Unbelieving (571) (apistos from a = without + pistos = believing, faithful) means lacking in faith, without faith, disbelieving, unbelieving - in this context apistos is one who does not believe the Good News about Jesus Christ (1Ti 5:8, Titus 1:15, Rev 21:8). It is used once to describe that which is incredible (Acts 26:8), but most NT uses describe those without faith, not trusting, unfaithful In secular Greek use apistos described reports, etc as incredible. BDAG gives a example of an ancient secular use of apistos in the description of... a patient (who) sneers in disbelief at healings recorded in a shrine of Asclepius and subsequently receives the sobriquet (a descriptive name) : "Apistos" Apistos - 23x in 20v in NAS - Mt 17:17; Mk 9:19; Lk 9:41; 12:46; Jn 20:27; Acts 26:8; 1Co 6:6; 7:12,13,14; 10:27; 14:22, 23 24; 2Cor 4:4; 6:14 15; 1Ti 5:8; Titus 1:15; Rev 21:8. NAS = incredible(1), unbeliever(4), unbelievers(7), unbelieving(10), unbelieving one(1). Used twice in Lxx - Pr 17:6, Is 17:10. Paul repeatedly used apistos in his letters to the church at Corinth because of their great need to understand how to interact with unbelievers (1Co 6:6; 7:12,13,14; 10:27; 14:22, 23 24; 2Co 6:14 15). For example, Paul commanded the believers at Corinth... Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? (2Co 14, 15) Henry Morris Comments: Paul is here using a metaphor based on Deuteronomy 22:10 and Leviticus 19:19, which forbade plowing with an ox and ass yoked together or attempting to interbreed animals of different kinds. The clear inference is that believers and unbelievers are so different in character and interests (as well as ultimate destiny) that they should never be "yoked" together in situations requiring strong agreement of attitudes and goals (marriage, churches, business partnerships, lodges or other organizations with religious overtones). The prohibition is not intended to require complete repudiation of all secular or charitable organizations (1Co 5:10) or friendships. When one's Christian faith is in jeopardy, or his Christian conduct and influence is endangered, then such connections should be severed. One can witness to unbelievers without partaking of their beliefs or sinful behavior. (Defender's Study Bible online) Jesus used apistos even to describe the weak faith that characterized His very own disciples (as indicated by the context = Mt 17:20, eg see example of their weak faith = Mt 15:33) albeit to a lesser extent than Israel as a nation who for the most part continued in their unbelief... Matthew 17:17 (cp Mk 9:19 Lk 9:41) And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted (twisted and distorted throughout) generation (recalling Moses' words to Israel Dt 32:5, 20), how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him here to Me (Mt 17:14 15 16)." Jesus alludes to the ultimate dreadful destiny and destruction of unbelievers... Luke 12:46 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him, and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces (Figurative description of the severity of the final judgment of unbelievers! eg Lk 13:27, 28, Mt 24:51), and assign him a place (The final destination of unbelievers = Gehenna not Hades/Sheol = Lake of Fire - see also the related discussion of the Second Death in chart on Births, Deaths, and Resurrections) with the unbelievers. Jesus used apistos in addressing His disciple Thomas... John 20:27 Then He said to Thomas, "Reach here your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand, and put it into My side; and be not unbelieving, but believing." Writing to Titus Paul used apistos to describe those who profess to know Christ but are unregenerate and detestable... To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled (miaino = spiritually corrupted and tainted ~"dyed with another color", perfect tense = their persistent state) and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled (same verb again in perfect tense = their persistent state). They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable (they "stink") and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed. (Titus 1:15-note, Titus 1:16-note) G Campbell Morgan said that... The god of this world is able only to blind the minds of the unbelieving...Why has he had power to blind them? Because of unbelief. The whole teaching of the letter to the Hebrews has dealt with that. The one sin that will bring men ultimately to perdition is the sin of unbelief, unbelief as refusal of Christ, refusal of the Gospel, refusal to accept what God is offering to them. To put it quite bluntly, if anyone goes down to perdition, why will they go? Because of their sins? No, but because of their sin, the sin of rejection of Jesus Christ. "If our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled in them that are perishing." Who are they? Those who refuse that Gospel, blinded by the god of this age, blinded because of unbelief. Refusal to believe is the secret and reason of the blindness that happens to men. Oh, it does not matter people are told, what we believe. Believe me, it does matter. It matters very much what we believe and whether we believe at all. That is the whole picture here. (Commentary on 2 Corinthians - go to page 221) I like Dave Guzik's point that... Satan can only blind those who do not believe. If you are tired of having your mind blinded by the god of this age, then put your trust on who Jesus is and what He has done for you! Then Satan can’t blind you anymore! (2 Corinthians 4 Commentary) Kent Hughes has an encouraging illustration of Guzik's point... Recently I heard a member of my congregation tell how she had repeatedly explained the gospel to another woman who simply did not get it, though she apparently wanted to. So finally she said to the woman, “You have a veil over your heart. And you need to pray that God will remove it.” A few weeks later the woman called, elated, as she explained that she had gone to bed the night before perplexed, but when she awoke that morning everything was clear. The veil was gone forever. Nothing had been wrong with the gospel. The gospel had been veiled to the woman because it was veiled in her. The veil was in her heart and mind, not over the gospel. (Hughes, R. K. 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness. Preaching the Word. Crossway or Logos or Wordsearch) Color Blind - The famous agnostic Thomas Huxley was once lovingly confronted by a very sincere Christian. This believer stressed to Huxley that he was not in any way impugning Huxley’s sincerity. Nevertheless, might it not be possible that mentally the great scientist was color blind? That is, some people cannot see traces of green where other people cannot help but see it. Could it be that this was Huxley’s problem—that he was simply blind to truth that was quite evident to others? Huxley, being a man of integrity, admitted that this was possible, and added that if it were, he himself, of course, could not know or recognize it. SO THAT THEY MIGHT NOT SEE THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL OF THE GLORY OF CHRIST, WHO IS THE IMAGE OF GOD: eis to me augasai (AAN) ton photismon tou euaggeliou tes doxes tou Christou, os estin (3SPAI) eikon tou theou: (That they might not: 2Co 4:6-note 2Co 3:8,9,11-note, 2Co 3:18-note Jn 8:12 12:35 Ac 26:18 Col 1:27 1Ti 1:11 Titus 2:13) THE LIGHT OF THE GOSPEL = THE GLORY OF CHRIST John Piper writes that... This is one of the most remarkable descriptions of the Gospel in the whole Bible. There is nothing else quite like it. It defines the Gospel as “the Gospel of the glory of Christ.” And it says that this Gospel of Christ’s glory emits, as it were, a “light”—“the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ.” And it says that Satan does not want us to “see” this light. Seeing “the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ” is what liberates people from his power. (I highly recommend that you take time to read chapter 4 of Dr Piper's online book God Is the Gospel- go to page 54 in the Pdf to begin Chapter 4) Barclay gives a straightforward rendering the Gospel is... the good news which tells of the glory of Christ in Whom we can see God. So that they might not see - Figurative use of "see". Refers to inability to see spiritual truths (cp 1Co 2:14). Their inability to see is a divine judgment given to them because they refused to believe. God in a sense turned them over to Satan who was given the power to blind their spiritual vision. This is a horrible consequence of willful, intransigent (unwilling to change one's views, obstinately maintaining an attitude of) unbelief. When even brilliant intellectuals are unable to understand and accept the easy-to-understand gospel of Christ (that even a child can comprehend - Mt 18:2, 3 Mk 10:14, 15 Lk 18:16, 17 ~ all speak of the the unquestioning trust of a little child), especially His works of creation and redemption, it is because their spiritual eyes (their mind, their heart) have been blinded and they are unable to behold the glory of Christ in the radiant light of the Gospel. But we can (and should) always intercede with our Father for their souls asking Him to send His Spirit "to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God" (Acts 26:18) (See Pastor Hughes' encouraging example) John Calvin said that... the blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clearness of the Gospel, for the sun is no less resplendent because the blind do not perceive it. "Copy and paste the address below into your web browser in order to go to the original page which will allow you to access live links related to the material on this page - these links include Scriptures (which can be read in context), Scripture pop-ups on mouse over, and a variety of related resources such as Bible dictionary articles, commentaries, sermon notes and theological journal articles related to the topic under discussion." http://www.preceptaustin.org/2corinthians_43-4_commentary.htm#u