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Pathways Through Paul
Daily Devotional
October 27
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Today's Pathway:
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In today's passage Paul explains why some people have not accepted the message of salvation. He says that the gospel is hidden from some. The word translated "hid" is the verb form of the word translated "veil" in chapter 3. As we have seen, the veil that Moses wore hid the reflection of the glory of God, and he wore it because the Israelites wanted him to do so. We also saw that the Gospel of the New Covenant was more glorious than the Old Covenant of the Law. So, just like many in Moses' day wanted the glory of God hidden, so many in Paul's day, and today as well, want the glorious Gospel hidden.
This passage has been misinterpreted by some who want it to say that God has hidden the message of salvation from those whom He has chosen not to save. Not only does that concept contradict the rest of the Scriptures, it is refuted by this passage itself. Verse 3 says that the Gospel is hidden from the lost. The word translated "lost" is also often translated "perish". So, those who are perishing have the Gospel hidden from them. Yet, Luke 19:10 tells us,
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."
How could it be possible that God sent His Son to seek and save the lost, and yet some teach that the lost have the good news that He did so hidden from them by that same God? That doesn't make any sense at all.
The verb tenses used in "are lost" indicate that this is a permanent state. These are people who are not going to be saved. Why aren't they going to get saved? It's not because God has blinded their eyes, but according to verse 4 it is because the "god of this world", Satan, has blinded their eyes. John MacArthur wrote,
"Satan, of course, is not a god but a created being. He is called a god because his deluded followers serve him as if he were one."
Here comes the important question: whose eyes has Satan blinded? "Those who believe not"! Their eyes were blinded by the devil because they chose not to believe. This is not God's fault, nor is it Paul's fault. It is the fault of those who chose to reject the Gospel, and then suffer the consequence of having their eyes blinded by the "god" that they have chosen to serve instead of the God Who gave them His Son. John 3:19 puts it this way,
"And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
Some people love their sin so much that they reject God's offer of salvation. At some point, Satan may blind their eyes so that they will never choose to be saved. But the whole problem starts with the one who rejects; not with God, nor the Gospel, nor the preacher, nor even with Satan. The end of verse 4 says that Satan blinds their eyes to make sure that they never "see the light" of the Gospel. He does not want the lost to understand Who Jesus is: that He is God, and thus He is the only way to salvation.
Campbell Morgan summarized this passage as follows:
"The god of this world is able only to blind the minds of the unbelieving...Why has he had power to blind them? Because of unbelief. The one sin that will bring men ultimately to perdition is the sin of unbelief, unbelief as in the refusal of Christ, the refusal of the Gospel, the refusal to accept what God is offering to them.
'If our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing.'
Who are they? Those who refuse that Gospel, blinded by the god of this age, blinded because of unbelief. Refusal to believe is the reason of the blindness that happens to men. People are told, 'Oh, it does not matter what we believe'. Believe me, it does matter. It matters very much what we believe and whether we believe at all."
What do you believe?
Pastor Mark J Montgomery
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