-
We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair;
-
we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.
-
Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day.
-
So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
-
Our Future after Death
For we know that if our earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal dwelling in the heavens, not made with hands.
-
since, when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.
-
Indeed, we groan while we are in this tent, burdened as we are, because we do not want to be unclothed but clothed, so that mortality may be swallowed up by life.
-
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
-
We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart.
-
The Ministry of Reconciliation
From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way.
-
That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
-
He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-
The Character of Paul’s Ministry
We are not giving anyone an occasion for offense, so that the ministry will not be blamed.
-
as unknown, yet recognized; as dying, yet see—we live; as being disciplined, yet not killed;
-
as grieving, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet enriching many; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.
-
We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us.
-
Separation to God
Do not be yoked together with those who do not believe. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness?
-
Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you.
-
and not only by his arrival but also by the comfort he received from you. He told us about your deep longing, your sorrow, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced even more.
-
I now rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because your grief led to repentance. For you were grieved as God willed, so that you didn’t experience any loss from us.
-
So even though I wrote to you, it was not because of the one who did wrong, or because of the one who was wronged, but in order that your devotion to us might be made plain to you in the sight of God.
-
For if I have made any boast to him about you, I have not been disappointed; but as I have spoken everything to you in truth, so our boasting to Titus has also turned out to be the truth.
-
and not just as we had hoped. Instead, they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us by God’s will.
-
I am not saying this as a command. Rather, by means of the diligence of others, I am testing the genuineness of your love.
-
And in this matter I am giving advice because it is profitable for you, who began last year not only to do something but also to want to do it.
