4:13
Paul knew that what had been written in the Old Testament was true, they believed it. The ancients wrote and spoke because they believed God. Paul and his companions proclaimed the gospel because they believed it. The driving force in our lives must be that we believe God. Not just that we believe or "have faith" in some vacuous sense, but that we believe God. And because we believe Him we speak and act.
4:14
Why does Paul carry on? Because he knows that the God who raised Jesus from the dead will also raise him up. A vital part of our life today is knowing that we will be raised with Christ, death is not the end. We will be brought into the presence of God. There are some who just focus on "going to heaven", but the Bible also speaks of a new heaven and earth. But there are also some who seem to emphasise the latter at the expense of the former. We should concentrate on both aspects. We should also note that knowing he would be raised with Christ caused Paul to be all the more active in this life. It was definitely no escapism.
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