2 Corinthians 4:1-6 - Bait & Switch Evangelism
- Chad Werkhoven
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
Your call is clear & simple: plainly set forth the truth.
2 Corinthians 4:1-6 (NIV)
4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
Canons of Dordt
Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election
Articles 1-14
Article 1: God’s Right to Condemn All People
Romans 5:12-14 - Mis-Markmanship
Deuteronomy 28:15-20 - Not A Tame Lion
Luke 15:11-16 - Prodigious Deprivation
Psalm 143 - Aggressive Prayer Pattern
Article 2: The Manifestation of God’s Love
Zephaniah 3:14-17 - The Mighty Warrior Who Saves
Lamentations 3:19-23 - Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Article 3: The Preaching of the Gospel
1 Timothy 2:1-7 - God Our Savior
Rom 10:14-17 - The Power of Preaching
1 Cor 1.23-24 - God's Foolishness
Psalm 93 - Mightier Than Chaos
Article 4: A Twofold Response to the Gospel
John 6:37-40 - Tensegral Theology
John 12:42-50 - Buffet Theology
Article 5: The Sources of Unbelief and of Faith
James 1:13-18 - The Devil (didn't) Make You Do It
Ecclesiastes 7:25-29 - Many Schemes
Ephesians 2:8 - The Gift of God
Psalm 95 - The LORD is OUR God
Article 6: God’s Eternal Decree
Ezekiel 36:24-27 - A Whole New Reality
Romans 9:15-21 - God's Mercy, Not Your Effort
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 - Love The Truth
Article 7: Election
Ephesians 1:3-6 - Before the Foundation
Deuteronomy 7:1-10 - Set Apart
John 17:1-5 - Sovereign Submission
Psalm 115 - God Does What He Pleases
Article 8: A Single Decree of Election
Romans 4:1-8 - One and the Same
Romans 4:9-17 - Chicken or Egg?
Romans 4:18-25 - Faithfully Face the Facts
Hebrews 11:39-40 - Promises Kept
Psalm 33 - God's Control, Authority & Presence
Article 9: Election Not Based on Foreseen Faith
2 Timothy 1:7-10 - Passive & Powered
Deuteronomy 9:4-6 - You're Not That Awesome
Psalm 91 - The Shelter of the Most High
Article 10: Election Based on God’s Good Pleasure
Luke 2:13-14 - Christmas in March
Galatians 4:1-7 - From Slave to Son
1 Peter 2:9-10 - You're The Best Thing God Has!
Article 11: God’s election is unalterable.
Malachi 3:6-7 - Keep It Simple
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchanging Anchor
Hebrews 13:1-8 - Keep On Loving
Hebrews 6:13-20 - Unchangeable Blessing
Article 12: The Assurance of election
Hebrews 11:1-6 - Confident Assurance
Malachi 3:14-18 - Childlike Fear
2 Corinthians 7:8-11 - Godly Sorrow
Psalm 65 - The Hearer of Prayers
Article 13/14: The Fruit of our assurance
Isaiah 57:14-21 - God's Second Residence
2 Peter 1:3-10 - Make Every Effort
Isaiah 42:1-9 - The Sovereign & His Servant
Article 15 - Reprobation
Holy Scripture most especially highlights this eternal and undeserved grace of our election and brings it out more clearly for us,
in that it further bears witness that
not all people have been chosen
but that some have not been chosen or have been passed by in God’s eternal election—
those, that is, concerning whom God, on the basis of his entirely free, most just, irreproachable, and unchangeable good pleasure, made the following decree:
to leave them in the common misery into which, by their own fault, they have plunged themselves;
not to grant them saving faith and the grace of conversion;
but finally to condemn and eternally punish those who have been left in their own ways and under God’s just judgment, not only for their unbelief but also for all their other sins, in order to display his justice.
And this is the decree of reprobation,
which does not at all make God
the author of sin (a blasphemous thought!)
but rather its fearful, irreproachable, just judge and avenger.
Summary
Nobody likes a 'bait and switch' marketing strategy which draws people in with a wonderful product advertised for an incredibly low price, but then coerces people into buying something very different when they come into the store. Unfortunately, churches often feel the need to deceive and distort the Word of God in their evangelism by overstating the Bible's promises for a good life while downplaying God's demands for righteousness in the lives of His covenant people.
We're driven to try and sell people on the benefits of the gospel because it's so evident that people are ignorant of its truths. Evangelism then becomes the means by which we show them the blessings they're missing out on, rather than the call to repentance and self sacrificing discipleship that Jesus and the apostles commanded.
Today's passage helps explain that people don't reject the gospel because they're not yet convinced of its blessings, but because the gospel is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds have been blinded by the god of this age. In other words, our efforts to dress up the gospel in ways that seem to appeal to the prevailing culture are as useless as decorating the cell of a blindfolded hostage.
One of the best strategies that the god of this world (Satan) has is distraction. He keeps people so busy and consumed with chasing after the shiny things in the world so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Dig Deeper
The Bible never explains to us God's reasons for opening the eyes of some but leaving others in their blindness. But it does make very clear, in today's passage as well as so many others, that people's inability to see the gospel is not because of some sort of inherent flaw that makes the gospel difficult to see.
You can see its wonderful truth only because the same God who said 'Let light shine out of the darkness' as He called the world into being has now made His light shine in your heart to give you the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.
The gospel doesn't need our embellishment or salesmanship in order to finally make it attractive enough to capture the attention of the world. Rather, the evangelistic strategy you must follow is clear and simple: set forth the truth plainly... For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who made His light shine in our hearts;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that God will equip you to set forth the truth plainly;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: James 3
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