2 Corinthians 4:2

‘But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by the manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.’

He stresses again the honesty with which they preach. They have turned their backs on hidden and shameful things. There are no attempts at a subtle popularising of the message. They do not seek to shape their words into fine oratory, as did most speakers of the day. Compare 1 Corinthians 1:17; 1Co 2:1 ; 1 Corinthians 2:4. They do not walk with cunning. They do not change the meaning of the word of God to suit themselves (a genuine danger among Jews in Greek surroundings who like Philo interpreted the Scripture metaphorically. There may have been some such at Corinth).

Rather they speak openly and honestly (compare 2 Corinthians 3:12), they unveil the truth clearly, and thus they commend themselves to men’s consciences in the sight of God. There is nothing in what they say that can disturb people as to its truth, and they are happy that God sees all that they do and teach.

Unlike the false teachers Paul will not try to recommend himself by other means. he does it simply by the truth of his message (compare 1 Corinthians 2:4). For he knows that to hearts that are open that truth will commend itself.

4. 3-4 ‘And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled in those who are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn on them.’

But Paul recognises that still their message will be veiled to some, for there will always be those who do not understand, whose minds are darkened. And that is because of the veil on men’s minds placed there by the god of this world. So if their Good News is veiled it is veiled in those who are perishing, those who have rejected the light, those who choose to walk in darkness (compare John 3:16-21). But there is more to it than that. Their darkness is the result of the fact that the god of this world has blinded their minds, and that is why they do not believe.

For it is his Satanic aim to prevent the light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, dawning. He keeps the curtains drawn so that the light might not flood in. And our responsibility is to draw back those curtains so that His light might shine on men and women. In one sense the coming of Jesus was the major drawing back of the curtains, but those whose hearts were veiled were unable to see. But when the curtains are drawn back in each individual life by God through His servants then they see, and see clearly.

‘Those who are perishing’ are also those who in their hearts are the unbelieving, whose minds are blinded (the equivalent of veiled) by the god of this world. Without the truth of Jesus Christ man will die eternally (perish). The point may be that man was unbelieving (unresponsive towards God) prior to the work of blinding, and that the god of this world simply ensures the continuation of the unbelief, although both continue together. There is a hint here that those who are demonstrating in the Corinthian church that their minds and hearts are still veiled should recognise that they are still unbelievers and are therefore perishing because they have failed to see the true Good News of the glory of Christ.

‘The god of this world (aion - either ‘world’ or ‘age’).’ This is Satan. See further on 2 Corinthians 11:13-15. In the temptation narrative he was able to offer to Jesus the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them (Matthew 4:8-9), because he was the world’s god. He is also ‘the prince of this world (kosmos)’ (John 12:31), ‘the prince of the power (evil kingdom - Colossians 1:13) of the air’ who is at work in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2), ‘the air’ indicating a spiritual realm which is not heavenly. But his rule is that of a usurper who will finally be defeated by the Heavenly Rule of God. The spread of the Gospel represents God taking back His dominion by revealing His true light in men’s minds and hearts though Jesus Christ, in contrast with the false light which Satan has brought (2 Corinthians 11:14).

‘The light of the Good News of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.’ Jesus said, ‘I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness’ (John 12:46). And again, ‘I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12). So the life imparted in the new covenant, is the light that shines in the hearts of those who are His. The light has shone into their hearts and they have received His life. This is the glory against which the unbeliever’s heart is blinded. And it is a far greater glory than shone on the face of Moses.

And what is the Good News? Essentially it is Whom Christ is, and what He has done to save those who believe on Him. He is ‘God’s image’, the complete revelation of God and of the light of His glory (see John 1:18; Colossians 1:15), the glory so often revealed in the Old Testament, revealed first in creation, and then in human form, and now revealed in the hearts of those who believe. For from eternity Jesus has shared that glory with the Father, ‘before the world was’ (John 17:5). And Satan’s aim is that it will not ‘shine’ on men and women, or be ‘seen clearly’ by them. For once that has happened, once they with unveiled face ‘behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord’ (2 Corinthians 3:18), then he will have lost them. When they turn to the Lord the veil is taken away (2 Corinthians 3:16).