Not Preaching about Ourselves 2 Corinthians 4:5

Paul the apostle shared with the church members concerning unbelievers in Jesus as he declared, “in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not”, and he added the reason, “lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. In chapter four and verse five of Second Corinthians, Paul shared with the church members how he and his companions, “preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord”, where we read:

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

The verse begins, “For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord;” Paul began with the words, “for” which means “even as, indeed, no doubt, seeing then, verily and therefore” “we preach” or “Paul and his companions herald, proclaim and publish” “not ourselves” which refers to “Paul and his companions”, “but” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written takes precedence over what was just stated “Christ” which means “the anointed One, the Messiah and the Son of God” “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “the Lord” which means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master and the title given to God the Messiah”. Paul and his companions did not “make proclamations about themselves” but about Jesus who is the “Lord”.

The verse continues, “and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.” Paul added the words, “and ourselves” which refers to Paul and his companions “your servants” or “the church members' bondmen and men of servile condition” “for Jesus'” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “sake” or “ground, reason and account”. Paul shared how he and his companions made themselves to be “servants” or “slaves” to the church members on account of Jesus.

When we consider these words of Paul, we see how he and his companions kept their message of the “gospel” on point concerning Jesus Christ and not themselves. Paul considered he and his companions as “slaves” or “servants” to the church members in Corinth, and although he was an apostle and responsible for them knowing Jesus, he did not exalt himself but rather the Lord. Jesus desires to have a relationship with all who will receive Him as their Savior, and the “good news” of Jesus is that He came to the earth, lived as a man, was sinless, died for everyone's sin, rose from the dead three days later and ascended into heaven to provide for the “salvation” of man. This is the “gospel” or “good news” of God, and rather than messages being about ourselves, let us keep our focus on Jesus.

Next time Paul tells the church members how God, “commanded the light to shine out of darkness” and into “our hearts”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then,

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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