2 Corinthians 4:3

But if our Gospel be hid,.... When the Gospel is called ours, the meaning is, not that ministers are the authors or subject of it; but it is so styled, because they are intrusted with it; it is preached by them; and is in opposition to another Gospel, the Gospel of the false apostles.

Christ came to save that which was lost ( Matt. xvii. 11 ), and the gospel of Christ is sent to save such; and, if this do not find and save them, they are lost for ever; they must never expect any thing else to save them, for there is no other method or means of salvation.

But if our gospel be hid - Paul here calls it his gospel, because it was that which he preached, or the message which he bore; see note, Rom 16:25. The sense here is, “if the gospel which I preach is not understood; if its meaning is obscure or hidden; if its glory is not seen.” It is “implied” here, that to many the beauty and glory of the gospel was not perceived. This was undeniable, notwithstanding the plainness and fullness with which its truths were made known.

"Veiled," of a thing within reach of the eye, but covered over so as not to be seen. So it was in the case of Moses' face. to them--in the case only of them: for in itself the Gospel is quite plain. that are lost--rather, "that are perishing" (1Co 1:18).

I THINK in this case the Revised New Testament gives a better translation than does the Authorized Version and I will, therefore, read it, "But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them." Paul had been speaking of Moses with the veil over his face and we lose the track of his thought if we use the word, "hid," instead of, "veiled." Our Gospel wears no veil, but exhibits all the Glory of its countenance to the sons of men. Oh that they may be able to steadfastly behold it and see in it their own salvation and the Glory of the Lord! Observe at the outset the confidence with which Paul speaks. It is abundantly evident that he has no doubt whatever that the Gospel which he proclaims is assuredly true. No, that it is so manifestly true that if those who have heard it do not accept it, it must be because the god of this world has blinded their minds! The accent of conviction makes every word emphatic. He believes and is sure! And he is convinced that those who do not believe must be under the thralldom of the devil. This is not the ordinary style in which the Gospel is preached nowadays! We hear men courteously apologize for stating anything as absolute, for they are fearful of being thought narrow-minded and bigoted! We hear them prove what is clear as noonday and back up with arguments what God, Himself, has said—as if the sun needed candles to exhibit it, or as if God's Word needed the support of human reasoning! The Apostle did not take the defensive ground at all! He carried the war across the border and assailed the unbelievers. He came forth fresh from God with a Revelation and his every word seemed to challenge men with—"This is God's Word.

In this verse and the following one we have a very brief yet very full description of what every minister of the Gospel ought to preach. In the first place, he is to preach the Gospel—not metaphysics, not politics, not mere morality, not simply doctrines as such.

In this verse and the following one we have a very brief yet very full description of what every minister of the Gospel ought to preach. In the first place, he is to preach the Gospel—not metaphysics, not politics, not mere morality, not simply doctrines as such. He is to preach the Gospel, which signifies good news, something new and something good—so good that nothing else can equal it—the glad tidings of mercy for the guilty, the blessed tidings of God coming down to man that man may go up to God, the welcome tidings of atonement made for human guilt! It is also new as well as good—it comes as a strange novelty to the attentive ear. Mythology never dreamed it, human wit could never have invented it, even angelic intellect could not have devised a scheme— "So just to God, so safe for man." The business of the Christian minister is to preach this Good News, to publish to the sinners the glad tidings that there is a Savior, to point the guilty to Christ and to be constantly saying to each individual sinner, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved." I care not what may be the learning or eloquence of the minister, though he may speak with the tongue of men and angles, if he does not preach Christ and bid sinners trust in Him, he has mistaken his mission and missed the grand objective for which he was sent! This Gospel is called in the text "our Gospel"By this expression I understand that the minister must accept it for himself before he can hold it out to others.

I THINK in this case the Revised New Testament gives a better translation than does the Authorized Version and I will, therefore, read it, "But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing, in whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that the light of the Gospel of the Glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should not dawn upon them."

But if our Gospel be hid - Κεκαλυμμενον· Veiled; he refers to the subject that he had treated so particularly in the conclusion of the preceding chapter. If there be a veil on the Gospel, it is only to the wilfully blind; and if any man’s heart be veiled that hears this Gospel, it is a proof that he is among the lost, απολλυμενοι, those who are fully under the power of sin; who have given up themselves to work wickedness; persons who are mere heathens, or live like such, and yet such as Jesus Christ came to seek and save; for the word does not necessarily imply those that will perish eternally, but is a common epithet to point out a man without the Gospel and without God in the world. Christ commands his disciples in preaching the Gospel to go to προβατα τα απολωλοτα, the Lost sheep of the house of Israel; Mat 10:6; for himself says, Mat 18:11, and Luk 19:10: The Son of man is come ζητησαι και σωσαι το απολωλος, to seek and to Save that which is Lost. And such persons he represents under the parable of the lost sheep; for to find το απολωλος, that which is Lost, the good shepherd leaves the ninety-and-nine in the wilderness, and goes in search of it; Mat 18:12; Luk 15:4. The word more properly signifies, in all those connections, and in the parallel passages, not those who Are Lost, but those who are perishing; and will perish, if not sought and saved.