Behind the Scenes of the Gospel
In 2 Corinthians 3&4, Paul discusses an important aspect of his ministry. Now if you’ve ever studied 2 Corinthians as a whole, you will have noticed that one of the common themes is Paul’s Apostolic authority. It seems that he had come under attack from those connected to the Corinthian church - be they members or dissenters. One of the major reasons Paul wrote the book was to address this question, and in 2 Corinthians 3&4 we see part of it emerge.
He begins in the very last verse of chapter 2 by saying, “For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.” and launches into a discussion of the revelation of God’s truth.
Now it would appear from this discussion that some people had begun wondering why only some were accepting the teachings of Paul. After all, to those who had accepted, it seemed perfectly obvious! Now this is just speculation, but I think I may be right that someone in the church had erroneously suggested that through some method of deception or trickery, Paul had favored some over others to really hear the Gospel. This is a pretty stark accusation because, if true, it’s behavior worthy of a cult. I think we see this is chapter 4 verse 2 when he says, “But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.”
Now he could just as easily be saying that he didn’t lie to anyone so as to trick them into the Gospel, but I think the result is the same. Paul is being accused of presenting the Gospel in some misleading fashion which leads to a disparity between those who believe and those who do not. He addresses this concern in starting in chapter three and ending in chapter four, and in so doing, he gives us a peek at what goes on behind the scenes of a Gospel presentation.
He begins in 3 by talking about Moses. Now understand that Moses wrote the Torah, and to the Hebrew, the Torah was the Bible. Now, the did have the Tenach which contained the rest of the Old Testament, and they did consider it Inspired, but they considered the Torah to be of utmost import. So when Paul says, “The words of Moses” or “Moses’s words” the Jewish members of the congregation - and even those gentiles who were familiar with Paul’s teachings - would understand that the same way as if I had said, “Paul’s words”. So read from Chapter 3 with me… for length sake, I’m going to jump through it, but you are more than welcome to read all of 2 Corinthians 3 on your own. I’ll start in verse 5:
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God… (7) Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?… (12)Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
So Paul’s saying, “Moses’s words were full of condemnation and were so glorious that the people had to veil their faces to keep from being burned by it. How much more glorious is the message of life?” Do you follow? He says, “To this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts.”
So all Paul’s doing here is establishing that there’s been a block in the way of God’s revelation getting to the hearts of the people who need to hear. In the Old Testament it was really for their own good because if they had been under the full weight of it it would have killed them. Like Strong Bad said, “Too much of a good thing is an awesome thing, but too much of an awesome thing is… really… really… bad.” All that to say that there’s always been this disparity between people who get the message and those who don’t.
So he fast forwards into chapter four where he begins by saying that he’s not been corrupt in his presentation of the Gospel at all, but then in verse 3 we get to the heart of what I’m really driving at here. He says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
He places the blame solely where it belongs for this veil. He says that the veil is Satan’s efforts to block the hearts of believers from getting the Gospel. Whenever a Gospel message is presented it must penetrate into the heart of the hearer and take root in order for it to produce salvation. The trouble is that Satan has draped this veil over the hearts of the hearers so, though they may hear with their ears and understand with their heads (even to the point of intellectual agreement), the seed never takes root in their hearts.
Now the difference between head and heart is a phenomenally deep philosophical question for another day, but the point is that the thing preventing the Gospel from getting to the heart is Satan’s veil.
That’s the state of it then. It’s been that way as far back as Moses, according to Paul. It continued in Paul’s day, and it continues in our day. Satan has taken ownership of those who are not believers and has placed a major roadblock on their hearts. But what can remove this road block? Obviously something can because there are people who believe. If it were left like this it would be completely hopeless for anyone to come to Christ.
We’ll see in a post or two that we are absolutely powerless to remove this veil. We don’t even know the veil is there. But there must be something? Fortunately, Paul tells us in the next verse what removes the veil. Check out verses 5-7:
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.”
The answer is the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit shines His light into our hearts to remove the veil and help us see the truth of the Gospel. This is what I call the Enlightenment or Illumination. Without this activity there is no salvation! Our only hope for salvation is God!
Now why is this important? Mankind is facing an uphill battle. Next time I post I will begin specifically addressing the TULIP points of Calvinism - the real meat. All this so far has been build up - backbone if you will. Even this post is some of the backdrop. Really, what I’ve been trying to do is show some of the things I became convinced of before I really sat down and examined Calvinism in detail. I had understood the basics of Calvinism, but had never really deeply studied them until the last couple of years. These last few posts, however, are things that I have been convinced of for a while, in growing certainty, through my own personal study, the teaching of those whom I respect, and looking a bit at church history. This is the philosophical underpinning that caused me to say, “YES!” when I got down to the grit of Calvinism.
Ultimately what this doctrine does is helps us realize that every bit of understanding we have about God, we only received because He revealed it to us - through Nature, the Bible or His Son - and we only understand it and truly accept it because the Holy Spirit has allowed it to penetrate the veil. This is entirely glorious!! It makes no sense - in light of this doctrine - for us to praise our own efforts in coming to Christianity. Look at me, I chose God!!! NO WAY!!! We are saved by grace through faith. It’s not our own doing! It’s the gift of God!! (Eph 2:8 paraphrase).
Even what appears to be a free will choice for God is something that He ultimately enabled you to do. Now you can say, “Why didn’t I chose against Him then? Aren’t there those out there who have been Enlightened and chose against Him?” That’s a discussion for Irresistible Grace, and if you’re really curious, stay tuned!
In the meantime, contemplate the grace of God that has shone in your heart and revealed His truth to you!
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If God chooses who to “unveil,” then wouldn’t He have to choose everyone according to His character as a fair and just God? Also, to go along with - John 3:16- God would have to unveil the entire world. It’s been promised. Jesus died for the world, not just the Elect. It would be pointless to choose people if you were just going to choose everyone. “By grace are ye saved through faith… This verse tells me that salvation is a “two-party” event. God gives the grace part, while we have the faith. Salvation is a “gift of God,” but we must accept it.
I don’t know if Satan can block the veil of the heart. Again, Jesus died for everyone. Satan can only do what God allows. God would not allow Satan to block the unveiling unless He has a reason or knowledge of a dark future. I think that the main blocker of the unveiling is the human mind of each individual. This can be caused by environmental conditions. If you are brought up in a non-christian home, it will be much more difficult for you to come to Christ. Your heart fights with your mind. The older a person gets without accepting the gift of God, the more earthly things they have piled in their minds. They have trouble making the heart agree with the mind. That’s why the Bible says to have the faith of child.
This is an awesome topic! Great work Mike.
a couple things, Kevin (and by the way, welcome to the discussion)-
“Satan is only allowed to do what God lets him” (I agree with this, by the way). But - don’t humans have this same constraint? After all, He is God. Aren’t you essentially saying that we can limit God in what He is able to do (our minds block his ability to unveil our hearts), after saying that Satan is unable to to limit God in the same way? It would seem to me, to make more sense, that we, like Satan, and like our circumstances, are also under God’s control. Also, God’s justice does not necessarily mandate his choosing everyone (there have been a couple earlier posts on this site dealing with that issue). And that EXACT same passage in Ephesians 2 goes on to say that our faith is “not of ourselves, it is a gift of God.” So even “our end of the deal” is ultimately a gift.
Comment by Mina 09.20.07 @ 1508Humans have free will just like Satan. Satan does not have free reign on earth. God “could” unveil our hearts, but that is not what He wants to do. He only wants people that truly love Him. This would only be through the free will of man. Love is a choice. If God made everyone love Him, then that would defeat the purpose that Jesus was sent to Earth for. I believe that the passage from Ephesians is being taken out of context. You cannot say that OUR end of the deal is a gift from this passage. Tha passage is talking of works of the flesh. If God just unveiled whomever He wished, then there would be no need for Jesus’ death and resurrection. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For by grace are ye saved THROUGH FAITH (if faith is a gift, then God is forcing this gift He unveils?), not of WORKS. Ephesians 2 is talking about doing good to go to heaven. The pharisees were going by the law. Jesus did away with the law. Verse 9 says, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” I don’t think they would boast that they took a free gift. They would boast that they abide by the law, and therefore are righteous in the eyes of God. One more thought… If Jesus died for the world (as the Bible states), and God chooses who to unveil, then He WOULD have to choose EVERYONE in order to keep the Bible from having an error. That’s what I was saying earlier.
Comment by Kevin 09.22.07 @ 1135I should really just let Mike deal with this, but the “you took it out of context” argument with no supporting evidence really bugs me - so, in my defense:
#1 - You can’t purposely leave out half the verse and then accuse me of taking things out of context.
Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are you saved through faith AND THAT NOT OF YOURSELVES, it is a gift of God; not of works, that no one can boast.
Basic rule of English grammar - antecedent for the pronouns “it” and “that” would be the last compatible noun - ie “faith.” At the least. If you are using an English Bible, that is the simplest, most logical and straight-forward interpretation of the sentence without doing a word-study. Now, in my Bible (Spanish) I see that the pronoun “that” is in the neutral form - rather than the feminine - so it can’t be referring to either “grace” or “faith”. In that case, the most logical explanation is that it refers to the the WHOLE DEAL - which would have to include both parts. Besides, to say that only the grace is a gift would be redundant. AND if our faith came from entirely from ourselves, wouldn’t we then be saved by a work (by something WE DID - choosing to believe)?
#2 - As far as the larger context of Ephesians 2 -
Read Ephesians 1 and 2 all together. It is not a passage about “works of the flesh” (as you contend) but about the amazing Grace of God (see 1:3-14, 1:18-23, 2:1, 2:4-10, 2:13-22). When “works of the flesh” are finally mentioned in 2:2-3, it is as evidence of how very “dead in sins” we were (2:1, and 2:5) as a contrast with God’s gracious salvation. (side note: How can a DEAD man choose anything? Doesn’t God have to make us alive before we can accept him? And isn’t this “making alive” essentially the same concept as “removing the veil”?) Verse 11 mentions flesh again (though not so much “works”) and again is in a “before you were . . . but God” sequence . . . everything else in the whole 2 chapters except those 3 verses (and maybe 1:1-2 and 1:15-16) is about what God has done for us.
I am NOT saying that the context doesn’t allow your interpretation of verse 8 (although I think the second half of verse 8, verse 9, and the dead-ness issue raise a couple good points that you should consider). I’m just wondering how you can say that I took the verse OUT of context . . . my interpretation focuses on the mind-boggling grace of God, which is EXACTLY what the context is about.
Again, with the free will issues - please see the earlier posts.
Comment by Mina 09.24.07 @ 749We are saved by the blood of Christ and by the conscious decision to accept this gift. Yes, God could make this decision for us, but that is not how He had it set up. Genuine love must be through faith. The idea that we don’t do anything for salvation goes AGAINST what the Bible says and contradicts other passages. What is the purpose of “spreading the gospel” if God decides who goes to Heaven?
Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” We come to God. God unveils everyone, but it is up to the person to decide what to do with the enlightenment. “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6)
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES in Him should not perish but have everlasting life..” (John 3:16)
“that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)
Need I quote more? Calvinism (what is apparently interpreted from Ephesians) contradicts the rest of the Bible. Either Ephesians should not be part of the Canon, or someone is misinterpreting. I would go with the latter.
John 4 talks about the woman of Samaria. See what JESUS says to her. v. 23- ;for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. v.10 talks about the gift of God and how she should ask for the living water.
QUOTE: Now, in my Bible (Spanish) I see that the pronoun “that†is in the neutral form - rather than the feminine - so it can’t be referring to either “grace†or “faithâ€Â. In that case, the most logical explanation is that it refers to the the WHOLE DEAL - which would have to include both parts. Besides, to say that only the grace is a gift would be redundant.(2) AND if our faith came from entirely from ourselves, wouldn’t we then be saved by a work (by something WE DID - choosing to believe)?
(2)The word work here is not describing the action of accepting the gift of God. Romans 3:28 says, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” - Also written by Paul… Is he contradicting himself?
2nd Timothy 1:9,10 says, “who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not acording to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality TO LIGHT through the gospel…” Brought salvation to light it says.
God giving faith as a gift goes against the definition of the word “faith.” 1st Corinthians 1:21 (another one by Paul) says, ..God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those WHO BELIEVE”.
Hebrews 11 describes faith very well. It talks about many Old Testament characters Having Faith. They had the faith; it wasn’t given them.
My eye is twitching. Time to stop. Great discussion! Why isn’t mike replying on here?
Kevin
RAAAAEEEERRRRRFFFF!!! THE HILL LIVES
Comment by Kevin 09.26.07 @ 911Unfortunately, Test, I think it lives only in our hearts. The glory of the Hill has long faded 
I haven’t yet answered because 1) I think Mina’s been doing a pretty decent job of saying pretty much what I would say and 2) I’m mostly taking what you say into consideration for my next few posts. I’m going to first establish our Total Depravity in the next post from Romans 5, and from there I will talk about Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace and finally Perseverance of the Saints - not necessarily in that order.
A lot of your arguments will be addressed at that time, and I want to take my time preparing the posts so I can do the best I can.
In the meantime if you want to draft a full fledged post of your own in favor of your position, I’d be happy to post it for you word-for-word. I believe very much in hearing all sides of an argument, and would love to present an opposing view for all to see. Lemme know.
(PS. That goes for anyone who’s reading this. I’ll probably only take one or two posts, but if you want to draft a post in support of Arminianism or Evangelical Calvinism (4 point) (also apparently called Amyraldianism), let me know)
Understand that I do not claim to know everything nor have full understanding on these issues or how best to interpret all these Scriptures. I freely admit I may be incorrect. Half of my purpose in posting all of this is to help me think it all out so as to come to a fuller understanding. Right now I’m pretty convinced that Reformed Calvinism (5 point) is correct, but who knows. Maybe some day I may wake up to a BFO telling me that I’ve been wrong all this time. I want to make sure that I’m at least pursuing what is true. And ultimately what’s important?
“Pre-trib, post-trib, five point, no point, heal me, slay me, free will, no will
As our common ground leans to the moribund…
He came to set the prisoner free
A message of simplicity”
“I just know Jesus is the way
I just know Jesus is the truth
I just know Jesus is the life
I just know Jesus is my God”
What’s ultimately important is that Jesus is Lord because by His death, burial and resurrection, He has purchased life from the dead and yes, all who believe will be saved. It’s really that simple. I’m just exploring the infinite depths behind it to gaze in awe and wonder at my Lord.
Comment by SeismicMike 09.27.07 @ 1146Leave a comment
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God’s grace is indeed awesome. Thanks for exalting Him. There’s no doubt that sin and Satan enslave us all until God’s light shines into the dungeon of our heart. I’m looking forward to future posts. Some not-so-Calvinistic brethren might point to 2 Corinthians 3:16 as emphasizing the human element of decision: “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.”
Comment by Tony 09.19.07 @ 516