2 Corinthians 4:8 - Meaning and Application

In these verses, the apostle explains the courage and patience that carried them through their sufferings. The apostles suffered greatly because they followed their Master. Christ had told them that they would have trouble in the world, and that is what they found. Yet they also found strong support, real relief, and many comforts in the middle of their sorrows.

“We are troubled on every side,” he says, meaning they faced many kinds of hardship at once, “yet not distressed” (2 Corinthians 4:8). They were not boxed in or left without a way forward, because they could see help in God, help from God, and free access to God in prayer. “We are perplexed,” he goes on, often uncertain and unsure what would happen, and not always free from anxiety, “yet not in despair” (2 Corinthians 4:8). Even in their worst confusion, they knew God could sustain them and deliver them, so they kept trusting and hoping in him.

“We are persecuted,” he says, chased with hatred and violence from place to place, as though they were not fit to live, “yet not forsaken” by God (2 Corinthians 4:9). Good people may be left by friends and hunted by enemies, but God never leaves or abandons his own. Again, “We are cast down,” meaning their spirits sometimes sank and the enemy seemed to gain ground, yet “we are not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:9). They were still preserved and kept from going under.

The apostle says their sufferings were constant, and in a way they matched the sufferings of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:10). The sufferings of Jesus were, in a sense, repeated in the sufferings of Christians. They carried around in their bodies the dying of the Lord Jesus, showing the world the example of a suffering Savior, so that the life of Jesus might also be shown. That is, people could see the power of his resurrection and the working of grace in and through the living Jesus in them. Though they were always being handed over to death, they still lived (2 Corinthians 4:11), and though death was always at work in them, they were not swallowed up by it (2 Corinthians 4:12). Their troubles were so severe that, by comparison, other Christians at that time seemed to be living in better conditions: “Death works in us, but life in you” (2 Corinthians 4:12).

Then the apostle explains what kept them from collapsing under so much suffering (2 Corinthians 4:13-18). Whatever burdens God’s people carry, they have strong reasons not to faint. Faith kept them from giving up. “We have the same spirit of faith” (2 Corinthians 4:13), meaning the same Spirit-given faith that worked in the saints of old. Faith is a strong comfort and a sure cure for fainting in hard times. It helps a person stay steady under weakness. Paul had David’s example to follow, who said, “I believed, and so I spoke” (Psalm 116:10). Paul also leaves us his own example: “We also believe, and therefore speak” (2 Corinthians 4:13). We should be ready not only to receive help from the good example of others, but also to give a good example ourselves.

Hope in the resurrection also kept them from sinking (2 Corinthians 4:14). They knew Christ had been raised, and his resurrection was a pledge and assurance of theirs. Paul had already explained this in detail in his first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 15:1). So their hope was firm, because the one who raised Christ, the head, will also raise all his members. The hope of resurrection strengthens believers in suffering and takes away much fear of death. Why should a good Christian fear death, when he dies in hope of a joyful rising again?

They were also helped by the thought that their sufferings served the good of the church and the glory of God (2 Corinthians 4:15). Their troubles benefited the church and brought praise to God. When the church is built up, God is honored. So believers can bear suffering patiently and even gladly when they see that others benefit from it, if they are taught, strengthened, and comforted. The sufferings of Christ’s ministers, like their preaching and conduct, are meant for the church’s good and God’s glory.

Another comfort was the gain their souls received through the sufferings of their bodies. “Though our outward man perishes, our inward man is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). We all have an outward man and an inward man, a body and a soul. If the outward man declines, that is unavoidable, because it was made to perish. But it is a blessing if the weakening of the body helps renew the soul. When the body is sick, weak, and fading, it is good if the soul grows strong and flourishes. Even the best people still need the inward man renewed every day. Since God’s good work has begun in them, there is still more to do. Wicked people grow worse every day, but godly people grow better.

Finally, the hope of eternal life and happiness gave them great strength and comfort. Paul and his fellow sufferers saw that their troubles were moving them toward heaven and would not last forever (2 Corinthians 4:17). They weighed things rightly in the sight of God. It was as if they put their earthly sufferings in one scale and heavenly glory in the other. By faith, they found the troubles to be light and short, lasting only for a moment. At the same time, the glory of heaven is far greater, richer, and heavier than anything they can describe or imagine. It is a great support in suffering to know that our troubles are preparing us for that future glory.

Their faith also helped them make this right judgment: “We look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen” (2 Corinthians 4:18). Faith enables us to see the invisible God (Hebrews 11:27). By faith, we also look toward an unseen heaven and hell, because faith gives proof of things not seen.

There are unseen things as well as things we can see. There is a great difference between them: unseen things are eternal, while seen things are only temporary. By faith, we do more than notice this difference. We set our hearts on unseen things and give them first place.

So our aim is not mainly to avoid present trouble or gain present comfort, since both pass away. Our true concern is to escape future judgment and receive future good things. Those blessings are unseen, but they are real, sure, and eternal. Faith is both the proof of things we hope for and the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1).