To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay (4)

To Be One in Christ: We Have Treasure in the Jars of Clay -- the Series of Explanation and Analysis of Scripture (4)

The Explanation and Analysis of Some of the Verses in 2 CORINTHIANS

We Christians have such a noble status -- the seal of the Holy Spirit; we should cleanse ourselves and should not bring disgrace to ourselves.

On the road of the workers of God, what is most important is to show Christ, let others meet with Christ everywhere, let the life of Christ show, testify about LORD and spread the fragrance of the Gospel everywhere. Christ is all the reasons and basis for us to be victorious.

All the Christians should be the “letters of Christ”, and be written on the tablet of hearts with all the characteristics of Christ, in order that others will know Christ in them. Therefore, offer ourselves to LORD and let Him finish His work and affix His seal such that wherever we go, we are worthy to be the letters of Christ. We are the paper, and Holy Spirit is the pen, what is written out is Christ. It is not for only once that let Holy Spirit write, but always let Holy Spirit write till the paper is full; that is, we are filled with Holy Spirit and are full of the work of Holy Spirit, that is, we are full of Christ. One who is used by God must be the one let Holy Spirit give commands freely; if Holy Spirit can not work freely in that one, that one can not be an instrument fit in God’s hand.

Since we have the Spirit of LORD in us, once we have Him, we are free. The freedom is a freedom in the spirit. The biggest binding for us is ourselves. The more we look upon ourselves, the more bindings we get. Forget oneself, and turn to LORD; we will experience the freedom that the Spirit gives us. The Spirit of LORD lives in our spirit. Whenever we are back to the spirit, we can be set free from all kinds of bindings right away.

We are like the mirrors with the function of reflection. If we turn to LORD and look upon LORD, others will see LORD from us; if we turn to ourselves, others will see “selves” from us. The final hope of the Christians, is “being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”. Therefore, we should turn to LORD in our minds and spirit with unveiled faces; let the glorious light of LORD shine on us always so that we will turn into the likeness of LORD through the Spirit of LORD.

We are the jars of clay, and the treasure in us is LORD Christ. The jars of clay are ignoble and fragile; the treasure is noble and lasts forever. Therefore, the value of we Christians is completely on the Christ in us. Our thoughts, will and feelings often wrap the treasure of Christ tightly and thickly such that others could not see the treasure, but only the jars of clay. The alabaster jar must be broken so that the perfume can be poured out. If our jars of clay are not broken, the treasure inside won’t show. If the things of man are not rejected and broken, the things of God have no way to show on man. We must first experience putting the old selves to death on the cross, and deny oneself and carry the cross in order to show the glory of the life of Christ.

The increase of Christ’s life of resurrection is accomplished through the reduction of our natural life; this is a unchanging spiritual law. How deep the work of death is, how big the appearance of the life of resurrection will be. The more of “the death of Jesus” the worker of LORD experiences, the more of “the life of Jesus” will be shown on him. If we want Christ to be exalted in our body, the sufferings and pains are necessary and the cross is indispensable. What can help the believers most and build the church best, is not the spiritual gift and the word from those who has spiritual gift, but is the life that have been through the cross and is shown from those who know cross from inside and carry the cross everyday. The workers of LORD should keep on being renewed in spirit every day. We should not allow the outward man of us to love enjoying a easy and comfortable life and escape from the lesson of cross. The treasure in us is Christ after the resurrection. The reason that we can enter the death without being destroyed, but giving life instead, is all because of this treasure.

Although in our body, we Christians also groan and are burdened unavoidably; however, in the spirit, we have joy, life and peace.

We are in Christ, and we are new creation. We should take off all the old nature, life and conduct in Adam; we should be in Christ and let everything of Christ show from us. For the Christians who live in the world, they live a life of contention; the purpose of the contention is to make people obedient to Christ. Therefore, in order to win in this warfare, we must live a life obedient to Christ by ourselves. The best way to deal with our old Adam -- the old self is to carry the cross and deny oneself.

Many people think themselves belong to Christ but lack the mind, thoughts, conduct and likeness of Christ. They call Christ the LORD with the mouth, but do not follow the words of Christ in their mind. They should consider again, repent early to avoid the punishment of LORD.

We believers should live in this world like a pure virgin, be pure and self-controlled. We should desire LORD only and should not love any other ones or things outside Christ, and keep our sincere and pure devotion to Christ. In the New Testament, Christ is often described as the bridegroom, the believers (1Co 6:15-17) and the church (Eph 5:23-32) as the bride (see Mat 9:15; Joh 3:29; Rom 7:4; Rev 19:7-9; 21:2). Note that, in the traditional explanation of the scripture, it is not complete to interpret the bride as the church only. The believers are united with the Spirit of LORD to be one; it is the same as the relationship of the union between wife and husband (1Co 6:15). Every believer should commune with God closely in order to unite with God to be one.

It is edited and compiled under the guidance of Holy Spirit. All thanks, praises and glories be to God!

(2 CORINTHIANS 1:22; 2:14; 3:3,6,17-18; 4:7,10-11,16; 5:4-5,17; 10:5,7; 11:2-3; 12:18)

2 CORINTHIANS 1:22 “ set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. ”

(NOTES)

“and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit”:

“deposit” means pledge. This shows that the believers have Holy Spirit dwelling in them.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) We Christians have such a noble status -- the seal of the Holy Spirit; we should cleanse ourselves and should not bring disgrace to ourselves.

(2) Holy Spirit as the deposit is a taste of LORD in advance. We believers do not need to wait till after ascending Heaven. We could taste the goodness and glorious riches of LORD nowadays on earth.

(3) What we believe is not something distant and uncertain, for God have put His Holy Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.

2 CORINTHIANS 2:14 “ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ”

(NOTES)

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ ”:

implies that Chris is the commander of the triumphal army of us(Jos 5:14). “we” refers to the believers who are the spiritual soldiers. “triumphal procession in Christ”, it is because in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.(Rom 8:37)

“and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. ”:

implies that the life of Christ is shown on the believers. And they are the testimonies of LORD and spread the fragrance of the Gospel everywhere. “knowledge” means the knowledge from the revelation; the believers show Christ they know among the world; that’s a unique fragrance.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The lead of God, does not make us be victorious “in us”, but lead us in triumphal procession “in Christ”, because Christ is all the reasons and basis for us to be victorious.

(2) “the aroma of Christ”(2Co 2:15) comes from “the knowledge of Christ”; and this knowledge is not a knowledge only through the word, but through experiencing Christ.

(3) As to those who really know Christ, the life of Christ will show on them; the fragrance of Christ will be spread from them, not only is not limited by space (“everywhere”), but also not limited by time -- even we in the later generation can smell it.

(4) On the road of the workers of God, what is most important is to show Christ, let others meet with Christ everywhere, and supply Christ from many aspects.

(5) When we are willing to give up our own rules, opinions and authorities, we will let others see the authority of God from us (“God leads us”) and get to know the glorious riches of Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:3 “ You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. ”

(NOTES)

“ You show that you are a letter from Christ, ”:

“a letter from Christ” implies 2 points: (1) Christ is the author of this letter; it is Christ Himself who write it; (2) The content and essence of this letter is Christ; and this letter is to show Christ.

“ the result of our ministry, ”

“our” refers to that of Paul and his coworkers. They are the instruments and tools of Christ. It is Christ who use them to write this letter; “ministry” means the act of ministering, or serving; ministration. The believers of Corinthians become the letters of Christ through the ministration of the servants of LORD.

“ written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, ”:

“ink” refers to the letter and the outside; “the Spirit of the living God” refers to Holy Spirit, that is, the spiritual and the inside. On one hand, Holy Spirit inspires His servants to speak out about Christ to others; on the other hand, He inspires the one who listens to the Gospel to open their hearts to take Christ in.

“ not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. ”

“written on tablets of stone” symbolizes the old covenant (Exo 31:18; 32:15-16), while “written on tablets of human hearts” symbolizes the new covenant (Jer 31:33; Heb 8:10).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) All the Christians should be the “letters of Christ”, and be written on the tablets of hearts with all the characteristics of Christ, in order that others will know Christ in them.

(2) The graduates are the advertisement of their school; the children are signboards of their parents; the Christians are recommendation letters of Christ to the world and the society. The letters can not open their mouth and talk by themselves, and the letters are for others to read; in the like manner, others will read out Christ from the believers.

(3) Holy Spirit dwells in us and writes us into the “letters of Christ” so that others will understand the will of Christ. How wonderful it is! Are we willing to let Holy Spirit write in us freely? Can we express the will of Christ to others?

(4) Our life is like a letter -- a letter has not been finished yet and should let Christ finish writing His words on us. We should endure Holy Spirit’s carving His words on the tablets of our hearts. Although the carving is painful, others will read out the messages of life from these scars and grains. Therefore, offer ourselves to LORD and let Him finish His work and affix His seal such that wherever we go, we are worthy to be the letters of Christ.

(5) God will show His deeds on His selected instruments. How people get to know Christ and know how much, is up to knowing about us; for we are the letters of Christ, the intermedia to show God Himself, the instruments through which others get to know Christ.

(6) Since we are the intermedia between God and the worldly people, we need the Spirit of God working on us first. We are the paper, and Holy Spirit is the pen, what is written out is Christ. Before we show Christ, we are blank paper. Therefore, we need Holy Spirit working on us. It is not man who writes on it, but Holy Spirit. It is not for only once that let Holy Spirit write, but always let Holy Spirit write till the paper is full; that is, we are filled with Holy Spirit and full of the work of Holy Spirit, that is, we are full of Christ.

(7)The work of Holy Spirit can also be done through the worker of LORD. The worker of LORD should be filled with Christ first, and then supply Christ in them to others, write Christ on the tablets of others’ hearts and make them the living letters of Christ.

(8) A normal minister of the new covenant, always write Christ whom they have experienced into the hearts of those they serve, in order that others will too experience Christ.

(9) One who is used by God must be the one let Holy Spirit give commands freely; if Holy Spirit can not work freely in that one, that one can not be an instrument fit in God’s hand.

(10) When the workers of LORD serve the average believers, they should not only instruct with the appearance and the knowledge, but also look to and rely on the co-work of the Spirit of God. They should write more of the life of Christ into the hearts of the believers so that their spiritual life can grow up and show the likeness of Christ.

(11) “Our hearts” include conscience, mind, feelings and will; are the main working field of the Spirit of living God, for if God change a person, will change his heart first.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:6 “ He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

(NOTES)

“ministers of a new covenant”:

refer to the workers of LORD serving based on the words of the New Testament.

“not of the letter but of the Spirit”:

“letter” refers to the articles of stipulation, that is, the regulations and articles of the law. “Spirit” refers to Holy Spirit, that is the Spirit of living God (2Co 3:3). Holy Spirit brings the power of God into the believers so that the believers are able to be the ministry of the new covenant.

“for the letter kills, ”:

“letter” symbolizes the old covenant. There are a lot of commandment that must be obeyed, however, people can’t abide by them all. Therefore, letter puts people to death(Rom 7:9-11). In another word, the letter of the law in old covenant only gives the requirements to people, but can not supply life to people(Gal 3:21). Therefore, letter kills.

“but the Spirit gives life”:

“Spirit” symbolizes the new covenant. Only the Spirit can give man a new birth (Joh 3:4-6). Therefore, can give life and lead people to the eternal life.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Serving in the new covenant should not obstinately cling to the articles of stipulation, and should follow the guidance of Holy Spirit. Obstinately clinging to letter makes one stiff; following Holy Spirit makes one vivid and full of vitality.

(2) In Bible studying, one not only should understand the meaning in the appearance, but also should understand the implication in the words, that is, understand the will of God revealed to us through the verses.

(3) There are a lot of truth, commands, teachings and instructions in the Bible. They are from God, are holy and spiritual, can affect one's behavior and morals. However, apart from the power of Holy Spirit, they are “letter” that kills people.

(4) LORD Jesus said: “The Spirit gives life.” (Joh 6:63). Apart from the Spirit, nothing can make man alive; even the life of God are in the Spirit; this material world we live in, was born through the Spirit of God in the beginning(Gen 1:2); even the birth of LORD Jesus -- the Word became flesh, was through Holy Spirit. Whatever have life, whatever make man living, are all because of the Spirit. In another word, all the work, acts, prayers and pursuing the truth, if without the work of Holy Spirit in us or without the power of Holy Spirit, are all dead.

(5) Now, Christ are the life-giving Spirit (1Co 15:45), that is, the Spirit gives life, or called “the Spirit of life” (Rom 8:2). The more the believers live in accordance to Holy Spirit, the more life and peace they will get.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:17 “ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

(NOTES)

“the Lord is the Spirit”:

“the Spirit” is the Spirit of the living God, though whom we work on the ministration of the new covenant(Joh 3:3), that is, the Spirit who enable us to work as the ministry of the new covenant (Joh 3:6). The Word became flesh; LORD Jesus Christ after being crucified and raising from the dead, now in the way of Counselor, that is, the Spirit of truth, is with us and lives in us (Joh 14:16-20). Therefore, the Lord is the Spirit (Rom 8:9-10).

“where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”:

the opposite to “freedom” is being bound and controlled like a slave. One is bound and controlled by sins and is slave to sins before. However, the believers are set free because of the dwelling in of the Spirit of LORD (Gal 5:1).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Since we have the Spirit of LORD in us, we are not relying on the letter outside any longer; we should live in accordance to the inspiration and guidance of the Spirit of God in everything. The letter binds one; the Spirit sets one free.

(2) The Lord is the Spirit. Once we have Him, we are free. The freedom is a freedom in the spirit.

(3) The biggest binding for us is ourselves. The more we look upon ourselves, the more bindings we get. Forget oneself, and turn to LORD; we will experience the freedom that the Spirit gives us. The Spirit of LORD lives in our spirit. Whenever we are back to the spirit, we can be set free from all kinds of bindings right away.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:18 “ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ”

(NOTES)

“ And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, ” :

“we” refer to the believers of the New Testament, that is, those turn to LORD (2Co 3:16). Since we turn to LORD, we are not covered by the veil anymore so that we reflect the Lord's glory with unveiled faces. “ reflect the Lord's glory, ” , since we are the believers of the New Testament without veil on our hearts, others can see Lord's glory from us.

“ are being transformed into his likeness ”:

“his likeness” refers to the appearance that shows the life of LORD, through which others could understand the characteristic and essence of the life of LORD.

“ with ever-increasing glory, ”:

the light of the glory increases more and more; the light of the glory turns to be more stronger.

“ which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ” :

the change mentioned above come from the work of the Spirit of LORD. The Spirit of LORD with His characteristic of life and power does the work on us who turn to Him. Gradually remove what should not be on us, and gradually add the ingredient of His life into us, so that we have the metabolic changes, and become more and more like Him.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) We are like the mirrors with the function of reflection. If we turn to LORD and look upon LORD, others will see LORD from us; if we turn to ourselves, others will see “selves” from us.

(2) The final hope of the Christians, is “being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory”. Therefore, we should turn to LORD in our minds and spirit with unveiled faces; let the glorious light of LORD shine on us always so that we will turn into the likeness of LORD through the Spirit of LORD.

(3) “being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory” is through “with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory”. The more we turn to LORD, the more we are shined on by the glorious light of LORD, and the more we show the glory and likeness of LORD.

(4) The growth and changes of the spiritual life of Christians are all because of the work of the Spirit of LORD in us. The more we let the Spirit of LORD work in us freely, the faster our growth and changes will be.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:7 “ But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

(NOTES)

“we have this treasure in jars of clay”:

“we” refer to the believers; “this treasure” refers to dwelling-in Christ; “jars of clay” refer to men -- men are created from the dust of ground (Gen 2:7); in terms of the essence, men are as ignoble and fragile as the jars of clay (see Rom 9:21; 2Ti 2:20). Here, it uses the parable of the treasure in the jars of clay to illustrate the truth that Christ dwells in the spirit of the believers.

“to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”:

“this all-surpassing power” refers to the superb and extraordinary power; dwelling-in Christ is the superb and extraordinary power, and the power of the believers to deal with the difficulties. “is from God and not from us” means that it is not from our life of the flesh, but from the work of God.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) We are the jars of clay, and the treasure in us is LORD Christ. The jars of clay are ignoble and fragile; the treasure is noble and lasts forever. Therefore, the value of we Christians is completely on the Christ in us.

(2) God put the treasure in the jars of clay. It is not for the purpose of showing off the nobleness of the jars of clay, but to show the wonderful power of the treasure. Therefore, we should be a “jars of clay” that are able to show Christ, but not show off ourselves.

(3) Our thoughts, will and feelings often wrap the treasure of Christ tightly and thickly such that others could not see the treasure, but only the jars of clay.

(4) The arrogant people intend to boast that they are out of common and are the standouts; those who feel themselves interior intend to give themselves up and sigh that they are just dust. Both these two groups of people pay their attentions only to the jars of clay, but not the treasure. We must forget about the jars of clay and only look upon the treasure.

(5) The treasure in the jars of clay -- dwelling-in Christ--will show His all-surpassing power. Therefore, we should not be a jar of clay burying the treasure, but a jar of clay knowing about letting the treasure show its function (see Mat 25:14-30).

(6) This treasure has all-surpassing power and are waiting for us to draw it at any time, to be the source of the strength of our life and work and to satisfy our needs inside and outside.

(7) We don’t need to repair and improve the jars of clay to show the treasure. All the pretension and artificial action only cover the treasure inside.

(8) The alabaster jar must be broken so that the perfume can be poured out (Mar 14:3). If our jars of clay are not broken, the treasure inside won’t show. If we want to show the power of the resurrection of Christ on us, we must experience putting the old selves to death on the cross.

(9) If the things of man are not rejected and broken, the things of God have no way to show on man. If man is not willing to deny oneself and carry the cross, God will not force him. If man would like to rely on himself only, God would not give a hand.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:10 “ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

(NOTES)

“ We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, ”:

“the death of Jesus” refers to LORD Jesus being crucified to death on the cross; “carry around in our body the death of Jesus, ” means that we believers carry our own cross to follow LORD (Mat 16:24) and put the old selves to death on the cross.

All the sufferings that we endure for the sake of LORD can also be taken as “carry around in our body the death of Jesus, ” . As said in the next verse: “For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake,” (2Co 4:11).

Someone misunderstood “the death of Jesus” and include all the illness, disasters, loss and difficulties of the Christians in it. However, the sufferings of the Christians can be divided into two kinds: one kind of sufferings is because of one’s own carelessness, mistakes, sins and other natural factors. These sufferings are not different from the sufferings of the common worldly people, can’t be taken as the sufferings of the cross. The other kind of sufferings is for the sake of LORD Jesus (Mat 5:11), for the sake of His body -- church (Col 1:24), and for the kingdom of God (Rev 1:9). This kind of sufferings can be taken as carrying around in our body the “death of Jesus”.

“ so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” :

“the life of Jesus” refers to His life of resurrection; this life of resurrection is hidden in us and could not be shown unless through the principle of death and resurrection to let it show on us ( Rom 6:4-5).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) LORD Jesus Himself is a kernel of wheat that falls to the ground and dies, and produces many seeds like us (Joh 12:24); Through the death to get the life, how LORD Jesus has been through this, so will we believers, for what we sow does not come to life unless it dies. (1Co 15:36)

(2) How deep the work of death is, how big the appearance of the life of resurrection will be. The more of “the death of Jesus” the worker of LORD experiences, the more of “the life of Jesus” will be shown on him.

(3) We will drink the cup LORD Jesus drink; we are baptized with the baptism LORD Jesus was baptized with (Mar 10:38). The will of God for our Christians is: we must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God. (Act 14:22)

(4) Only when we bear on our body the marks of Jesus, we can show the likeness of a new creation (Gal 6:15,17). Only when outwardly we are carrying the death of Jesus, inwardly we can be renewed (2Co 4:16).

(5) He (Christ) must become greater; I must become less. (Joh 3:30). The increase of Christ’s life of resurrection is accomplished through the reduction of our natural life; this is a unchanging spiritual law. If anyone would come after LORD Jesus, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow LORD (Mat 16:24). If one would put to death the life of the old self, one can get more life of the new life of the Spirit (Mat 16:25).

(6) If we want Christ to be exalted in our body, the sufferings and pains are necessary and the cross is indispensable. All the basis for the ministry with the life, is the ministry himself has the experience of being crucified on the cross. Nowadays, there generally lack the ministries with the life; it is because the ministry lack the experience of cross. Whenever God apportion a cross for them, they always try to avoid it.

(7) What can help the believers most and build the church best, is not the spiritual gift and the word from those who has spiritual gift, but is the life that have been through the cross and is shown from those who know cross from inside and carry the cross everyday.

(8) For the instruments that God want, He manage His words by Holy Spirit and through the work of cross into the deep inside of those ones and make it their life. Then they will become the ministry with the life; the fountain of the life is formed from the continuous work of the death in them.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:11 “ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ”

(NOTES)

“ For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, ” :

“For we who are alive” include all the believers living in this world; “being given over to death for Jesus' sake,” implies that the difficult environment is not because of the suffering for one’s own action, but is because of passive reasons, including the incitation from the Satan, the persecution from people, the arrangement of God -- but the real reason is always “for Jesus’ sake”. Please note the word of “always” used here, that means the kind of suffering is not rare, but always happens.

“so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. ”:

“his life”, see the notes about “the life of Jesus” (2Co 4:10). “mortal body” refers to the perishable body (1Co 15:42, 50, 53), it emphasizes that our body in flesh will die for sure.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) “always” means that the experience of the cross is not for only once; but “always” carrying around in our body the death of Jesus (2Co 4:10) and “always” being given over to death for Jesus' sake. However, the “always” is not suffering for one’s own action, but is “being given”; as long as we are willing to offer ourselves to serve LORD, God will arrange the environment to train us.

(2) The treasure in us (2Co 4:7) is Christ after the resurrection. The reason that we can enter the death without being destroyed, but giving life instead, is all because of this treasure.

(3) The way of the workers of LORD, is to supply life through the death, and show life through the death (2Co 4:10).

(4) The rules of the life of resurrection is: been through the death, but still alive. The binding of death has no power on such people. It is because in him there is something more powerful than death; he is still alive even after going through the death and won’t be touched by the death.

(5) Everything from nature can not be still alive after going though the death; everything from God can be still alive after going through the death.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:16 “ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

(NOTES)

“ Therefore we do not lose heart.”:

“lose heart” is regarding to the difficulties met with in the ministry (see 2Co 4:1).

“ Though outwardly we are wasting away, ”:

“outwardly” refers to the body; “are wasting away” refers to the waning of the body.

“ yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”:

“inwardly” refers to the renewed spirit and life. “are being renewed day by day” means “are being transformed into his (LORD’s) likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2Co 3:18).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Although there are grinding and oppressing from the environment, these can only damage the outward of us, but will accelerate to add more intergradient of God instead, so that the inward will be strengthened, renewed and changed. Therefore, no matter what kind of strikes we meet with, we will never lose heart.

(2) The workers of LORD should keep on being renewed in spirit every day. If staying in the old situation, it might be because the outward man of us love to enjoy a easy and comfortable life and escape from the lesson of cross.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:4 “ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ”

(NOTES)

“so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ”:

“what is mortal” refers to our perishable body (2Co 4:11; Rom 8:11; 1Co 15:53); “be swallowed up by life” refers to the perishable being clothed by the imperishable (see 1Co 15:53-54; Isa 25:8), through which our body transforms. The world take the death and grave as the biggest mouth that engulf life (Psa 69:15; Pro 1:12). However, as to we Christians, the death is not fearful at all.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The believers are bound and limited by the body while they are living. They will be released from these bindings after death. Therefore, as to us, not only the death is not fearful, but also it is better by far.

(2) If one has the best, he will be willing to give up what is not good or the better. The Christians have the eternal glory being kept ahead. They won’t take the oppressing of death and pains in mind. They won’t love and be reluctant to leave the things on earth; therefore, there is no chance of being oppressed left in their mind. Although in our body, we Christians also groan and are burdened unavoidably; however, in the spirit, we have joy, life and peace (Rom 8:6).

2 CORINTHIANS 5:5 “ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

(NOTES)

“ Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose ” :

means that God work on the believers in order that they are fit for the purpose of “being swallowed up by life” mentioned previously (2Co5:4).

“ and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

means that God give Holy Spirit to dwell in us in order that we can experience the power of Christ’s life of resurrection. And let us taste beforehand the spiritual truth of “life swallow up the death” so that we have assurance of the resurrection in future (2Co 1:22; Eph 1:14).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) When we are reborn, God put the life of Christ in us so that we get a new life. The life of rebirth is absolutely from God, the growth and maturity of the life also depends on God. The biggest responsibility of man is to cooperate with God, but not hinder the work of God.

(2) After we are granted the grace, God work on us continually, such as drawing us closer to Him, enlightening us to understand the Bible, or takeing care of us through the church, in order that we could grow up and become mature to fulfill His will.

(3) To let Christ show from us to the fullness, on one hand, heavenly Father build up us from every aspect; on the other hand, God give us the Spirit as a deposit so that we can taste the truthfulness beforehand. Therefore, no matter the work of God, or the dwelling in of Holy Spirit, all the purpose is to reach the fullness of Christ.

(4) Only those who are reborn by Holy Spirit could be redeemed. It is important to do the work to help Christians’ spiritual life to grow.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! ”

(NOTES)

“if anyone is in Christ”:

“in Christ” means that one believes and accepts Christ; unites oneself with Him in the life of God; gets the supply of life from Him and takes Him as the living category.

“he is a new creation”:

“ a new creation” , in contrast to the old creation, here, it implies that since the believers belong to Christ and all are new creations, we can not look at them according to the old creation of them any longer.

“the old has gone, the new has come!”:

“the old” refers to the life, characteristic, hobby, conduct and history in the old creation.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The Christians have bright future, but not the burden of the past.

(2) After we believe in LORD, God put us in Christ to be a new creation, all the old stories, hobbies, plans and relationships totally become the past; from now on, we have a new life and walk on a new way.

(3) Many people like to live in the history; no matter it is good or bad, they could not forget it. But we are in Christ, if we want to run the race marked out for us, and forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead (Phi 3:13), we should put all of it behind and forget about it, not only the former sins and evils, failure and bad things, but also the former achievements and victories.

(4) If one does not forget the former achievements of oneself, one will be self -complacent and self-satisfied; on the other hand, if one does not forget one’s failure and weakness, one will be discouraged and dismay, and could not move on.

(5) No matter our past is good or bad, it will affect us negatively and hinder us from moving on. Therefore, we must get rid of all in the past so that we can take steps forward.

(6) LORD canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross (Col 2:14). Therefore, we should not get back to pick them up, especially the hurts and shadows of the past.

(7) I am in Christ, and I am a new creation. We should take off all the old nature, life and conduct in Adam; we should be in Christ and let everything of Christ show from us.

(8) Apart from Christ, God would not do the work of the new life on us; the first step and the primary step of the work of God, is to put us in Christ.

(9) A new creation should have a new sight, live a new life and do a new serving.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:5 “ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ”

(NOTES)

“ We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, ” :

Satan knows well that the most effective way to block one to know God is to instill all kinds of specious arguments and every pretension that sets itself up into people’s mind and build up strongholds.(2Co 10:4)

“ and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ” :

“take captive” shows that Satan was leading the thoughts of many believers in Corinthians to deny God and be disobedient to Christ through the false teacher.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Knowledge puffs up (1Co 8:1). The tradition and philosophy in this world, many preconceived ideas and prejudice, are the biggest barriers for people to know God. The submission in thoughts is the first pass for man to know God.

(2) The reasoning in mind, the pride of sinful nature, the “arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God” are the strongholds (2Co 10:4) that Satan builds in people; they are against people to be “obedient to Christ”, are the enemies of Christ.

(3) “arguments” refer to many different reasons in people’s mind: after one has been demolished, another will block in the front so that make it hard to accept God. Those reasons seem to be important, but actually has no reason to be a reason. Once we see through the crafty plot of Satan, all the reasons will disappear like the smoke. Satan works in the thoughts of people, and put wrong ideas in people. If one does not reject them, they will become his own ideas. In a Christian’s life, there are many sins, evils and mistakes started in this way.

(4) Many Christians know that we should not have dirty thoughts and thoughts of loving the world; but do not know that too many thoughts also block people to be obedient to Christ. However, since they do not know how to control their own thoughts, they have many disorderly and drifting thoughts. One should read the Bible more and pray more, look upon and focus on Christ only, be more obedient to Christ. our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus.(Phi 2:5)

(5) “every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God”, that is, our arrogance and prejudice; always consider oneself in the right, put nothing in one’s eyes, nothing can make one convinced; behind these mood is the old Adam -- the old self. The best way to deal with it is to carry the cross and deny oneself (Mat 16:24).

(6) The mind of men is the contention field of God and the devil, who occupies more, who will win. In the mind of men, there are the strongholds of the devil (2Co 10:4) originally, that is, the thoughts of rebellion against God. We can say that, how much one is saved by God, depends on how much thoughts has been taken captive.

(7) The cunning scheme of Satan is to make people leave Christ and be disobedient to Christ. What we fight for LORD, is that “ we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. ” However, as to us -- the soldiers, have we turned to Christ and been obedient to Christ by ourselves?

(8) The purpose of the spiritual warfare is to take captive men’s thoughts to make them obedient to Christ. If we don’t know it is for Christ’s sake, we are aimless and fight like a man beating the air without any spiritual value.

(9) For the Christians who live in the world, they live a life of contention; the purpose of the contention is to make people obedient to Christ. Therefore, in order to win in this warfare, we must live a life obedient to Christ by ourselves.

(10) What Paul were against is the Corinthians’ thoughts against the knowledge of God, but not Corinthians themselves. We must not take the brothers and sisters in church as the enemies.

2 CORINTHIANS 10:7 “ You are looking only on the surface of things. If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as he. ”

(NOTES)

“If anyone is confident that he belongs to Christ, he should consider again”:

“If anyone” could refer to the average people, or refer to the opponent in Paul’s mind, that is , the false teacher who deceived the Corinthians. From the context (2Co 4:2, 10-11), it refers to the latter one.

“ belongs to Christ” implies that: (1) He is obedient to Christ (2Co 4:5), and follows the commands of Christ; (2) He has the characters and goodness of Christ (see 2Co 10:1); (3) He keeps his status and work on preach the Gospel of Christ (2Co 10:14).

“he should consider again” means that for those who think that they belong to Christ, they should examine themselves from the above points and see whether they are qualified to “belong to Christ”.

“we belong to Christ just as much as he. ”:

Here, Paul meant that at least, he is equal to the opponent -- belong to Christ. If that is so, it should be easy, because those belong to Christ should accept one another, just as Christ accepted them (Rom 15:7). But in fact, they not only did not accept Paul, but also attacked him; they lacked the quality of people belong to Christ.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) If people only look at what is present and make the judgment from the surface, they will often draw wrong conclusions. Therefore, we need to “consider it again”, to think carefully and distinguish clearly in the light of LORD to avoid mistakes.

(2) Many people judge others from the surface. Actually, what really counts is one belongs to Christ or not, but not the surface.

(3) Many people think themselves belong to Christ but lack the mind, thoughts, conduct and likeness of Christ. They call Christ the LORD with the mouth, but do not follow the words of Christ in their mind. They should consider again, repent early to avoid the punishment of LORD.

(4) Men naturally like conceit. When one emphasizes that “I belong to Christ” often implies that others do not belong to Christ and has the tendency to deny others and deprive others’ qualifications to be a Christian. In the same way, when a faction and group claim that they are the one “belong to Christ”, they are putting other Christians as outsiders unconsciously.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:2 “ I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”

(NOTES)

“ I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy.”:

“jealousy” means that because of love, he could not bear with the other part being in the abnormal situation, that is, “jealousy because of love”. “a godly jealousy”, is “a godly jealousy because of love”. What make it unbearable to Paul was not that the believers of Corinthians left him, but they were misled by the false teacher such that they gave up the pure faith in Christ and made Paul feel the jealousy and love for God’s sake.

“ I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.”:

“pure” means that the mind and conduct are pure and are not stained by other ones and things. “virgin” refers to the status of the believers before Christ’s Second Coming, desiring no one and nothing else but LORD. “to Christ”, in the New Testament, Christ is often described as the bridegroom, the believers (1Co 6:15-17) and the church (Eph 5:23-32) as the bride (see Mat 9:15; Joh 3:29; Rom 7:4; Rev 19:7-9; 21:2). Note that, in the traditional explanation of the scripture, it is not complete to interpret the bride as the church only. The believers are united with the Spirit of LORD to be one; it is the same as the relationship of the union between wife and husband (1Co 6:15).

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Every believer should commune with God closely in order to unite with God to be one such that God could express Himself through him.

(2) The loss and gain and the status of the ministry himself in the mind of the believers is nothing important. The most important thing is to lead the believers to unite with Christ directly so that they will love and desire Christ.

(3) We believers should live in this world like a pure virgin, be pure and self-controlled. We should desire LORD only and should not love any other ones or things outside Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 11:3 “ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ”

(NOTES)

“ your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ” :

“sincere and pure” refers to pure, single-minded, clean and honest. The result of the corruption of the mind is to desire other things outside Christ and be led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

“ But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, ” :

“serpent” refers to the “ancient serpent”, that is the devil or Satan (Rev 12:9). The devil confused the earliest ancestor Eve with cunning words, and corrupted her mind. On one hand, she doubted the will of God and lost the pure devotion to God; on the other hand, she desired and were fond of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and lost the original sincere and clean mind to God.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) Those who received the grace are promised to Christ, what is more important, is having a “sincere and pure devotion” to Christ as a pure virgin (2Co 11:2). If we are led astray by Satan and love the world outside Christ, we will provoke God to jealousy(2Co 11:2); woe to us!

(2) God is a jealous God (Exo 20:5). What He is jealous of, is that “the minds of men may were led astray from their sincere and pure devotion to Christ. ” Whatever takes away our pure mind to Christ (2Co 11:2) and leads us astray from Christ is the evils that He is jealous of most.

(3) Whenever our minds are led astray outside Christ, we are on the falling road of Eve. Do not forget, the trap that the serpent set up for man, is to lead man away from looking upon the tree of life of Christ!

2 CORINTHIANS 12:18 “ I urged Titus to go to you and I sent our brother with him. Titus did not exploit you, did he? Did we not act in the same spirit and follow the same course? ”

(NOTES)

“the same spirit”:

refers to the same Spirit of Christ.

(LIGHT IN WORDS)

(1) The workers of God should all work in accordance to the same Holy Spirit -- the Spirit of Christ. With the same spirit, they will have the same mind; with the same mind, they can walk together; to walk together, they will follow the same course.

(2) Among the co-workers, there is no individual opinions and ambitions, but only the will of LORD. Only by being in accordance to the guidance of LORD to determine the direction and the way, there will be good cooperation among the co-workers and they will truly produce fruit.

Reference:

1. Jiale Huang: “Christians’ Digest of the Scripture Analysis Series”.