1. God, with his mercy, gave us this work to do, so we don’t give up.
2. But we have turned away from secret and shameful ways. We don’t use trickery, and we don’t change the teaching of God. We teach the truth plainly. This is how we show people who we are. And this is how they can know in their hearts what kind of people we are before God.
3. The Good News that we tell people may be hidden, but it is hidden only to those who are lost.
4. The ruler of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the message about the divine greatness of Christ. Christ is the one who is exactly like God.
5. We don’t tell people about ourselves. But we tell people that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we tell them that we are your servants for Jesus.
6. God once said, “Let light shine out of the darkness!” And this is the same God who made his light shine in our hearts to let us know that his own divine greatness is seen in the face of Christ.
7. We have this treasure from God, but we are only like clay jars that hold the treasure. This is to show that the amazing power we have is from God, not from us.
8. We have troubles all around us, but we are not defeated. We often don’t know what to do, but we don’t give up.
9. We are persecuted, but God does not leave us. We are hurt sometimes, but we are not destroyed.