Posted on March 20, 2025 by Rev. Jonathan Conner
Godly Living
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Tucked into Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians are two verses of profound significance for Christians journeying through affliction and suffering. They’re worth memorizing. Paul writes,
Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence (2 Corinthians 4:13-14).
Paul begins by anchoring his confession (and the confession of his co-confessors of Christ) in the faith of God’s Old Testament people (notice the quotation marks, Paul is quoting Psalm 116:10). As we’ll see, this is hugely significant. I have included verses 10 and 11 below to give a fuller sense of what the psalmist is saying:
I believed; therefore I spoke, but I was brought very low.
I, I said in my alarm, ‘Every person is a liar.’
Now, let me flesh it out a bit (bringing the fuller context of the psalm to bear). He’s saying, “I believed (in the goodness and mercy of God to deliver me) even in the midst of my affliction and suffering. I didn’t abandon my faith in God. In fact, I spoke confidently of my Lord. I despaired of man – they’re liars! – but I kept my trust in the Lord.”
The Apostle Paul reaches back into this text and pulls it into his present context (thereby showing us how to lasso Scripture and bring it into our contexts). Paul had experienced great affliction (see the verses referenced below) and he found solace and solidarity in the confessed faith of the saints who had gone before him. What’s happening here is really important to appreciate. Paul is showing us that Christ-confessors (i.e. Christians) share the same faith as the Old Testament saints. We worship the same God, confess the same Lord, and we celebrate the same promises. The only difference is that the Old Testament saints looked forward to the fulfillment of God’s promises in Christ. We look back to them (even as we too look forward to those yet to be fulfilled in the Last Day resurrection).
Paul begins his letter to the Corinthians by sharing the severity of the suffering he and his companions had endured:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death (2 Corinthians 1:8-9).
It was so bad that they despaired of life. Maybe you’ve been there. You’ve gone through deep affliction or dark suffering. Perhaps you’re going through it now – a betrayal, a diagnosis, a tragedy, a financial blow, a mental break. What do you do when the darkness comes? That’s the question Paul is answering.
So he writes, “Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, ‘I believed, and so I spoke,’ we also believe, and so we also speak…” In other words, because we share the same faith as God’s Old Testament saints, we make the same bold confession of confidence in our Lord. What is Paul’s confession?
Paul is shining the blazing light of God’s Gospel promise in Jesus into his darkest moments and encouraging us to do likewise. He’s saying, “Here, friend, bring this light into your shadowy sorrows. It will give you hope.” So he confidently asserts, “We know…” He doesn’t say, “We hope, we wish, we think this might be the case.” He says, “We know.” Just like the psalmist, Paul is speaking confidently of God’s goodness and of his certainty in God’s saving actions. And Paul sees those saving actions clearly displayed in the resurrection of Jesus and its implications for us.
Paul is confident that the same God who raised Jesus will raise believers in Jesus too. In fact, Paul saw how God used his suffering (and how He uses ours) to point us to this reality. Just after Paul finished sharing how he thought he and his companions had received the sentence of death (see verses referenced above), Paul asserted, “But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). So here in chapter 4, he reiterates this certainty: We know that the God who raised Jesus is going to raise us too! This is a tremendously powerful confession.
But look what Paul adds to it. He is confident that when God raises him and the Corinthian Christians (and us), that God is going to “bring us with you into his presence.” There’s so much hope packed into this! In addition to being raised in imperishable, glorified, powerful, and Holy Spirit empowered bodies (see 1 Corinthians 15:42-44), Paul is confident that God is going to bring believers together. In other words, there’s a great reunion coming!
Those who have confessed Christ and have been separated by death are going to be reunited. Parents, children, spouses, siblings, friends – we are going to be reunited – and Jesus is going to be there with us. Having been a pastor for over 20 years, I have stood at the graveside and wept with many dear families. We have grieved our dead together, but think about what Paul is saying: In the resurrection we will be able to celebrate our reunion together! Doesn’t this make your heart soar with hope?
But there’s another promise baked into Paul’s confident confession of Christ. Look at his pronouns: us and you. Paul has specific people in mind, people he knew personally and cared about. Here’s why that’s important: God isn’t going to raise generic, identity-less people. He’s going to raise specific people who have confessed Christ, people you know, people for whom you care deeply.
Here’s the point: Paul is assuming our identities are retained in the resurrection. You are going to be you forever. Your loved ones are going to be your loved ones forever. The things that make you unique and beautiful and the things that make your loved ones unique and beautiful will be redeemed and be shot through with the glory of God. In the resurrection we won’t lose our identities – we will lose our sin nature! – but our identities will be retained even as they are glorified and made more beautiful by Christ.
This is the promise Paul is exhorting us to lasso into our present darkness. He knows exactly how deep the darkness can get – he was there! – but he also knows that because Jesus has risen from the dead and is coming back to raise us too, the darkness is not eternal. Life and light in Christ are. This is why Easter means so much to us. It is God’s emphatic declaration and promise that He has and will banish the darkness and bless us with life and light forever. Believe and speak this into your suffering. – Pastor Conner
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