Light out of Darkness
4: 1-6
Light out of darkness DIG: In a world obsessed with image, it can be difficult to remain authentic. Why is absolute honesty essential for those who serve God? What shameful and underhanded methods are Messianics and Christian missions accused of using? What are some of the ways the Devil blinds people to God’s truth? Why does Paul compare himself (and all believers) to jars of clay? What enabled Paul not to lose hope? How could Paul say that everything he had endured was for the Corinthian believers’ benefit?
REFLECT: What things do you do that keep you from losing heart? What is the treasure you have from God? What are you supposed to do with it? How does knowing that you possess this ultimate treasure allow you to view your trials and struggles in a different light – as Paul was able to do? In this passage, Paul makes a big deal about speaking for and about God. How much do you do this in your life? How could you do more? What are some of the things you can do right now to shine Messiah’s glory into the world?
If one truly wants to encounter the God of Isra’el, then this has to be done via the Messiah He has sent.
Therefore, points back to Paul’s defense of his ministry (to see link click Ak – Paul Defends His Ministry). Since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Paul had no reason to lose heart (Galatians 6:9). He had been saved on the road to Damascas by Yeshua Himself (see the commentary on Acts Bc – Sha’ul Turns from Murder to Messiah), and called to be an apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, 15:16). He knew that he was running the race to win an eternal crown (First Corinthians 9:24). Even though it wasn’t an easy task, there was no reason to lose heart (4:1), no matter how much he was slandered by the false apostles back in Corinth (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles).
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that You are the constant companion of everyone who loves You from their heart. Thank You! Nowadays it is easy to lose heart. It is no longer allowed to speak up for Your truth. When You love someone as much as I love You, it’s so natural to want to talk about how wonderful You are, and the wonderful things You say in Your Word, but today, much of Your truth is twisted and many who follow You are denied the right to talk of You. Praise You that You are still in control, always with me, watching over every detail that touches my life. For You have said, “I will never leave you or abandon you” (Hebrews 13:5). Your presence and companionship is such a joy! No reason to lose heart when we can look into Your loving eyes and squeeze Daddy’s hand. Friends and family may not be nearby or they may fail us, but You are right by my side all the time! You are ever faithful! Love You so much, dear Daddy. In Your holy Son’s name and power of His resurrection. Amen
As David Stern describes in his Jewish New Testament Commentary of Second Corinthians, like Paul, Messianic Jews and Christian missionaries to Jews are frequently accused of using unethical and underhanded means to “win converts.” As a rule, the charges lack evidence and are based on misunderstanding; but since they are often believed anyway, they deserve to be examined and refuted. At the same time, it is good for us who are B’rit Chadashah believers to be reminded of the standards we can legitimately be expected to observe.
Messianic Jews and Messianic Gentiles (I consider myself a Messianic Gentile) and Christian missions should refer to 4:2 both in defending against charges of unethical methods and in guiding their own behavior. On the one hand, there is no guarantee the people who call themselves Messianic or Christian will in face behave ethically; but on the other hand, there is no reason to put up with unsupported charges and rumors of ethical misconduct designed only to discredit Messianic Judaism, Christian missions, and most of all, the Gospel!
But first, the problem, which is that many official and self-appointed spokesmen for the Jewish community and for some streams of Christianity circulate reports intended to insulate the Jewish people against the gospel by creating the impression that Messianic Jews and Christian missions use shameful and underhanded methods employing deception or distorting God’s message. More specifically, such charges have included the following:
1. Enticement to convert: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of supplying money, food, clothing, and services like schooling or child care, making their receipt conditional upon the recipients’ converting to abandoning their Jewish faith without making it clear that the recipients (especially minors) will be exposed to hearing the Gospel and being encouraged to convert. The charge is so widely believed in Isra’el that from time to time Israelis will show up at the missions expecting help in emigrating to America in exchange for converting to Christianity. It produces such widespread fear of conversion that the unscrupulous can use it as a threat by saying something like, “Unless you [the Israeli authorities] do what I want [give me a house, a loan or a car] I will convert to Christianity.”
The Good News commands hospitality and kindness; therefore, believers can be expected to be friendly and give generously. But the friendliness and the giving are to be without expecting anything in return (Matthew 5:42 and 46-47), least of all anything so intangible as trusting in God and His Messiah. Only the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, not believers, can move an unbeliever to undergo this radical change of heart. Besides, it demeans the gospel to force it on anyone – the Good News either commends itself or it doesn’t (4:3-6).
2. Preying on the disadvantaged: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of concentrating upon the disadvantaged – the young, the old, the poor, the physically handicapped, and the psychologically distressed – and tailor their techniques to them, rather than presenting their case openly and frankly in a rational manner that can either be accepted or rejected by an adult in full possession of their intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and financial powers.
When the Pharisees asked why Yeshua ate with “sinners” (the disadvantaged of their day), He answered: The ones who need a doctor aren’t the healthy but the sick (Matthew 9:12). The Good News is for everyone, including the disadvantaged. The real reason for this charge, then, is to discredit the gospel in the eyes of the very people likely to respond to it, namely, people who have come to the end of themselves. It is reasonable to proclaim the gospel to people likely to accept it. Accordingly, the Jews likely to accept it are students (because they are questioning their values), the elderly (because death is more of a reality for them and they want to be right with God before it happens), the poor (because the gospel can make them spiritually rich) and the depressed (because the gospel offers everlasting joy). In addition, there is no shortage of rational appeals to be made on behalf of the gospel. Messiah doesn’t ask anyone to check their brains at the door when following Him.
3. Deceptive misuse of Jewish sacred things and terms: Messianic congregations and Christian missions are accused of misusing Jewish sacred things such as kippah (yarmulke or skullcap), tallit (prayer shawl), phylacteries, Shabbat candles, Torah scrolls, Passover materials, and Jewish liturgies, in order to create a “false” impression that these groups are Jewish and not Christian, with the intention of luring Jewish people under the impression that they are not converting and believing in Yeshua Messiah as their Lord and Savior.
Messianic Jews are Jews also, and have as much right to use Jewish sacred things as non-Messianic Jews do. The latter do not have a patent on them. As far as deception goes, it is the responsibility of believers to inform inquirers that the gospel is the gospel. Messianic believers often use “Messianic” instead of “Christian,” “Yeshua” instead of “Jesus,” “congregation or synagogue” instead of “church,” “B’rit Chadashah” instead of “New Testament,” “TaNaKh” instead of “Old Testament,” and “Messiah” instead of “Christ.” The purpose is to steer clear of the negative connotations due to history. Not to the B’rit Chadashah.
4. Insincere Christian conversion to Judaism: A special case of deception is when Gentiles dress like Jews or even “convert” to Judaism while secretly remaining Christians with missionary intentions.
It is possible for a Gentile Christian to have, like Ruth, such a strong identification with the Jewish people that she wishes to be one of them, and for her to identify in this way despite the non-Messianic rejection to Yeshua. She could convert in all honesty if she makes known the fact that she continues to believe that Yeshua is the Messiah. Some have done that. But others have withheld that critical piece of information, and in doing so, have crossed the ethical barrier. Where conversion to Judaism is commonly allowed for such casual reasons as outward legitimization of marriage between a Jew and a Gentile, or, as in Isra’el, making it possible for a person to participate in the life of the State as a Jewish citizen, and the conversion process itself makes no demand that the convert deny Yeshua, then one is tempted to say that it is less critical for a Gentile Christian to volunteer that he remains faithful to Yeshua. Against this, it is up to the believer to uphold the highest ethical standards, regardless of how the world around him operates.
5. Distortion of the TaNaKh: Messianic Jewish congregations and Christian missions are accused of distorting the TaNaKh, the Christian Old Testament, by quoting verses out of context and even mis-translating or changing the text, in order to “prove” that Yeshua is the Messiah and that the Church is the New Isra’el.
It is important to understand that Paul was the target of the same accusations: he was said to be huckstering God’s message for a fee (2:17), being filled with pride (3:1a), that he lacked the proper official letters of commendation (3:1b), corrupting people and taking advantage of them (7:2), and misleading them with trickery (12:16). His answer to these charges was that God has shown us such mercy by changing us into His image (3:18) that we do not lose courage to conduct ourselves in an ethical manner as we do the work which ADONAI has given us, despite the accusations, temptations and adverse conditions. Therefore, Paul writes: Indeed, we refuse to make use of shameful underhanded methods, employing deception or distorting God’s message. On the contrary, we avoid unethical behavior we can hold our heads high in proclaiming the gospel, confident, like Paul, we can say: By making very clear what the truth is, we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God (Second Corinthians 4:2; also see First Thessalonians 2:3-12 where Paul addresses similar accusations).107
To those who criticized his preaching as irrelevant, offensive and ineffective, Paul replied: So, if indeed our Good News is veiled, it is veiled only to those in the process of being lost (4:3). Fallen, dead in their sins, and spiritually blinded, those who reject the Good News are headed for eternal doom (Second Corinthians 2:15; Luke 12:4-5; Romans 2:12; First Corinthians 1:18; Second Thessalonians 2:9-11). Therefore, the natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are discerned through the Spirit (First Corinthians 2:14). They reject the gospel message because they love the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds are evil (John 3:19).
In addition to their own love of sin, unbelievers reject the Good News because Satan, who is the god of this world (John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11; Ephesians 2:2; 2 Timothy 2:26; 1 John 5:19), has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, and the veil remains (see Aw – Veiling and Unveiling) as long as they do not turn to ADONAI (4:4a). The Serpent of Old controls the ideologies, opinions, hopes, aims, goals and viewpoints currently in the world (10:3-5). He is behind the world’s faulty systems of philosophy, psychology, education, sociology, ethics, and economics. But perhaps his greatest influence is in the realm of false religion. Of course, the Adversary is not a god, but a created being (with a choice). He is called a god because his deluded followers serve him as if he were one. The Evil One is the archetype of all the false gods in all the false religions he has spawned (see the commentary on Revelation Dd – I Saw a Woman Holding a Golden Cup).
It is that massive and pervasive influence over society by which the Deceiver deludes the unregenerate so they are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Messiah, who is the exact likeness of God (4:4b NLT). Except in rare cases, the Ruler of this world and his demons do not directly indwell individuals. They don’t need to. The Old Serpent has created a system that panders to the depravity of unbelievers and drives them deeper into darkness. In addition to being dead in their sins and acts of disobedience (Ephesians 2:1); veiled from the truth (3:15); loved the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19-20); unbelievers follow the ways of this world and of the Prince of the Power of the Air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient . . . [living] in the lusts of the flesh, gratifying the cravings of [their] sinful nature and are by nature objects of wrath (Ephesians 2:2-3). They are of [their] father the devil, and [they] want to do the desires of [their] father (John 8:44). All the evil of the human heart – crime, hatred, bitterness, anger, injustice, immorality, and conflict between nations and individuals – is pandered to by the agenda of the Lawless One. The world system he has created inflames the evil desires of people, causing them to be willfully blind and to love their darkness.
The immeasurable privilege of proclaiming the glorious gospel of Yeshua Messiah might lead some to become proud and boastful. In fact, one of the slanderous accusations of the false apostles made against Paul was that he preached with selfish motives. They claimed that he was in the ministry for his own self-exaltation, self-promotion, self-aggrandizement, power, prestige, and prominence. But that could not have been further from the truth. By declaring: For what we are proclaiming is not ourselves, but the Messiah Yeshua as Lord, with ourselves as slaves for you because of Yeshua (4:5), Paul distinguished himself from the false apostles, who did, in fact, preach for themselves. Later in his letter he wrote: We don’t dare class or compare ourselves with some of the people who advertise themselves. In measuring themselves against each other and comparing themselves with each other, they are simply stupid (10:12). Thus, Paul’s disclaimer was both a denial of the false apostle’s charge and an indictment against them.
Far from being arrogant, proud, and self-assured, Paul ministered in Corinth in weakness and in fear, with much trembling (First Corinthians 2:3). Instead of boasting of his own abilities and successes, he wrote: On my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses . . . I would rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Messiah may dwell in me (12:5 and 9). Paul’s vision of the glory of Messiah dominated his life, and his love for Yeshua consumed the apostle.108
Paul paraphrased Genesis 1:3, noting that God who once said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has done something additional in us through the gospel. Paul was making a connection between the creation and the recreation. Just as darkness covered the surface of the earth and God’s light overcame it, so also the darkness of sin covers our lives, but God overcame it. This had been Paul’s experience on the Damascus Road, when a light from heaven flashed around him (Acts 9:3). Confronted with the risen Lord, he became a new creation (5:17).109 Therefore, Paul declared that through Yeshua Messiah, the light of the world (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Gr – I AM the Light of the World), ADONAI has made His light shine in our hearts. What is God’s illuminating work in our hearts? It is bringing the light of the knowledge of God’s glory shining in the face of the Messiah Yeshua (4:6).
You can get attention by being slick and flashy and by cultivating a certain image, but you’ll never have a deep impact on others that way. The most powerful and eternally significant people are those who, like Paul, realize they are merely clay jars who have been filled with priceless treasure (see Az – Priceless Treasure in Clay Jars). They realize God is the point, not them. The Bible teaches that we exist to bring glory to ADONAI, to shine for Him, and point others to Him. Like John the Baptist, we need to say, “He must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30). Today we need to focus on the substance of our lives more so than on mere style. Spiritual depth, authenticity, integrity, faithfulness – these are the qualities that honor the LORD and cause others to stop and stare.110
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