2 Cor. 4:8. We are in desperate circumstances, but we do not despair,
That is, although we are subjected to calamities and afflictions, nevertheless, standing firm, we do not despair and are not overcome, but in God we find help and prevail.
2 Cor. 4:9. We are persecuted, but not forsaken,
People persecute us, but God does not abandon us. For this is permitted so that we may be exercised in struggle, not so that we may fall.
2 Cor. 4:9. Cast down, but not destroyed.
The adversaries, he says, strike us down in body and in outward things, but we do not perish; we are of good courage and enjoy steadfastness of spirit, and in this we preserve, with the help of God, the body itself.
2 Cor. 4:10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
That is, by daily being subjected to death and always imitating the death of the Lord, we thus bear witness to His life, or to His resurrection, in our body. For if someone does not believe that the Lord rose, he will have no pretext for unbelief when he sees that we die daily and yet daily remain alive.
2 Cor. 4:11. For we who live are always being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
This explains the words "the dying of Jesus," which were unclear. For he usually clarifies what has been said obscurely. And the words "that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest," besides the previous interpretation, should also be interpreted thus: as we now undergo the death of Christ and resolve to die alive for Him, so also He will be pleased to give life to us who have died, at that time. The apostle says this in another place as well: "if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Rom. 6:8).
2 Cor. 4:12. Death works in us, but life in you.
He calls death here temptations, saying: we are in dangers, while you enjoy the life that flows from these dangers, namely through the preaching of the Gospel to you, through which you live eternal life.
2 Cor. 4:13. But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written: "I believed, and therefore I spoke," we also believe, and therefore we speak,
Above he mentioned trials and death, then said that Jesus delivered us from them as well, and gave the reason that He delivered us precisely in order to assure us of His resurrection. Now he affirms that this must be grounded in faith, and not in reasonings alone, and says: just as David, who was in trials and was delivered from them by God alone, said, "I believed, and therefore I spoke," so we also, having the same spirit of faith that he had, believe and therefore speak, that just as Jesus rose, so we too shall overcome dangers and shall again be raised. Note that in the Old and New Testaments there is one and the same Spirit; note this against those who blaspheme the Law.
2 Cor. 4:14. Knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus and will present us with you.
2 Cor. 4:15. For all things are for your sakes, that the abundance of grace might produce greater thanksgiving among the many, to the glory of God.
What then, he says, do we believe and what do we know? That He Who raised up Jesus will even now deliver us from dangers, and in the end will raise us up and present us together with you to the enjoyment of good things. He stirs them up to faith and a virtuous life. And hinting at the false apostles, who said that through their mediation the blessings of God were communicated to their disciples, he says: "all things are for your sakes," even the resurrection itself, and not for the sake of this one or that one. God does this and grants grace to many, so that as grace abounds, thanksgiving also may abound, being offered by many to the glory of God. Therefore the false apostles, by attributing the grace of God to themselves, also obscure its glory.
2 Cor. 4:16. Therefore we do not lose heart; but though our outward man is being destroyed, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.
Since, he says, we know the power of God and that God will now deliver us from dangers, and afterwards will raise us up glorified, we do not lose heart and do not despair amid sufferings. Further — the "outer man," that is, the body, wastes away. In what way? When it endures beatings and persecutions. But the "inner" man, that is, the spirit and soul, is renewed. In what way? By having good hope and boldness, as one who endures and rejoices for the sake of God.
2 Cor. 4:17. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
He explains in what manner the inner man is renewed, and says: by the reflection that affliction is brief, that is, temporary, and light because it is temporary, while glory is both eternal and has weight, that is, greatness in the highest degree, for such is the meaning of the words: "in immeasurable excess."
2 Cor. 4:18. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
He shows how light the affliction is. Everything visible, he says, is temporary — consequently both affliction and rest itself, for it too is visible. For he said "visible" in order to encompass rest as well. Therefore let us neither lose heart in affliction nor grow slack in rest. And if this is so, then the "invisible" — that is, the Kingdom and torment — are eternal. Therefore seek the former and flee the latter.