"But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded.…" (2 Cor. 4:3–4).
Every Sunday people throughout the world stream into churches to hear the proclamation of God’s Word. In those churches that are faithful to the orthodox teaching of the Gospel, people hear the Good News of Christ week after week. Yet, to the frustration of many ministers, many people leave the worship services unchanged. They leave in the same condition they had come—blind to the truth of salvation in Christ—even though they had heard the truth proclaimed by a faithful servant of God. Why do they remain blind? Didn’t Paul say that the veil has been lifted and the truth of God in Christ has been revealed?
While it is true that the revelation of Christ has been revealed in the Gospel, the veil that covers the darkened minds of fallen men remains in place until they turn to the Lord by the power of His Spirit. Until that time, until God commands “light to shine out of the darkness” and give the “light of knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” sinners will remain on the path to perdition.
Paul teaches in 2 Corinthians 4 that some people in Corinth remained blinded to his teaching of the Gospel because they were lost. The false teachers who insisted on lying and distorting the Word of God were darkened in their understanding, blinded by their sin and the power of Satan. The Gospel, in and of itself, has no power unless God gives them the power to see the light of truth. Still, this impotency is not the result of a faulty message, but is due to the fallen nature of man. Just as the sun does not cease to be the sun simply because the blind do not see it, so the power, truth, and authority of the Gospel do not cease to shine in the world because men are blinded to it.
Until men are freed from the bondage of sin and of Satan, who blinds their minds so they cannot see the glory of Christ and thus be saved, they will perish. No matter how many sermons they hear, no matter how many evangelistic crusades they attend, until the glory of God as revealed in Christ illuminates their minds and the Holy Spirit regenerates their hearts, they will die in their unbelief. God must shine into their hearts to give them true, saving knowledge of Christ, without which there is no hope.
Ministers, family members, and friends of those who refuse to believe the Gospel often become frustrated. What would you say to encourage someone who is despairing over the hardness of a loved one? Who changes men hearts, the preacher or God? Pray for one unbeliever today that God will open his or her eyes to the truth.
