2 Coríntios 4
J. Vernon McGee · Citado em PreceptAustin
2 Coríntios 4:3-4
McGee - I would like to give you a quotation from Sir Isaac Newton. Certainly no one could say that he was not an intellectual or that he was not a man of remarkable ability. One day someone said this to him: “Sir Isaac, I do not understand. You seem to be able to believe the Bible like a little child. I have tried but I cannot. So many of its statements mean nothing to me. I cannot believe; I cannot understand.” This was the reply of Sir Isaac Newton: “Sometimes I come into my study and in my absent-mindedness I attempt to light my candle when the extinguisher is over it, and I fumble about trying to light it and cannot; but when I remove the extinguisher then I am able to light the candle. I am afraid the extinguisher in your case is the love of your sins; it is deliberate unbelief that is in you. Turn to God in repentance; be prepared to let the Spirit of God reveal His truth to you, and it will be His joy to show the glory of the grace of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ.” Sir Isaac Newton was not only a great scientist but also a great preacher. Why don’t people believe? Because Satan has blinded their eyes “lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” It is a glorious gospel, but it is glorious because it reveals the glory of Christ. Apparently that is what men do not want to see. COMPARISON 2Co 4:4 and 2Co 4:6 2Co 4:4 2Co 4:6 Satan blinds to God creates the light the light of the Gospel of the knowledge of the glory of the glory of Christ of God Who is the image of God In the face of Christ John Piper (above table is credited to Dr Piper also) writes.. In 2Co 4:4 Satan blinds the mind; in 2Co 4:6-+ God creates light in the heart. 2Co 4:4 describes the problem; 2Co 4:6 describes the remedy. These two verses are a description of the condition of all people before conversion, and what happens in conversion to bring about salvation. More than any part of the Bible that I know of, the connections between 2 Corinthians 4:4 and 2Corinthians 4:6 shed light on the ultimate meaning of good in the term good news. Let’s be clear that we are talking about the gospel in these verses. The fact that Paul does not mention the facts of Christ’s life and death and resurrection does not mean he has left them behind. They remain the historical core of the gospel. There is no gospel without the declaration of Christ crucified for sinners and risen from the dead (1Co 15:1 2 3 4). This is assumed here. When Paul speaks of “the gospel of the glory of Christ,” he means that the events of the gospel are designed by God to reveal the glory of Christ. This is not incidental to the gospel—it’s essential. The gospel would not be good news if it did not reveal the glory of Christ for us to see and savor. It is the glory of Christ that finally satisfies our soul. We are made for Christ, and Christ died so that every obstacle would be removed that keeps us from seeing and savoring the most satisfying treasure in the universe—namely, Christ, who is the image of God. The supreme value of the glory of Christ revealed in the gospel is what makes Satan so furious with the gospel. Satan is not mainly interested in causing us misery. He is mainly interested in making Christ look bad. He hates Christ. And he hates the glory of Christ. He will do all he can to keep people from seeing Christ as glorious. The gospel is God’s instrument for liberating people from exulting in self to exulting in Christ. Therefore Satan hates the gospel. Thus 2 Corinthians 4:4 says that Satan blinds people to keep them from seeing “the light of the gospel.” He has more than one way to do this. One way, of course, is to prevent the preaching of the gospel. This he does by derailing many preachers and missionaries. They may die, or be thrown in prison (Rev. 2:10), or forsake the ministry (2Ti 4:10). Or they may abandon the truth and speak “a different gospel” (Gal. 1:6 7 8; Acts 20:30). But in 2 Corinthians 4:4 the way Satan keeps people from seeing “the light of the gospel” is not by preventing preaching, but by preventing spiritual perception. The words of the gospel are heard. The facts are comprehended. But there is no “light.” What does this mean? It means that blinded persons consider the facts of the gospel but see no compelling spiritual beauty, no treasure, nothing supremely precious. They see facts. They may even agree that the historical facts are true. Satan surely does. But they do not have “true sense of the divine excellency of the things revealed in the Word of God, and a conviction of the truth and reality of them thence arising.” That last quote is from Jonathan Edwards. Edwards thought more deeply about this spiritual “light of the gospel” than anyone I have ever read. Here is how he describes what Satan prevents in verse 4, and what God gives in verse 6. [It is] a true sense … of the excellency of God and Jesus Christ, and of the work of redemption, and the ways and works of God revealed in the gospel. There is a divine and superlative glory in these things, an excellency that is of a vastly higher kind and more sublime nature than in other things, [and] a glory greatly distinguishing them from all that is earthly and temporal. He that is spiritually enlightened truly apprehends and sees it, or has a sense of it. He does not merely rationally believe that God is glorious, but he has a sense of the gloriousness of God in his heart. (from Jonathan Edwards' sermon A Divine and Supernatural Light) Seeing this “light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” is not neutral. One cannot see it and hate it. One cannot see it and reject it. If one claims to see it, only to reject it, one is “seeing” it only the way Satan sees it and wants us to see it. In that case we are still in the grip of his blinding power. No, the kind of seeing that Satan prevents is not the neutral seeing that sets you before a meal with no taste or distaste for what you see. The kind of seeing that Satan cancels (v. 4) and God creates (v. 6) is more like spiritual tasting than rational testing. This kind of seeing is not the circumstantial inference that the brown fluid in the bottle with the wax comb must be honey. Rather this seeing is the immediate knowledge that it is honey because of putting some on the tongue. There is no series of arguments that awakens the certainty of sweetness. This is what seeing light means. If you are blind, someone may persuade you that the sun is bright. But that persuasion is not what Paul is talking about. When your eyes are opened—that is, when God says, “Let there be light”—the persuasion is of a different kind. That’s what happens in the preaching of the gospel. It’s what happens when God moves with Creator power over the darkness of human hearts. (The interested reader is strongly encouraged to read the entire chapter by Dr Piper online in his book God Is the Gospel by John
2 Coríntios 4:5-6
McGee: He had the freedom to make himself a servant! (McGee, J V: Thru the Bible Commentary: Thomas Nelson) Warren
2 Coríntios 4:5-6
Vernon McGee - Just as the Spirit of God brooded over the waters, so the Spirit of God broods over a soul. He moves in to bring conviction to our hearts. Then He regenerates us. And the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, shines in. Here we are back looking at Him. As someone has said, “The look saves, but the gaze sanctifies.” We need to spend a lot of time looking at Him. But even doing this, we are weak vessels. John MacArthur relates the truth of physical creation to spiritual redemption in 2 Corinthians 4:6+. -- Paul says "is the One who has shone in our hearts” is the same God of creation who turned on the light physically (Genesis 1:2+) and here turns on the light spiritually. Redemption is as much a divine operation as was creation and it’s as much a creative operation. Spiritual darkness covers the minds of men until God shines in their hearts. John
2 Coríntios 4:7-9
McGee - That is how we are pictured here—weak clay vessels, pottery that can be broken. What is the treasure? That is the glorious gospel. We carry this glorious gospel in our little, old earthen vessels. Wick Broomall - By this treasure Paul reminds us that the Gospel is a valuable jewel (cf. Mt 13:44, 52) committed to him (cf. Eph 3:1, 2, 7, 8). (Wycliffe Bible Commentary - 2 Corinthians 4)
2 Coríntios 4:10-12
McGee - Remember that in 1 Corinthians 15:31 Paul could say that he died daily. In Romans 8:36 he wrote, “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” In 1 Corinthians 4:9 he wrote: “For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men.” Christian, do not be afraid to suffer. Jesus said the world would hate us if we were following Him. It is wonderful to take our place with the Lord Jesus Christ in these days. The dying of Jesus… the life of Jesus - In 2Cor 6:9 he writes of himself "as dying, yet behold we live." Dying is not thanatos Paul’s usual word for death but nekrosis because the former speaks of death as a fact or event, while nekrosis speaks of the process of dying. Paul was experiencing death in progress. Dying (3500)(nekrosis - see nekroo; English = necrosis {localized death of cells most often secondary to interruption of blood supply}) describes a putting to death or state of death. Nekrosis was a Greek medical term for the withering or mortification (medically the death and consequent putrefaction of one part of an animal body, while the rest is alive. Spiritually something saints are commanded to do [How goes your mortification lately dear brother or sister?] see below] Col 3:5KJV-+) of a member or the body. In Ro 4:19+ Paul uses nekrosis figuratively to convey the sense of "utter lack of strength and vital power… But here the literal sense, ‘the being put to death,’ must evidently be kept, and the expression understood as 1 Cor. 15:31+." (Henry Alford) Let's take a brief excursus (digression) on Webster's (1828) Dictionary definition of mortification - "In Scripture, the act of subduing the passions and appetites by penance (act of self abasement), abstinence or painful severities inflicted on the body. The mortification of the body by fasting has been the practice of almost all nations, and the mortification of the appetites and passions by self-denial is always a Christian duty." This is a potentially misleading definition - yes self-denial is clearly called for in Scripture (Mk 8:34+, Col 3:5-+ being examples). But "self" can hardly "cast out" self so to speak (cp Mk 3:24, 25, 26+). Such efforts to do so may impress others (and even deceptively "impress" oneself), for as Paul clearly warned "These (See context = Col 2:20, 21, 22-+) are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance (they look good!) of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement (e.g., penance) and severe treatment of the body, but are of (absolutely) no value against fleshly indulgence (NLT paraphrases this last part = "they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person's evil thoughts and desires")"(Col 2:23-+) We have no power to carry out a supernatural work (self-denial) and need to rely on the Holy Spirit for power. Yes, we must choose to deny self, but even the desire (or motivation) to choose to deny self ultimately comes not from self but from God. Mystery of mysteries. Note this is not saying let go and let God (quietism) but more like "Let's go and let God!". See Ro 8:13+, Php 2:12+, Php 2:13NLT+, Ezek 36:26, 27+ all of which show the Scriptural balance of believers working out what the Spirit works in! Is this somewhat difficult to comprehend? Absolutely (in my opinion)! But is it God's way? Absolutely! Is it possible to accomplish? Absolutely! But never perfectly in this lifetime (1Jn 1:8+). If you falter or fall, don't let your enemy bring you to the brink of despair (He "majors" in the 3D's - Doubt, Despair and Discouragement 2Co 2:11+, Ep 6:10+, Ep 6:11+ Ep 6:16+). Cry out to God. Lean hard on Him (Ps 3:3+ Ps 42:5+ Ps 43:5+). Remember David's wise words that "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise." (Ps 51:17+) ILLUSTRATION - H A
2 Coríntios 4:16
McGee - This is a wonderful verse. As we grow older, we sort of begin to die out as far as the body is concerned. However, we grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. I said to my wife no later than yesterday, “I wish that I were thirty-five years old and knew what I know now.” This old body that I have is dying. I can tell it all over. I’m ready to trade it in on a new model. It is beginning to waste away, but the inward man is renewed day by day. I feel closer to the Lord today than I did the day I entered the ministry. I was young then and I had a lot of enthusiasm, but I didn’t know very much. What a stumbler I was and how often I failed. I was a real ignoramus then. Now I know a little more; I have grown a little down through the years.