In 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, the apostle Paul writes, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
The apostle encourages us as to this transformation by pressing, further exhorting us, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). How are we conformed to the image of Messiah (Ro. 8:28-29)? Pressed: crowded, pressed as grapes, tribulated; but not crushed, not caught in the narrow place (Egypt). Perplexed: no way out, to be at a loss, but not in despair, not utterly lost. Persecuted: put to flight, pursued, but not forsaken or abandoned. Struck down: thrown to the ground, but not destroyed, perishing, ruined.
Here is Paul’s “this but not this”: we are pressed, perplexed, persecuted, stuck down, yet we are not lodged in a narrow place, utterly lost, abandoned, or perishing in this condition. Rather, we are “carrying around” (2 Cor. 4:10) the death of Messiah, in our bodies (the witness of His death) in order that the witness of His life be also in us. Paul urges us to trust in the Father, Who raised Messiah from the dead, in order that “the grace that is spreading through more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow – to the glory of God” (2 Cor. 4:15).
Still, this pressing, perplexing, persecuting, cast down position may at times cause us to doubt, to even wonder in doubt, whether we have been cut off from Messiah. Paul writes to those being renewed in Messiah (Ro. 8:30), “Who shall separate us from the love of Messiah? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? … But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us form the love of God that is in Messiah Yeshua our Lord” (Ro. 8:35, 37-39).
Twice in 2 Corinthians 4, Paul writes, “We do not lose heart,” Why? “We have received mercy.” The mercy of Messiah. The stamp of God’s righteousness (justification), and the seal of the Holy Spirit on us (sanctification) sets everything of this world against us. The Good News of salvation by grace through faith in Messiah Yeshua (Eph. 2:8), brings the pressing of sins gravity into our lives; even as the hand of God reforms this clay.
James exhorts us to “count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance” (Jas. 1:2-3). Peter writes, “By faith, you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. These trials are so that the true metal of your faith (far more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire) may come to light in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Messiah Yeshua” (1 Pet. 1:5-7).
Both James and Peter speak about the joy of experiencing “various trial” that produce endurance, revealing the substance of our faith. Various trials, in the Greek is ποικίλος/poikilos/various, meaning “many colored trials.” How do we understand this? In 1 Peter 4:10, he writes, “As each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the many-sided grace of God.”
Those who have received a “charis,” a gift, are to use it to the benefit and blessing of the other, because you have received of the “many colored grace” of God. Peter writes of the “many colored trials” (1 Pet. 1:6), then he writes of the “many colored grace” of God. As Paul warned us, we will be “crowded” by tribulation appearing in many ways, coming from all sides; but as Peter wrote equal to, and greater than the broad spectrum of trials, fiery though they be, God’s grace is greater, and is also “coming from all sides.” Why do we not lose heart? His grace.
Grace begins the faith life, as we are saved by grace through faith. Grace is with us on the journey. Grace is with us as we enter eternity. Where is His grace working in your life today? Will you take hold of His grace today? His grace is where He is, and He is right here as our Emmanuel, Yeshua/Jesus.
Faith, “for we walk by faith and not by sight” as we journey to the unseen things, is the disciplined action that hangs the body on what the mind has agreed to and what the heart has responded to; by the grace – the favor shown us undeserved – of God reaches to rescue the ungodly, holding them justified in the blood of His Son, unto eternal rest. The trials we face today are not unto eternity; rather, they are displaying the radiance of His manifold grace overcoming the manifold trails and temptations of sin. His grace lights the door of escape: Yeshua.
The tribulation in our lives will produce fruit for endurance, and by His grace working in us, a track record of His faithfulness. Paul says, “do not lose heart,” and what he is saying is “do not lose faith.” If you are in Messiah, the broad spectrum of trials will press in, as death believes it is victorious; but the broad spectrum of the grace of God is bearing witness to the victory of Messiah, and our position, in Him, as more than conquerors.
Maranatha. Shalom.
the mountain mensch 