And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 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. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4
No wonder it’s so hard to get some people to see. We’ve come to another veil. First we had the veil over the face of Moses to keep the people from seeing that the glow on his face from being with God did not last (2 Corinthians 3:13). Then we found out that same veil remains over the hearts of those who hear the law whenever Moses is read (3:15). Now we find out about another veil — a veil over the mind of the unbeliever. One veil over the face of the man who brought the law; one veil over the hearts of those who try to follow it; and now another veil over the minds of those who won’t believe. Veils everywhere. Truth shrouded. People unable to see, hearts unable to respond, minds unable to believe. Religion veils, and no religion veils.
Not believing is one thing; not being able to see is worse, and yet that is what is happening here. A darkened mind traps you in your unbelief. When you don’t believe, Satan, the god of this world, is able to put a veil over your mind so you can’t think straight.
Think about it. There is so much evidence of God in the world. So many ways to see Him. And Christianity makes sense to the intellect. You don’t have to throw your mind away to believe. C.S. Lewis, Blaise Pascal, Dorothy Sayers and Flannery O’Connor, among countless others, have proven that. But those who choose not to believe have their minds blinded by the evil one to where they can’t see. “The light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” can be right in front of your face and still you can see nothing. This is tragic. It even seems hopeless until you read the next verse and find out that the God who caused light to shine out of darkness in the beginning of the world, can do it again in someone’s heart. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
The important thing is that all of this is out of our hands. Our job continues to be to set forth the truth plainly and walk alongside people, commending ourselves to their consciences in the sight of God. (That’s basically telling them your story.) And if they can’t see it, that’s not because we aren’t doing it right. They can’t see it and they won’t. But still, you just keep on walking and keep on talking because you never know when God might call forth a miracle.
“But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:16)
The 21 Day Challenge
— Day Fifteen—
Why doesn’t everyone get it?
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 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.
Paul is responding to a question, “If this is all true (setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God), why don’t more people come to the truth?”
People are perishing because they do not believe; and they do not believe because they are blinded by the devil. That is what he is saying. The god of this age has brainwashed them.
Therefore, they cannot understand what the good news is saying; they do not believe it.
It is Satan who is responsible for the unbelief of men, who are helpless victims in the his hands.
For your consideration:
- Is there a difference between the veil that we believers put on to hide our inadequacies before others and the veil that blinds the unbeliever in complete darkness?
- Who is responsible for unbelief?
- If it is the evil one who has blinded them, do we give up or do we offer Christ?
- Why then do we not grow discouraged if in our offering no one responds to the plain truth – the gospel?
Verse 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.
For Your Consideration
- What is spiritual blindness?
- What is spiritual warfare?
- Yet, no fault lies with the gospel itself – which remains treasured and glorious. Why is that?
- So what hope is there that anybody who has been blinded by the devil will ever believe the good news? It looks hopeless, doesn’t it?
- If a veil lies over their minds and only when someone turns to the Lord is the veil removed, how can people turn to see the glory of Christ that the veil obscures? What hope is there?
- It is very evident from this that people cannot remove the veil themselves. Only Christ can take it away. How then can people be saved?
John Fischer The Catch 
Love this verse: “But when anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Corinthians 3:16)
When Jesus died the veil covering the Holy of Holies was torn in two. I think that is symbolic of how every veil will one day be torn away. That includes Satan’s veil over non-believers. He is only god of “this age” and one day this age will end. Then all will see God for who he really is and worship Him.
Isaiah 45:22-24
Romans 14:10-12
Philippians 2:10-11
Revelation 5:13
Psalm 145:8-11
When you talk about unbelief, scientists have great difficulty believing in God or even in a higher intelligence. The good (great) news is that advances in science can be used to prove the existence of a higher intelligence (God). If interested you might want to look at Stephen Meyer’s videos on You Tube. He does a beautiful synthesis of explaining why fairly recent advances in physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, etc prove the existence of a higher intelligence which we Christians call God. These videos require careful listening and sometimes several replays to understand. This info is a game changing event.