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“We Keep Our Eyes on the Glories to Come”
1 That is the reason why, having stewardship of this ministry because of God’s mercy, we don’t give up.
2 On the contrary, we have renounced shameful and secretive practices, refusing to resort to clever schemes, refusing to distort the word of God, but rather, by an open display of the truth, presenting the credibility of our lives and message before every person’s conscience as messengers accountable to God.
3 Yet even if the gospel we proclaim is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only to those who are heading toward utter ruin,
4 in whose case the evil spiritual ruler of this age has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel about the glory of the Messiah, who is the image of God.
5 It is not ourselves whom we present in our message, you see, but Jesus the Messiah as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.
6 For God, who said, “Out of darkness let light shine forth,”+ is the one who shined on our understanding to give us the light of the knowledge about the glory of God in the face of the Messiah.
7 Yet we have stewardship of this treasure as weak instruments, like vessels made of clay, so that it will be clear that such extraordinary power belongs to God and not to ourselves,
8 on every side hard pressed, yet not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
10 constantly displaying in our bodies the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus, too, may itself be put on open display in these mortal bodies of ours.
11 Yes, we who are experiencing new life are constantly being handed over for Jesus’ sake to death, so that the life of Jesus, too, may be openly displayed in these weak and mortal bodies of ours.
12 So then, constant risk of death is what we ourselves face, yet life is the result for you.
13 Now, having the same conviction of faith as that demonstrated by the psalmist—“I had faith, that is why I spoke”+—we, likewise, ourselves have faith, and that is why we speak,
14 knowing that the one who raised the Lord Jesus to life is going to raise us to life, too, just as he did Jesus, and bring us into his presence together with you.
15 All these things that we suffer, you see, are for your sake, so that the gift, as it results in more and more fruit among many, may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 That is why we don’t give up. Even though our outer person is experiencing decay and destruction, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
17 Our light trials and sufferings, you see, only momentary, are producing for us a weight of glory that endures forever into the ages, which is so much greater that the two can’t even be compared.
18 Thus we keep our eyes not on our present sufferings, but on the glories to come. Our present sufferings, you see, last only a short time. The glories to come, however, continue on forever.