Study Desk

But I had no peace, because I did not find my brother Titus. So I said good-bye to them at Troas and went to Macedonia.

But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ's victory parade. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.

To those who are lost, we are the smell of death that brings death, but to those who are being saved, we are the smell of life that brings life. So who is able to do this work?

We do not sell the word of God for a profit as many other people do. But in Christ we speak the truth before God, as messengers of God.

You show that you are a letter from Christ sent through us. This letter is not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. It is not written on stone tablets but on human hearts.

He made us able to be servants of a new agreement from himself to his people. This new agreement is not a written law, but it is of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

The law that brought death was written in words on stone. It came with God's glory, which made Moses' face so bright that the Israelites could not continue to look at it. But that glory later disappeared.

That old law had glory, but it really loses its glory when it is compared to the much greater glory of this new way.

But their minds were closed, and even today that same covering hides the meaning when they read the old agreement. That covering is taken away only through Christ.

But when a person changes and follows the Lord, that covering is taken away.

But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We use no trickery, and we do not change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly, showing everyone who we are. Then they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are in God's sight.

We do not preach about ourselves, but we preach that Jesus Christ is Lord and that we are your servants for Jesus.

We have this treasure from God, but we are like clay jars that hold the treasure. This shows that the great power is from God, not from us.

We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We do not know what to do, but we do not give up the hope of living.

We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.

We are alive, but for Jesus we are always in danger of death so that the life of Jesus can be seen in our bodies that die.

So death is working in us, but life is working in you.

So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day.

We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles.

We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever.