auto_stories
Chapter Summary
God has given us the light of the glory of Christ. We have this treasure in clay jars. Through affliction we look to what is eternal.
1Therefore, since we have this ministry, and in as much as we have obtained mercy for ourselves, we are not inadequate. 2For we renounce dishonorable and hidden acts, not walking by craftiness, nor by adulterating the Word of God. Instead, by the manifestation of truth, we commend ourselves to the conscience of each man before God. 3But if our Gospel is in some way hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing. 4As for them, the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, would not shine in them. 5For we are not preaching about ourselves, but about Jesus Christ our Lord. We are merely your servants through Jesus. 6For God, who told the light to shine out of darkness, has shined a light into our hearts, to illuminate the knowledge of the splendor of God, in the person of Christ Jesus.
7But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, so that what is sublime may be of the power of God, and not of us. 8In all things, we endure tribulation, yet we are not in anguish. We are constrained, yet we are not destitute. 9We suffer persecution, yet we have not been abandoned. We are thrown down, yet we do not perish. 10We ever carry around the mortification of Jesus in our bodies, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are ever handed over unto death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12Therefore, death is at work in us, and life is at work in you. 13But we have the same Spirit of faith. And just as it is written, “I believed, and for that reason I spoke,” so we also believe, and for that reason, we also speak. 14For we know that the One who raised up Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus and will place us with you. 15Thus, all is for you, so that grace, abounding through many in thanksgiving, may abound to the glory of God. 16For this reason, we are not insufficient. But it is as though our outer man is corrupted, while our inner man is renewed from day to day. 17For though our tribulation is, at the present time, brief and light, it accomplishes in us the weight of a sublime eternal glory, beyond measure. 18And we are contemplating, not the things that are seen, but the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are temporal, whereas the things that are not seen are eternal.