The Light Shines

 DEVOTION

THE 2^ND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

THE LIGHT SHINES

2 Cor 4:1-6

4:1 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 every man'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 of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach 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 the glory of God in the face of Christ.

NIV

Now we know because of the mercy of God we will not lose heart regarding the ministry we have been called. The question we see here is what Paul meant about renouncing secret and shameful ways. Is that the deception or distortion of the word of God? Because this was the city of Corinth and it was mainly Gentiles and thus the city would have been filled with pagan gods, and the witchcraft, the dark arts, that use deception on the masses, that use the dark arts to trick people into various forms of false religion, this could be what Paul is referring to. Instead of using trickery, or some form of falsehoods, Paul says that he set forth the truth plainly. Paul says that he commends himself to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. Every person has a conscience, and it is that which is within us all that gives us the knowledge of what is right and wrong. Everyone knows deep within the truth, having the knowledge of God within them. All mankind, every person is a creation of God and loved by God. Whether people know it or not, He has put the knowledge of himself into all men. Some certain suppress the truth by their evil deeds, but their conscience still tells them which is good and true and which is evil and false. Everyone knows the truth when they hear it and it is our calling as believers in Christ to always tell the truth of the gospel. We need to speak it out plainly and boldly without veiling it in any secret formula. However, we do have to recognize the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Just as it happened in Corinth, it is still happening today. It is sad to watch such blindness. They know deep within the truth, but they have been blinded to it by all gods of this age. We do not know who the god of that age was, but we can clearly see the god of this age. So many have been deceived in so many ways, and it has been happening throughout the ages, but it seems to have gain strength more recently. We should not stand by and just watch, but even though we proclaim the truth, they are blind to it or refuse to open their eyes. We could become discouraged, but then again, we will not lose heart. All we can do is let our light shine in the darkness. Jesus said that we are now the light of the world, that we should not put our light under a bushel or hide it, or keep it just for ourselves, but to put it on a lampstand, so the whole house, the whole world may see our light, the light of Christ within us. The truth may make some unbelievers feel uncomfortable in its presence and what us to keep the light to ourselves, or hide it when we are with them, but we cannot, for the light simple shines, especially in the presence of darkness.