Diamonds in a Cardboard Box

<h3 class=ql-align-center>We have this treasure in jars of clay.</h3><p class=ql-align-center></p><p>The church at Corinth was infested with so-called super-apostles. They were stylish and well-spoken and they were out to turn the church against the apostle Paul. They cast him as a frail indecisive fumbler who got beat up everywhere he went.</p><p>So Paul responded with a full-length account of the glory of Christian weakness.</p><p>This commentary traces Paul's argument as he shows how Christ empowers us not only to endure persecution diseases and disasters but to relish them.</p><p>In the end there are two competing visions of the Christian life. On the one hand there's a wall of marble tombs magnificent and rotten. On the other there's a pile of clay pots cracked or cracking and filled with diamonds.</p>