“By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;”
My Notes
What Does 2 Corinthians 6:8 Mean?
"By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true." Paul catalogs the paradoxes of apostolic ministry: they receive both honor and dishonor. Their reputation is simultaneously good and evil. They're called deceivers by some and recognized as true by others. The ministry exists in a constant state of contradiction.
The list of paradoxes continues: unknown yet well known, dying yet living, punished yet not killed, sorrowful yet always rejoicing, poor yet making many rich, having nothing yet possessing all things (verses 9-10). Each pair holds two opposite realities together without resolving the tension.
The phrase "as deceivers, and yet true" captures the apostolic experience: from the outside, they look fraudulent. From the inside, they're authentic. The world's assessment and God's assessment are opposite. And the apostle lives in both assessments simultaneously.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What paradox defines your life right now — two opposite realities both true?
- 2.How do you live as someone called a 'deceiver' while knowing you're 'true'?
- 3.What does holding both honor and dishonor without collapsing into either look like?
- 4.Which assessment do you tend to believe more — the world's or God's?
Devotional
Honored and dishonored. Well-reported and evil-reported. Called deceivers — and yet true. Paul's ministry exists in permanent paradox: every positive has a corresponding negative. Every recognition has a corresponding rejection. Both are real. Both are happening. At the same time.
The catalog of contradictions is the most honest description of ministry in the New Testament: you are simultaneously dying and alive, sorrowful and joyful, poor and rich, having nothing and possessing everything. The human assessment and the divine assessment run in opposite directions. What the world sees and what God sees are two different stories about the same people.
The phrase 'as deceivers, and yet true' names the specific pain of ministry under suspicion: people think you're lying. They think your sincerity is performance. They think your calling is a con. And yet: you're true. You know you're true. God knows you're true. But the 'deceiver' label sticks to you because the world can't tell the difference from the outside.
Living in paradox requires a specific kind of endurance: the ability to hold two opposite realities without letting either one become the whole truth. You're not just honored (that would produce pride). You're not just dishonored (that would produce despair). You're both — and the both-ness is where you live.
What paradox defines your life right now? What two opposite assessments are both true about you? Can you hold them together without collapsing into either one?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
As unknown, and yet well known,.... Not unknown to Father, Son, and Spirit, or to one another, but to the world; and…
By honor and dishonor - The apostle is still illustrating the proposition that he and his fellow-laborers endeavored to…
By honor and dishonor - By going through both; sometimes respected, sometimes despised.
By evil report and good report -…
In these verses we have an account of the apostle's general errand and exhortation to all to whom he preached in every…
by honour and dishonour The preposition is here changed in the original, and notin our version. It means either by means…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture