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Spiritual Treasure in Clay Jars4 1God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do, so we don't give up. 2But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We don't use trickery, and we don't change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly. This is how we show people who we are. And this is how they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are before God. 3The Good Newsa that we tell people may be hidden, but it is hidden only to those who are lost. 4The rulerb of this worldc has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News - the message about the divine greatnessd of Christ. Christ is the one who is exactly like God. 5We don't tell people about ourselves. But we tell people that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we tell them that we are your servants for Jesus. 6God once said, "Let light shine out of the darkness!"e And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts to let us know that his own divine greatness is seen in the face of Christ.
7We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us. 8We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don't know what to do, but we don't give up. 9We are persecutedf, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed. 10So we constantly experience the death of Jesus in our own bodies, but this is so that the life of Jesus can also be seen in our bodies. 11We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death, so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die. 12So death is working in us, but the result is that life is working in you.
13The Scripturesg say, "I believed, so I spoke."h Our faith is like that too. We believe, and so we speak. 14God raised the Lord Jesus from death, and we know that he will also raise us with Jesus. God will bring us together with you, and we will stand before him. 15All these things are for you. And so the gracei of God is being given to more and more people. This will bring more and more thanks to God for his gloryj.
Living by Faith 16That is why we never give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. 17We have small troubles for a while now, but these troubles are helping us gain an eternal gloryj. That eternal glory is much greater than our troubles. 18So we think about what we cannot see, not what we see. What we see lasts only a short time, and what we cannot see will last forever.
aGood News In the Gospels this is usually the news about the coming of God’s kingdom (see above) or its representative Jesus the Messiah. In other places it is, more specifically, the news or message of God’s grace - that he has made a way through Jesus Christ for people to be made right with him and enjoy his blessings now and forever.
b4:4 The ruler Literally, “The god.”
cruler of this world See “Satan.”
ddivine greatness Literally, “glory,” a word that refers to the special qualities of God. See “glory.”
e4:6 Let … darkness See Gen. 1:3
fpersecute To hurt, cause trouble for, or do bad things to someone, especially because of their beliefs.
gScripture Part of the Scriptures or “Holy Writings” - the Old Testament.
h4:13 Quote from Ps. 116:10.
igrace The love and kindness that God shows in his complete willingness to give people favors he does not owe them and blessings they don’t deserve.
jglory A word that refers to the special qualities of God. Often it means brightness, referring to the way he appears to people. Sometimes it means majesty or power, referring to a kind of greatness that cannot be compared to anything in human experience. It can also include the ideas of wealth, honor, fame, or respect, especially in expressions of praise.
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