3:12-18).
Key Words Made Simple
- Ministry: Greek diakonia, meaning service. It does not point to a high position but to a task entrusted to someone. In chapter 3 Paul used this word for the ministry of the new covenant, the ministry of the Spirit, and the ministry that brings righteousness.
- Through God’s mercy: the passive of the Greek eleeo, meaning we were shown mercy. It says Paul stood on the receiving end, not that he did something to earn it. It is the same verb Paul uses to describe his conversion in 1 Timothy 1:13 and 16.
- Lose heart: Greek enkakeo, to grow weary and let go. The word returns in verse 16: though outwardly we are wasting away, we do not lose heart. It frames the whole of chapter 4.
- Deception: Greek panourgia. It comes from the idea of being ready to do anything, and came to mean a craftiness that will use any means to reach its goal. In 11:3 Paul uses the same word for the serpent’s cunning that deceived Eve.
- Distort: Greek doloo, to mix something foreign into what is pure. It was used for mixing cheap metal into gold or watering down wine. Paul did not dilute the word to make it easier to hear or easier to sell.
- Commend: Greek synistemi, from the same family as the letters of recommendation in 3:1. Instead of a paper letter, Paul offers the truth set out in the open as his recommendation.
- Veiled: Greek kalypto, to cover. It shares its root with the veil Moses wore over his face in chapter 3. The veil story carries on into chapter 4.
- The god of this age: the literal wording is the god of this age. It refers to the evil power that sets itself against God, that is, Satan. In John’s Gospel Jesus calls him the prince of this world (John 12:31).
- Blinded: Greek typhloo, to make blind. The light is not missing. The eyes that would see it are closed.
- Image: Greek eikon, something that shows a likeness exactly. When you look at Christ, you see what God is like.
- Servants: Greek doulos. Not a hired worker who is paid wages, but a person who belongs to a master. Paul calls himself the Corinthians’ servant, and he adds the reason: for Jesus’ sake.
- Face: Greek prosopon. It pairs with the shining face of Moses in chapter 3. Now God’s glory is seen in the face of Christ.
Expressions Worth Noting
- “Since through God’s mercy we have this ministry” (v. 1)
- Paul’s reason for not losing heart is not his ability but the way he received the ministry. It came by mercy, so it is kept by mercy.
- A place received by merit shakes when your merit shakes. A place received by mercy stays put even when you shake.
- “We commend ourselves” (v. 2)
- Accused of having no letters of recommendation, Paul offers a different kind of letter: a life with nothing hidden and a word with nothing mixed in.
- And he leaves the verdict to people’s consciences and to God. He does not strain to prove himself. He lets himself be seen.
- “Even if our gospel is veiled” (v. 3)
- Paul admits there are times when the message is spoken and not heard. But he does not locate the reason in the weakness of the one speaking.
- What is covered is not the gospel but the eyes of the hearer. This sentence stops the habit of blaming myself the moment I cannot see results.
- “What we preach is not ourselves” (v. 5)
- In the middle of a fight over his credentials, Paul does not defend himself. He takes himself out. He steps away from the center of the message.
- If preaching is a place to show myself, my weaknesses become the failure of the sermon. If it is a place to show Christ, my weaknesses are not the center of the sermon.
- “Ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake” (v. 5)
- The name Paul uses for himself is not apostle but servant, and a servant for Jesus’ sake at that.
- A servant’s place does not need proving. The master has already decided it.
- “Made his light shine in our hearts” (v. 6)
- The One who called light out of darkness on the first day of creation works the same way in the darkness of one human heart.
- The subject of this sentence is God from beginning to end. He made the light and he made it shine. Paul’s ministry begins with receiving that light.
What the Passage Says
- The ministry is received by mercy (v. 1). Paul does not answer the challenge to his credentials with his record. This ministry was given to him when he was shown mercy, and that fact keeps him from losing heart.
- The truth set out plainly is the recommendation (v. 2). A life that preaches an undiluted word, with nothing hidden and no tricks, proves him before people’s consciences.
- A veiled gospel is not a weak gospel (vv. 3-4). When the gospel is not heard, it is not because the light is dim but because a power covers the eyes.
- What we preach is the Lord, not ourselves (v. 5). The preacher proclaims that Jesus is Lord and stands as a servant for his sake.
- Everything begins with the light God shines (v. 6). The Creator who called light out of darkness has given us to know the face of Christ. Both the ministry and the courage come from that light.
Not Because I Can, but Because It Was Entrusted
When people challenged Paul’s apostleship, what was going on in his heart? That is the question I held onto longest as I read this passage.
I think Paul was shaken too. When someone says you cannot be trusted, an ordinary person does not immediately stand up and say, No, I have nothing to be ashamed of. He looks at himself first. What if they are right? If Paul was an ordinary man, he must have had nights like that.
What made Paul different, I think, was not that he was never shaken. It was that he neither collapsed under the challenge nor turned arrogant. Somewhere out of sight, between one letter and the next, in his time with the Lord, he must have been given courage again and had his calling confirmed again. Today’s passage is a letter written by a man who got back up that way.
The toughness he showed on his three missionary journeys must have come from the same place. When he was stoned at Lystra and dragged outside the city for dead, when people chased after him to take his life, there is no way he never doubted himself. So what raised him up again? My answer is his relationship with God. Exactly what verse 1 says: remembering that he had received this ministry. That was his strength.
This passage sounds close to where I am now. I have knocked on a number of doors and found several of them closed. It is a season when nothing seems to go smoothly. Then one place invited me to work with them. I am grateful. But I do not know whether that invitation means they trust my ability. They trusted me; that is not the same as confirming what I can do. When I look at myself honestly, I am, frankly, not much.
In the middle of all this, I have to preach this Sunday. In English. I know it will not be easy. It may not go well. Yet there is one reason I am doing it anyway. Not because I can, but because of the grace of God who is leading me. There are pastors who believe in me, there is the person closest to me who believes in me, and above all there is God who gave me this opportunity.
Today I listened to a sermon by Pastor David Yonggi Cho. His accent was strong, and his grammar was off in places. But it was unmistakably preaching. He spoke with conviction. I am not Pastor Cho. But why shouldn’t I be able to preach like that? Even if my Korean-Kiwi accent is still there and my sentences are not perfect, I believe a well-prepared sermon and the grace of the Lord will cover what I lack.
Verse 5 gives this belief its reason. What we preach is not ourselves. If a sermon is a place to show myself, my accent and my grammar decide whether it succeeds. But a sermon is a place to show Christ. Then my shortcomings are not the center of it. The One who makes the light shine has been God from the start.
So the prayer becomes this. Being embarrassed myself would be shameful enough, but the Lord must not be put to shame, must he? He trusted me. Not a sermon to win people’s approval, but in this one opportunity I have been given, in this one sermon, to fully pass on a life that hears God’s voice, discerns it, and obeys.
I am not doing this because I am qualified. I am doing it by the Lord’s grace. I am lacking, but I will try, expecting God to work anyway. And today, preparing the sermon well is my part.
Living It Out
- Write down how you received your place. Pick one task you carry or one place you stand right now, and write down whether you earned it by your qualifications or received it through someone’s trust and God’s mercy. Remembering how you received it gives you somewhere to stand when you are shaken.
- Stand before God first when your credentials are questioned. When someone’s evaluation or your own inner doubt shakes you, before you argue back or fall apart, spend time with the Lord first. Paul’s boldness was formed out of sight, between one letter and the next.
- Set down one desire to show yourself. If there is something this week you want to look good doing, check whether you have put yourself or Christ at its center.
- Prepare while still lacking. If you are putting something off until you are perfect, start one piece of preparation today that you can do as you are. Grace covers what is lacking in a place that has been prepared.
- Remember the people who believed in you. As we saw in Here by the Will of God (2 Corinthians 1:1-7), a calling is not something you prove alone. Bring to mind the names of people who have trusted you, and thank the God who stands behind that trust.
Questions to Sit With
- What am I using to prove my place right now: my qualifications, or the mercy I have received?
- When someone doubts me, do I tend to collapse first or fight back first? Have I ever, like Paul, gone to stand before God first?
- Who is at the center of what I say and show: me, or Christ?
- Is there something I have put off because I feel inadequate that I could try, trusting in grace?
- The God who called light out of darkness—which dark corner of my heart is he shining on today?
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